Category: History - Modern (1750+)

Ocean Steamships A popular account of their construction, development, management and appliances

SLOW GROWTH OF THE IDEA OF STEAM PROPULSION—MODELS SHOWN AT THE LIVERPOOL EXHIBITION IN 1886—CLAIMS OF PRECEDENCE IN THE INVENTION OF STEAMBOATS—WHAT FULTON ACCOMPLISHED—THE CLERMONT—THE VOYAGE OF THE SAVANNAH IN 1819—THE FIRST WAR STEAMER—THE ATLANTIC CROSSED BY THE SIRIUS AN...

Chapters

17. Part 17

The success of the White Star ships is bound to have a marked effect upon the future of ocean navigation. The Cunard Company has already contracted for the construction of two s...

6. Part 6

[3] Daniel Dod, an American citizen, was granted a patent November 29, 1811, in which he states: “I form the condenser of a pipe or number of pipes condensed together; and conde...

2. Part 2

Fulton also has the honor of being the first to design and build a war steamer, which for her time was a most remarkable production, and by far the largest steam vessel built be...

9. Part 9

The keel is laid down on blocks, four or five feet apart, which form a slope toward the water, so that the hull may glide down easily when the time for launching comes. It is no...

14. Part 14

The inspection is finished a little after seven bells, and one by one the officers straggle on deck with their sextants. Should it be a fine day, with moderate weather, the noon...

15. Part 15

From 1838, when the Sirius crossed the ocean, till 1879, one hundred and forty-four steamers, counting all classes, were lost in the transatlantic trade. The first was the Presi...

12. Part 12

All captains of passenger steamships are scrupulously attentive to the needs of their steerage passengers. Not a day passes that they do not make a personal inspection of this d...

8. Part 8

The success of the locomotive was very questionable until the exhaust steam was turned into the chimney so as to create a rapid draught, and the steam-blast to-day enables the l...

20. Part 20

The run up the coast from Ceylon past the French settlement of Pondicherry, where the French steamers touch, to Madras, 614 miles to the northward, is smooth sailing if the mons...

18. Part 18

Another type of steamship, which is an outcome of the tank idea, is the molasses ship. These have been used with success in carrying molasses in bulk between Havana and New York...

3. Part 3

A balanced rudder and bilge keels were parts of her original construction, and an unusual method of lapping the plates was used. “Apart from their size, the design of the engine...

13. Part 13

The captain takes his place upon the bridge, the engines are eased until, to the worried landsman’s ears, their labored throbbing seems a devil’s tattoo answering the grumbling...

7. Part 7

In 1840 the Britannia, the first of the Cunard steamers, was put on her station. She was a paddle boat, built of wood, and was 207 feet long. Her speed on service was about eigh...

21. Part 21

The traveller for Rio Janeiro can take a coasting line if he desires to visit southern Brazil; otherwise, any one of the big mail ships will make the run of 1,150 miles in 6 day...

10. Part 10

Other steamships made experimental voyages across the Atlantic after this, and several attempts were made to establish regular lines, that is, a service with stated times of sai...

16. Part 16

The City of New York and the City of Paris are also provided with double bottoms, so that, should the outer skin be torn, the inner one would still exclude the sea; and the effi...

4. Part 4

The Great Eastern was to attempt to solve by her bulk the problem of coal capacity which was later to be solved by high pressures and surface condensation. The ship finally dete...

11. Part 11

+------------+----------+-----------------+----------- Name. | Fastest |Direction.| Date. | Line. | passage. | | | ----------------+------------+----------+-----------------+---...

1. Part 1

SLOW GROWTH OF THE IDEA OF STEAM PROPULSION—MODELS SHOWN AT THE LIVERPOOL EXHIBITION IN 1886—CLAIMS OF PRECEDENCE IN THE INVENTION OF STEAMBOATS—WHAT FULTON ACCOMPLISHED—THE CLE...

19. Part 19

If the traveller wishes to go by this line, he may commence his journey from either London or Plymouth, cross the Bay of Biscay, where the chances of getting an ugly sea and per...

5. Part 5

+-------------------+---------+------+------- Name |Dimensions: |Displace-|Piston|Boiler |Length, Breadth, |ment |Stroke|Heating |Depth | | |Surface ------------------+---------...

22. Part 22

For the first time there is presented in this book an adequate account of the American Railway, an industry representing over nine thousand million dollars in its one hundred an...