THE EVOLUTION OF THE LIGHTSHIP. 105 



The results obtained from vessels built to serve as lightships were but little 

 better, for, strange as it may seem, the science of ship design dates from scarcely 

 fifty years ago, and these ships were but the product of arbitrary judgment of the 

 builder or designer. The chief characteristics of the vessels were much the same 

 in all cases, and I found again and again reports of the trying nature of life 

 aboard, and even of the discarding of a vessel, owing to violent movements which 

 rendered it uninhabitable, to say nothing of inefficiency as a light platform. 



In 1856, a paper, "The Form of Stationary Floating Bodies," was read at the 

 Institution of Civil Engineers, London, proposing a circular vessel for a lightship. 

 The discussion which followed developed a wide diversity of opinion as to what 

 form was the most desirable. All the opinions expressed appeared to be founded 

 on assumptions only. Scott Russell, the distinguished naval architect of his day, 

 spoke at some length and said that he "would be inclined to give a lightship great 

 length, with a safe but small section, and extremely fine lines." 



Again in i860 the question of lightship design received serious consideration 

 in England. A "Royal Commission on Lighthouses" was appointed to inquire into 

 matters pertaining to the lighthouse service. In the course of its investigations it 

 sent out a series of questions to the distinguished "scientific men" of the day, in- 

 cluding Rankine, Faraday, Herschel, etc. One of these questions referring to the 

 lightship called for "Opinions on the best form for the hull." The replies were 

 most varied, and showed the indefinite state of the science at the time. Some ad- 

 vocated longer vessels, others shorter ; some recommended much sheer, others less ; 

 some favored bluff bows, others sharp, etc.; while several advised circular hulls 

 moored at the center of gravity. Among the advocates of the last was Professor 

 Rankine, of the Glasgow University. 



A second question, "At what part of the vessel should the moorings enter," 

 elicited a variety of opinions; and hawse holes at a considerable height above the 

 water, close to the water, and also under the water, were proposed. 



M. Leonce Reynaud, a former Director of the French Lighthouse Service, ex- 

 plains the design of the early French lightships in his "Memoir" of 1864. He writes 

 that "the vessels are narrow as compared with their length, so that they may offer 

 as little resistance to the waves as possible ; in the forepart of the vessel their lines, 

 which below the water line are very sharp, spread out above in such a manner as to 

 give them great buoyancy ; the perpendicular section through the middle is almost 

 rectangular ; finally bilge keels placed on each side of the vessel run nearly the entire 

 length, and are designed to reduce the rolling motion as much as possible." 



So the lightship, as a ship, continued with all ships, as a product of opinion 

 merely, for many years. To prevent rolling, it was sometimes fitted with bilge 

 keels. Often there were so many that their efficiency was reduced, and they greatly 

 increased the resistance of the hull and consequently the pull upon the moorings. 

 Other excellent features of design, such as a ballast, for instance, were used 

 to improve the performance of the ship, but used with such a lack of knowledge of 

 their true properties that they actually impaired the general efficiency of the vessel. 



