The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1904-12-01
PEARY'S ARCTIC VESSEL
Devi&es For Ice Fighting In the
Explorers New Ship.
ARM0R TO PROTECT HULL.

HEAVY ARMOR TO PROTECT HULL.
Copper Sneathing VIII BE OverIaid
ON All Parts OF the HILLS Bottom
Exposed TO Water - Coamings to
Matches Very Strongly Made--Liv-
Ing Quarters Plain but Counfortab Ies
. Encouraged by his previous perform
| ances, Commander Robert e. Peary Of
the United States navy is now having
built new craft for his final dash for
the north pole. says the New York Her
aid. This new ship will be very re-
markable in many ways.
The vessel is technically described
as q three masted fore and aft schoon-
er rugged steam vessel, with auxiliary
sail power.
The ship will be 164 feet long on the
load water line and 100 feet long from
the tip Of her stem to the after side Of
her rail- Her maximum beam over
her guard will be nearly thirty five
feet, and when laden she will draw
nearly seventeen feet of water.
The keel, stem and sternpOst will be
| built of heavy white oak, and over
the regular keel there will be stout
false keel of the same material, which
will bear the rub of thick Ice and
grounding The frames will also be Of
I,,&
deck beams will be Of very thick vel
low pine, unusually well supported
| and fastened to the frames by big
through bolts.
Amidships these beams will be sup
ported right up from the keelson by
steel stanchions so arranged that they
may be set up by bolts to take up any
"give" III the structure during the
course of construction. To insure ex-
ceptional stiffness to the hull there
will be heavy yellow pine diagonal
braces, very securely fastened, at ev-
cry frame. While cutting up the space
between decks, this arrangement gives
just that resistance to the pressure Of
ice upon the bottom and bilges that
will cause the vessel, like melon seed
pinched between the fingers, to rise
and free itself Of the stress.
Above all things it is essential that
the vessel should not leak, and to in
sure this and to take the constant rub
of the ice the hull will be covered
| with a double course of five inch
planking. The inner course will be Of
yellow pine, and the outer course,
which will be Immediately subjected
| to wear, will be of we'll seasoned white
oak. The inner course will be calked
when finished and made securely wa
ter tight. Over the inner course will
then be laid a sheeting of tarred hemp
or tarred canvas. After this is thor
oughly secured the outer planking will
be laid and bolted with exceptional
strength to each frame.
After this planking in turn has been
calked and the seams all filed with
pitch heavy copper sheathing will be
OVERLAND on all parts of the bottom ex-
posed to the water. To take the rub
and grind Of the floating ice the bow,
the sides along the water line and the
stern will be further protected by
steel plating. At the stem this plating,
| which will be an inch thick, will reach
from the keel all the way up to three
feet above the load water line and ex-
tend aft for quite twelve feet. The wa
ter line plating, which is three-eighths
OF an inch thick, will be continuous
belt five feet wide, one foot only being
above the water.
Outside, in line with the main deck,
the vessel is fitted with a very strong
guard strake of white oak secured to
each frame by through bolts Of steel
riveted inside. This guard strake Is
further strengthened by heavy angle
bar of steel, which in turn is fastened
with especial care.
The purpose Of this guard strake,
apart from being buffer, is to help to
lift the vessel out Of the water as the
ice brushes about her. AS can be seen,
the ice will press against her sides,
and then as they offer first resistance
it will rise and catch under the coun-
ter of this guard and bodily raise the
vessel. In case the ship, on the other
hand, has been frozen in a thick pack
Of ice and wishes to free herself n.y.
draulic jacks will be set upon the ice
and brought to bear upon the under
Size Of tie guard and these in turn
will raise the craft, and as she is per-
mittel to settle back her weight will
tend to break way clear. This is a
peculiarly novel arrangement
The, coamings to all matches are
made Of great strength and are nearly
as high as the top of the bulwarks.
As a result the boats effective free
board is really higher than it seems.
Internally the craft is subdivided by
a number Of very stout bulkheads, so
that size is therefore built with a num-
Der of water tight divisions. These
bulkheads apart from adding in this
way to the security of the ship in case
of ooc;iopt olive go much moro Strpp 9th