143 
 
 ito t ; 
 3 of Prf in 
 
 Our :-n Bui i 
 
 ' 
 H?
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 AT LOS ANGELES
 
 A 
 
 BRIEF ENQUIRY, 
 
 V s -
 
 BRIEF ENQUIRY 
 
 IVTO 
 
 C1USES OF PREMATURE 
 
 DECAY, 
 
 IN OCR 
 
 WOODEN BULWARKS, 
 
 WITH 
 
 examination 
 
 OF THE 
 
 MEANS, BEST CALCULATED 
 
 TO PROLONG THEIR 
 
 DURATION. 
 
 BY RICHARD PERING, E*o. 
 OF HIS MAJESTY'S YARD 
 
 AT PLYMOUTH-DOCK. 
 " 1IAUD lyZXPE&TUS PACTA DOCEO." 
 
 PLYJfOUTH-DOCK: 
 
 PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY L. CONGDOV, FORE-STREET; 
 AND TO BE HAD OF WILKIE AND ROBINSON, 
 LONDON; AND ALL OTHER BOOK- 
 SELLERS IN TOWN AND 
 COUNTRY.
 
 
 . 
 
 'iqfri^W-'t-iiMf * 

 
 VM 
 
 t 
 
 2'0 TH READER. 
 
 ' 
 
 IN calling the public attention to subjects of so 
 
 much vital importance as those treated of, in the 
 o 
 
 .following pages, the author has little to fear from 
 
 misconstruction. The envious, no doubt, will scru- 
 tinize his suggestions, with every possible severity, 
 
 o 
 
 and make a point of decrying the measures he 
 proposes because they did not originate with 
 themselves : but it is to the candid only that the 
 writer appeals, to those, who have the interests of 
 England at heart, and he can feel no hesitation in 
 laying his observations before their impartial tri- 
 bunal, since his sole motive for doing so, is the 
 good of his country, 
 
 A 
 
 .'$5483 !
 
 Should his sentiments appear too sanguine, lot 
 them be attributed to his ardent zeal for beneficial 
 improvements : some degree of presumption, 
 surely, may be allowed to him, who founds his 
 arguments on positive data; ' alid, although he 
 cannot flatter himself that all the expedients 
 he recommends will create an immediate con- 
 viction of their utility, in the friends and patrons 
 of the present system of naval architecture, 
 he will, nevertheless, indulge the hope that the 
 greater part of them will be found entitled to the 
 notice of those, whose province it is to foster and 
 direct our maritime energies. Sooner or. later 
 these, or similar expedients, must be adopted ; 
 and all the author requests is, thathis opinions may 
 be, fairly, canvassed he will answer for the result. 
 
 Pti/niouth-Dackf 
 Jan. 1812. 

 
 ; 
 
 A BRIEF ENQUIRY, &c. 
 
 WlTHIN the twenty last eventful years 
 more improvements have taken place, in the 
 construction of our shipping, than in any 
 previous periods ; and the reason is obvious 
 it is well understood throughout the 
 United Kingdom that the navy has been, is, 
 and must be, our principal protection. 
 But. there is still room for farther improve- 
 ment, particularly in naval mechanics ; 
 and one cause, perhaps, Avhich may be as- 
 signed for their not having attained such 
 an height of perfection as might have been 
 expected, is the dearth of persons, properly, 
 qualified by a regular system of education,
 
 4 
 
 to undertake and perform the several du- 
 ties of our dock-yards. 
 
 Why the education of the naval en- 
 gineer should not be paid so much attention 
 to as that of the cade.ts at Woolwich or 
 Marlow, the writer is at a loss to guess : 
 every advantage is afforded, and no expense 
 is spared in these departments of our mili- 
 tary economy, while t-h&art <of shipbuilding 
 
 n-Hist be attained, either toy intuition or 
 
 _>_ , : _ & .... . 
 
 not -at all, for no establishments have yet 
 .been formed or professors appointed, to 
 increase its progress or furnish information 
 on a subject, more interesting- than any 
 that can be conceived to a commercial 
 nation. 
 
