Brigantine San Bias at East Boston 

 in the 1890's. (Smithsonian photo 

 45785-) 



creasiiigly common. Many vessels had open bul- 

 warks on the main deck and some carried these to 

 the stern. The average .size of American ocean 

 freighters grew gradually; ships of 110 to 115 feet on 

 deck increased in number during the first decade of 

 the 19th century. 



The increased interest in improvement of design 

 that competition among packet-ship builders had cre- 

 ated in the period immediately after the War of 1812 

 (see p. 29) had a considerable cflect on American 

 shipbuilding, but all classes of ocean freighters, and 

 particularly those in the European trade, did not 

 benefit from this movement. The design of these 

 ships and brigs was mainly influenced by efforts to 

 evade the measurements of the existing tonnage law, 

 so as to have more capacity in fact than the tonnage 

 measurement indicated. There is not space to de- 

 scribe the law and its influence in detail; suffice to 

 say that it produced a very deep and full-ended hull 

 that gradually developed into the kettle bottom craft 

 represented by some builders' models in the Water- 

 craft Collection. Such vessels, though wretched sail- 

 ers, could carry double their register yet be subject to 

 far less taxes and port charges than a normal vessel. 

 Even ships of less extreme model were often very 

 full-ended to obtain great capacity for a given ton- 

 nage; and full-ended ships, barks, and brigs were built 

 in very large numbers in New England between 1820 

 and 1850. 



The common ocean trader of this period had a 

 rather straight sheer, straight keel with little or no 

 drag, a nearly upright stem above the load line with 



a short curse at the forefoot, a moderately raking 

 post, and an upper-and-lower transom .square stern 

 with roimd tuck lielow. The entrance was very short 

 and quite full, and the rail line was almost square 

 acro,ss at the bow and very sharply rounded at the 

 shoulders. The stern was wide and the sides of the 

 hull were almost parallel for most of the length. The 

 run was very short and full. Ships of the period 1820- 

 40 were commonly 100 to 135 feet long on deck, brigs 

 75 to 100 feet, and topsail schooners and brigantines 

 slightly smaller in the European and South American 

 trades. The cutwater was short and heavy, na\al 

 fashion, and the vessels had a heavy, blocklike 

 appearance. Improved rigs were developed. Fore- 

 and-aft gaff sails, were employed on all masts of 

 ships and brigs; these were called spencers when on 

 the fore and main masts of ships. Many schooners 

 had fore booms. The bark rig was becoming popular. 

 Vessels, in general, were fitted to be operated econom- 

 ically. 



In the 1840's and 1850's the fashionable clippers 

 caused a change in the appearance of ocean traders; 

 ships 190 feet in length became common; and in model 

 they took on the appearance of the clipper ship, 

 with round sterns, light and simple heads and cut- 

 waters, and well proportioned sail plans. The en- 

 trance and run were lengthened somewhat and made 

 finer so that, on the average, their sailing qualities 

 were improved. Many ocean traders were almost 

 medium, or half, clippers. In some trades, particu- 

 larly the South American and Pacific trades, a large 

 proportion of rather sharp brigs, brigantines, and 



48 



