CATALOGUE OF THE WATERCRAFT COLLECTION. 83 



Dimensions of vessel. — Length between perpendiculars, 135 feet; 

 beam, 30 feet; depth of hold, 14 feet 11 inches; tonnage, 560. Scale 

 of model, one-half inch equals 1 foot. 

 Gift of AVilliam Skinner & Sons. Cat. No. 76,095 U.S.N.M. 



Block model of merchant brig. 



The brig Dove., of Newburyport, was built from this model in 

 1817 at the adjoining town of Newbury. 



The model has a full bluff bow above water line, finer below ; long 

 floor; round, easy bilge, the general shape of the bottom, in cross 

 section, being strongly convex; short and moderately full run; 

 square stern; curved stem; considerable sheer. Mounted and 

 painted in style of the period when the Dove was built ; head, stem, 

 keel, and rudder painted. 



Dimensions of vessel. — Length over all, 76 feet; beam, molded, 

 18 feet 6 inches; depth, molded, 10 feet. Scale of model, one-half 

 inch equals 1 foot. 



The Dove was built for the West India trade. At that date the 

 West Indies were infested by pirates, and frequently the safety of a 

 merchant vessel and the lives of her crew depended solely on her 

 ability to outsail the freebooters. It therefore was important to 

 construct West Indiamen on comparatively easy lines, so that they 

 would sail well. It is interesting to note that the model of the Dove 

 is much sharper on the floor and at the bow and stern than the 

 ordinary merchantman of that period. Indeed, vessels built for the 

 carrying trade 20 or 30 years later were made on fuller lines and 

 with greater proportional capacity. The flaring bow of the Dove 

 is an early instance of this feature of construction, which was 

 carried to an extreme in the clipper ships built about 35 years later. 

 Gift of John N. Gushing. * Cat. No. 76,061 U.S.N.M. 



Block model of merchant brig. 



Thomas Harwood, Esq., built a hermaphrodite brig (name un- 

 known) from this model in 1825 at Bath, Me. The vessel was espe- 

 cially designed for the trade between New England and the West 

 Indies Islands. In this trade it was customary to carr}^ cargoes of 

 sugar, molasses, etc. Vessels like that built from this model usually 

 had short, high quarter decks, and, because the main deck was con- 

 siderably lower than the quarter, were called " low-decked vessels." 

 The cabin was generally in a rather high trunk or house on the 

 quarter-deck, and the crew's quarters were commonly in a small deck 

 house forward, an arrangement that permitted the utilization of all 

 the space below deck for the storage of cargo. 