 With respect "to the Ordnance, a youth, 
 before he becomes an offi.ccr, must go 
 through a certain routine of 'instruction ; 
 and, although he may not be subjected, iir
 
 the time of war, from the want of officers^, to 
 such a strict examination as. in t>.e time of 
 peace, when officer* are less wanted, still 
 he is obliged, . before he receives a commis- 
 sion in the Royal Artillery or Engineer 
 service, to give satisfactory proofs that the 
 time spent in the academy h.as not been 
 thrown away ; and if, on an examination, he 
 is found incompetent, notwithstanding all 
 the advantages to be acquired under his 
 various masters, he is, very properly, re- 
 jected. How widely different is this from 
 the manner in which young men are brought 
 up for the Royal Dock- Yards ; where boys, 
 (previously bound apprentices to the mas- 
 ter shipwright for the time being) are placed 
 under the eye of some common men, who, 
 however unfit for the task, are called in- 
 structors, though they take no other account 
 of their pupils than that of seeing them 
 attend to their work,in order that they may 
 not lose the allowance given by government] 
 A 3
 
 I 
 
 The consequence is that none but per- 
 sons of the lowest order are willing to 
 
 O 
 
 embrace the profession of sliip-building ; 
 and the most to be expected from any one 
 of them is, that he has been taught to 
 read and write. A very little consideration, 
 however, will convince any unprejudiced 
 person, that the labour does not comprise 
 every requisite that a dock-yard stands in 
 need of, in the shipwright line : some por- 
 tion of ability to draw designs for the con- 
 struction of ships, and j 'isdme power to 
 comprehend them, when drawn by others, 
 are also required, since it is not to be sup- 
 posed that a workman will execute his 
 business the worse, in consequence of 
 having some knowledge of the leading 
 principles of his art. But what knowledge, 
 the writer will now ask, is to be gained by 
 the present mode of educating apprentices ? 
 A boy, after he has served three or four 
 years of his time to hard labour, if he can,
 
 by any means, make a friend of the master 
 shipwright, is taken from his humble sphere, 
 and put into a cabin or small room, under 
 the care of one of the builder's assistants,. the 
 foreman of the yard,or the master shipwright 
 in the mould loft. Here he is to get at the 
 art. of framing a ship, and to acquire the 
 complex theory of 'ship-building, in all 
 its various branches, in the best manner he 
 can a theory not to be perfectly compre>- 
 hended, but by the indefatigable study of 
 many years and yet he is expected to learn 
 this theory, without any fit instructor or 
 instrument to enable him to perform the ar- 
 duous undertaking, it being a great chance 
 whether the person, under whose inspection 
 he draws his sketches, can correct Jiis mis- 
 takes, which are unavoidable, at the first 
 onset ; and should he be so fortunate as to 
 meet with a man, who really knows how to 
 instruct him, it is ten to one but that, 
 either through indolence, he does not like 
 A 4
 
 9 
 
 twjbe continually troubled for an explanar 
 .titHi of wloat is waatecl, on that he is so 
 coii-tuacted. and illiberal in his ideas, as to 
 suppose,: if he impart too, much iuformah 
 jbigsri ,,t]ia the young: man he is instruct- 
 ing, will soon know as .'much as, or, perhaps, 
 jiifcre than "him self. . Such is the mode, in 
 which our naval architects are brought up, 
 fbr< the friture service; of tfoeir country.! ! I 
 Can there be a greater ^reflection on a iia- 
 topn so peculiarly situated as England is, 
 whose ' life, whose iottlj whose very cxia- 
 tcn'c6 depend entirely on tlic maintenance 
 atnd preservation of her iDarhre ? Some 
 alterations, however, in this respect, are 
 oir foot, and most heartily does tlie 
 s lnope tliat they will have the desired 
 effect. * li the academy at Woolwich were 
 to be taken as a model, this hope, very pos- 
 sibly,. Bi%']fflt: bd realizeil. 
 
