1843.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



UH 



STEAM NAVIGATION 



"VIRAGO" STEAM FRIGATE. 



The Virago is one of the second class frigates belonging to our service. 

 Her dimensions are as follow: — Length between perpendiculars, 180 ft.; 

 keel, 156 ft. ; extreme breadth, 36 ft. ; breadth for tonnage, 35 ft. 8£in. ; 

 moulded breadth, 35 ft. ; depth in hold, 21 ft. ; tonnage, 994, M. n. She is 

 fitted with two engines, of the collective power of 300 horses, manufactured 

 by Messrs. Boulton, Watt, and Co., which are eminently novel in their 

 arrangement, occupying less space than any yet employed in her Majesty's 

 navy or otherwise; combining great strength with lightness of construction — 

 facility of access to all the working parts with a ready and simple mode of 

 handling them, being stopped and started with as much ease as if they were 

 intended for river use. Each cylinder is supported upon a foundation plate 

 connected with the condensers, situated in the middle line, forming one 

 casting, and containing the two air pumps, which are worked by an auxiliary 

 beam from a crank on the engine shaft ; this arrangement having been first 

 adopted by them as far back as June, 1841 (see our Journal, Feb. 1842), 

 and which arrangement they have patented with other improvements in the 

 oscillating engine. The steam can be expanded at various parts of the 

 stroke, and the valves for that purpose are simple, and work without the 

 usual noise attending those generally employed. There are four boilers, 

 situated close to each other, but having a clear passage round the sides of 

 18 inches in width. They have stop-valves to each, so that they may be 

 worked separate or together, as occasion may require. There are 16 fire 

 places, and two firing floors — one forward, towards the engines, the other 

 abaft — -to which access is afforded by the above mentioned passage of 18 

 inches. The chimney is surrounded by a water case, from which the boilers 

 are fed with water at nearly a boiling temperature, by which a saving of fuel 

 is effected, and the risk of fire diminished. This plan was originally adopted 

 by this firm shortly after the destruction of the Prince Regent by fire in 

 1817. 



The entire of the boilers and steam-chest is covered with felt, two inches 

 in thickness, sewed on to canvas, protected by inch deal with iron tongues, 

 and finally coated with sheet lead to prevent any leak from the deck satu- 

 rating either the wood or the felt. On each side of the engine and boilers 

 are ranged the coal boxes, extending from bulkhead to bulkhead, and calcu- 

 lated to hold 23 days' consumption; the machinery is there protected from 

 shot by the thickness of the stratum of coal, while the greater part of the 

 engine is considerably below the load line. 



The following are some of the principal dimensions of the engines : — 

 Diameter of cylinders, 64} in. ; length of stroke, 5 ft. ; connecting rod, 8 ft. ; 

 diameter of paddle wheel, 25 ft. ; boards, 8 ft. long in two widths, each 

 12 in. The entire weight of these engines, boilers, and coal boxes, are 15 

 tons under that given to the Admiralty in the tender, being little more than 

 13J cwt. per horse. 



On the 11th instant an experimental trip, for a short distance down the 

 river, was made in the presence of the government engineers, with which we 

 understand they were perfectly satisfied. They will shortly proceed to 

 Chatham, to be fitted with her rigging, &c, when it is presumed she will be 

 forthwith commissioned. 



The " Great Britain." — At a meeting of the Proprietors, held last month, 

 the Directors reported that The Great Britain is in a very forward state. 

 The frame ami hull are complete. The while of the upper decks, as well as 

 the decks of the forecastle, foreeabins, and aftercabins. are laid and caulked ; 

 nearly the whole of the state rooms, and oilier joiner's work, is finished. 

