Ship channel

“ But in three or four hours we reach our port of embarkation and go straight from train to boat, and are soon out in the Channel. Before we sail all the men put on lifebelts, in accordance with orders, much to the amusement of two or three blasé Canadian Officers returning to the Front, who, however, are soon unable to take any further interest in our proceedings, and seem from their earnest studies of the sea to be trying indelibly to impress upon their brains a distinct remembrance not of the ship but of the Channel itself. ”

“ In story books it is usual to have a ship come ashore just in a convenient spot, and with a full cargo; but ours, unfortunately, was only half a battered hulk, perfectly empty, and in a most awkward position to get at, as we had to cross the Creviçhon Channel at every trip, so that we could only bring the wreckage over at low tide. ”

“ Moreover, while the original channel first ran north, then north-east, for the twelve miles that were only to be covered by kedging—before it ultimately changed its course to south—in which direction the point of ultimate egress lay, the new channel left Mercury Basin at its western, or leeward, extremity, running first west, then south-west, and ultimately south, straight out to sea. Thus the whole distance could be traversed under sail and with a free wind. ”

“ The modern development of the coastal steamer service has naturally been confined to a strict meeting of its own requirements, and it is not proposed to go at length into all the minutiæ of the differences between the steamers of the various lines. Some of the most famous companies have already been mentioned and their early [81] struggles with competitors described. In connection with coastal and cross-channel traffic it will now be sufficient to sketch the careers of a few others which have helped to make steam-ship history. ”

“ The Scottish private has heard from a friend of his in “the Signals” that German submarines are abroad in the Channel. The brigadier is openly contemptuous of all information from men in “the Signals.” The Canadian sister is cheerful. If she were captain of the ship, she says, she would start, and, what is more, fetch up at the other side.
The captain, it appears, shares her spirit. The ship does start. The harbour is cleared and at once the tossing begins. The party between the deckhouses sways and reels. It becomes clear very soon that it will be impossible to stand. ”

“ On the 25th the ship's boat was sent down Channel, with neither captain nor lieutenant to look for men. She had no luck till evening, when she came across the Bremen Factor, a homeward bound merchantman, still some leagues from port, but beating thitherward up Channel. ”

“ Shankpainter Goes round the Shank of the Anchor to support it, when hove up at the Bow. Top Are for slinging the Yards in Time of Fight. [Pg 32] Channels Are Fore, Main and Mizon, which is Plank placed an Edge, against the upper Edge of the Waal, and of a convenient Length for such a Number of dead Eyes the Ship requires, and so broad as to keep the Shrouds from touching the upper Rails. Channel Waals Are wrought thicker than the Plank, and goes Fore and Aft; are placed in the Midship against the upper Deck, and shews the Sheer of the Ship ”

“ Why it is more like a maritime fair. Never was there such a bustle of shipping since the world was made. An average of over a hundred merchant ships a day pass through the narrow gateway guarded by the Dover patrol. Motor boats, flocks of them; scores of traders at anchor in the Downs; busy transports on their way to Havre; up to windward a cluster of mine-sweepers; down to leeward a line of lean destroyers, it is night and day with them as with all the ships, through every changing mood of the Channel—rain, storm, snow blizzards, sunshine and sweet airs or "wind like a whetted knife." ”

“ Look for any information or regulations published by the local harbor authority. Lacking any of this information, locate a channel or safe route on the chart and plot the vessel’s track. Most U.S. ports have well-defined channels marked with buoys. Carefully check the intended track to ensure a sufficient depth of water under the keel will exist for the entire passage. If the scale of the chart permits, lay the track out to the starboard side of the channel to allow for any vessel traffic proceeding in the opposite direction. Many channels are marked by natural or man-made ranges. ”

“ There is no wind, but a drenching drizzle drops unseen, save in the haze of the cabin skylight, from a black heaven that seems to rest its ponderous burden on the slender mastheads of the creeping steamer. It is the English Channel, the great maritime highway that leads to all parts of the world, and now as ever it is crowded with shipping; and through this mighty shadow, full of hidden life and hidden danger, those captains I am writing of must bring their vessels, day after day, week after week. They must not lag, for time is precious to their owners. ”

