Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1892-11-23
WHALEBACK VESSELS
ADVANTAGES OF THESE PECULIARLY
CONSTRUCTED SHIPS.

Arc Liable In q Rough Season-In-
portance of tho Dcckhouse-IRey Are
Well Suited for Inland Navigation.
Visible embodime1ils Of the whalehack
method of constructing vessels present
themselves from time to time in our har-
bors, and they are o. an ugliness which
cannot be ignored even by landsman
The novel and peculiar shape is urged by
the builders as special advantage be-
cause it is Of economical construction and
gives the greatest fiotative power In pro-
portion to the quantity of material en-
ployed in building it, but this iron tank is
formless and featureless for the greater
part Of its length and tapers abruptly at
the ends into truncated cones, which are
turned little upward to indicate at least
bow and stern. Near the latter stands
the principal deckhou Sc, which is a de-
parture also from familiar types. It's
lower half is a sort of iron basement for
the upper story and intended to lift it
| above the reach of the water, in which the
hull is almost submerged when loaded
| and on a choppy day It's upper surface is
a-wash. Such deck promises but treach-
| erous footing under these conditions, and
| clearly it was not planned to serve as a
promenade.
One of these vessels is propelled with
great economy of power, because large
surfaces are not exposed above water to the
| retarding influence OF the air through
which she moves nor to Che force of adverse
winds. 1t is claimed I'll at the unfavorable
action Of head seas in checking progress is
| leSSened also
The observer misses the graceful and
sweeping lines which have marked so long
the construction of sailing vessels, and
steamships have had beauty of their own
| in the curves which acCeRtuate the light
ness of the pose upon the water and su ggest
to the eye the speed and stanchness Of the
boat. In these ships, Of proportions long
tried and familiar, there are parts Of the
general contour standiI z high above the
water, which represent Il margin of safety
and gives activity to the vessel and the
power to save herself in trying situations.
1t Is bold stroke thai cuts away at one
blow the whole upper structure that has
been preserved so long and so studiously
| improved upon with the progress OF CEN
turtles. ..I# -
This has been reserve of buoyapcv. of
which great portion was given to the
ends above the normal water line, although
| the largest displacement of the submerged
hull Is made by the u ddle part as the
ship floats in smooth ter. When labor
| ing in high seas the ends have a motion
upward or downward like that of q bal
| anced tilt board on each side of its support
but the application of much force is re
quired thus TO swing tie mass and make
the ship ride the waves she meets. This
| cannot be accomplished artificially, for
there are neither applian ces nor the power
adequate to operate them. aeY
The ship must save herself The angle
OF the bow and its shape, as well as it's
bulk, make her responsive to the action Of
the sea against it.
The run and counter If properly modelled
have qualities resembling in some degree
those of the bow, and it is their duty to
| throw up the stern to following wave
when the vessel runs before the sea- Such
| are the functions OF the various elements
In the accepted types. iealously guarded
until now
In so far as the CONFORMATION of the part
submerged may influence the movement
| it operates in harmony with the portions
that are visible to the naked eye, but the
| lifting effect OF the water upon the inclined
| portion Of the forebody is not sufficient to
| raise the boat upon a wave of considerable
! height and velocity. The water may roar
in the hawse pipes and rise even to the
| bulwarks before the ships heavy mass re-
spends to the buoyant action. Her whole
| forward half becomes an immense lever
on which the sea operates, and it must
have hold to do the work.
1t was the high bows and the high sterns
OF the Nina and the Pinta of Columbus
which saved such craft many time in
| rx-hS
OF history. On our own coasts the famous
Chebacco boats may be see n even in recent
years as a survival OF tie same type of
construction, and they were accounted
great sea boats in their day.
/ The oceans moods have not softened. If
it is no longer the same desperate venture
/ that once it was to cross it, steam is respon-
| slble in great measure for the change
| The caravals of Spain and the "pinkies"
OF Chebacco Parish, which were the con
crete expressions Of their builders creeds
and plans, annunciated a real danger
With the radically new type Of craft, al
most submerged, this danger must be met
again. The whaleback has shown her fit
ness for inland navigation, but in the long
seas Of winter storms she meets new CON
ditions. Proportioned as she is, the hull
is exposed to the sweep of the seas, and if
in pointing downward she encounters one
the hull may enter bodily into the volume
of water. Diving is the name they give it.
| In this possibility lies the danger to YES
sells SO constructed, or to any deep laden
craft Of but little sheer, when lying to the
wind or riding at an anchor; and for ship
advancing the danger is lot less, as the
| momentum of her weight is opposed to
the impact of a mass of water still heav-
+. Ter, and as it sweeps over her the force is
exerted upon such portions as are salient
That the builders of the vhaleback have
failed to anticipate this result is not to be
supposed, for the rounded Jop of the hall
Is adapted to Withstand great pressure, as
well as the more insidious encroachments
of the water on this portion but the deck
house offers II point of attac5; the impetus
of direct rush OF water may be enor-
nous, and the structure made to resist IL
must be of a strength in excess of ordinary
marine construction and built to with
stand the twisting force developed by the
seas, as well as their straigfE flow, for the
quickness and intricacy OF their move
hnfIi mt