Sir George Charles Vincent Holmes

“ During the earlier years of the present century great improvements were introduced by Sir Robert Seppings and others into the structural arrangements of ships. During the long wars abundant experience had been gained as to the particular kinds of weakness which ships exhibited when exposed to the strains produced by waves. It had been felt for many years that the system of building was very defective, and the life of a man-of-war was consequently short, only fifteen years for a ship built of English oak in the Royal dockyards, and about twelve years for similar vessels built in private yards. ”

“ If their draughtsmen were as conscientious in delineating their boats as they were in their drawings of animals and buildings, we may accept the illustrations of Egyptian vessels which have survived into our epoch as being correct in their main features. The researches now being systematically carried out in the Valley of the Nile add, year by year, to our knowledge, andviii already we know enough to enable us to assert that ship building is one of the oldest of human industries, and that there probably existed a sea borne commerce in the Mediterranean long before the building of the Pyramids. ”

“ As a proof of this statement, it may be mentioned that, the labour-saving mechanical contrivances adopted by the Americans were such that, on board their famous liners and clippers, twenty men could do the work which in a British ship of equal size required thirty, and, in addition to this advantage, the American vessels could sail faster and carry more cargo in proportion to their registered tonnage than our own vessels. It was not till new life was infused into British naval architecture that we were enabled to conquer the American competition ”

“ In the north they discovered and colonized Iceland, and even Greenland; and there are good grounds for believing that an expedition, equipped in Iceland, founded a colony in what are now the New England States five centuries before Columbus discovered the West Indies. Unfortunately, the written descriptions extant of the Norse ships are extremely meagre, and if it had not been for the curious custom of the Norsemen of burying their great chiefs in one of their ships and heaping earth over the entire mass, we should now know nothing for certain of the character of their vessels. ”

“ Signs are not wanting that the competition with which British shipowners had to contend in the past will again become active in the near future. The advantages conferred upon us by abundant supplies of iron and by cheap labour will not last for ever. There are many who expect, not without reason, that the abolition or even the diminution of protection in the United States will, when it comes to pass, have the same stimulating effect upon the American shipbuilding industry which the abolition of the old navigation laws had upon our own ”

“ He can trace, for instance, the effects of the change from wood to iron, and from iron to steel, in the carrying capacity of ships, and he can note the effects of successive improvements in the propelling machinery in saving weight and space occupied by engines, boilers, and bunkers; and in conferring upon a ship of a given size the power of making longer voyages. Here, too, he can learn how it was that the American clipper supplanted the old English sailing merchantman, and how the screw iron ship, fitted with highly economical engines, has practically driven the clipper from the seas. ”

“ The proportions of the boat as represented are obviously impossible. The sketch is, however, interesting, as showing the general form and mode of planking of the vessel, and the nature of the decorations of the bow and stern. We see that the vessel was a warship, as the keel prolonged formed a formidable ram. We also may notice that the sail was relied on as a principal means of propulsion, for there are apparently no notches or rowlocks for oars. The steering was effected by two large oars, in a similar manner to that adopted by the ancient Egyptians and other Mediterranean peoples. ”

“ It is perfectly certain that the Phœnician ships which formed the most important part of the Persian fleet at Salamis carried fighting-decks. We have seen already (p. 28) that they used such decks in the time of Sennacherib, and we have the distinct authority of Herodotus for the statement that they were also employed in the Persian War; for, he relates that Xerxes returned to Asia in a Phœnician ship, and that great danger arose during a storm, the vessel having been top-heavy owing to the deck being crowded with Persian nobles who returned with the king. ”

“ In that year, however, all the merchants interested in the Oriental trade joined together to form the United East India Company. The first fleet fitted out by the re-organised Company consisted of four ships, of 650, 500, 300, and 200 tons burthen respectively. It had to fight its way with the Portuguese before it could commence to trade. The Portuguese considered that they were entitled to a monopoly of the trade with the East, and jealously resented the intrusion of the English merchantmen, whom they attacked with a fleet of six galleons, three ships, two galleys, and sixty smaller vessels. ”

“ Vessels of the type of the Viking ships were built in Denmark at a very early date. In 1865 three boats were discovered buried in a peat bog in Jutland. Danish antiquaries consider that they were built about the fifth century of our era. The largest is 70 ft. in length and of such an excellent type that boats of somewhat similar form and construction are in universal use to this day all round the coasts of Norway.64 Such an instance of persistency in type is without parallel in the history of shipbuilding, and is a wonderful proof of the skill of the Norsemen in designing and building vessels. ”

“ In the seventh and eighth centuries of the Christian era the scene of maritime activity was transferred from the Mediterranean to the North of Europe. The Norsemen, who overran the whole of the European seaboard at one time or another, were the most famous navigators of the period immediately preceding the Middle Ages. Any record connected with their system of ship-construction is necessarily of great interest. The fleets of the Norsemen penetrated into the Mediterranean as far as the imperial city of the Eastern emperors. ”

“ Whenever British men-of-war were captured by the French, the number of their guns was reduced. It was universally admitted that the French ships were superior in sailing qualities; so much so was this the case that, whenever a French squadron was chased, the English-built ships in it were the first to be overtaken. ”

“ Knowledge is, however, now being increased every day, and, thanks to the practice of the ancient Egyptians of recording their achievements in sculpture in a material which is imperishable in a dry climate, we possess at the present day, probably, a more accurate knowledge of their ships than we do of those of any other ancient or mediæval people. ”

