THE GREAT IRON STEAMSHIP.

Lyttelton Times, Volume V, Issue 279, 4 July 1855, Page 3

THE GREAT IRON STEAMSHIP.

(From the London Weekly Despatch-)

The many thousands who pass daily up and down the Thames have had their curiosity eXciled for some months p.ist by the giganticlooking structure of iron which is gradually rising on its left bank; about four miles below London Bridge. In the locality familiarly known as the Isle of Dogs, where the river 'byfldenly takes a sweep round three-fourths of a circle, enclosing1 a morass of more than a mile in length and half-a-inilejn hreadih,the greater part of which is several feet below high-water -vr-.jrk, some of 'our'most extensive and eminent iron shipbuilders have erected their factories. It is to one of these, at the southern extremity of the peninsula, we wish to conduct our readers. The worksare of great extent, and cover a large area of grmind, which here, although so well suited to the operation, and so close to the metropolis, is comparatively valueless for other purposes. In Messrs. Scott, Russell, and Co.'s factory, iron ships and steamers of all sizes are being constantly constructed, and the clank of thousands of hammers rivetting red hot bolts, and the heavy'booming sound of sledge and steam hammers, with the dense clouds of smoke ■and bursts of flame which meet the visitor when he approaches the work?, must remind him, if he have any military experience, of a fiercely contested battle field, whilst it indicates to all the extent and activity of the operations carried on within; The whole expanse of the interior of the factory is covered with sheets, and ribs, and bars of iron; ropes and pulleys, winches and sheers, railways to facilitate the couveyance of materials, and portable furnaces for heating the iron bolts, are encountered at every turn; and iron vessels, in every stage of progress—their sterns pointing towards the river—occupy the numerous building slips. Buf our business is> with none of these, and proceeding to an inner yard, with a wide frontage towards the river, we come upon the gigantic iron steamship which is now being built for the Eastern Steam Navigation Company. The present appearance of this leviathan, for as yet she has received no name, is as unlike that of a ship as can well be imagined. Four or five lofty walls of iron, standing some sixty feet apart, and supported by other tranverse walls, would leave one to believe that here is the ' shell or framework of some enormous iron warehouses about to.be shipped off to one of our co- ; lonies ; and it requires a considerable stretch of the imagination to believe that these walls form portions of the interior of the hull of a merchant ship. At one extremity of the yards stands a flag staff, on which a Union-Jack is hoisted, which, we are told, will be her stern ; and at the other extremity another, to indicate her -hows; and between these two poiuts is a space of nearly 700 feet in length. The project of building; a ship of her extraordinary dimensions when first ' made public created a good deal of discussion, and, we may add, ridicule. It was urged that it would he impossible to construct a ship of 675 feet in length of sufficient strength, and that the first heavy sea she encountered would break her in two;, that no harbour would have depth of water sufficient to float her; and no amount of steam power she could carry would propel her an average speed. Nevertheless, the Eastern Steam Company put faith in the calculations of their engineer, Mr. Bruuel ; Mr. Scott Russell undertook to build her, and she is now more " than half completed. The preparation of the ground on which the leviathan ship is being constructed was jn itself a work of considerable labour and cost. An embankment of about 1,000 feet in length, and 500 feet wide, was formed along the river side, by driving massive piles to a depth of 40 or 50 feet; and where the greatest weight is to be supported, along the line of the keel, the piles were driven in at intervals of five feet. The cargoes of two 600 ton ships loaded with earth were then emptied upon these piles, and rammed firmly down, so as to form a solid foundation. -^ On this platform, which is a few feet above hisjh water :uark, solid blocks of timber were placed at short intervals ; and on these blocks, which stand about four feet high, the keel was laid, . and is now carried out its full length of nearly 700 feet.. The position of the ship is about 40 yards from the water, and parallel to the line of the river, with her head down the stream, as it would be impossible to turn a vessel of her length without great difficulty, even on the broad bosom of the Thames. The whole of her

