STEAM NAVIGATION.
Ships, propelled by some mysterious power against wind and against tide, cutting their ways through the water without apparent impulse and like things of life, were not unfrequently seen gliding along in the regions of fancy, ages before the realization of such objects on geographical seas and rivers was looked upon as in the slightest degree possible. Even at the beginning of the present century, it seemed to be more probable that man would be able to navigate the air at will, than that he should be able, without wind or current, and in opposition to both, to propel and steer large ships over the waves; yet, within twenty years afterwards, Steam Navigation had ceased to be a wonder.
If we look back into the records of past ages, we find that inventive genius was active in the earliest times, in endeavouring to find other means of propelling boats than by manual labour and the uncertain wind, some of which contrivances point to the method subsequently adopted by the constructors of steam-vessels.
To enable us to appreciate properly the gradual advances that have been made in perfecting any invention, it is necessary to consider its distinguishing features, and the difficulties which inventors have had successively to contend against. On taking this view of the progress of Steam Navigation, it will be found that the amount of novelty to which each inventor has a claim is very small, and that his principal merit consists in the application of other inventions to accomplish his special object. The same remark will indeed apply to most other inventions; for the utmost that inventive genius can accomplish, is to put together in new forms, and with different applications, preceding contrivances and discoveries, which were also the results of antecedent knowledge, labour, and skill.
When, for instance, we look upon an ordinary steam-boat, the most remarkable and the most important feature is the paddle-wheel, by the action of which against the water the boat is propelled. Yet that method of propelling boats was practised by the Egyptians hundreds of years before steam power was thought of; and the ancient Romans made use of similar wheels, worked by hand, as substitutes for oars. It would seem, therefore, to be only a small step in inventive progress, after the discovery of the steam engine, to apply that motive power to turn the paddle-wheels which had been previously used; and now that we see the perfected invention, it may surprise those who are unacquainted with the difficulties which attend any new appliance, that Steam Navigation did not sooner become an accomplished fact.
In a book called "Inventions and Devices," by William Bourne, published in 1578, it was proposed to make a boat go by paddle-wheels, "to be turned by some provision." The Marquis of Worcester, in his "Century of Inventions," also speaks vaguely of a mode of propelling ships. But Capt. Savery, the inventor of the earliest working steam engine, was the first to suggest the application of steam to navigation; and Dr. Papin, who contended with Savery for priority of the invention, also suggested about the same time the application of the elastic force of steam to that purpose.
These crude notions, however, do not deserve to be considered as inventions, though they probably assisted in suggesting the idea of the plan proposed by Mr. Jonathan Hulls, who in 1736 took out a patent for a steam-boat, and in the following year published a description of his invention, illustrated by a drawing, entitled, "A description and draught of a new-invented machine for carrying vessels or ships out of or into any harbour, port, or river, against wind or tide, or in a calm."
The greater part of this publication is occupied with answers to objections that he supposed might be raised to the scheme, and in the preface he makes the following observations on the treatment inventors were exposed to in his day, which we fear will apply equally at the present time. "There is," he says, "one great hardship lies too commonly on those who purpose to advance some new though useful scheme for the public benefit. The world abounding more in rash censure than in candid and unprejudiced estimation of things, if a person does not answer their expectations in every point, instead of friendly treatment for his good intentions, he too often meets with ridicule and contempt."
At the time of Mr. Hulls' invention, Watt had not made his improvements in the steam engine, and the kind of engine Hulls employed was similar to Newcomen's, in which the steam was condensed in the cylinder, and the piston, after being forced down by the direct pressure of the atmosphere, was drawn upwards again by a weight. The paddle, or "vanes," as he called them, were placed at the stern, between two wheels, which were turned by ropes passing over their peripheries. The alternate motion of the piston was ingeniously converted into a continuous rotary movement, by connection with other ropes attached to the piston and to the weight, the backward movement being prevented by a catch or click.
The woodcut which lays before you is a reduced copy of Hulls' "draught" of his steam-boat, as given in his book, a copy of which is preserved in the British Museum.
