288 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[August, 



in. apart in (he middle, gradually increasing to 18 and 21 inches, so that 

 her sides are but 7 inches thick. "The holler platform is of plate-iron, sup- 

 ported upon ten iron keelsons, the centre ones being 3 ft. 3 in deep. At the 

 engine-room, for the purpose of additional strength, there are 9 intermediate 

 double ribs, and 16 addilional transverse ribs. The joists for the support of 

 the several decks are bars of 3-inch angle iron, with a joist.bar of 5 inches 

 by ' inch rivetted on the side. The distance of the joists are about 2J feet. 

 The" deck planks are fastened to the angle iron by screws from below, and 

 firmly secured at each end to the vertical ribs, which affords a support to the 

 sides, in resisting both external and internal pressure, and are supported 

 lengthwise by longitudinal beams and stanchions. To preserve the hull from 

 springing horizontally, there are diagonal tension bars placed between the 

 angle iron bars and deck planks. The wrought-iron mainshaft was manu- 

 factured at the Mersey Iron Works, and is the largest ever constructed, 

 weighing about 16 tons. Her pumps will be worked by machinery, and will 

 be capable of throwing off 7000 gallons per minute. 



Tin: Royal -team Yacht Victoeia and A i.BEP.T. — This vessel, the parti- 

 culars of which we gave in the last June number of the Journal, p. 216, made 

 an experimental trip down the river on the 18th ult ; when off Sheerness, 

 Commander Smith tried the speed of the vessel by the log and found it to 

 be about 12 knots or nearly 15 statute miles per hour, the engines at the 

 time making IS strokes per minute. Her engines are collectively of 400 

 horse power ; they reflect the highest credit upon Messrs. Maudslays and 

 Field, the emnent engineers, for the superiority and beauty of their work- 

 manship; they are upon the direct action-principle, with double cylinders, as 

 patented by Mr. Joseph Maudslay and Mr. Joshua Field, and described in 

 the Journal. Vol. hi., p. 73, accompanied by engravings. Although this 

 was only the first trial, the engines performed their duty with a smooth- 

 ness and" ease which showed bow correctly they had been fitted and applied 

 to each other, and worked so perfectly, that scarcely the least motion 

 could be felt above the engine-room, and not the slightest symptom of 

 tremulous motion. As a whole, they are superior to any they have hitherto 

 made, as with them are combined every really valuable inveniton in that 

 department of the application of steam-power in the royal or mercantile 

 navies of this or any other country. They have brine or change pumps, to 

 prevent the deposit of salt when u ing sea water, refrigerators to cool the 

 water by extracting the heat from it before it goes overboard, expansion 

 gear by which the steam can be used more economically ; but the boilers pro- 

 duce an ample quantity for full speed without this resource. The engines are 

 compact and occupy but a very small space in the vessel, compared with 

 their great power to move paddle-wheels 10 feet 6 inches broad and 31 feet 

 diameter, including the feathering boards. The engine-room is surrounded 

 by water-tight bulkheads, and not the least heat is communicated from the 

 es to any other part of the vessel, and their presence is not perceptible 

 in the rooms adjoining them. The vessel is now at Sheerness, and is ex- 

 pected to be completed in the course of the present month, and res 

 sea. We hope to be able shortly to give full particulars of both the vessel 

 and her engines. 



British Steam Fbigate " Penelope.'' — This extraordinary ship, which 

 has created so much interest m the nautical world, by being cut in half and 

 lengthened 63 feet amidships, and transformed from a sailing t 



is now ready. The engines are el. There 



are t.io of them, conjointly being nearly 700 in., although the nominal 

 power is only 620 horse, the velocity of the piston being taken at 220 ire' 

 per minute. The diameter of the cylinder is 92 inches, and the length of 

 stroke nearly 7 feet. Every part of the engines and boilers is made ad< 

 in capacity and strength for 700 u.r. The engines are made upon what is 



I upon the same plan as the en 

 •be Cyclops, Gorgon, and other steam frigates in her Mai sty's steam marine. 

