SHIPBUILDING 



trade, whose annual races home excited so much 

 interest, were built on thU M stem ; and in the 

 royal navy the composite system still obtains 

 for smaller-sized vessels, and even for the larger 

 and swifter iron and ateel cruisers having an 

 inner metallic skin. Amongst the innumerable 

 attempts to remedy the fouling of it on ships some 

 ha\e iM-en directed towards attaching protective 

 sheathing copper or zinc indirectly or directly to 

 tin 1 iron shell, out commercial and practical ciitii- 

 cultiea have defeated these efforts ; and in spite of 

 countless specifics proposed, it would seem as if 

 frequent docking and careful coating of the hull 

 with the most approved paints and compositions 

 were the best protection. 



The Art of Shipbuilding. The employment of 

 iron for constructional purposes and the simul- 

 taneous extension of the use of machinery re- 

 volutionised the art of shipbuilding. The manip- 

 ulation of this malleable material and of its still 

 more ductile successor, mild steel especially with 

 the aid of steam machinery is simplicity itself 

 compared with the elaborate hewing and fashioning 

 of timber requisite in wood shipbuilding. Take, 

 for example, one of the more important parts of a 

 ship's structure, the rib or frame. In a wooden 

 vessel it is a matter of careful and skilful work- 

 manship to saw or hew from the rough logs 

 approximately curved timbers, many of which have 

 to be combined to form a single rib. In an iron 

 ship, on the other hand, the angle-bars used for 

 frames are simply heated in a furnace and then 

 bent to the required curve, each frame in its com- 

 plete form consisting of the simplest possible com- 

 bination of angle-bars and a plate or plates for the 

 floor. The iron-manufacturer anticipates the wants 

 of the iron shipbuilder, ami supplies the material 

 approximately of the very forms and dimensions 

 in which it enters into the structure, thus diminish- 

 ing the work of trimming and preparation to a 

 minimum. Machinery too has discounted and dis- 

 placed handicraft skill in the iron shipbuilding 

 yard. Iron plates ami bars are punched, sheared, 

 drilled, planed, and bent by simple and suitable 

 machines managed by comparatively unskilleil 

 hands. One or two skilled workmen, assisted by 

 several unskilled labourers, can rapidly perform 

 in iron operations corresponding to those which 

 in wood would necessitate the handicraft skill 

 and prolonged efforts of many trained shipwrights. 

 Division of lalmur also enters into the economy 

 of iron shipbuilding to a much greater extent 

 than in wood shipbuilding. The shipwright, as 

 his name implies, re-ally builds the ship, other 

 tradesmen merely aiding in the fittings and 

 equipments; whereas in the case of iron ship 

 building there is no correspondingly prominent 

 artificer of the ' all round ' type, the work being 

 apportioned among machine-aided ironworkers, 

 joiners, and carpenters. Shipbuilding may. in 

 these respects, be said to have lost dignity as an 

 art. It is otherwise, however, when we regard 

 iron shipbuilding as an industry and the modern 

 steamship as a product of science. The rate of 

 production U accelerated tenfold compared with 

 what it was even in the palmiest days of wood 

 shipbuilding ; and in point of size and perfection 

 of equipment the magnificent mail-steamers and 

 ]H>nilerous ironclads produced almost daily from 

 'I* of our busiest shipbuilding centres dwarf 

 almost into insignificance thu achievements of 

 former times. 



The undertaking of a new vessel in modern times 

 originates as a general rule, with (!> shi|>owner ; 

 mill from his ev|>cricnec a* to the needs of the case 

 he submits to the professional marine architect (as 

 distinct !>..n, the shipbuilder; in business for him- 

 self, or sometimes the exclusive servant of the 



shipowner) the main regulating conditions ,,f 

 design e.g. the principal dimensions, the struc- 

 tural type, the cargo to be carried, or the speed to 

 , lie attained on a given draught of water. From 

 these and other fundamental data the architect is 

 enabled to prepare a suitable design and a detailed 

 specification, which the owner can lay In-fore one or 

 more builders and obtain prices. Even when- this is 

 the procedure adopted and a given builder has been 

 fixed upon, there always remains a goodly amount 

 of designing work to be done in connection with 

 details and with the preparation of working draw- 

 ings' to guide the workmen in the shipyard, '('his 

 MCessitv h.-i- existed s, liing. ; U i<l building firms 

 have evinced such readiness to requisition their 

 staff of draughtsmen on behalf of owners desirous 

 of building, that at the present day quite three- 

 fourths of the necessary designing is willingly un- 

 dertaken by shipbuilding firms who see some chance 

 of their securing the order to build. \Ve may 

 follow the development of a typical modern vessel 

 from the time she is ordered until she is ' handed 

 over' complete to her owners, on the supposition 

 that the whole of the work connected with her is 

 undertaken by one firm of builders, who are also 

 marine-engineers. The first step is the preparation 

 of 'constructional' or 'draught plans, showing by 

 a series of curved and straight lines the contour (if 

 the ship's hull, on three distinct planes, represented 

 by (1) the 'sheer-plan' or longitudinal ele\ation, 

 showing the lines of length and height from stem 

 to stern; (2) the 'half-breadth plan,' showing the 

 lines of length and breadth, or, in other words, 

 those lines corresponding to the margin of the 

 Decks (q.v.) as they would present themselves to 

 an observer looking down on the skeleton of the 

 vessel from an elevation; (3) the 'body-plan,' 

 which shows all lines of breadth and height visible 

 to one looking at the framework of the vessel 

 ' end on. ' 



Following upon the design of the hull form or 

 even preceding it is the preparation of a ' midship 

 section* showing the transverse contour of the 

 vessel amidships, and the thickness of the various 

 parts which go towards constituting the structure 

 (see specimen midship section shown by fig. 5). 

 If the vessel is to be ' classed at Lloyd 's ' as the 

 majority of vessels at the present day are in order 

 to facilitate its insurance by the underwriters, this 

 'midship' or 'scantling section ' is despatched to 

 Lloyd's Registry of Shipping, with the scantlings 

 approved for the particular class ' 100 A,' '90 A,' 

 &c. which the owners or builders may desire. 

 The practice of classing at Lloyd's (q.v.) is most 

 advantageous in several ways. 'Not only does it 

 serve the owner as a 'patent royal ' in all subse- 

 quent negotiations connected with insuring the 

 vessel and her cargo, but incidentally it relieves 

 the designer and builder of a great amount of cal- 

 culation and concern connected with living the 

 requisite size and pro|>er grouping of the parts con- 

 stituting the structure. Klaln>rate codes of rules 

 have been formulated, and are issued annually by 

 Lloyd's (see LLOYD'S). 



When once the hull form is delineated on paper, 

 a wood model or small-scale duplicate of the hull 

 is prepared, which, besides showing more clearly to 

 the eye the exterior form of the ship, is available 

 for various constructional purpose-, i >n its surface 



are marked vertical lines fr keel to gunwale, 



representing the frames at. equal distances apart 

 (iM inches in small vessels to '.M and 'Jl> inches in 

 large) from the stern-post to the stem. \cross 

 these, and in a longitudinal direction from stern 

 to stem, lines are drawn representing the edges 

 of shell plating, which is arranged in 'st rakes' 

 analogous to the planking in a wood ship, each 

 stroke being divided throughout by 'butts' into 



