The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1832-11-23 00:00:00

SHIP,. BUILDING.

(From lace London Spectator.)
according to the common form of building; is one of
Th f tallest of vessels that ever art, in its infancy, constructed.
t 4 hull consists of a series 'Of piece's of timber fastened at
fiLt angles to, each other ;• whiCh• in their aggregate are so
to1;er"8, and, from the mode
,in which they are fastened,
Haanre so slightly that it requires the actual external .pres Sure
water to aid them together. finder ordinary circum-
fpn.ea, whenever a ship takes the ground, and the support
tit' without is withdrawn, it falls to pieces on -the slightest
14-u7ti")n, from the ,mere effect of its own gravity. Not. only
•e form of building of all others the weakest, and only to
witterfeetly suStaiiied by the pressure of the denser fluid from
itaiel2, but- the expedients adopted with a view to keep that
feet.l.'in n its proper place are of. the most bungling and imper 7
wite u ngh.t be supposed, that,. however ignorant of' the princi-
tio:f,dtagonal ties.; common sense would, without any instruc-
re ught a ShipbUilder t rise all accessible mean§ to
whYeut his ta
vessel from leaking.o To leave a hole unstopped,
t ere the stopping .of it is matter of plain and practicable
ote:eissity, seems the very sum of stupidity. Yet this sum of
iieZ;lity• has been attained to, and is still persevered in, by
art all the shipbuilders in the world. Nay, the resources of
aave been' calle:1 into action still further to weaken what
4:Previously feeble ; and means and appliances 'have been
oe7 make that doubly hazardous which was naturally ob-
tfle tis. to injury. The•phurk which runs parallel and next to
Xll it—is
bottom plank, as- one of the 'uninitiated. woul,,d,
lf termed by the .shipbUilders the ".garboard streak:
tha ere be any part of the vessel that requires to be stronger
114'41,anotlier, with a view to" gnard against leaking, it this
iLK; for it is plain to the meanest capacity, that the pressure
tka"„ water must increase in force as we descend—that a very
u hole at the extreme depth of the vessels hold, will pour
i 0 ranch greater stream than a hole of larger dimensions near
s water-line; added to this, a damage, in the former case, is
,at with much greater difficulty than in the latter. Now,
t t",i'd it be believed, that not only is. this " garboard streak"
ti4hstrimger than the rest of the planking, but that it is inYa-
44.wealter--that the sub Stance of it is cut into and chin-
, ,` , In order to serve as a water-duct for the pumps—that in a
L'eiBl of a thousand tons, the utmost defence, that is placed
ev"`ent.he crew, the passengers, the cargo, and destruction,
its first voyage, and in its best and soundest state, is
te,;:tlches of oak timber ; that a toUch from a pointed bit of
to scratch its own anchor—is• sufficient, at any time,
eve'ruwn, with all its contents, the proudest Indianan that
gfloated.
ut this is not all. The " garboard streak" is not the only
4 aerahle point ; every part, froni the keel to the water-line,
the unsafe. ,Pierce the outer planking, and dowugoes
kNis ip; e. let one-tenth part of the substance of its mighty
is d apparently substantial sides be destroyed, and the whole
ta'le'troyed. How is this? landsmen will say. Nothing is
thsier of explanation. The outer planking is the only part of
Ike vessel that is inipervious to water. Destroy that, and the
tt-ien% George is as much at the mercy of the waves, as was the
If"ei of Caractacus,
.when the cow-hide that covered its
th:l.cer_woric was destr?yed. The ponderous ribs gape to Admit
e 1,.) full stream; the inner planking, though somewhat more
13'' fitted, is equally p.erYrous.