“ The history of Egypt, as inscribed in hieroglyphs on the ancient monuments, relates many instances of huge sarcophagi, statues, and obelisks having been brought down the Nile on ships. The tombs and monuments of the sixth dynasty are particularly rich in such records. In the tomb of Una, who was a high officer under the three kings, Ati, Pepi I., and Mer-en-Ra, are inscriptions which shed a flood of light on Egyptian shipbuilding of this period, and on the uses to which ships were put. ”

“ The famous galleys of the Egypt of the Ptolemies belonged to the period of Greek and Roman naval architecture, and will be referred to later.
From the time of the ancient Egyptian vessels there is no record whatever of the progress of naval architecture till we come to the period of the Greeks, and even the early records relating to this country are meagre in the extreme. The Phœnicians were among the first of the races who dwelt on the Mediterranean seaboard to cultivate a seaborne commerce, and to them, after the Egyptians, is undoubtedly due the early progress made in sea-going ships. ”

“ It is probable that Athenian ships at Salamis also had no fighting, or flying decks for the use of the soldiers; for, according to Thucydides, Gylippos, when exhorting the Syracusans, nearly sixty years later, in 413 b.c., said, "But to them (the Athenians) the employment of troops on deck is a novelty." Against this view, however, it must be stated that there are now in existence at Rome two grotesque pictures of Greek galleys on a painted vase, dating from about 550 b.c., in which the soldiers are clearly depicted standing and fighting upon a flying deck. ”

“ Not only would the space within the hull of the ship be totally insufficient for the rowers, but the length of the upper tiers of oars would be so great that they would be unmanageable, and that of the lower tiers so small that they would be inefficient. The details given by ancient writers throw very little light upon this difficult subject. Some authors have stated that there was only one man to each oar, and we now know that this was the case with the smaller classes of vessels, say, up to those provided with three, or four, to five banks of oars ”

“ When the trade with the East was thrown open an impetus was given to the construction of vessels which were suitable for carrying freight to any part of the world. These boats were known as "Free Traders." An illustration of one of them is given in Fig. 69. They were generally from 350 to 700 tons register. The vessels of all the types above referred to were very short, relatively, being rarely more than four beams in length.
To the Americans belongs the credit of having effected the greatest improvements in mercantile sailing-ships. ”

“ In the reign of Richard Cœur de Lion a great impetus was given to shipbuilding and to maritime adventure in this country by the expedition which the king undertook to the Holy Land. A fleet of about 110 vessels, according to Peter Langtoft, sailed from Dartmouth in April, 1190 a.d. It was reinforced considerably in the Mediterranean; for, according to Matthew Paris, Richard was accompanied on his voyage to Palestine by 13 buccas, 100 "ships of burthen," and 50 triremes, and according to Vinesauf, the fleet consisted of about 230 vessels. ”

“ It is impossible to conceive of physical circumstances more conducive to the discovery and development of the arts of building and navigating floating structures. The experience gained on the safe waters of the Nile would be the best preparation for taking the bolder step of venturing on the open seas. The character of the two inland seas which form the northern and eastern frontiers of Egypt was such as to favour, to the greatest extent, the spirit of adventure. ”

“ The size of the Persian monarch's fleet was in itself a sufficient proof of the extent of the naval power of the Levantine states; but an equally convincing proof of the maritime power of another Mediterranean state, viz., Carthage, at that early period—about 470 b.c. —is forthcoming. This State equipped a large fleet, consisting of 3,000 ships, against the Greek colonies in Sicily; of these 2,000 were fighting galleys, and the remainder transports on which no less than 300,000 men were embarked. This mighty armada was partly destroyed in a great storm. ”

“ Their crews were nearly four times as numerous as would be required for modern merchant sailing-ships of similar size.
At the close of the great wars in the early part of this century commercial pursuits naturally received a strong impetus. Great competition arose, not only between individual owners, but also between the shipowning classes in various countries. This caused considerable attention to be paid to the improvement of merchant-ships. The objects sought to be attained were greater economy in the working of vessels and increased speed combined with cargo-carrying capacity. ”

“ CHAPTER II. ANCIENT SHIPS IN THE MEDITERRANEAN AND RED SEAS.
It is not difficult to imagine how mankind first conceived the idea of making use of floating structures to enable him to traverse stretches of water. The trunk of a tree floating down a river may have given him his first notions. He would not be long in discovering that the tree could support more than its own weight without sinking. ”

“ It was, no doubt, the introduction of artillery that first caused the sailing warship to be differentiated from the merchantman. Although gunpowder for military purposes is said to have been used on land as early as 1326, and although iron and brass cannon are mentioned amongst the stores of three of the king's ships in 1338, nevertheless, the battle of Sluys and the subsequent naval engagements in the reign of Edward III. appear to have been fought without artillery. ”

“ In the first eight centuries of our era records and illustrations of ships continue to be extremely meagre. Owing to aix-x comparatively recent discovery we know something of Scandinavian boats. When we consider the way in which the Norsemen overran the seaboard of Europe, it seems probable that their types of vessels were dominant, at any rate in Northern and Western European waters, from the tenth to the twelfth century. ”

“ Another triumph in the domain of technical shipbuilding, viz., the introduction and successful development of the iron-screw merchant steamer, eventually secured for the people of this country that dominion of the seas which remains with them to this day.
Among the great means of advancing technical improvements, none takes higher rank than a good educational museum ”