Figure 2. — The United States National Museum's new model of the Savannah. This model was 

 built by Arthur Henning, Inc., of New York City, from the ship's plans as reconstructed 

 by staff members of the Museum's division of transportation. {USNM 319026.) 



tonnage is stated on the exhibit card to have been 

 about 350 tons, old measurement. The model has 

 crude wooden side paddles of the radial type, a tall 

 straight smokestack between fore and main masts, a 

 small deckhouse forward of the stack, a raised quarter- 

 deck, and a round stern. 



The first step in the research for creating a more 

 faithful representation of the Savannah was to obtain 

 the customhouse description of the ship. It was 

 readily established that she was built as a sailing 

 packet ship by the Fickett and Crockett shipyard * at 

 Corlaer's Hook, East River, New York, and that she 

 was launched August 22, 1818. Her register shows 

 that she was 98 feet 6 inches in length between 

 perpendiculars, 25 feet 10 inches in beam, 14 feet 2 



64 



inches depth in hold, of 319 70/94 tons burthen, and 

 with square stern, round tuck, no quarter galleries, 

 and a man's bust figurehead. 



These dimensions of the Savannah required the 

 researchers to investigate the method of taking register 

 ditnensions in 1818. It was found that the custom- 

 house rule then in effect measured length between 



* Robert Greenhalgh Albion, Square Riggers on Schedule, 

 Princeton, New Jersey, 1938. Between the years 1817 and 

 1837 the yard of Fickett and Crockett also operated at various 

 times under the name of S. & F. Fickett and the name of Fickett 

 and Thomas. The yard appears to have specialized in the 

 construction of coastal packet ships, because only 4 ocean 

 packets, against 24 coastal packets, were built by the various 

 partnerships in which Fickett was a member. 



BULLETIN 228: CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE MUSEUM OF HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 



