C 110 ] 



XX. Plan for Moorms: Ships in Roadsteads. By LieuL- 



Colonel Miller, F.R.S* 

 TN a country whose attention has been so steadily directed 

 ■*■ to her naval prosperity as that of England has been, it may 

 perhaps appear surprising, that some attempt has not been 

 made, or rather that any means should have been left untried, 

 for effectually securing ships in roadsteads ; as every heavy 

 gale of wind is sure to be followed by an account of vessels 

 driven from their anchors, on some part of the coast or other, 

 and too frequently accompanied with a melancholy catalogue 

 of loss of life and property. The only grand national works 

 that have been undertaken to guard against so great a cala- 

 mity, are the breakwaters at Plymoudi and Kingstown ; but 

 however creditable these works may be to the nation, and 

 however well they may answer the purpose intended, their 

 great expense must be a serious obstacle to their ever being 

 generally adopted throughout the country. 



The following plan is therefore sub- 

 mitted with due deference to the public ; 

 and if it should be the means of saving 

 a single vessel from shipwreck, the ob- 

 ject of the writer will be attained. It is 

 very simple, and will easily be under- 

 stood from the figure. It consists merely 

 in securing a large buoy, by means of 

 a block of cast-iron, so that it cannot 

 be moved by stress of weather, to which 

 a vessel can make fast, instead of letting 

 go her anchor. 



Constnictioti. 



Length of buoy 16 feet. 



Diameter of ditto at the middle 9 



Ditto at the ends 7^ 



Length of chain 36 



Diameter of cast-iron block at top ... 3 



Ditto at bottom 5^ 



Height of ditto 2| 



Weight of ditto 7 tons. 



The buoy must be made abundantly strong, bound with 

 iron and coppered, as it will be subject to a heavy strain, and 

 may frequently be drawn under water. A strong iron hoop 

 also passes round its centre, to which the chain and ring are 



* Communicated by the Author. 



attached, 