hull, even to the upper deck, will be formed of iron plates of considerable, thickness, and from her keel to about-eight feet above the water line she will be double, or two perfect keels one within another, with an interval between -them of about 36 inches. She will have 10 water tiprht compartments, at intervals of 60 feet, and these will be crossed by two longitudinal walls of iron, running' the entire length of the ship, and again subdividing these compartments. While adding very materially to the strength of the hull, these longitudinal divisions will effect^ the further object of completely isolating and separating the coal, which will bestowed in the side, from the furnaces, boilers, and machinery, which will be placed in the centre. The hnllsare kept in their relative position to each other by longitudinal iron stringers or keeisons, at intervals of five feet, and in the event of any accident occurring to the outer covering, the inner hull will be strong enough to ensure the perfect safety of the ship. The bottom is flat for a distance of 12 or 15 feet either side of the keel, which, by the way, is on a line with the outer hull, and presents no obstruction to her lying perfectly flat, and without struiniug, on the floor of a dock or cradle, when repairs are needed. The iron plates of which her hull and compartments are formed are upwards of an inch in thickness, 10 feet long, and weigh about half a ton each. The lower part of the hold will contain the machinery, boilers, stores, coals and merchandise; while the upper part will consist of three tiers of decks for the passengers, one above the other, and running the whole length of the vessel. The lowest of these tiers will be at least six or eight feet above the water line, and the decks will be eight feet apart, affording ample space for light and ventilation—the latter being provided for by port holes of large size, running at intervals along the sides, and which can be kept open in any weather. For greater security, there will be a strong iron deck interposed between the furnaces and machinery below the passenger department above, thus cutting off all communication. The sleeping berths will be ranged round the sides, and there will be large saloons in the centre for each of the three decks, 60 feet in length, and of proportionate width. The upper deck, which covers all, will be flush from stem to stern, This deck will add very materially to the strength of the hull, will be double, and slightly arched. Its construction will he cellular, like that of the tubular bridge across the Menai Strait, and it will resist any amount of strain or concussion that can possibly be applied to it. The principle on which the ship is being constructed is one which is now recognised among all practical and scientific men—namely, that the strength of iron depends upon the plates being placed at right angles to each other, and the whole framework of the hull has been arranged with a view to this object. Internally, it is a combination of iron walls, 10 running transversely, two intersecting these longitudinally, and four crossing horizontally. All the walls are strengthened still further at the junctions by solid angle-iroiis ; and the whole of this cellular arrangement is enclosed in a double iron casing on the bull, which gives the enormous mass perfect rigidity, and a strength which, we are assured, equals what it woulu be if formed of solid iron. The plates, although nu<nbei'ed by thousands, are all cut out, in the first instance, by means of wooden models in the moulding loft; each of them has its' peculiar list, or inclination and. shape, with the number of holes to.be punched; and each of them, as it leaves the rolling mill, where it is to be gauged to the sixteenth part of an inch, has a particular letter and number marked legibly upon it, and by means of this name, which the plate ever after retains, the workmen, on its arrival, know at once its position in the vast pile, and it proceeds straight to its destination. We now come to the machinery by which the vessel is to be propelled. She will be furnished both with paddle-wheels and a screw— the formev, of a nominal power of 1,000 horses ; the latter, of 1,600 horses ; but practically,, the combined power may be estimated at 3,000 horses. The paddle "wheel machinery is now being constructed in the same building yavA, in which a shed,had to be built for the purposes of fitting, and erecting the engines. The four cylinders in which the pistons are to work are the largest that have ever been attempted in one piece. For each cylinder about 35 tons of melted meUl were required ; and when the dressing and cleming "f superfluous metal was accomplished, the} v. t ighed 28 tons each. Of

