1839.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



301 



The report gives some particulars regarding the number of steam- 

 vessels pm])loyed in tlie mercantile steam marine of the United King- 

 dom ; in obtaining this information, the commissioners state that they 

 had considerable difficulty in obtaining the ])rocise number, as the law 

 does not oblige those steamers to be registered wliicii ply only within 

 the limits of a port : — 



AMOUNT OF THE MERCANTILE STEAM-MARINE. 



Before iiresciiting, in a sulistantivc shape, all the provisions we have to re- 

 connnend for the protection of the public against the evils which arise from 



defects shown to have existed, and to he still existing, as respects tlie condi- 

 tion and manageiueiil of numerous steam-vessels, it is expedient to state the 

 amount and importance of the actual mercantile steam-marine of the British 

 Empije. These data we sliall proceed to determine as accurately as our 

 means permit. 



The following Table gives, approrimalety, the numerical tonnage and 

 power of steam-vessels afloat: it will materially assist in forming a correct 

 opinion of the deficiencies of the jiresent, ami of the great importance of au 

 improved system of registration and regulations. 



A Statement of the approximate Number, Tonnage and Power of Vessels belonging to the Mercantile Steam-marine of the 



United Kingdom and its Dependencies. 



End of Year 1838. 



* The Custom-house Return enumerates 678 steam-vessels ; but the tonnage of one — burnt- 

 t These are extracted from Mr. Porter's Returns, as we have not received them for 1838. 



-is omitted. 



The total number of British and Irish steam-vessels, including those regis- 

 tered in Guernsey, Jersey, and Man, amounts to 760; of these 484 may be 

 considered as river steamers, and small coasters ; and 282 as large coasters, 

 and sea-going ships. 



The increase in 1837 over 1836, was 78; and that of 1838 over 1837, 59 

 registered vessels. 



The report gives several extracts from the opinions of correspon- 

 dents more fully detailed in the appendix: — 



From manufacturers of engines and boilers, civil engineers and others 

 versed in these sidyects, we have received numerous communications, to some 

 of which reference has already been made in our review of various accidents. 

 It is difficult to classify the opinions of these gentlemen. One of two only of 

 them thinU that any system of inspection would be intolerable, or practically 

 useless ; some ascrilte all accidents to the sheer carelessness of those in charge, 

 ami detail special instances ; most refer to the want of frequency in the re- 

 pairs of boilers, and to the danger resulting from owuers or agents working 

 them too long ; nearly all testify to the frequent incapacity of engine-men, 

 and several to the necessity of examiiung them as to their knowledge and 

 moral conduct, and allowing them to act only under license ; some suggest 

 that it woulil he sufficient, or of advantage, to emjdoy a competent person to 

 investigate the causes of an accident after it has occurred. The subject, as a 

 w hole, is elaborately and scientifically treated by several of this class of cor- 

 respondents, particularly by Messrs. Maudslay and Field, N. Harvey, J. C. 

 Enys, J. S. Russell, J. Oldham, E. Gilbert, jQhn Seaward and Co. and others. 

 These eonnnunieations will he perused with interest, emanating as they do 

 from a body of practical men engaged in the advancement of engineering 

 science, a large ])roportiou of whom suggest the employment of surveyors 

 both of hidl and machinery, as likely to obviate or diminish the occurrence 

 of accidents. Messrs. Maudslay and Field conclude their observations as 

 f<]|lows : — 



" An occasional inspection, conducted by authorized and well-qualified 

 persons, on liheral prinoiples, so as not to he inquisitorial, or impede improve- 

 ment, would have the effect of keejiing up the attention of companies and 

 owners, as well as of engineers, to the consideration of safety in the con- 



structing, managing, and working of steamers ; a subject which, from want 

 of consideration, ignorance, or cupidity, is often overlooked or disregarded. 



Many desiderata to perfect the equipment and saiUng qualities of steamers 

 are pointed out Ijy these gentlemen, particularly a convenient and rapid means 

 oi dtsengaginrj the paddle-wheels from the engines, which, wiien i)ermanently 

 attached to them, offer so great an obstruction to the progress of a ship, as 

 to render sails comparatively useless. It has been ascertained that wiicii 

 paddle-wheels are disengaged, steamers under sail have been able to cope in 

 speed, and in facility of mauocuvering, with other ships. 



The importance of fitting the condenser with a pipe to draw water fiom the 

 bilge, in the event of a serious leakage, or shipping a sea, &c., is strongly 

 advised, as a powerful means of preventing a common cause of WTCck and 

 foundering. Engines require a greater supply of water to condense the stcatu 

 at each stroke, than could be removed by all the pumps which it is convenient 

 to attach to them ; the condenser, therefore, is the nmst rapid evaeuator of 

 water, in case of need. This simple apparatus is now fixed in the best en- 

 gineered steamers, and cannot he too strongly recommended as an appliance 

 to all. 



Heavier and more efficient ground tackling, a better equipment of sails, a 

 larger number and better quality o iboats (particidarly of life-boats, life-pre- 

 serving apparatus, signal rockets, &c.) are alluded to by f liese and many other 

 correspondents as desirable in steamers. An ingenious plan for the stowage 

 of boats forming the cover of paddle-boxes has lately been invented by Cap- 

 tain George Smith, R. N., with the view of enabling a vessel to carry a larger 

 number of boats without inconvenience. 



The necessity of a complete and universally obeyed code of night-signals' 

 and of one fixed " rule of the road," forms also a special subject of their 

 remarks. 



Our inqiuries have convinced us that great public advantage vroidd result 

 fi*om the adoption of a system of reyislry, periodical survey, and liceivte of 

 steam-vessels. A national registration would he the statistical record of all 

 details of construction both of hull and m.ichinery ; the subsequent ami 

 periodical surveys would ascertain the actual comlition of every vessel at staled 

 jieriods ; aufl access to these documents would furnish accurate knowiedge, of 

 au invaluable nature, to all parties interested in navigation by steam. Shoidd 