 The coin ,n. ir s are made upon the tubular plan of M 



ire two of them, each containing 7000 tubes, each 6 feet 8 inc\ 

 The cold water is forced through the tubular condensers by foui 

 action pumps, worked by rods connected to the air-pump cross-head 

 cylinders have four distinct slide-valves, two for the admission of steam, and 



i the escape of the steam to tl gear for working 



the slides is so arranged that the admi i into the cylinder may 



be cut oil at one-th.ii 1 or three-fourths of the . n 1 e, or at any intermediate 

 portion. The diameter of her paddle-wheels is 31 feet. There 

 boilers on the tubular plan, each having five fire plac arranged 



i rays in the vessel with the lire places (10 of aside) facing Ihi 

 ..1 the vessel, SO tin' the two stoke holes Ol tiring places are, one on the 



lie vessi I. In a recess formed 

 the. two foremost boilers is the step for the ma 

 stands nearly in the centre of the engine and boiler room. The chit 

 placed at the after end of the two after boilers at a distance ol l" 

 clear abaft the main mast. The I .lei have each separate safetj 

 shut- off valves, feed pipes, and other apparatus, so that any one. tv i 

 or the whole four ran be used at tin 



machinery, including the j er in the 



boilers, is stated to be 435 tons : each ol the b 11 tons, 



and is 22 inches in diameter. The engines are furnished w ilh a disc: 

 apparatus, b) means of winch hepaddle-i liei ih, can at any 



t me be disconnected from the engines. The chimney of the boiler is ar- 



I like a telescope funnel in two parts to slide into i.r shut up one within 

 tlier. She will have three masts, and be rigged in every other 

 i ispect as a sailing vessel, with 'lie exception that the yards connected with 

 the mizen mis' will be struck, and only hoisted when required to I E 

 I Trial of her Speed t ou k place on i .. b June, when she went 



lie river as far as Queenhithe ; during her trial the paddle-wheels 

 made Hi revolutions per minute : and Iter speed is reported to have been be- 

 tween 10 and 1 1 miles per h iur. A second trial took place on the following 

 y, when some ot the 1. ids i ommisstonera ol the Admiralty at- 

 tended; in trying her speed over the measured mile, which was repeated 

 four times, her maximum rate is reported to be 13'S miles per hour with the 



tide, and her minimum speed 103 miles per hour. On her return she per- 

 formed the distance, from Erith to Blackwall, of 11 miles, exactly within 

 the hour, the tide being against her. 



The Mermaid. — On the 20th ult. the Mermaid, the vessel of which wc 

 have heard such favourable accounts, passed through London Bridge in the 

 morning and reached Woolwich Dockyard half an hour afterwards. We un- 

 derstand that she is to be fitted for foreign service immediately, and the 

 voyage out will afford an excellent opportunity of testing her qualities as a 

 sea boat. The experience already acquired with the Archimedes, the Great 

 I, and the Napoleon, a beautiful French corvette, lias shewn their 

 superiority over the old and cumbersome paddle-wheel system. TheA/er- 

 maid, we understand, is fitted up with two beautiful engii es, with a propeller 

 upon a new principle, and having been repeatedly tried at the measured mile, 

 down the river, has been found to go thirteen miles through ihe water. 

 She has gone from Sheerness to Blackwall. with tide, in two hours and three- 

 zuarters, ihe distance being forty-two miles; and the fact of her having 

 beaten, severally, the fastest boats on the river, mounted with paddle-wheels 

 and engines of a superior power, has completely set the question at rest 

 as to the superiority of ihe stern propeller over the paddle wheels, and over 

 every other description of propeller hitherto tried. The Archimedes and 

 Great Northern never exceeded 10 miles an hour, unaided by sails. The 

 Napoleon is said to have g< ne 12 m in the hour, and the French Government 

 are so elated by Ihe success of tins vessel, that they have already ordered 

 others to be constructed. himensions of llie Mermaid: — Length of vessel, 

 1301t.; breadth. 16ft 6 in. ; depth, It.; tonnage, 164 ; power e f each engine, 

 bt of engines, boilers, &c, 46 ions; speed, 13 miles. The pro- 

 peller is of cast-iron, oft. 8 in. diameter, according to Mr. Kennie's plan.— K. 

 •• Hf.rne " Steamer. — This fine vessel, built of iron for the Heme Bay 

 t O mpany, by Messrs. Ditchburn &: Mair, and furnished with 

 engines by Messrs. Boulton, Watt, & Co., is now running between Blackwall 

 and Margate, and performing remarkably quick passages. The following are 

 particulai ruction: — Length between perpendiculars, 1SS ft 6 in. 



