The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1847-03-23 00:00:00

LAUNCH OF THE GAUDALQUIVIR.

There was launched, on Saturday last, from the yard of
Messrs. Thomas Vernon and Co., South Shore, a beau-
tiful iron steam-ship, (the Gaudalquivir,) of peculiar
construction, to suit her for her destination, and of such
elegance of model and finish in workmanship, that,
though the site is at a considerable distance from the
town, the rumours, originating with the few who had
casually seen her, attracted a goodly number of spectators
to the spot. The day was fine, and the spectacle afforded
the greatest gratification to all who were present.
• The following are the dimensions, &c., of the vessel ;
Length between perpendiculars
Length over all 220
Beam, between paddle-boxes
Depth of hold
Burthen 6OO Tons.
She has remarkably large sponsons, fore and aft the
paddle-boxes, making the deck, throughout a consider-
able length amidships, 43 feet wide. This is intended to
afford accommodation for a large number of passengers,
somewhat on the principle of our river steamers, not alto-
gether suitable for ocean navigation, but for " a summer
sea." The vessel was built for some spirited Spanish
gentleman to run from island to island in the West Indies,
chiefly with passengers, and is the first of a series con-
structed in England, by the proprietors, to prosecute
steam navigation in the Carribeean Sea. When we say
the first built in England, we must state we have learned
that the company, at the commencement, had a vessel
built in the United States, and ran her for some time;
but from defects and weakness in her hull and engines, an
accident (a blow-up) occurred ; and they came to the wise
resolve to resort for the next to " the old country," in
which skill and experience have, in iron shipbuilding and
the construction of engines, attained a decided pre-emi-
nence.

The ship will be propelled by engines of 220 horses
power, with common flue boilers. The paddle-wheel is
27 feet in diameter. The engines, on the side-lever prin-
ciple, are in course of completion by our celebrated towns-
men, Messrs. Fawcett, Preston, and Co., and great speed
is expected. _

Fiom the peculiar form of the vessel—required for the
service—much ingenuity was taxed to turn her into what
may be termed "ship-shape" appearance ; but the builders,
who are also the modellers or designers, have overcome
all difficulties and disadvantages, and produced a specimen
of naval architecture which hides the otherwise unseemly
flanches or sponsons, and gives the vessel, viewed laterally,
the appearance of a sharp and elegant ship, having no such
protuberances. She is, in fact, (taking her hull inde-
pendently of her sponsons,) a crack shill as a steamer, of
light draught of water. It is expected that she will not,
with her engines, fuel, &c., on board. draw more than six
feet. Her floorings are flat and long, giving bilges that
will counteract rolling ; and her extremities are beautifully
fine. A section of her, outwardly, including the sponson,
forms an ogee, amidships, from the bulwark to the keel.
Without the sponsons she is a regular ship, with entire
sides, the former being an outwork, so ingeniously
attached to the hull on each side, that if one or
both of them were to be carried away in a storm,
she would still be a safe and perfect vessel. The manner
in which the sponsons, which form air-tight casements,
are amalgamated or harmonised with the hull, particu-
larly at the bow and stern, is a masterpiece in iron build-
ing which could not be approached in wood. But we
must reserve details on this point for a future occasion,
when the next vessel of the series is launched. She has
Vernon's patent iron deck beams, and side frames in the
engine-room, of great strength, but light. She has also
stringers, judiciously disposed, giving great strength with
little weight. The bo ff is truly handsome. Surmounting
the stem is a lion rampant, finely executed, and the trail-
board—for we must so term it, though it is of iron—is
enriched by foliated ornaments, in relief. Above this
there is a belt or ribbon, inscribed with the name of the
ship, and a heraldic shield. The stern, which is round,
is in corresponding taste, with (we believe) the royal arms
of Spain as a centre-piece. The workmanship through-
out is first-rate, the 'riveting being so fine that the vessel
appears to be of one sheet of smooth metal.

