of Steairi-power in Navigation,, 248 



required ; and they should be taken also to nearly the middle of the tug, 

 partly that the advantages to be derived, in certain circumstances, from a long- 

 ish scope, may be thus retained without increasing the distance between the 

 vessels, and partly that both may be left free to pitch. The n^lect of which 

 last slight precaution, in ordinary towing, seems to me, indeed, one cause of 

 the prejudice against it ; for, if the vessel astern is held by the nose, and 

 dragged rapidly through the water, it is obvious that this latter must rise and 

 ultimately break on board, an effect familiarly called " towing under water,** 

 but which would not follow, were the bows free to rise also. It is true that 

 it need never happen, at all events, in steam-towing, in which a moderate 

 pace can be always preserved ; but the necessity of moderating the pace, on 

 this account, would be indefinitely postponed by towing as suggested. 



2. The act of steering should, I think, in most cases be confined to the tug ; 

 and although the vessel astern should of course have a rudder hung, to be 

 used in case of separation, when attached to her tug I do not think it need be 

 touched (unless on particular occasions in rapid tide-ways),— breaking sheer, 

 yawing, &c. being rather the concomitants of a sin^e long tow-rope, than 

 of two short hawsers, in which a vessel would be held as in slings. To facili- 

 tate steering in the tug, the hawsers might, in her, be led to a yard turning 

 freely round a short iron-mast, stepped either before or abaft the midships of 

 the vessel, according as she shall be steered aft or forward ; which last condi- 

 tion, however, will require a few words of explanation. 



It will always be convenient that a tug, about to take a vessel in tow, 

 should not be embarrassed by the necessity of turning, but should be able, by 

 merely reversing her engine, to come out as she went in ; and in approach, 

 ing a wreck on a lee-shore, this will be even indispen^ble, as the attempt to 

 turn among breakers would be sheer madness. And the most obvious me- 

 thod of providing for this is to hang two rudders ; but I am very doubtful 

 how far it would be the best. X tug, particularly if without specific destina- 

 tion, and in the market for a job, must frequently have occasion to move 

 about alone ; and, on such occasions, precision of steering will be of extreme 

 importance to her ; in &ct, it is the quality on which, of all others, the handi- 

 ness with which she will take any vessel in tow Mrill most essentially depend. 

 This precision would, however, I should fear, be considerably aflected by a 

 deep gripe forward, ready to be caught by every passing wave ; and on some 

 other scores also, she would unquestionably be better without iU 



When actually towing, however, there does not appear to me lo be the 

 same objection to it ; for the weight of the drag would then, I think, effectu- 

 ally counteract any power in the gripe to throw the head off, unless further 

 assisted by the rudder ; and altogether, the advantages wh ich would seem 

 thus attainable, appear worthy of particular consideration. The utmost pre- 

 cision, as already hinted, would be given to the tug's steering, when going 

 down on a vessel which she is about to tow ; when harnessed, the gripe for- 

 ward would assist the action of the rudder, and steady the head against the 

 jerking of the drag astern ; the steersman would see better what he was 

 about forward than aft ; in shallow water, when steam-boats of the usual con- 

 struction steer especially slack in consequence of the disturbance made by 

 their paddles in the water passing to the rudder, these would remain entirely 