■ of beam. 21 ft. 6 in. and depth in hold ; 10ft. burthen 355 tons. Power 

 two 80-horse engines; cylinders 43J inches diameter, 3 ft. 6 in. stroke ; paddle 

 wheel 18ft. 6 in. diameter by 11 It. over, depth of boards 16 in., and 20 in. 

 each. Boiler of the tubular Kind. Draft of water, 6ft. 2 in. Immersed sec- 

 li m. 102 ft. The first passage made on the 27th June, was against the tide 

 end. the remainder with ebb, ihe wind light and against. Starting 

 It unswick Wharf at 12h. 3 m., reached Gravesend by 1 h. 27 m„ equal 

 1 h. 24m., distance 20 miles, equal 11 3 in. per hour. The entire passage was 

 accomplished in 3h. 50m., being at the mean rate of 15*7 miles per hour, the 

 r.g 29 strokes per minute. The return passage on the 28th, 

 wnb the Hood, s'.minj; from the bay at 7h. 38m. wind N.K. 

 reaching Gravesend at 10 h. 3m. and Brunswick Wharl at 11 h. 14m 

 3 h. 36m. for the whole distance, equal 10 7 miles per hour. The tide from 

 Gravesend to the Brunswick Her was about as much in favour as the run was 

 . as no trial at the measured mile was made, the average of the 

 the speed in still water, viz. on the 27th, from Bruns- 

 tidi in 84 m. equal 143 miles ; from Graves- 

 Brunswick pier, with tide, in 71m. equal 15 6 miles speed in siill 

 •lion ol 102 feet. Since then she has frequently 

 between the Brunswick pier and Gravesend in 67, 6o, 

 minutes with the tide, and her pi i from the Hay average 



3 hours i i he consumption of coal is moderate fir a boiler of the 



le.UiLr construction, being under 5 lb. indicator per horse per hour. 



MISCELLANEA. 



■ s Patent Rotary Engine. — At the Society of Arts, on Wednesday 

 Mr. Whisbaw (the secretary) read a paper " On the New 

 ." invented by Messrs. l.T. & B. Beale. of East Greenwich, 

 i. 181 j I be'engine described by Mr. Whishaw is one which 

 i work on Messrs. Beale's premises, at Bast Greenwich. It 

 . of an iron case 14 inches diameter, and 0J inches in thickness It 

 wa.s stated that it drives a surface-lathe, weighing 24 tons; a planing ma- 

 two smaller planing machines; three drilling machines; a 

 . : key-way cutting machine; twelve large self-acting lathes; 

 a two-foot circular saw ; a shaping macb ne i a punch- 

 ing and shearing press, capable of punching thirty holes per minute; two 

 i fan, r'iving 1600 revolutions per minute ; and a twelve 



n eli air-pump. The boiler is of the common egg-shaped description ; and. 

 f r the performance of the above work, 560 lo. ot coal is used in (en hutirs. 

 le has an iron pinnace, fitted wnb one ol bis patent engines, same 

 ; 'g ing ; she is 38 eel long, bit. 6 in. beam, and" 4 ft. deep, 

 2 feet of water, and goes nearly ten miles per hour 

 a the water, although the lines of the boat are greatly at van . 

 the acquirement of a high velocity, being intended for a man-of-war's pm- 

 . ice, and having a midship section equal to nine superficial feet underwater; 

 she is double bottomed, w hich forms a condenser to the engine, which i 

 supplied by one ot Ins patent boilers—a cylinder '.) feet ill diameter, and in 

 which i ill an inch in diameter, and 39 inches 



long, and the height from ash-pit to dome cover dies not exceed 9 feet; she 

 is propelled by four segments of a screw, placed upon an open-ended cylin- 

 der, and is 24J inches ia diameter. Several members of the Society of Arts 

 made an experimental trip up the river, and completely proved the superior 

 power of the engine, while the extraordinary facility with which the motion 

 can be reversed, by instantly convening the induction into the eduction pipe 

 and vice versa, is ol the utmost importance in the traffic of a crowded river. 



A new Gas Light— MM. Rouen and Busson, of Paris, are the patentees 

 of a mode I by means of a self -generating gas. The substance em- 



ployed is coal naphtha, an essence obtained from the distillation of the coal 



