It is fitting that the history of the steamship should be written at this time, for if final perfection has not yet arrived, it cannot be very far distant. It is but three or four years since the Lusitania and Mauretania came into being, and only during the present year have they shown themselves to possess such exceptional speed for merchant ships. On the 20th of October, 1910, will be launched the Olympic, whose size will dominate even the Mauretania. Much further than a 45,000-ton ship, surely, it cannot be possible to go; and the likelihood is that with the commercial steamship’s manifested ability to steam at the rate of over thirty-one land miles per hour, we are in sight of the limitations which encompass her. As to the future of transport, changes happen so quickly, and possess so revolutionary a character, that it is hardly safe to prophesy; but it is significant that the week before this preface was written, an aeroplane succeeded in flying, in perfect ease and safety, the 150 miles which separate Albany from New York; and thus, just a century after Fulton had convinced the incredulous by traversing the same course through water in his steamship, the latest means of travelling from one place to another has caused to look insignificant the wonderful record which Fulton, in his Clermont, was the first to set up. If, then, as will be seen from this volume, the steamship has done so much within a hundred years, what, we may legitimately ask, will be accomplished by the airship or aeroplane before another century has come to an end? Those who have the temerity to give expression to their opinions, suggest that the steamship will ultimately be made obsolete by the flying craft. If that be a true forecast, it is perhaps as well that the steamship’s story should be told here and now whilst yet she is at her prime.
Of the matter contained within this volume, much has been obtained at first hand, but much has also been derived from the labours of others, and herewith I desire to acknowledge my indebtedness. I would especially wish to mention in this connection: “A Chronological History of the Origin and Development of Steam Navigation, 1543–1882,” by Geo. Henry Preble, Rear-Admiral U.S.N. (1883); certain articles in the “Dictionary of National Biography”; “Ancient and Modern Ships: Part II., The Era of Steam, Iron and Steel,” by Sir George C. V. Holmes, K.C.V.O., C.B. (1906); “The Clyde Passenger Steamer: Its Rise and Progress,” by Captain James Williamson (1904); “The History of American Steam Navigation,” by John H. Morrison (1903); “The History of North Atlantic Steam Navigation,” by Henry Fry (1896); “The American Merchant Marine,” by W. L. Martin (1902); “The Atlantic Ferry: Its Ships, Men, and Working,” by Arthur J. Maginnis (London, 1893); “Ocean Liners of the World,” by W. Bellows (1896); “Life of Robert Napier,” by James Napier (1904); “Handbook on Marine Engines and Boilers,” by Sir G. C. V. Holmes (1889); “The Royal Yacht Squadron,” by Montague Guest and W. B. Boulton (1903); “The Rise and Progress of Steam Navigation,” by W. J. Millar (1881); “Practical Shipbuilding,” by A. Campbell Holms; “The Boy’s Book of Steamships,” by J. R. Howden (1908); “The Steam Turbine,” by R. M. Neilson (1903); “Our Ocean Railways, or Ocean Steam Navigation,” by A. Macdonald (1893); “Life of R. Fulton and a History of Steam Navigation,” by T. Wallace Knox (1887); “Life on the Mississippi,” by Mark Twain; “American Notes,” by Charles Dickens; “The Orient Line Guide,” by W. J. Loftie (1901); “The History of the Holyhead Railway Boat Service,” by Clement E. Stretton (1901); the “Catalogue of the Naval and Marine Engineering Collection in the Science Division of the Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington” (1899); “Catalogue of the Mechanical Engineering Collection in the Science Division” of the above (1907); “The Progress of German Shipbuilding” (1909); “Leibnizens und Huygens Briefwechsel mit Papin,” by G. W. Von Leibnitz (1881); “British Shipbuilding,” by A. L. Ayre (1910); “Lloyd’s Calendar.” In addition to the above, I have laid myself under obligation to a number of articles which have appeared at one time and another in the newspapers and periodicals within the last century, and especially to certain contributions in the Century Magazine, the Yachting Monthly, the Engineer and in Engineering. For the rest, I have relied on material which I have myself collected, as well as on much valuable matter which has been courteously supplied to me by the various shipbuilding firms and steamship lines.