The utmost application of steam power to navigation contemplated by Hulls was to tow large vessels into or out of harbour, in calm weather, by means of a separate steam tug-boat, as he considered the cumbersome mechanism would be found objectionable on board the ships to be thus propelled. It does not appear that this plan was effectually tried, nor was the arrangement of the mechanism, nor the imperfect condition of the steam engine at that period, calculated to make the effort successful.
For some years after Mr. Hulls' plan had been published, and had proved abortive, no further attempt seems to have been made, until the improvements in the steam engine, by Watt, rendered it more applicable for the purpose of navigation. The French claim for the Marquis de Jouffroy the honour of having been the first who successfully applied steam power to propel boats, in 1782; though another French nobleman, the Comte d'Auxiron, and M. Perier, had eight years previously made some experiments with steam-boats on the Seine. The Marquis de Jouffroy's steam-boat, which was 145 feet long, was tried on the Soane, near Lyons, with good promise of success. The marquis was, however, obliged to leave France by the fury of the Revolution, and when he returned in 1796, he found that a patent had been granted to M. le Blanc, for building steam-boats in France. He protested against the monopoly, but the patent remained in force, and the plan received no further development, either from the Marquis de Jouffroy, or the patentee.
About five years later, Mr. Patrick Miller, of Dalswinton, in Scotland, directed his attention to the propulsion of boats by mechanical means, and contrived different kinds of paddles, and other propellers to be worked by hand, which were tried on boats on Dalswinton Lake. The great labour required to work these machines induced Mr. James Taylor, a tutor in Mr. Miller's family, to suggest the use of steam power to turn them, and he recommended Mr. Miller to obtain the assistance of William Symington, an engineer, who was at that time endeavouring to make a steam locomotive carriage. Among the first difficulties that suggested themselves, was the danger of setting fire to the boat by the engine furnace. This difficulty was overcome by Mr. Taylor, and the arrangements were completed, and the experiment was tried in 1788. The steam engine and mechanism were applied to a double pleasure-boat; the engine being placed on one side, the boiler on the other, and the paddle-wheel in the centre. The cylinders of the steam engine were only four inches in diameter; but with this engine the boat was propelled across Dalswinton Lake at a speed of five miles an hour.
The success of this experiment induced Mr. Miller to have a larger boat built, expressly adapted for the introduction of a steam engine. It was constructed under the superintendence of Symington, and was tried successfully on the Forth and Clyde Canal in 1789, when it was propelled at the rate of seven miles an hour.
In the arrangement of the mechanism of this boat, the cylinder was placed horizontally, for the purpose of making connection between the paddle-wheel and the piston, without the working beam. The piston was supported in its position by friction wheels, and communicated motion to the paddles by a crank. The paddles were placed in the middle of the boat, near the stern; and there was a double rudder, connected together by rods which were moved by a winch at the head of the vessel.
It is not very clear why Mr. Miller did not follow up this success. Objection, indeed, was made by the proprietors of the canal on account of the agitation of the water, which it was feared would injure the banks. It would appear also that a misunderstanding took place between Miller and Symington, which gave the former a distaste to the undertaking; and having shown that such a plan was practicable, he left others to carry it into practical effect.
Several methods of propelling boats, otherwise than by paddles, had some years previously been suggested; among which were two that have been again and again tried by succeeding inventors, down to the present day.
One of these is an imitation of the duck's foot, which expands when it strikes the water, and collapses when it is withdrawn. The other is the ejection of a stream of water at the stern, or on both sides of the boat, so as to produce a forward movement by reaction.
Both these plans of propulsion seem feasible in design; but they have hitherto failed in practice. A pastor at Berne, named J. A. Genevois, has the credit of having invented the duck-feet propeller in 1755; and in 1795, six years after Mr. Miller's successful experiments, Earl Stanhope had a steam-boat built on that principle. It was so far a failure, that it was not propelled faster than three miles an hour. The other method of propulsion, though of older date, was patented in 1800 by Mr. Linnaker, who proposed to draw the water in at the head of the vessel, and eject it at the stern, and thus to obtain a double action on the water for propelling; but the plan was not found to answer.
