The Portland daily press., 1873-07-02
Iron Ship.building on the Delaware

To the Editor of the Press:
Your old correspondent has just made trip
down the Delaware; his objective point being
Chester Pa. Many of your readers will be in
terested to hear what the Messrs. Roach are
doing in the way of building iron ships; and
as visited their establishment for the purpose
of information on that point, 1 can tell
them.
By the way of a preliminary remark let me
say, that 1 have visited the iron shipbuilding
yards ON the Clyde in Scotland, but found no
establishment SO complete in its appointments
as ''Thc Delaware River Iron Ship-building
and Engine Works of the Messrs. Roach at
Chester The grounds are very spacious; and
there are separate buildings for the construc-
ton of the various objects that go to make up
an iron steamship of the first-class. In large
brick building at the entrance of the ground,
are the offices of the establishment, not the
least interesting of which is that of the
draughtsman, presided over by Mr.. j. A.
Hargan, where are some handsome models.
To one accustomed to see only the opera
ton of building ships of wood, it is interesting
to see the men shape the ribs of an iron ship.
Picture to yourself broad iron platform hav-
ing square holes distributed over it as regular
ly as are the black squares in a chess board.
On this platform the mould is laid and its ont
line drawn with chalk. A rib is now drawn
out of a furnace, red-hot, and laid ON the plat
form and bent into the shape indicated by the
chalk line. This is done by driving spikes in
the holes touched by the chalk line
and drawing the rib around against
these spikes and holding it there by spikes
driven in holes on the outer edge of the rib. As
the rib is drawn iuto snaps, men with heavy
sledges beat it down on the PLATFORM to give it
an even surface.
Those who have never seen an iron ship put
together will ask how the ends of the iron
planks are fastened. 1t is done by riveting on
the insids of the ship plate of the same
thickness of the outside; covering the seam
made by the joining of the plates, and making
the ships side twice as thick at that point as
it is in any other part An iron ship is very
strong structure; but my old neighbors at Var
mouth, and my friend J. S. W. and all the
rest, from Kittery to Quoddy, need not fear
that ships of wood will go out of fashion, or
that steam will go to wlndward.
The Messrs. Roach are now building two
very large steamers for the Pacific Mail Com
pany, to run between California and China
the "Hong Kong" and the yokohama"
The dimensions are as follows length at load
line 1864 feet; length over all 420 feet; beam
47R feet; depth, 37a; tonnage $500; compound
engine, double cylinders 81 and 81 inches dame
ter "a inches stroke ten boilers 10 feet diameter
1OA feet long. They have already launched for
the Pacific Mail Co. an iron steamer which,
from her name-Colima-I presume is to run
between Panama and San Francisco Her
tonnage is 2425 o. NJ, and her dimensions as
follows; length over all 312 feet; at load line
2945 feet; beam 40 feet, depth 3O1 feet; COM
pound engines: cylinders 81 and SS inches in
diameter by AZ inches stroke; four boilers IS
feet in diameter by 81 feet long.
Resides these three large steamers, the Pa
cfic Mail Company is having built here two
other stea mers of the following dimensions:
length over all 258 feet; at load line 242a feet;
beam 36 feet; depth 224; compound engines:
cylinders 80 and 56 inches. diameter by 81 inches
stroke. -ha
Besides this work for the Pacific Mail Co.,
1he Messrs roach are building two steamboats,
| Ior Il. II. mallory & Co.'s Texas line from
New York. This is the descrption of the "City
| of Waco: length over all 2Aa foot. o+ load
line 23O feet; beam Sc feet, depth % foot. conn
| pound engines: cylinders So and 5s j., 1:..-
by "a inches stroke; four boilers 10 feet T., =;
ameter by 81 feet long. The other ship viii ui1
| be five feet longer VIII
The Erie Railroad is having a ferry boa.
built at these works. Length over all 1872 feet
| beam 36 feet, with over guards ga feet, depth IL
| feet.
| For the Reading Railroad, two iron steam
| screw golfers are building: one 219b feet long,
| 81 feet wide and 1S4 feet deep. The other 1864
| feet long, 2Sa feet wide aud 151 feet deep.
| The Messrs. Roach are also building steam
ship for the coastipg trade of the following d.
| mansions: Length at load line 1877 feet, over
all 206a, beam 33h, depth III feet, tonnage 1900
o. M.
From these statements the reader is inform
ed, that on the Delaware river, at Chester, we