My thanks are also due for the courteous permission which has been given to reproduce photographs of many of the steamships seen within these pages. To the authorities at South Kensington I am indebted for the privilege of reproducing a number of the exhibits in the Victoria and Albert Museum. I wish also to thank the City of Dublin Steam Packet Company for permission to reproduce the Royal William; Mr. James Napier for [the illustration of the British Queen]; the Cunard Steamship Company for the various photographs of many of their fleet; also the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company, the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, Messrs. Ismay, Imrie and Co., Messrs. Anderson, Anderson and Co., the American Line, the Norddeutscher Lloyd Company, the Liverpool Steam Towing and Lighterage Company, Messrs. L. Smit and Co., the Ymuiden Tug Company, Messrs. Lobnitz and Co., Renfrew, the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board, Liverpool, Sir W. G. Armstrong, Whitworth and Co., Messrs. William Doxford and Sons, Sir Raylton Dixon and Co., Messrs. Cochrane and Sons, Selby, the Fall River Line, Messrs. A. and J. Inglis, Messrs. Thos. Rhodes and Co., the Caledon Shipbuilding and Engineering Co., Messrs. Camper and Nicholson, Messrs. Cammell, Laird and Co., the Great Western Railway Company, the London and North Western Railway Company, the London and South Western Railway Company, the South Eastern and Chatham Railway Company, Messrs. Harland and Wolff, and Messrs. C. A. Parsons and Co. To the Right Hon. the Earl of Stanhope, to the New Jersey Historical Society, and also to the proprietors of the Century Magazine I wish to return thanks for being allowed to reproduce certain illustrations connected with Fulton’s early experiments in steam navigation, and to the Yachting Monthly for permission to reproduce the diagrams of steam yachts and lifeboats.
Finally, I have to apologise if through any cause it should be found that in spite of extreme carefulness errrors should have found their way into this narrative. The nature of the subject is necessarily such that to have erred herein would have been easy, but I have been at great pains to prevent such a possibility occurring.
E. Keble Chatterton.
June, 1910.
CONTENTS
| CHAPTER | PAGE | |
| 1. | Introduction | [1] |
| 2. | The Evolution of Mechanically-Propelled Craft | [12] |
| 3. | The Early Passenger Steamships | [63] |
| 4. | The Inauguration of the Liner | [104] |
| 5. | The Liner in her Transition State | [145] |
| 6. | The Coming of the Twin-Screw Steamship | [165] |
| 7. | The Modern Mammoth Steamship | [183] |
| 8. | Smaller Ocean Carriers and Cross-Channel Steamers | [215] |
| 9. | Steamships for Special Purposes | [233] |
| 10. | The Steam Yacht | [266] |
| 11. | The Building of the Steamship | [282] |
| 12. | The Safety and Luxury of the Passenger | [297] |
| 13. | Some Steamship Problems | [309] |
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
| Page | |
| The “Olympic”[Frontispiece] | |
| Hero’s Steam Apparatus | [18] |
| Jonathan Hulls’ Steam Tug Boat | [30] |
| The Marquis de Jouffroy’s Steamboat | [40] |
| Patrick Miller’s Double-hulled Paddle-boat | [42] |
| Symington’s First Marine Engine | [42] |