“ We proceed on; but the song of the sailors who are taking charge of the Atlantic Telegraph cable is haunting us like a dream. In vain our guide conducts us all over the big ship, through miles of galleries, passages, staircases, and promenades; through gorgeous saloons, full of mirrors, marbles, paintings, and upholstery, made 'regardless of expense;' and through buildings crowded with glittering steam apparatus of gigantic dimensions, where the latent power of coal and water creates the force which propels this monster vessel over the seas. ”

“ The anchor has been got up; the paying-out gear is all in working order; the men are all at their appointed places. The cable is being held fast at the ship's stern, and the running out by its own weight is prevented. But directly all are aboard again, the word is given, the screw revolves, the cable is let go at the stern, and the real work of paying out begins.
The cable passes from the tank to the stern of the ship, and from thence to the bottom of the sea. The weight of that part which hangs in the water between the ship and the bottom pulls it out of the ship as the latter moves along. ”

“ If steam has bridged the Channel, in one sense, it has equally removed the space which intervened between one part of the United Kingdom and another, and has rendered a collection of vessels at any point threatened a matter of a few hours, whereas in former times a contrary wind might delay succour until it was too late. ”

“ From the tops of the hills on this extremity of the land you may see out into that they call the Chops of the Channel, which, as it is the greatest inlet of commerce, and the most frequented by merchant-ships of any place in the world, so one seldom looks out to seaward but something new presents—that is to say, of ships passing or repassing, either on the great or lesser Channel. ”

“ The regulation of the United States Navy for chain cables, is one inch and a half for a sloop of war, and one and a quarter for brigs and schooners. In the merchant service, a ship of 400 tons would probably have a best bower cable of one and five sixths, and a working bower of one and a quarter inches. A ship of 700 tons would have a best bower of one and five eighths, and a working bower of one and a half inches. Chain cables have a shackle at every fifteen fathoms, and one swivel at the first shackle. ”

“ As the good-natured Admiral would not permit this, the huge anchor, cylinder, natives, launch, and all, were drawn into deep water were the ship lay. The master-attendant now explained to the natives that they had nothing more to do than to continue lying flat and still on the water, till the people on board the ship, by heaving in the cable, should bring the anchor to the bows, and thus relieve them of their burden. The officer of the launch was also instructed not to slack the buoy-rope till the cable had got the full weight of the anchor, and the natives required no farther help. ”

“ We had now become so hardened to the dangers of the slip overboard, and the sight of the Cable straining for its life in contest with the Big Ship, that the cutting and slipping excited no apprehension; but nothing could reconcile men to the picking-up machinery, and its monotonous retrogression. The wind was on our starboard beam, and the Cable was slipped over at the port quarter, and carried round on the port side towards the ship’s bows, in order that the vessel might go over it, and then come up more readily to the Cable, head to wind, when the picking-up began. ”

“ A hundred men may be swinging on scaffolds which are hung over the ship’s side by lines from the deck, and they remind one who is watching from a distance of flies or ants on a wall. A regiment of workmen may disappear beneath the huge bulge of the ship’s underbody in order to scrape or paint or repair. Fathoms of cable may follow an anchor from the hawse pipes to the dock floor as the “ground tackle”—that is, the anchors and cables—is cleaned, painted, and examined. ”

“ Through the opposite port, led one of our hempen cables, shackled to the small-bower chain, the anchor of which was nearly astern; on this was clapped a runner and yard-tackle; – the stream-anchor which had been of necessity dropped among the rocks on the starboard quarter, the day before, was now turned to good account by leading its chain through the same port, and therewith guying the ship into the deepest water. Through the stern port on deck was the shroud hawser ”

