in Marestier's sketch of the wheel construction. The 

 axle, probably square in cross section, turned only at 

 the bearings and wrist pin. It may have been cast 

 in two parts, each with a crank arm, and then joined 

 by the wrist pin, after the latter had been turned. 



The wheels, shown in much detail in Marestier's 

 sketches of the engine, had flanged hubs to which 

 the pivoted arms or spokes were bolted. The fi.xed 

 arms were integral parts of the outer hubs. The 

 inner flanges were cast with the hubs. To fold the 

 blades, the fixed arms were brought parallel to the 

 rail, then the chain span between each pair of the 

 pivoted blades on top of the wheel was disconnected 

 and a pair of the blades, each way, were dropped on 

 top of the fLxed arms, or blades, and lashed there. 

 The wheel was then given a half-revolution and the 

 process repeated. The wheel could then have been 

 unshipped from the hub by sliding it off the square 

 shaft end after removing, let us suppose, a bolt or pin 

 in the hub. Some writers, like Collins, refer to a 

 "jointed" or "hinged" axle, but Marestier makes no 

 mention of such an arrangement; indeed, his sketch 

 makes a "broken" axle impractical. The wheels 

 could have been removed from the axle and lifted 

 aboard by use of tackles from the main yard ends, or 

 from a fore spencer gaff if it were made long enough. 

 However, as stated in the Russian description, the 

 pivoted blades were removed and stowed aboard, 

 leaving only the two fixed arms in a horizontal posi- 

 tion outboard. This is a far more convenient treat- 

 ment than unshipping the whole wheel, as might be 

 supposed from logbook mention of "shipping" or 

 "unshipping" the wheels. 



There remain some other matters to be explored. 

 The ship was fitted with 32 passenger berths in state- 

 rooms. The passenger accommodations for first class 

 passengers in the early (1820-1830) packets were aft, 

 on the lower deck. The berths would have been 

 about 6 feet 2 inches long, and 2 Jo feet wide. With 

 berths placed athwartships and allowing for cabin 

 bulkheads, there would have remained a space at 

 least 10 to 12 feet wide down the centerline of the 

 ship. This space would have provided space for a 

 mess table and a lounge area. Each stateroom would 

 then have been about 7 feet long fore and aft and 

 could have contained four athwartship berths. The 

 space available abaft the middle of the after cargo 

 hatch would have allowed four staterooms on each 

 side and room at the extreme stern for a small master's 

 cabin, with toilets on each side. The cabin of the 

 mates and stewards, containing two berths each, 



would then have been about abreast of the fore end 

 of the after cargo hatch. 



The galley would have been on the lower deck, 

 just abaft the foremast and forward of the fore cargo 

 hatch. Food would have been carried aft along the 

 lower deck to the cabin, by way of passages on either 

 side of the engine frame. Cabin stores would have 

 been in the hold below the passenger accommodation 

 and here food, water, and other stores would have 

 been kept. A small cargo space, say of about 1,500 

 to 2,500 cubic feet, depending on bunkers, would have 

 been possible in the after hold. A fore cargo hold of 

 about 1,000 to 1,500 cubic feet of contents could be ex- 

 pected; forward of this would have been sail locker, 

 spare rigging gear, and a cable tier. On the lower 

 deck, above these spaces, a forecasde might have had 

 berths for 12 to 14 men. The cables and chain would 

 be passed through the forecastle to the cable tier below 

 by chutes leading from cable scuttles in the upper 

 deck abaft the windlass on each side of the centerline 

 of the ship. 



The upper deck, abaft the mainmast, was reserved 

 for use of the passengers and officers of a packet. The 

 low, 28-inch bulwarks were insufficient to give proper 

 protection there, so they were increased by employing 

 a 16-inch rail made of a cap supported by iron stan- 

 chions above the main rail. This rail was closed in 

 by a tarred netting extending from the main rail up- 

 ward to the quarter-deck rail cap and running from 

 the mainmast aft to the stern. This is plainly shown 

 in Marestier's sketch of the Savannah as well as in 

 some portraits of early packet ships. 



Though the passenger accommodations described 

 were far from palatial by modern standards, they 

 were considered adequate in the 1820's and for al- 

 most 15 years afterwards. The staterooms had no 

 individual toilets. Usually there were two small 

 toilets, one on each side of the stern cabin, at the ex- 

 treme stern on the lower deck, in the quarters. 

 Usually the master's stateroom and toilet were to 

 starboard, with a public space and toilet to port. 

 Sometimes toilets for the crew were placed forward, 

 on either bow abaft the catheads on the upper deck. 

 These were small cabinets accommodating one person 

 each, and with the door closed for privacy there was 

 not room to stand. To enter the user backed in, 

 crouching. Such cabinets are not shown by Mares- 

 tier, so probably the crew used the headrails, as then 

 was usual in merchant vessels. 



The hull-form to be chosen had to enclose all spaces 

 that have been described or listed. Since the Savannah 



PAPER 21 : THE PIONEER STEAMSHIP SAVANNAH: A STUDY FOR A SCALE MODEL 



75 



