WEIGHT AND SUPPORT IN SHIPS. 
447 
typical ships, the 4 Minotaur,’ 4 Victoria and Albert,’ and 4 Bellerophon,’ when supported 
on waves under the above-stated conditions. In still water the 4 Minotaur,’ as we have 
seen, has excesses of weight at the extremities only, and is subject to hogging-strains 
throughout her length; while the ‘Victoria and Albert’ has a large excess of weight 
amidships as well as at the extremities, and is subjected to sagging-strains in her 
middle body ; and the 4 Bellerophon,’ although resembling somewhat the 4 Victoria and 
Albert’ in the distribution of the weight and buoyancy, has a maximum hogging-moment 
amidships instead of a sagging-moment. 
When the 4 Minotaur’ floats on a wave-crest, it is clear she must be subjected to greater 
hogging-strains than are experienced by her in still water, because the excesses of buoy- 
ancy midships, and of weight forward and aft, will then be greater. On the other hand, 
when she floats in a wave-hollow, with her bow and stern deeply immersed in the wave- 
slopes, we naturally look for excesses of buoyancy at the extremities, and of weight amid- 
ships, because there the water-level has been lowered ; hence it is reasonable to assume 
that in a wave-hollow such a ship will be subjected to severe sagging-moments through- 
out her length — a state of things that I previously showed could not exist in any ship, 
with excess of weight at the extremities, when floating in still water. These general con- 
siderations are confirmed by a closer examination and by actual calculation. Plate XVII. 
fig. 16 exhibits the relation between the weight and buoyancy of the 4 Minotaur’ when she 
is balanced on waves 600 feet long and 30 feet high, F F representing the buoyancy on the 
wave-crest (as in fig. 14), subject to the three conditions just laid down, and GG repre- 
senting the buoyancy in the wave-hollow. The diagrams of the curves of loads, shear- 
ing-forces, and bending-moments are respectively shown for the wave-crest and wave- 
hollow in Plate XVIII. figs. 17 & 18; and the same scales have been employed in con- 
structing them as were used for the corresponding curves representing still-water strains. 
It has been found by calculation that the excesses of weight at the bow and stern on the 
wave-crest become as nearly as possible double of those existing in still water, and that 
the shearing-strains become increased in about the same proportion, having a maximum 
value of 925 tons instead of 450 tons ; while the maximum bending-moment amounts 
to more than 105,000 foot-tons instead of 45,000 foot-tons as in Stillwater. The maxi- 
mum shearing-force on the wave-crest is experienced by the station about 90 feet from 
the stern, and the maximum hogging-moment by a station not far from the middle of 
the length. In this case, therefore, the character of the strains remains practically un- 
changed as compared with those in still water, but their intensity is, roughly speaking, 
doubled. When the ship floats in the hollow of waves of the same dimensions (as in 
tig. 15), a very different state of things is met with, and one which presents some special 
points of interest. The deeper immersion of the stern in the wave-slope has the 
effect (figs. 16 & 18) of producing an excess of buoyancy of 410 tons on the first 110 feet 
of length, and the lowering of the water-level in the hollow causes a defect of buoyancy 
of no less than 880 tons in the middle portion of the ship, where in still water the 
excess of buoyancy is nearly as great. At the bow, however, even more striking results 
3 Q 2 