“ When the Cable is Perpendicular between the Hawse and the Anchor, it is then said to be a Peek; when hangs right up and down by the Ship's Side, it is said to be a Cock Bill, upon the Ship's coming to an Anchor; when a Ship drives by the Violence of Wind or Tide, and the Anchor cannot hold her, then it's said to come Home. Those which have lost one of their Flooks, are made use of for Moarings. ”

“ An incessant chatter of shore talk reaches every ship, but your boat, you will find, has no time for idle gossip. But let a faint call flash from the Atlantic, and every nerve is strained to catch it. From now on, you will be constantly picking up news from the incoming steamers, and their messages are certain to be interesting. When a steamer is far out on the Atlantic and out of direct communication with the stations near New York, it is cheaper to relay messages from one steamer to another than to send to the far northern stations, and have them cable New York. ”

“ One of the Channel mists had suddenly swept down from the north. It was almost impossible to see even the length of the deck.
The lookout forward, who had been peering over the bows, came stumbling aft to where the first mate, whose watch it was, stood by the wheel.
“There’s a vessel close off our bow, sir; listen, and you can hear her! She can’t be more than a pistol-shot away.” ”

“ Then too it is necessary that the ship should answer swiftly and surely to his will; that she should vary her speed, stop, or turn round, as promptly as he desires. The telegraph-ship is the helot of her cargo, and should be completely subservient to the work of laying the cable. A well-found steam-ship answers all requirements. Up till a few years ago no specially built telegraph-ship existed. The majority of cables have been laid from ordinary iron screw-steamers, fitted with tanks to contain the cable and paying-out gear. ”

“ Viol A Cable-laid Rope, which being reeved through a large Block lashed at the Main-mast, is made use of by heaving at the Jeer Capston to weigh the Anchor when Nippers are brought on about the Cable. Vinegar Is allowed for washing the Ships between Decks when abroad, for preventing any Contagion spreading among the Men. Umbrello's Are Screens hung at the Stern over the Ship's Lights, to keep out the Sun, and are generally covered with Canvas or Kersey. Unmoar When a Ship or Vessel that Rides at two Anchors begins to get them up in order to Sail, she is Unmoaring. ”

“ It also provides that: — “Vessels engaged in laying or repairing submarine cables shall conform to the regulations as to signals which have been, or may be, adopted by mutual agreement among the high contracting parties with the view of preventing collisions at sea. When a ship engaged in repairing a cable exhibits the said signals, other vessels which see them or are able to see them shall withdraw to or keep beyond a distance of one nautical mile at least from the ship in question so as not to interfere with her operations” (art. 5) . ”

“ Even to-day, even in an age which has so much to be thankful for in respect of conveniences, we actually hear of landsmen looking forward with positive horror to an hour’s crossing the Channel in a fast and able steamship, with its turbines, its comfortable cabins, and the rest. ”

“ Why, man, it's a dead calm, and the swell will send us into the surf on the reef quick enough without our dragging the ship into it. Reckon the best and only thing we can do, is down boats, and then slip cable right-away. We might get a show then to lay along the reef, and get clear.”
“I'm not going to lose a new cable and anchor to please any one,” was the stupid reply. (He could very easily have recovered both anchor and cable with the assistance of the natives on the following day, or indeed months after.) ”

“ Cut the speed of vessels is limited to six knots; through Gatun Lake they may make ten, twelve and fifteen knots, according to the width of the channel. A vessel may clear from the canal port at which it enters and, after passing through the last of the locks, put direct to sea without further stop.
The handling of a vessel all through the canal, except in the locks, is essentially the same as its handling through any charted channel where observance of signals, ranges and turns is necessary. ”

“ The cables are stowed in chain lockers on a deck (F) below the cable decks, and below this (G) are ice-houses and store-rooms. The next compartment of the ship (H) is intended for cargo. It is at present occupied by the forward cable tank.
The main part of the ship, 350 feet in length, up to the level of the lower deck, 34 feet above the bottom, is occupied with her engines, boilers, and coal bunkers. The space above the lower deck was occupied with saloons and cabins for passengers, except at the paddle engine room (J) . ”