| Outline of Fitch’s First Boat | [45] |
| The “Charlotte Dundas” | [46] |
| The “Clermont” in 1807 | [46] |
| Fulton’s design for a Steamboat submitted to the Commission appointed by Napoleon in 1803 | [51] |
| Fulton’s First Plans for Steam Navigation | [57] |
| Fulton’s design of Original Apparatus for determining the Resistance of Paddles for the propulsion of the “Clermont,” dated 1806 | [64] |
| The Reconstructed “Clermont” at the Hudson-Fulton Celebrations, 1909 | [70] |
| Paddle-wheel of the Reconstructed “Clermont” | [70] |
| Fulton’s Preliminary Study for the Engine of the “Clermont” | [75] |
| Fulton’s plans of a later Steamboat than the “Clermont-North-River,” showing application of the square side connecting rod Engine | [77] |
| The “Comet” | [78] |
| Engine of the “Comet” | [78] |
| S.S. “Elizabeth” (1815) | [84] |
| Russian Passenger Steamer (1817) | [84] |
| The “Prinzessin Charlotte” (1816) | [90] |
| The “Savannah” (1819) | [90] |
| The “James Watt” (1821) | [94] |
| Side-Lever Engines of the “Ruby” (1836) | [94] |
| The “Sirius” (1838) | [96] |
| The “Royal William” (1838) | [96] |
| The “Great Western” (1838) | [100] |
| Paddle-wheel of the “Great Western” | [100] |
| The “British Queen” (1839) | [102] |
| The “Britannia,” the First Atlantic Liner (1840) | [102] |
| The “Teviot” and “Clyde” (1841) | [110] |
| Side-lever Engine | [110] |
| Launch of the “Forth” (1841) | [112] |
| The “William Fawcett” and H.M.S. “Queen” (1829) | [112] |
| Designs for Screw Propellers prior to 1850 | [118] |
| The “Robert F. Stockton” (1838) | [120] |
| The “Archimedes” (1839) | [120] |
| Stern of the “Archimedes” | [122] |
| The “Novelty” (1839) | [122] |
| The “Great Britain” (1843) | [126] |
| Propeller of the “Great Britain” | [126] |
| Engines of the “Great Britain” | [128] |
| Engines of the “Helen McGregor” | [128] |
| The “Scotia” (1862) | [130] |
| The “Pacific” (1853) | [130] |
| Maudslay’s Oscillating Engine. | [132] |
| Engines of the “Candia” | [132] |
| The “Victoria” (1852) | [134] |
| The “Himalaya” (1853) | [134] |
| Coasting Cargo Steamer (1855) | [134] |
| The “Great Eastern” (1858) | [138] |
| Paddle Engines of the “Great Eastern” | [140] |
| Screw Engines of the “Great Eastern” | [140] |
| The “City of Paris” (1866) | [148] |
| The “Russia” (1867) | [148] |
| The “Oceanic” (1870) | [152] |
| The “Britannic” (1874) | [154] |
| The “Servia” (1881) | [154] |
| The “Umbria” (1884) | [158] |
| The “Orient” (1879) | [158] |
| The “Austral” (1881) | [162] |
| The “Victoria” (1887) | [162] |
| The “Majestic” (1889) | [162] |
| The “City of Paris” (1893) (now the “Philadelphia”) | [166] |
| The “Ophir” (1891) | [166] |
| The “Lucania” (1893) | [170] |
| The “Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse” (1897) | [174] |
| The “Oceanic” (1899) | [176] |
| The “Cedric” | [176] |
| The “Celtic” | [178] |
| The “Kaiser Wilhelm II.” | [180] |
| Giovanni Branca’s Steam Engine (1629) | [184] |
| The Blades of a Parsons Turbine | [185] |
| The Parsons Turbine | [186] |
| The “Carmania” (1905) | [188] |
| Lower half of the fixed portion of one of the “Carmania’s” Turbines | [188] |
| A Study in Comparisons: the “Magnetic” and “Baltic” | [192] |
| The “Mauretania” when completing at Wallsend-on-Tyne | [198] |
| Stern of the “Mauretania” | [200] |
