Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-12-01
FSH|PS OF YESTERDAY
nod Wooden Sailing Vessels
: Now a Departed Glory.
] AN INTERESTING REVIEW
iron, Steel and Steam supplant Tim.
n Der and Sails.
MEMORIES OF LONG AGO
fNaval Architects Hear Requiem Of
I old-style Craft-Gold Discov-
cries and the Clippers.
MEMORIES OF LONG AGO

/. I NEW YORK, November 30.-The story
fof the wooden sailing ship. around which
/ The past romance of seafaring life is en-
twined, and which reached its zenith
under American builders and sailors half
IA century ago, was traced before the So
/ ciety of Naval Architects and Marine En-
sxineers by B. B. Crowinshield, at Its
: meeting here.
Now that the wooden sailing Ship ex-
-. cept in the coastwise trade of this coun-
try. has been all but eliminated by the
iron wind TANNER or tramp. Mr.. Crown
{ inshislds paper was in the nature of a
! requiem for departed glory.
! Until the discovery of America" he
said, merchant ships were OF small size.
columbus largest ship. the Santa Maria,
twas only about 100 feet long. 20 feet wide
3and IL feet deep. no larger than good
tsiSed pilotboat of today.
The Salem and Boston East 1ndianen
until after abort 1870 were but rarely
more than 10 feet long, The Frances
S-Jeseph Peabody. She was 297. tons reg
tdster, SO feet long. Is feet inches beam,
band 10 feet 3 inches depth of hold and
was launched at Salem in 1907. She was.
gin fact. a full-rlgged ship of smaller d.
mansions than Boston fresh fisherman
= of today, carrying royals on all three
smasts; like all the ships of her time, her
set up with tss iansard wen out Put
bits, the spanker brails up. and she
carries q sprit-sail yard under her bow
Esprit.
ROD. however. were of much larger size;
the Great Harry. built at Firth In the
reign Of Henry VIII, was rated at q thou
sand tons equivalent probably to not
over 600 as vessels are now rneasured),
r n AZ ma
however, most unseawurthy and un-
wteldy AFFAIR.
First Seaworthy warship.
The colonization Of North America and
the conquest Of india by the English
added more impetus to ocean-borne COM
rnerce. and Jnen-of-war were now re-
quired capable of cruising to any part Of
the globe. Phineas Petit was the first
shipbuilder to create q large and really
seawofthy ship-of-war, one capable OF
lighting heavy ordnance In a seaway.
Under his direction the heavy top works,
the poops. and forecastles were done
away with, and ships for the first time
were produced that could both keep the
sea and fight their guns in any REASON
able weather.
His famous Sovereign of the Seas was
launched at Woolwich in 1887. She was
12S feet on the keel. 232 feet over all
probably this measurement was taken
from the emo OF the tb-boom to the taft
raid and 4S beam and Of ! ,631 tons At
hrst she had three complete decks, but
subsequently she was cut down q deck
which vastly improved hep sailing and
General usefulness. She fought in al
most all the great actions against the
dutch. and proved such an excellent ship
rhat In 1893 1t was planned to rebuild
iher second time, when she was totally
destroyed by fire. This ship was the inn
mediate predecessor of the ffiaate class
hrst evolved by the French and later
copied by the British and other CONT.
mental navisG
Sailing frigates occupied the same rela-
live place In the old navies that cruisers
enough to carry big rig. and their lines
were relatively sharp, so that they could
cutsaH anything Of greater force The
ff5gate Constitution Is undoubtedly the
most famous vessel Of this class ever
seuiit, ana as now restored Is a most in.
teresting. and instructive object lesson.
After about 1914 the sailing packets
Degan to be developed, carrying both
freight and passengers which cleared from
sDorts on certain days in each month and
ran oaek ana forth on regular routes.
the steamships The BLACK Ball" ":Red
Star' and the Swallow Tail'' lines had
esegular monthly sailings from New Yorl,
20 Liverpool. and there were other lines
to London. Havre. Australia and other
points until about 1880.
1.-THE ships carried the malls and were
generally patronised by the best class of
travellers. The best packets were two and
finally three-decked vessels, with poop aft
and topgAllant forecastle forward. and
were finally built up to 800 and eventually