- The Cabins will be of magnificient construction, simi-
lar to the American river boats. There will be three tiers
above the main deck, the wood-work of which is now
being made in New York, and the furniture for them, of
the best kind, in London. It is remarkable in the annals
of skill and industry, in the art ofiron ship-building, that
the keel-plate was laid only in October last, and that a
vessel of so large a tonnage, was on the 19th instant,
although there was snow for a month, finished for launch-
ing, and fully rigged as a schooner while on the stocks.
The launch, (about noon,) was beautiful. The vessel
" hung tire" a short time after the daggers were struck
down, but then moved majestically- and sublimely into
the bosom of Old Mersey—the level of that element in
which she is destined to float—amidst shouts of admira-
tion. She was named by Mrs. Parry. Her appearance
when afloat in the river was fine and "rakish." She ap-
peared to draw little more than 4 feet.

After the launch, a number of ladies and gentlemen
partook of a cold collation, served up in the most liberal
style by Mr. Lawton, of the Clayton Arms, Clayton-
square. The chair was occupied by Mr. Vernon, senior,
and at his right sat Mr. Alderman B. Moore, Mr. Alder-
man Sands, and several other influential gentlemen of the
town ; also Don Tellino Testas di Moras, and Rowland
Cox, Esq. After the loyal toasts, Mr. Sands proposed the
health of Mrs. Parry, who had performed the ceremony of
naming the vessel. Mr. Parry replied, and proposed,
" Success to the Guadalquiver, and may she be as profit-
able to the owners as she is creditable to the builders."
Mr. HENRY DOWNING, of Havannah, acknowledged
the compliment paid to the owners, and observed that the
noble vessel just launched would be the first of a line to
be built for the service in the West Indies.

The CHAIRMAN, in complimentary terms, proposed,
"The Dock Committee," which (as well as the toasts,)
was drunk with the usual honours.
Mr. 13itammr.v-MoortE said he felt gratiffed in express-
ing his obligations on behalf of the Committee, for the
manner in which the toast had been received, and more
especially as it cameliom a gentleman who, of all others,
was under the least obligation to that body, as they had
driven him vie et arrnis from the north to the south end
of the town. It was, however, requisite for the advantage
of the docks and the trade of the port that the Dock
Committee should do what appeared at the time to be a
very harsh proceeding towards Mr. Vernon ; but he was
delighted to find that such proceeding had not left one
bad trace on the mind of that gentleman. They would
all agree with him, that it was a matter of necessity which
obliged them to drive Mr. V. from his present position.
The influence of the Dock Committee was not confined
to Liverpool ; for they endeavoured to bring trade from
all parts of the world ; and the whole of their energies
were directed to one object—the prosperity and increase
of the town and trade of Liverpool. He concluded by
proposing " The builders of the Gaudalquivir," to whom
the kingdom at large was indebted for the spirit and
talent they had displayed in iron shipbuilding. Every
steamer that went from this country to those places where
slavery still existed would do more, by bringing such parts
in communication with the civilised nations of Europe, to
wipe away the foul stain of slavery, than anything that
could be done. (Applause.) He proposed the health
of Messrs. Vernon and Co., which was drunk with
enthusiasm.