 The lorehold, afterhold, and iron coal decks before the boilers and abaft the 

 engines, are nearly finished. The boilers and funnel are fixed in their 

 places, as are the cylinders, condensers, air-pumps, and other weighty parts 

 of the engines. To add to her strength and diminish the apprehension of 

 (ire. the decks anil partitions of the body of the ship occupied by the en- 

 gines, &c.. will be fitted up in iron. Nearly all the masts and spars are 

 made, and should nothing unforeseen arise, she may be Moated out within 

 three months.— [The Directors take good care that the public shall be kept 

 in ignorance of their proceedings as much as possible; for they will not 

 allow any i ne to inspect the vessel or their works at Bristol, without an 

 order signed by two Directors, and a contribution of 5s. towards the sick 

 fund ot ihe workmen. Whoever heard of such a demand? Government 

 allow the public freely to view all the works that are going forward in the 

 public docks, an;! most of our first engineers will permit any respectable 

 person to visit their works without such an extortionate demand. Lately a 

 profes sional gentliman applied at the works for admission, and obtained an 

 order fr in the Managing Diiector tor his admittance, but was told by the 

 poller that he must first pay 5s. for his admittance, which he very properly 

 dcelim d to pay, and consequently left in disgust without seeing the vessel. — 

 EniTOR.] 



The " Penelope"' Steam Frigate.— This large Man. of- War Frigate. 

 which lias been lei g'hened tor the purpose of converting it into a first-class 

 steam frigate, has been towed up the river Thames from Chatham to Messrs. 

 Seaw aid's Whurt at Limehouse, to receive her engines. The engines are 

 constructed on the (Jorgon direct action principle, und occupy, comparatively 

 speaking, a very small space lor engines of th»ir magnitude. The cylinders 

 are 92 inches diameter, and 7 feet stroke, at 17 strokes per minute, the col- 

 lective nominal power of the two engines is 6S0 horses, but she can Le 



worked up to 750 or 800 n. e without incurring the slightest risk. She is 

 fitted with Hall's patent condensers, and an ingenious contrivance for altering 

 the throw of the eccentric rod whi h works 'he steam valves, by this con- 

 trivance the steam can be expanded to any degree, without the aid of an ex- 

 pansion valve ; the air-pumps are of solid brass ; there is also an ingenious con- 

 trivance for disconnecting the paddle-wheel shafts different to any be.ore 

 adopted. There are four boilers, whi h are tubular and only 9 feet lung ; to* 

 fire-grate is under the boiW ; the fire rises front the grate up the hick and 

 returns through the tube to the front, it then returns again over the top to 

 the up-take in the centre of the four boilers, which are placed in pairs, hack 

 to back. The chimney funnel is made like a telescope, the upper half slides 

 down. When the vessel is completed, we hope that w shall be able to give 

 a more minute description of the several improvements that we have now 

 but slightly alluded to. 



The Hinoostan Steam-ship.— This steamer, it will be remembered, left 

 Southampton on the 24th September for Calcutta She arrived at Madras 

 on the 20lh of December, having, including delays at the various interme- 

 diate ports of call, made the passage in 87 days. The time she was und-r 

 stearn was under 6U days, leaving 27 for stoppages and delays. She averaged 

 200 miles per day. She had 110 passengers to the Mauritius, and landed 25 

 at Point de Galla, Ceylon. The Hindostan proceeded on to Calcutta, whence 

 she was to sail on the 14th of January for Suez. Captain Moresby, the 

 commander, gives the following account of her performance on the voyage 

 from England to India : — " This vessel is uncommonly easy in a heart sea 

 and contrary winds : she then shows off her power and good qualities to ad- 

 vantage ; she neither rolls nor pitches much, steers well, and is easily 

 managed in turning; sail when set does not increase her speed much, b.-yoml 

 what full power of steam will give her ; it has one advantage — sail when set. 

 the vessel requires less steam, therefore a saving of fuel. With a beam swell 

 she seldom rolls at all ; when s'eaming head to sea and wind, is very dry on 

 deck, and does not take in water forward— instance the voyage from Ascen- 

 sion to the Cape of Good Hope against a slrong south-east trade wind, she: 

 averaged against wind and current 10fl miles per A.i\ . The north-east mon- 

 soon from Ceylon (Point de Galla) to Madras lias been s rung with a head 

 sea against her and a current of 22 to 24 miles per day against her ; yet she 

 has made the distance in three days one hour." 



