Heshipping a Rudder at Sea. 167 



lately befel the Leith packet, and had she been a sailing ves- 

 sel instead of being a steamer, she would not have escaped 

 so easily. 



The loss of the ruddei' is an accident of which every sea- 

 man has a great dread, and if any method can be pointed 

 out whereby he can in a few minutes remedy this misfortune, 

 he will, I am sure, hail it as a great boon. 



As I need not enlarge upon the importance of the object, 

 I beg leave, without fm'ther preamble, to offer to this So- 

 ciety's, and to the seamen's notice, a method of reshipping a 

 rudder at sea, and this with ease in the heaviest gale of wind. 

 The apparatus necessary for this pm'pose is simple, and is 

 also cheap, an advantage that will have great weight with 

 shipowners. The system of insurance is one that leads to 

 great carelessness of the means of preserving life and property 

 at sea ; and any plan for assisting in such preservation, will 

 (I am sorry to say) meet with but little countenance, unless 

 it is cheap, and gives but little trouble. 



As an assistance in explaining my invention, I have brought 

 a model of the stern post and rudder of a ship, shewing my 

 method of reshipping a rudder. 



Before the ship leaves her dock, a hole must be bored in 

 the heel of the stern post, of sufficient size to allow of two 

 small ropes being rove through it ; these ropes I would re- 

 commend should be of wire, such as I have used in my ship's 

 lightning conductors ; they are made of copper wires laid up 

 as a common hemp rope, are very flexible, can be rove through 

 a small sheave, and possess great strength in a small com- 

 pass. Let two ropes be rove through the hole in the heel of 

 the stern post, and both parts of each rope be brought in 

 board through the rudder case ; being of a small size, they 

 will offer but little obstruction to the ship's progress, or to 

 prevent them from doing so in the slightest degree, a groove 

 may be made in the sides of the stern post for the ropes to 

 lie in. These ropes must, of course, be rove before the ship 

 leaves the harbour, and at sea they must be overhauled, or 

 worked backwards and forwards occasionally (say once a-week) 

 to keep all clear for running, should an accident to the rudder 

 require their use. 



