The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1892-08-23
BATHS BIG BEAUTY.
The Roanoke was
Built by Arthur Sewan & Co.

Built by Arthur Sewa11 & Co.
for themselves, but shares are held by
various others in different parts of the
country. The cost OF hull and equip
ment is $175,O 900. Designed for the Cali
fornia trade she will carry general car
goes out returning with grain for Europe.
She will be commanded by Capt. Joseph
P. Hamilton of Brooklyn, N. Y, will
have two mates, boatswain, sailmaker,
carpenter, engineer, cook, steward, TWEEN
ty-four men and about a dozen boys.
But the best part of her crew is the
arrangement for hoisting anchors, yards,
etc. This machinery consists of one
steam windlass and foul capstans.
She is four masted ship, which means
that the fore, main and mizzen masts are
ship-rigged and the fourth, or jigger
mast, is schooner rugged. The jigger
mast has only lower mast 81 inches in
diameter and topnast about IL inches
through. The other masts have lower
masts 36 inches in diameter, topmasts "a
inches and top gallant masts 10 inches.
She will carry courses, double topsalls,
top gallant sails, royals and skysails.
There seems to be no provision for star
gazers, sky scrapers, heaven disturbers
VI aCuISC " VTOu bttic3 Oub SdPus llNliiAl-
ton will doubtless get them on her dur
ing his first race. No studding sails will
be carried, but with all plain sail set she
will spread to the breeze ten thousand
yards or little over two acres of can
vas. This means 2-3 miles of canvas
one yard wide.
From truck to deck her three forward
masts measure ITO feet, which makes
the top of her masts nearly 200 feet
above the water, and to pass under the
Brooklyn bridge she must send down
top gallant masts and house topmasts.
Her registered tonnage is $3.50 tons
and in that space she can carry 5000 tons
of grain. Over all her length is 315 feet.
On the load water line it is 81 feet and
her keel is 800 feet long. Her beam is
49.2 feet; depth of hold 40 feet;
draught when light IL feet and when
loaded ~ feet.
She has two decks running the whole
length of the vessel and above the main
deck the poop deck runs $50 feet forward
from the stern. Below the tween
decks" is set of spar beams which is
not decked over, but serve as bracing
for the ship.
She is coppered from her keel to about
20 feet up the side and to cover this sur
face 25,200 square feet of yellow metal
was required. Above the copper is a
broad blood red band and from there to
the rail she is painted beautiful grey
lead color. Her masts rake hardly
enough
For Regulation Pirate,
but otherwise she is worthy of the glow
ing description of Clark Russell's Ocean
Freelance or Cooper's Red Rover.
The Roanoke is undoubtedly the
largest wooden sailing ship afoat. La
France, a five masted Frenchman, may
be little larger, but she is of iron as is
also the Palgrave, an Englishman of
great size. The Roanoke mas discarded
the traditional long head booms of the
Yankee ship, and in their place has a
steel bowsprit thirty inches in diameter
and sixty-five feet long.
Captain Hamilton is a man of between
forty-five and fifty years, most of which
he has spent on salt water. He has
commanded many ships, among them the
Humboldt and Undaunted.
The late VIM. Pattee of Bath designed
the model of the Roanoke and lived to
see her practically completed. but was
not spared to see her launched.
The Roanoke is a sister ship to the
already famous Shenandoah. To be
sure she is big sister, but is built on
nearly the same lines. The Shenan-
doah is 300 feet in length and measures
3406 tons. She sailed from San Francis
co to Havre in 100 days or an average Of
127 miles per day; and from New York
to San Francisco in ITO days or 1874 miles
day. And these averages include the
days of calm, when she could make lit
tie or no distance.
Sister ships, like other sisters, are apt
to be unlike in their characteristics. In
the case of ships, however, it is prefera-
Bile to have them fast, and it is hoped
make the Roanoke as fast or even fas-
ter than her sister Shenandoah.