The CHAIRMAN observed that he rose on the occasion
under peculiar emotions—commingled emotions—emo-
tions mingled with pleasure and pain. He was exceed-
ingly obliged and gratified at the handsome manner in
which his health had been proposed by his friend Mr.
Moore, and regretted his inability to explain himself as
he would wish to do. With regard to iron ves-
sels he would- make a few remarks. In the first place,
they would all recollect that since the adoption of iron as
a ioaterial for building vessels, much had been done on
the subject, and many important objections were raised
at the commencement. Those objections had, however,
vanished into nothing. . (Hear, hear.) One objection
was that iron was a material subject to corrosion ; that its
capabilities would be destroyed, Now, he asked, what
corrosion had done ?—that objection was never named.
Many who once spoke about it were silent. Another ob-
jection was that vessels built of iron would not be safe in
taking the groiind or coming on a rock. What did wooden
vessels do when they went upon rocks ? why, they went
to pieces. (Laughter.) They did not build vessels to go
upon rocks, but to keep clear of rocks; and when such
was the state of the weather that vessels were driven on
rocks, they were likely to be broken up. He felt sure,
however, that in cases where steamers had met with
such accidents, they had been got off more frequently
in safety than timber built vessels ; therefore such
an objection amounted to nothing. He might adduce,
as an instance, the Great Britain and many other
vessels under similar circumstances, to substantiate
his position. The first objections were imaginary ; they
had all vanished away, and the adoption of iron for ship-
building was now being recognised. There were however
immense difficulties which still remained unsurmounted
before the material of iron could be brought more exten-
sively into operation. He considered the question as a
natural one, in consequence of the bearing which it had
as to our relation with other countries, and that whatever
objection there was to the use of iron ships should be
overcome. First, as to the prevention of fouling in
some waters, and that objection did not apply to all waters,
for when a vessel was employed convey ing goods up the Bal-
tic it did not foul, but in the West Indies, the East Indies,
and all tropical climates, the fouling of the vessel was a
mighty objection. For his own part, he thought there
were plans about to be brought into operation by which.
in a short time, that difficulty wwuld be fully met and
overcome. There was another point to which he would
refer, and that was as to the maturity of the screw :—a
great deal depended on it, especially with reference to
sailing vessels, but there were merits in the screw not yet
brought out—which would come out by-and-by. (Hear,
hear.) The screw was not sufficiently matured, and its
construction and plan in connexion with the engine were
not yet sufficiently understood. The other day,. his son
was on hoard the Sarah Sands, and hail an intervrw with
Captain Thompson, who appeared to be coming to a
right view of the matter, and if he persevered he would be
the first man to arrive at the point by which they were to
obtain the greatest advantage from the screw. (Hear,
hear.) There were some other objections to the use of
iron vessels which required notice. Recently some expe-
riments had been made by one of the admiralty, for the
purpose of testing the capabilities of iron vessels to resist
the action of cannon ball. He had seen the report on that
experiment, and the retult was, that iron vessels had been
condemned for the purposes of war. It was all nonsense
as to the result they had arrived at, and he would tell
them way. First of all, the vessel on which they tried
the experiment was a small thing, in which no one would
have ventured scarcely to cross the river, the plates of which
she was constructed being not more than one-eighth of
an inch in thickness. Was such a vessel fit to try an ex-
periment by the British Government ? The experiment
amounted to nothing, and the Admiralty ought to have
been ashamed of themselves for putting it forward under
such circumstances. (Hear, hear.) The trial could not
be considered a fair one at all, and had not firnishecl any

proof at all that iron vessels could not be used for the
purposes of war. They must bear in mind that vessels
fir men antile purposes were not for war, but his
opinion was that an iron vessel might be made safer, and
better calculated to resist the irnpeeus of cannon balls
than if constructed of wood. He would have a vessel
similar to the one they had seen that day glide into the
water, on the sides of which should be introduced a net-
work of iron plates placed on edge, so near together as to
prevent the possibility of any cannon ball ever passing
through. (Hear, hear.) Such a vessel might be made so
as to be invulnerable. Another plan was to construct one
iron vessel within another, leaving an intermediate space
which should be filled up with some invulnerable material
to stop the progress of cannon balls. [Mr. Wade, cotton
for instance; (laughter.)l [Mr. B. Moore, not gun-cot-
ton ; (renewed laughter)] Mr. Vernon concluded by
thanking the company for the honour they bad done to
the firm to which he belonged, and the patience with
which they had listened to his remarks.
Mr. Garston proposed the health of the ladies, which
was responded to in suitable terms by Mr. M'Nichol.
Several other toasts were then proposed, amongst which
were, " Messrs. Fawcett, Preston and C 0.," who are to
supply the engines for the Guadalquivir, and " The.
Press," the latter of which was responded to in appro-
priate and truly eloquent terms by Mr. Martin, of the Li-
verpool Mail. We need scarcely add that they were drunk,
as were all those that preceded them, with the greatest
enthusiasm.

The proceedings terminated at two o'clock, all present
being highly gratified at the event which had brought
them together, and the liberality and kindness displayed
by Messrs. Vernon and Co. on the interesting occasion.