these unwieldly masses of mm, three hare, alrealy been successively cast, and without a fliw. For the castings, an enormous iron cofferdam was constructed in the foundry to the depth of 25 feet; and after the mould had been properly prepared, into this the contents of several cauldrons of molten metal was simultaneously poured, and the castings.'made.' Some idea of their great height maybe formed when we state, that lying with its sides on the ground a man with his hat on may walk through without .touching the upper side, and that a table and seats, calculated to ;iccommodate ] 8 persons, were laid in one of them. The engines, when erected and put together, will be upwards of 50 ' feet in, height. The machinery for the screwpropeller is being made by Messrs. Watts, of the Soho Foundry, and it will be of similar gigantic proportions. To set in motion this powerful machinery, there will be 20 vast furnaces and as many boilers, the smoke and waste steam of which will be carried off by five funnel!). The boilers and furnaces will occupy fiVe of the central 60-feet compartments of which we have already spoken,and theeugines will heplncedihLwo others. The weight of the entire machinery will be about 3,000 tons, and of the hull 10,000 ions-— making 13,000 tons. She will carry, in addition, several thousand tons of coal and merchandise, 1,000 first class and 600 second class passengers, and her measurement capacity gives her,something like 25,000 tons burthen ! Notwithstanding her extraordinary, dimensions, her draught of water will be comparatively small—not exceeding 20 feet when light, and 30 feet when fullyloaded. When afloat she will present an appearance very different from that of any merchant ship yet built. She will carry five or six masts and five funnels, and will resemble a huge threedecker, like th ; Duke of Wellington, only that she will be nearly three times the Dukes length. Her three decks appropriated to passengers will rise, tiev above tier, to a height of 35 feet out of water; and the rows of port holes will, at a little distance, present the appearance of a formidable battery of heavy artillery. At present, about half of her huh has been completed ; she will be ready for launching next year, and will be sent into the water biviadsiiie in, upon two ■enormous ways. Her cost will be upwards of £400,000. One of the great features in this gigantic undertaking is, that the vessel will carry coal for the whole voyage, out and home ; and the quantity required may be guessed at when w« state that her voyage will be round thvj world. The great cost of coal has hitherto been the obstacle to the profitable employment of steam ships...on long sea voyages. Coal will be put on board this leviathan at about 10s. per ton, while the cost of this necessary article at the Cape of Good Hope and Australia varies from £2. 10. to £o per ton, to say nothing of the impracticability at times of procuring, a sufficient supply at any pricej and the loss occasioned by the delay in coaling, and the risk to the vessel. It is this which has hitherto prevented the ordinary class iff steamships from competing successfully with sailing vessels in the Australian trade ; and, at the present moment, there are only two steam ships trading between England and Australia. Clipper buHt vessels can mn the whole way from England to Port Philip'without stopping, unless short of water, or compelled to touch at-some port from some other emergency. Another important object which the company expect to achieve by the construction of this large ship is, that they will obtain a speed far superior to that of -any,.other vessel now afloat. At the recent meeting of the British Association in.' Liverpool, Mr. Soott Russell demonstrated that length was one of the essentials of speed ; and he believes that it will be as easy to propel ■ this vessel at 18 or 20 miles an hour as one of. the ordinary size and dimensions at 12 miles an hour. As she now lies on the river's bank, she is apparently one of the most misshapen masses to which the term '• ship " could be applied. On the water she will present the appearance and form of the finest and fastest clipper, and will cut through the water with comparatively little resistance. If any of our readers will take the trouble to mark off upon a sheet of paper a length of seven inches and threequarter, and at a distance of about three inches from one end, intersect it by a lit.c uf nearly an inch in length, and then form a triangle from this intersecting line to the furthost. end, they will have a good idea of tne le\iathan. Her actual measurements are 675 feet long, S3 feet wide at her greatest breadth

of beam, and 60 feet deep in the hole. She will touch at no port between this and Australia ; is expected to make the voyage in 30 ■days, and return by Cupe Horn in 30 days more; thus making: the circuit of the globe in two months! 'Although'she will carry masts and sails, it is not anticipated that the latter will be fouml of much service, as, at her ordinary speed of 18 or 20 miles an hour, she will be in the unpleasant predicament of always having the wind in her teeth. Another of lier qualifications, which probably was not dreamed of at the time she was ordered to be constructed is, that in consequence of her {Treat speed, extreme sharpness, and the solid, substantial manner in which she has been built, she will prove, without carrying: an ounce of gunpowder, or a single warlike weapon on board, one of the most formidable engines of destruction ever devised. The most powerful three decker that ever floated would be cut in two, and broken up like an egg-shell, if. the leviathan, with her tremendous " weight of metal" of some 25,000 or 30,000 tons, her sharp, wedge-like bows, and a speed of 20 miles an hour, weje to run full tilt at her while lying like a helpless log on the water; and so* firmly will she be bound aud knitted together, that there is every reason to believe she would herself escape uninjured. Without entering further upon these sanguinary speculations, we may hope that the year 1855 will witness the completion of one of the most magnificent specimens of naval architecture the worldly as ever beheld.