610 



Mill'- BUI LDiN<i 



days after the keel was laid. The Novelty Iron 

 Work* built a large iron steamer the same Tear, and 

 four iron screw vessels were begun at the Morgan 

 Iron Works. Prices, wages, and taxes are now 

 gainst the building of iron ships at New York, 

 though there are a number of large machine shops 

 derotad almost entirely to marine-engine work. The 

 home of the ship- builder is the Delaware the Clyde 

 of America. Here there is the water-front, railroad 

 facilities, trained labor, good climate, and freshwater, 

 with coal ami iron almost within reach. It is but 

 natural that here we should find the best ship-yards 

 of the country. One of the earliest iron boats, after 

 the Codorus, 'wan a small barge built by Jefute Starr, 

 half a mile from the river and hauled down to the 

 water. The work was mainly done by the largo 

 boiler-makers, tho hulls being designed and laid 

 down on the uionld-loft floor by practical ship- 

 builders. With the earlier vessels there was a great 

 waste of material, the plates being ordered from the 

 girth at the greatest section, considered as carried to 

 the ends, and the first to suggest and carry into suc- 

 cessful execution the measurement of the sizes of 

 each plate from a model of the vessel, npou which 

 the plates were drawn out, was Charles H. Cramp, of 

 Philadelphia ; a great saving was effected, and thin 

 method of ordering material was at once adopted. 



It was not till the beginning of the civil war, how- 

 ever, that Philadelphia began to forge ahead of 

 New York ; but, large ships being then needed, Wm. 

 Cramp fitted np his wooden ship-yard with machi- 

 nery capable of making iron plates and frames. Tho 

 first vessel was the New Ironsides, an iron-clad 

 wooden ship (see IBONCIJADS). When first? contracted 

 for, her timbers were still growing in the woods, but 

 he was completed in six months; and, due to the 

 foresight of her builders, she was able to carry a 

 much heavier battery than was first intended. The 

 monitor Yazoo was built at this yard, and a great 

 deal of other government work. The plant was 

 gradually improved, and in 1872 a contract was en- 

 tered into for the construction of four steamers for 

 the American line for 82,400,000. These were most 

 excellent specimens of American workmanship, and 

 were so well built as to obtain the most favorable 

 rating in the English insurance companies. 



After the completion of these vessels wooden ship- 

 building was given np by the Cramps, and since that 

 time they have built four fast cruisers for the Rus- 

 sian government and a number of large steamers and 

 vachts, the best known of the hitter being the Ata- 

 lanta. Corsair, and Stranger. One of the finest 

 freight steamers afloat, the Herman Winters, was 

 built by this firm ; and the twin-screw passenger 

 steamer Mnnmouth is the first of her class, and by 

 her success will probably cause the paddle, to give 

 place to tho screw in many coses. The large coast- 

 ing steamer Iroqnois is an excellent example of a 

 well-built, comfortable, and speedy vessel. Dur- 

 ing Pros. Cleveland's administration the secretary 

 of the navy, Wm. C. Whitney, awarded the con- 

 tracts for five vessels to tho Cramps. Three of these 

 are large, protected steel cruisers, supplied with 

 every modem appliance in construction and arma- 

 ment. These are tho Newark, Baltimore, and Phila- 

 delphia. The Yorktown is a fast steel cruiser of 

 boat 1700 tons displacement. The fifth vessel is 

 the Vesuvius, a dynamite-gun cruiser, armed with 

 three 15-inch dynamite guns capable of throwing 

 projectiles containing 600 pounds of dynamite a dis- 

 tance of two miles. Twenty knots speed were guar- 

 anteed, and the vessel attained on her official trial 

 trip 21.65 knots, or about 25 miles an hour. 



The firm of Neafie 4 Levy has been engaged in 

 the construction of iron vessels for a number of 

 yean. They have turned out many ship* and a vast 

 number of marine engines. 



At Camden a number of iron tups are built each 

 year. At Chester is Roach's ship-yard, covering sev- 

 enty acres and having a fi outage of 2500 feet. 

 Boach first bought the Morgan Iron Works of Now 

 York, and in 1872 bought the property at Chester, 

 the first ship being launched at Chester. Vessels 

 have been built here for the Pacific Mail, the Bra- 

 zilian line, and the coasting trade; also a number < f 

 vessels for the U. 8. government, a number of the 

 small single-tnrreted monitors, the donble-turreted 

 monitors Puritan and Miantonopioh, and the Chica- 

 go, Boston, Atlanta, and Dolphin. 



At Wilmington is the Harlan & Hollingsworth 

 Company, which built the first iron coasting steamer 

 in the United States. This yard has turned out 

 many fine vessels, among them the monitors Amphi- 

 trite, Patopsco, Sangus, and Napa. All sorts i f 

 vessels, from yachts to iion-elads, have been built, 

 among the former the victorious Puritan. 



The Pnsey & Jones Company, of Wilmington, has 

 turned out over a hundred iron vessels, of all t\pes, 

 a feature l>eing made of vessels for river trnllic. 



There isan iron ship-building yard at Locust Point, 

 Baltimore, the Columbian Iron Works and Dry Dock 

 Company. This yard does a great deal of rej>air 

 work, and has bnilt several large ferry -boats, and is 

 now building the gun-boat Petrel for the govern- 

 ment. 



The Union Iron Works have lately been estab- 

 lished at San Francisco, under the management of 

 Irving M. Scott They ore thoroughly well equipped 

 with the best modern tools, and have already en- 

 tered into competition with the older yards of the 

 East for government work, and have obtained con- 

 tracts to build two large steel-protected cruisers, the 

 Charleston and San Francisco. 



There are iron ship-yards at Pittsburg and St. 

 Louis, and on the great lakes at Buffalo, Cleveland, 

 and Wyandotte, the lake steamers comparing favor- 

 ably with vessels built in the yards on the coast. 

 The machinery costs much less in the lake steamers, 

 on account of being used in fresh water. 



Tho United States has now the educated labor 

 and the necessary plants, in private yards, to turn 

 out vessels second to none in the world. The lib- 

 eral spirit of Congress has provided the money, and 

 the Navy Department, by insisting npon having only 

 the best, in material, design, and woiknmnship, has 

 advanced the art of ship-building in this country to 

 such an extent that we lead the rest of the world in 

 everything except the construction of heavy -armored 

 vessels. 



The government has ship-building yards at Ports- 

 mouth, N. H., Boston, Mass., New York, Philadel- 

 phia, Norfolk, and Mare Island, Cnl. The yards at 

 New York, Norfolk, Philadelphia, and Mare Island 

 are to be fitted up to build iron vessels, the first two 

 already having armored vessels to construct. 



The building of the vessels for the navy conies 

 under the cognizance of the Bureau of Construction 

 and Repair. The head of this bureau is Chief Naval 

 Constructor T. D. Wilson, U. 8. N. The machinery 

 comes under the Bureau of Steam Engineering, pre- 

 sided over by Engineer-in-Chief Geo. W. Melville, 

 U. 8. N. 



The capital required in wooden ship-building is 

 not great. Most of the workmen bring their own 

 hand-tools, consisting of broad axes, adzes, sawn. 

 bevels, chisels, calking iron mallets and rules, the 

 builder furnishing the large took, such as cross-cut 

 saws, augers, and belt cutters. In case the yard in 

 supplied with steam, a saw-mill and planer are added. 

 There are yards where large wooden vessels are 

 built where the tools would -not bring 9500. 



With iron ships it is different; here nearly all the 

 tools are furnished by the builder, and many of 

 them are very expensive and require to be run by 