In 1801, Lord Dundas revived Mr. Miller's project, and availed himself of Mr. Symington's increased experience and the further improvements in the steam engine, to construct a much more perfect steam-boat than any that had been made. He spent £3,000 in the experiments, and in March, 1802, his vessel, called the "Charlotte Dundas," was tried on the same scene of action, the Forth and Clyde Canal. This boat, according to Symington's report, towed two vessels, each of seventy tons burthen, a distance of nineteen miles and a half in six hours, against a strong wind. The threatened injury to the banks of the canal by the great agitation of the water prevented the use of this boat, which was consequently laid aside; for the views of the inventors of steam-boats in the first instance were limited to their employment to drag boats along canals.
We now approach a period when more decided advances and more rapid progress were made towards realizing steam navigation as a practical fact. Mr. Fulton, an American, residing in France, after making a number of experiments, under the sanction and with the assistance of Mr. Livingstone, the American Ambassador, launched a small steam-boat on the Seine in 1803, but the weight of the engine proved too great for the strength of the boat, which broke in the middle, and immediately went to the bottom.
Not disheartened by this failure he built another one, longer and stronger, and this he succeeded in propelling by steam power, though very slowly. It was, indeed, a much less successful effort than the attempts of Mr. Miller and Lord Dundas. Having been threatened with opposition by M. le Blanc, the patentee of steam-boats in France, Fulton determined to return to his native country, where the large navigable rivers and lakes offered ample scope for the development of steam navigation. Having heard of the success of Symington's boats, he visited Scotland for the purpose of profiting by his experience; and he induced Symington, by promises of great advantages if the invention succeeded in America, to show him the "Charlotte Dundas" at work, and to enter into full explanations of every part. Thus primed with the facts, and with the further suggestions of Symington, Fulton repaired to New York. Mr. Livingstone, who had assisted Fulton in his experiments, was himself an inventor of several plans of propelling vessels by steam, and in 1798 he obtained a patent in the State of New York, for twenty years, on condition that he should produce a steam-boat by the 7th of March, 1799, that would go at the rate of four miles an hour. Having failed to fulfil that condition, the patent privilege was left open, and was promised to the first inventor who succeeded in propelling a boat by steam power at the proposed speed of four miles an hour. Fulton, who had entered into partnership with Mr. Livingstone, possessed advantages in the construction of the vessel he built in America, far greater than any previous inventor. He had not only gained knowledge by his former failures, but he was able to profit by the experience of others, and he had secured a superior steam engine, manufactured by Boulton and Watt, of twenty-horse power. This was a much more powerful engine than any that had been used in any former experiment; the one employed by Mr. Livingstone having had only five-horse power. This steam-vessel was launched at New York in 1807, and was called the "Clermont," the name of Mr. Livingstone's residence on the banks of the Hudson. Its length was 133 feet, depth 7 feet, and breadth 18 feet. The boiler was 20 feet long, 7 feet deep, and 8 feet broad. There was only one steam cylinder, which was 2 feet in diameter, with a length of stroke of 4 feet. The paddle-wheels were 15 feet in diameter, and 5 feet broad; and the burthen of the vessel was 160 tons. Crowds of spectators assembled to see the boat start on its first experimental voyage. The general impression, even of those who were friendly to Fulton, was that it would fail, and an accident which occurred when the vessel was under way confirmed this opinion. The foreboders of evil exclaimed immediately that they had "foreseen something of the kind;" and observed "it was a pity so much expense had been incurred for nothing!" The required repairs were, however, soon made. The vessel when again tried cut her way bravely through the water, to the astonishment of all, and the doubts, and fears, and lamentations were quickly changed into congratulations.
As the "Clermont" urged its way up the Hudson, its chimney emitting innumerable sparks from the dried pine wood used as fuel, it excited great alarm among those who were not prepared for such an apparition. An American paper of that day thus described the effect produced on the crews of other ships in the river:—"Notwithstanding the wind and tide were adverse to its approach, they saw with astonishment that it was rapidly coming towards them; and when it came so near that the noise of the machinery and paddles was heard, the crews, in some instances, shrunk beneath their decks from the terrific sight, or left their vessels to go on shore; whilst others prostrated themselves and besought Providence to protect them from the approach of the horrible monster which was marching on the waves, and lighting its path by the fires which it vomited."