| The “Lusitania” | [202] |
| The “Adriatic” | [206] |
| The “George Washington” | [208] |
| The “Berlin” | [208] |
| The “Laurentic” on the Stocks | [210] |
| The “Mooltan” | [216] |
| The Starting Platform in the Engine Room of the “Mooltan” | [218] |
| The “Balmoral Castle” | [220] |
| The “Cambria” (1848) | [222] |
| Engines of the “Leinster” (1860) | [222] |
| The “Atalanta” (1841) | [226] |
| The “Lyons” (1856) | [226] |
| The “Empress” leaving Dover Harbour | [226] |
| The Ocean Tug “Blackcock” | [234] |
| The Passenger Tender “Sir Francis Drake” | [234] |
| The 7,000 ton Floating Dry-dock under tow by the “Roode Zee” and “Zwarte Zee” | [236] |
| The Salvage Tug “Admiral de Ruyter” | [238] |
| The New York Harbour and River Tug Boat “Edmund Moran” | [238] |
| The Paddle-Tug “Dromedary” | [240] |
| The Bucket Dredger “Peluse” | [240] |
| The Suction Dredger “Leviathan” | [242] |
| The “Vigilant” | [242] |
| The Telegraph Steamer “Monarch” | [244] |
| Deck View of the Telegraph Ship “Faraday” | [244] |
| The “Silverlip” | [246] |
| Section of Modern Oil-tank Steamer | [246] |
| The Turret-ship “Inland” | [248] |
| Midship Section of a Turret-ship | [248] |
| Cantilever Framed Ship | [250] |
| The North Sea Trawler “Orontes” | [252] |
| The Steam Trawler “Notre Dame des Dunes” | [252] |
| Hydraulic Lifeboat | [255] |
| A Screw Lifeboat | [257] |
| The “Inez Clarke” | [258] |
| The “Natchez” and the “Eclipse” (1855) | [258] |
| The “Empire” | [258] |
| The “Commonwealth” | [262] |
| Beam Engine of an American River Steamer | [262] |
| The “City of Cleveland” | [264] |
| An American “Whale-back” Steamer | [264] |
| Typical Steam Yacht of about 1890 | [271] |
| A Steam Yacht of To-day | [275] |
| The Russian Imperial Yacht “Livadia” | [276] |
| The Royal Yacht “Victoria and Albert” | [278] |
| The Royal Yacht “Alexandra” | [278] |
| The S.Y. “Sagitta” | [280] |
| The S.Y. “Triad” | [280] |
| “Flush-decked” Type | [283] |
| “Three Island” Type | [283] |
| “Top-gallant Forecastle” Type | [284] |
| “Top-gallant Forecastle” Type, with raised quarter-deck | [284] |
| Early “Well-deck” Type | [284] |
| “Well-deck” Type | [285] |
| “Spar-deck” Type | [285] |
| “Awning-deck” Type | [286] |
| “Shade-deck” Type | [286] |
| The Building of the “Mauretania” (showing floor and part of frames) | [286] |
| The “George Washington” in course of Construction | [288] |
| Bows of the “Berlin” in course of Construction | [290] |
| The “Berlin” just before her Launch | [290] |
| Stern frame of the “Titanic,” February 9, 1910 | [292] |
| The Shelter Deck of the “Orsova” in course of Construction | [292a] |
| One of the Decks of the “Lusitania” in course of Construction | [292a] |
| Launch of the “Araguaya” | [294] |
| Launch of a Turret-Ship | [294] |
| The “Suevic” ashore off the Lizard | [296] |
| The Stern Part of the “Suevic” awaiting the New Bow at Southampton | [296a] |
| The New Bow of the “Suevic” at entrance to Dock | [296a] |
| Charles Dickens’s State-room on the “Britannia” | [298] |
| The Veranda Café of the “Lusitania” | [300] |
| First Class Dining Saloon of the “Adriatic” | [300] |
| Dining Saloon of the S.Y. “Liberty” | [302] |
| Gymnasium of the S.Y. “Liberty” | [302] |
| The Marconi Room on a Cunard Liner | [306] |