44.11. liobett Seprnngs, in the navarmarine, had the merit
.of
!,oilN)Plying a remedy to the gross and apparent defects of ship-
)tt '"ng after, the old •plan. He remedied its weakness by the
OduCtion of diagonal ties; he filled 'up the' interstices be-
-1114"1 the ribs, so as-to render the entire wall:of the vessel's
equally waterproof. :Vcssels'huilt according •to Sir Ro.;
plan are immeasurably stronger; they ,can sustain much
14;1?er the fury of the waves ailo t; and they can taky the
loliind with much more security: Before they Can. 'spring a
44,,,t it is absolutely necessary that the entire side be beaten in
ti,forated, thnt. the,cohesion of the different. arts of the
to tin7eWork be wholly broken. When a vessel, built according
it a olur plan, is diiven ashore in blowing:weather, the almost
tOlable consequence is its total destruction in an hour or
kr,°"; • Hundreds of lives,. and tens of thousands of property,
th; I.?st every year, that would have been saved had the wrecked
Oeen strong enough to hold together for a single tide, Sir
ett Sepping's plan presents an infallible remedy for such
If a vessel of his Imikreannot be got off a rock or shoal,
14'44 at least keep, together while on it, until the crew.be got
Wilf :As we have already noticed, the smallest external damage
I,_ees to sink a vessel built after the old plan. When such a
crle I takes the gro-uncommonly,, it is therefore, not -uncomonly, its.
14, g,orous to heave it off, as to let, it remain. We might cite,
It-dJavincible, seventy-four, at Yarmouth--the Abergayenny,
e.,,1a/lian, at Portland; but examples are trite of yessels that
k,e touched the sand even. sinking the instant -they were
Vird into deep water. Against ._evely..anch ,acte,i(leizty4ir-R 0-
\Oepping's plan is' an effecb!al safeguard.
• e had long thought, that his invention (for it may well be
a.n..4ed so.) was ineapable of im m proYeerit; but Mr. Balling:ill,
r btleman who acts as manager' Ottke''Klitkaldy and London
tiqt).Ping Company,: hag offereda. suggestien, wIWh does see
tie t loconilerable- improvement. In the old;; plan, only. ,the*
tr:r Planking is rendered waterproof; in the new, the timbers
t,,tri4de waterproof. Mr. -Baß a ingall Makes 'assurance doubly
Ii e• by calking, the ;7itter planking. Not only is this an arldi-
Wn'ad safegnird against le-aks-,--it is the best•preventive of mt.
I;,c:,leeping the timbers from contact with the air, the grand
id,AYer of dead, as it is the grand sustainer of living vegetable
as animal substan,es. Sir Robert, Seppings's plan li•s•
IviT hitherto introduced into the Navy only; Mr. Rallingall's
are dire,ded towards .1 he •perfeciing of the Commercial
Pii,''nf'• To persons engaged in building vessels for the put;
!cc's of trade, his boa may, indeed, be looked on as a corn-
hi; 7 manual.* Mr. Ballingall does not stop short by provid-
tii,;,‘'or the safety of the vessel. Ile h t., also invented an inge-
0-", and simple method of building, by which, in case of a
Ilieet's bottom being knocked in, it might yet float its crew,
th,lltirler deck acting as a false bottom. He gives plans, more-
-1 for readily conveying the water in the hold; whether from
4%"4,"Re or otherwise, to the well: for protecting the pumps
tkar 'rig choked by the sand-ballast: and he. shows, plainlv
Practically, how water may be drawn from the vessel's
tkth,; where its accumulation, while on a wind, is very often
iNenielv injurious to a perishable cargo.
4,1„4ch and to all of these `plans of Mr. Ballinghall, which
the to perfect what, Sir Robert Seppintrs so happily began,
Nie is, in the eves of practical men, but one objeetion--they
N„'etnewhat enhance the expense of shipbuilding. The
thi4 t amount of the enhancement we cannot pretend to deter-
with' accuracy ; but we feel fully persuaded, when there
caret ag,inst it, the wonderful increase of security to- crew and
l'co,'"'s and, as a consequence, the extended duration of the
tin 4`'l, and the-diminution of sea-risk and insurance, the-addi-
t4,l cost will return a large interest in savings. We wish,
't
whoa"hearily all success to Mr. Rallinghall's endeavonrsH
Pic",
'h.;1;1. 'nighty waters," pursue a .tt de as rough and perilous to
lb.;;‘,..l,(ltials as it is important to the cointrunity : and he is
Illy`',nenevolently and patriotically employed, who shall devise
eheme by Which ever so sin a" portion of thelabour and
Tay be certainly abated.;—.Vertotor.
rhe title of Mr. BALLING/ti,Vslioms is The Mere smile Nary
• -