Steam Navigation. — During the last month, a ne* J steam vessel, fitted 

 with a single engine of 30 horse power, has made several trips up and down 

 the river. She has been built for the Watermen's Steam Packet Company 

 by Mr. David Napier, of Millwall. whose two fast boats, the Eclipse, an I the 

 Isle of Tltanet. excited great attention on the Ramsgate and Margate station 

 last year. The hull of the new vessel is formed ot iron, and has a false bot- 

 tom, w Inch forms a condenser. The steam passes into the condenser, and 

 cold water under and over it. The machinery occupies a very small space, 

 and the consumption of fuel does not exceed a ton and a half per day. With 

 these very small means. Mr. Napier has succeeded in obtaining an extraordi- 

 nary speed. Her ordinary speed with the tide is stated to be 18 miles an 

 hour; but she is said to have actually proceeded down the river with the 

 ebb tide at the rate of 19 or 20 miles an hour. In one of her recent trips she 

 performed the distance from London Bridge to Greenwich Hospital, exactly 

 5 miles, in 16 minutes, and on the following afternoon the same distance was 

 effected in one minute less. She is to be called Waterman, No. 9, and is in- 

 tended to ply between the Adelphi pier and Woolwich. 



The largest Steam Frigate in the Navy. — The Lords Commissioners of 

 the Admiralty last year approved of a plat) submitted by Mr. Oliver Lang, Mas- 

 ter-shipwright of the Woolwich Dockyard, ot a steam frigate on a far larger 

 scale of dimensions and power than any hitherto constructed, and ordered 

 her to be built at Woolwich, and named the Terrible. It is now contem- 

 plated that this splendid steam frigate shall be built at Deptford Dockyard 

 on the same slip from which the Worcester 50 gun ship will shortly be 

 launched. She is to be of the following dimensions: — 



Feet. Inches. 

 Length between perdendiculars . . . . 226 



Keel for tonnage 196 10J 



Breadth extreme 42 



Depth in hold 27 



Burden in tons 1847 



She is to be supplied with Maulslay and Field's patent double cylinder 

 marine engines of 800 n. p. The cylinders will be 72 inches in diameter, and 

 the erection ot the engines alone has been contracted for at the cost, in- 

 cluding the boilers, of the large sum of £40,250. The engine-room will be 

 of the following splendid dimensions: — 75 ft. long, 38 ft. broad, and 27 it, 

 deep; and the weight of the engines and requisite gear connected with 

 them will be upwards of 500 tons. The diameter of the paddle-wheels ,si 

 to be 34 ft. by 13 ft. in breadth. The coal-boxes will contain 800 tons of 

 coals; and altogether this great vessel will far exceed in length and other 

 important points the largest ship-of-the-hne ever constructed m this Coun- 

 try. — Times. 



St. Petersburg.— A joint-stock company has been formed for the purpose- 

 of establishing a communication by steam boats along the south coast of 

 Lake Ladoga, between Sehrasselburg and Sermar, at the mouth of the Sadir, 

 and along the coasi of Friedland, between Schhisselburg and Seat bol • tin 

 boat to touch at Kexholm. and the coasts if Lennowetr. and Walgam. Al 

 present 800 vessels from Sermur annually navigate the lake. 



Portsmouth Dock-yard.— The Hon. Captain Corry, one of the Lords of 

 the Admiralty, and Captain Brandreth, of the Royal Engineers, the Civil 

 Engineer to the Admiralty, hive visited this duck-yard during the last 

 month upon official business, it is understood that one of the objects they 

 had in view was to ascertain the most eligible position at the north part ol 

 the yard to make a basin lor steam vessel;, of the largest class, as the Com- 

 missioners of the Admiralty have it in contemplation to mike lb. spoil, as 

 well as Woolwich, a rendezvous for the equipment ol steamers. A site has 

 been selected which it is considered will answer the purpose. _ 