During the time that Fulton was building his steam-boat Mr. R. L. Stevens, of Hoboken, in the State of New Jersey, was also engaged in a similar undertaking. Though his name is comparatively little heard of in the history of Steam Navigation, his efforts were more successful than any that had been made previously, and but for the fortunate chance to Fulton that he was able to launch and put his boat in action a few days before Stevens had completed his, all, and more than all, the merit that is now ascribed to the former would have been attributed to Stevens. The previous successful experiment of Fulton having fulfilled the conditions imposed by the State of New York, he obtained the exclusive right of steam navigation on the rivers and along the coast of that State; therefore, after Stevens had launched his boat on the Hudson, he was unable to employ it there. In this predicament he ventured on the hazardous experiment of taking his steam-vessel by sea, and successfully accomplished his voyage from New York to Delaware. This was the first attempt to put to sea in a steam-boat.
Mr. Stevens introduced many important improvements. He increased the length of stroke of the engines; he applied upright guides for the piston-rod, to supply the place of the parallel motion; and he divided the paddle-wheel by boards, by which means a more uniform motion was obtained. By these improvements he succeeded in raising the speed of steam-vessels to thirteen miles an hour.
Whilst Steam Navigation was making such progress in America, it was not neglected in this country. Mr. Henry Bell, of Glasgow, a man of great ingenuity, had for some time directed his attention to the subject, and had given some useful hints to Fulton. Seeing, as he afterwards said, no reason why others should profit by his plans without his participation in the fame and the profits, he determined to build a steam-boat himself, which was completed and launched in 1811. Bell called his boat the "Comet," in commemoration of the remarkable eccentric luminary which was at that time frightening Europe from its propriety. The boat was 25 tons burthen, with an engine of about 3-horse power. It plied on the Frith of Forth for a distance of 27 miles, which in ordinary weather it accomplished in 3½ hours. The "Comet" is generally supposed to have been the first steam-boat that plied regularly in Europe; and its construction was so perfect, that no boat built for many years afterwards surpassed it, taking into consideration its size and the small power of its engine. Bell, though he had done so much to advance Steam Navigation in this country, was allowed to suffer neglect and penury in his old age, till the town of Glasgow granted him a small annuity for his services.
A claim has been preferred on behalf of Messrs. Furnace and Ashton, of Hull, to priority in building the first steam-vessel that was worked in England. It is stated, that "about the year 1787, experiments were made on the river Hull, by Furnace and Ashton, on the propulsion of vessels by steam power. Furnace and Ashton built a boat, which plied on the river, between Hull and Beverley, for some time, and answered exceedingly well. In consequence of the good results of their experiments, they built a much larger vessel and engine, and sent the whole to London, to be put together and finished; after which it was subjected to the severest tests, and gave the greatest satisfaction. The vessel was bought by the Prince Regent (afterwards George IV.), who had it fitted and furnished as a pleasure yacht; but it was soon afterwards burnt, having, it is supposed, been wilfully set on fire by persons who were afraid that such an invention would be injurious to their calling. The Prince was so much pleased with the invention and ingenuity of Furnace and Ashton, that he granted them a pension for their lives of £70 a year each."1 This steamer was on the paddle-wheel principle, propelled by a steam engine, to which was attached a copper boiler.
From this time forward the progress of Steam Navigation was very rapid. Steam-ships were built longer and larger, and with more powerful engines; and the most skilful builders rivalled each other in the construction and adaptation of their vessels and engines, so as to attain the highest possible speed. The locality in which Steam Navigation may be said to have had its birth continued for a long time to be pre-eminent, and steam-boats built on the Clyde still rank very high, if not the highest, in the scale of excellence.
The ordinary land steam engine required considerable alterations to adapt it to marine purposes; nor was it till great experience had been gained in propelling vessels by steam power, that the more essentially requisite modifications were adopted. It was found important, in the first place, to reduce the space occupied by the machinery as much as possible. The boilers were consequently made of less dimensions, but more extensive in their heating surface. It was also found desirable to employ two engines instead of one, the pistons being made to rise and descend alternately. By this means the motion was rendered more equable, and by placing the cranks of the common shaft at right angles, the "dead points" were passed more readily, and the want of a fly wheel was thus compensated.
