Triumphs and Wonders of the 19th Century: The True Mirror of a Phenomenal Era / A volume of original, entertaining and instructive historic and descriptive writings, showing the many and marvellous achievements which distinguish an hundred years of material, intellectual, social and moral progress

by James P. Boyd

VII. AMERICAN SHIPBUILDING.

One great aid to the achievement of maritime greatness is a strong shipbuilding industry, and every nation with commercial aspirations endeavors to establish the business upon a sure foundation. For some countries, as in the case of the United Kingdom, that is much easier than for others; and that is one reason why Great Britain has so easily succeeded in maintaining her place as mistress of the seas.

The business of building ships in the United States, to be used in foreign trade, has passed through a golden age of triumphs, followed by a period of decline and discouragement, and it is now entering upon an epoch of revival. The golden age came in the days of wooden vessels. It began in early colonial times and lasted until the middle of this century, when the world began to buy iron ships of the United Kingdom. The magnitude of our shipbuilding industry at the middle of the nineteenth century is indicated by the fact that during the decade beginning with 1850 the tonnage built in our yards equaled 3,988,372 tons, an annual average of nearly 400,000 tons. During the three years 1854–56 we constructed over a million and a half tons.

STEAMER CAMPANIA OF THE CUNARD LINE.

The decline in American shipbuilding set in sharply after the Civil War, and, in spite of the continued growth of our domestic marine, the tonnage constructed by American builders steadily declined until 1886, when only 95,453 tons were built. The causes of this decline have been stated in what has been said regarding the substitution of iron and steel vessels for wooden. The period of decline seems now to be safely passed, for we are annually building over 200,000 tons on an average, and every indication points to rapid progress in the near future.

What is more indicative of progress than the increase in the tonnage constructed is the growth in the percentage of steamers and iron and steel ships built, as compared with the wooden sailing ships turned out. During the decade 1872–81, we built 800,000 tons of steamers and 224,000 tons of iron and steel ships; in the decade following, we constructed 1,200,000 steam tons and 485,000 tons of iron and steel vessels; and from 1891 to 1898 our yards turned out 730,432 tons of steamships and 543,850 tons of iron and steel vessels. As these figures indicate, the reconstruction of our merchant marine is progressing with a fair degree of rapidity. At the present time one half our tonnage consists of steamers; but our percentage of iron and steel is still small as compared with other countries. Over seven tenths of our tonnage consists of wooden ships, whereas our chief commercial rival has practically no wooden vessels whatever. Only 7 per cent of the French marine consists of wooden ships, and in the case of Germany less than 5 per cent.

The outlook for iron and steel shipbuilding is so promising that a rapid increase in iron and steel tonnage is certain to come. Largely through the influence of the reconstruction of our navy, numerous large plants for the construction of steel ships have been established at Bath, Philadelphia, Wilmington, Baltimore, Newport News, San Francisco, and other seaports. Cities on the Mississippi River, and especially those on the Great Lakes, are engaged in building ships of iron and steel. There are several steel plants in the Lake ports, and in them we have built the larger part of our steel tonnage. Our iron ships have been built chiefly in the seaboard yards. During the present year, 1899, the American yards are busy constructing vessels both for the navy and for our merchant fleet, and new yards are being established. Having begun selling crude and structural iron and steel and various classes of machinery in Europe, even in Great Britain, we shall ere long be selling iron and steel ships. The excellence of our navy has brought us orders for war ships, and the skill and invention of our shipbuilders will bring us foreign orders for merchantmen.