The steam-boats employed in this country were, almost from the first, and continue with few exceptions to be, on the low-pressure condensing principle; the whole of the machinery being placed below the deck. This renders it necessary to diminish the height of the engines as much as possible; and in all marine steam engines, till within the last twenty years, instead of having a working beam over the cylinders, a cross-head was placed at the top of the piston-rod, the action of which was conveyed by parallel motions to cross beams on each side, which were situated at the bottom part of each engine. The motion, compared with that of an ordinary land engine, was thus inverted. The proportions of the cylinders were also different; the length of stroke being shorter, to diminish the height, and the diameter consequently greater. The valves, and the gearing connected with them, the air pump, the condenser, and other subsidiary parts, do not differ essentially from those of land engines; but the governor is omitted, as it is found impracticable to work a marine engine with great regularity.
Latterly, many engineers have introduced, with much success, arrangements for communicating the action directly from the piston-rod to the crank, without the intervention of the beam and parallel motions. This is generally done by causing the piston-rod to work between guides, and a jointed arm connects it with the crank. One method of producing the same effect is to make the cylinders oscillate on pivots, as contrived by Mr. Murdoch, in the first model steam carriage, made in 1784. This principle has been successfully carried into operation by Messrs. Penn, of Greenwich. The oscillating cylinders accommodate themselves to the varying directions of the cranks, and the strain occasioned by guide rods is diminished; but when very large cylinders are required, the friction and the pressure on the pivots must tend to counterbalance the advantage otherwise obtained.
In the ordinary paddle-wheel steam-boats, the floats of the paddle-wheels are fixed at equal distances round the rim, radiating from the centre; therefore they enter and come out of the water obliquely. There is, consequently, a considerable loss of power attending the use of such paddle-wheels, as only one float at a time can be acting vertically on the water, and exerting the propelling force in a direct line. Several attempts have been made to remedy this defect, and to produce what is called "feathering" floats, every one of which will act against the water at right angles. The mechanism required for making this adjustment is, however, liable to get out of order, and the introduction of vertically acting floats has consequently been very limited.
The large projecting paddle-boxes are objectionable in sea-going ships, as they present so large a surface to the action of the wind, and either impede the course of the ship, or make it unweatherly. This inconvenience was experienced in the early progress of Steam Navigation, and many attempts were made to overcome it, by substituting a different kind of propeller. Recourse was had to the inventions of the ancients, from whom the paddle-wheel was taken, to find some other means of propulsion. A method of propulsion, similar in principle to the action of sculls at the back of a boat, had been contrived long before the inconvenience of paddle-wheels in Steam Navigation was experienced. In 1784, Mr. Bramah obtained a patent for a propeller similar in its forms to the vanes of a windmill, which by acting obliquely on the water as it revolved, pushed the boat forward. Ten years afterwards, an "aquatic propeller" was patented by Mr. William Lyttleton, a merchant in London. It consisted of a single convolution of a three-threaded screw, and may be considered to be the first screw propeller invented. Numerous other ingenious persons, among whom were Tredgold, Trevethick, Maceroni, and Millington, afterwards invented propellers on the screw principle; but none of them were sufficiently satisfactory in their results to come into practical use.
In 1836, Mr. Smith and Mr. Ericsson obtained a patent for a screw propeller, which nearly resembled Mr. Lyttleton's original contrivance; and by perseverance in struggling against the many obstacles with which he had to contend, Mr. Smith succeeded, though all previous efforts had failed. His partner, however, became disheartened by the obstacles thrown in their way, and left this country for America before the success of the screw was established.
The first ship fitted with the screw propeller was called the "Archimedes." It was a vessel of 237 tons burthen, with a draught of water of 9 feet 4 inches. The screw projected at the stern, and being turned rapidly round by the steam engine, the oblique action of the thread of the screw against the water impelled the vessel forward.
The "Archimedes" was originally fitted with a single-threaded screw, the threads of which were 8 feet apart, and there were two convolutions of the screw round the shaft. One convolution of the screw having been accidentally broken off, the ship was found to go faster in consequence; and, following the course of investigation suggested by the accident, Mr. Smith at last adopted a double-threaded screw, with only half a convolution. The average performance of the engines was 26 strokes per minute, and the number of revolutions of the screw in the same time was 138½. The "pitch" of the screw was 8 feet; that is, the space across one entire convolution of the thread would have measured 8 feet; consequently, had it been acting against a solid body, as a cork-screw when entering a cork, one revolution of the shaft would have advanced the vessel 8 feet, and the speed would have been 12½ miles an hour; but the utmost speed the "Archimedes" obtained was 9¼ nautical miles. The difference was owing to the screw "slipping" in the water, because the fluid yielded to the oblique action of the blades.
The results of the working of that experimental ship were so satisfactory, that other ships were soon built, with modifications of the form of the propeller. It was found disadvantageous to have an entire convolution of the thread of the screw; for one part of it worked in the wake of the other, and resistance was produced by the backwater. After numerous experiments, in which the dimensions of the screw were successively diminished, the propeller was at length reduced to two oblique blades. Experiments on a large scale were conducted by Captain Carpenter, to determine the size and angle of inclination best adapted for the purpose of propulsion; and nearly all the ships now built for the Royal Navy are fitted with propellers on his principle. The annexed diagram represents on a scale of one-eighth of an inch to a foot, the form of the propeller of the "Agamemnon," of 606-horse power, which was recently engaged in successfully laying down the Atlantic Telegraph cable. The diameter of the screw is 18 feet, and the pitch 20 feet.
The screw propeller possesses great advantages in ships of war, as it is not exposed to damage by shot, and it leaves the entire deck clear for mounting guns. It has also the further advantage of not interfering with the working of sails, and is, therefore, admirably adapted for sea-going ships that economize fuel by alternately steaming and sailing, as the wind is adverse or favourable. The commotion in the water made by paddle-wheels, which is an objection to their use in narrow rivers, is avoided by screw propellers, which being immersed under the water, make little agitation on the surface, and the ships move along without any apparent impelling power.
The speed of ships with the best constructed screw propellers is fully equal to that of paddle-wheel vessels; and when two vessels of the same size, and with engines of equal power, one fitted with paddles, and the other with the screw, are fastened stem and stern together, in a trial of strength, the screw propeller has been found to have the advantage, and to pull its antagonist along at the rate of one or two miles an hour.
The difficulty at first experienced in the application of the screw propeller was to communicate a sufficiently rapid motion to the shaft to which it is fixed; but, by the employment of direct-acting engines, this difficulty has been for the most part overcome. The power is generally first applied to drive a large cog-wheel, the teeth of which take into the teeth of a smaller cog-wheel fixed to the propeller shaft, and in this manner the velocity is sufficiently increased.
In 1852 the proportion of screw to paddle-wheel vessels building in the Clyde was as 43 to 30. The advantages of the propeller are becoming every year more appreciated, and it is rapidly superseding the paddle-wheel.
In the steam-boats of the United States the engines are constructed on the high-pressure principle; and by working with steam of the pressure of 100 pounds on the square inch, and with larger paddle-wheels, their boats attain a speed exceeding sixteen miles an hour. But numerous explosions of boilers on the North American rivers have operated as a caution against the introduction of high-pressure engines in steam-boats in this country. The dread of high-pressure steam was early impressed by the destructive explosion of the boiler of a steam-vessel at Norwich in 1817, which led to a long parliamentary inquiry into the subject; and the subsequent loss of life by the explosion of the "Cricket" on the Thames, has tended to strengthen the apprehension of high-pressure steam engines. For river use, however, when fresh water is always at command for generating the steam, there appears to be no more cause for fear of high-pressure engines in boats than on railways, provided the boilers are constructed with sufficient care. The experiments made by Mr. Fairbairn on the strength of boilers, the results of which were communicated at the meeting of the British Association in 1853, prove, that by increasing the number and strength of the "stays," or internal supports, of the boilers, they may be made, if sufficiently strong, to resist any possible pressure; and that the square shape, which was supposed to be the weakest, offers, on the contrary, peculiar facilities for giving increased strength. In one of these experiments made to determine the ultimate strength of the flat surfaces of boilers, when d