 The ilk eflects arising from a wau.tj of that 
 mechanical science, which should have form-
 
 > 
 
 eel the first object of pursuit to the student,, 
 are, plainly, visible in the general superiority 
 which our enemies have over us,, in the 
 point of sailing. The models of their vessels 
 are allowed by all good judges to surpass our 
 own ; and it is, certainly, wonderful th#t a 
 country, which has ever been so justly cele-r 
 brated for her imitative and improving pow- 
 ers, as England, should permit her ships to 
 yield the palm, as to the adaptation of their 
 lines for sailing^, to those of other nations; 
 though it must be. acknowledged, at the 
 same time, that the Caledonia may vie* in 
 symmetrical beauty, with any ship, of what- 
 soever nation, and tliat she does the greatest 
 honour to the abilities of her constructor. 
 
 The writcu has had the honour to be in 
 Iris Majesty's service for nearly thirty year^ 
 and he is of the longest standing, as a prirv- 
 cipal pfficeK, of any individuals in the differ- 
 ent dock-yards, one or two officers only 
 excepted. As he must hare had some ex-
 
 10 
 
 perience, during this long period, he trusts 
 that his claim to pass an opinion on the sub- 
 jects hereafter adverted to, (subjects which 
 he has had unusual opportunities of study- 
 ing, and which have employed, as well as 
 delighted, most of his leisure hours,) will 
 not be disputed. After long and mature 
 consideration, he is imbued with a thorough 
 conviction that many and most essential 
 improvements may be adopted, not only in 
 the models of our ships, but, what is of in- 
 finitely more importance, in their preser- 
 vation. Under this impression the writer 
 feels that he would not act 'consistently 
 with his duty, as an officer of his Majesty, 
 or with his feelings, as an Englishman, if 
 he were to hesitate in impressing upon the 
 public mind, that a speedy investigation of 
 the means, whereby the duration of the Brit- 
 ish navy may be protracted to its longest 
 term, is a public duty, and that on the 
 
 prompt performance of it depends our final 
 
 .
 
 n 
 
 salvation in the mighty conflict; in which 
 we are engaged. By the present mode of 
 ship-huilding, that noble structure, a first- 
 rate man of war, becomes useless, from pre<- : * / 
 mature decay, in five or sw years, and the : 
 
 average duration of the navy itselfmay.be. 
 said to be limited toj?/gj/ -years, a short- 
 lived existence, indeed, when we reflect on 
 the immense expense and importance of our 
 fleets. This is no light assertion, (as incon- 
 testibly witness, in the former respect, the 
 Bulwark, Foudroyant, Ocean, and Queen 
 Charlotte), and it completely oversets the 
 general idea, that ships built in the King's 
 yards are better and more durable than 
 those built in private ones, except for work- 
 manship. 
 
 * ^s 
 
 
 
 There are many reasons why the decay _ 
 of our ships is, and always has been, so ac- 
 tive in its progress : but the chief ones to be 
 assigned are, improper methods of building,
 
 caulking, fastening, &c. The cost of a 
 three-decked ship, in her hull alone, is near- 
 ly' <l 00*000: but this sum, great as it is, 
 is BQ tiring in comparison with the want of 
 timber, which a perseverance in these im- 
 proper methods must, eventually, create; 
 and it is> by no means, anomalous to assert, 
 t)i4t. the .nation must, in a few years, be 
 re,wfced iaeapabte of supplying timber for 
 its us# from: her own bosom,, unless some 
 stejps are, immediately, taken to husband, by 
 economical arrangements, such timber as we 
 now have, and to provide stores for the navy's 
 future necessities.* Thus the expenditure 
 
 * A 74-gun ship swallows up, nearly, or full 3,000 loads 
 of oak timber. A load of timber is 50 cubical feel; a ton 
 is 40 feet; consequently a 74-gun ship takes %,QOO large 
 well-grown timber trees, that is, trees of nearly two Ions 
 
 each. The distance recommended for planting trees, be- 
 tween which under wood is meant to grow, is 30 feet. Sup- 
 posing them to stand at two rods (33 feet) apart, each sta- 
 tute acre would contain 40 trees; according to this calcu- 
 lation the building of a 74-gun ship clears the timber of 50 
 acres. How incumbent, then, is it on every landholder to 
 become a planter 1 Whatever pcopl nuaj thiuk, the lime
 
 of money is nothing, when contrasted with 
 the great con sumption of materials and the 
 probable scarcity, which the untimely wast- 
 ing of our ships must occasion. It is true that 
 we collect much of our timber from otker 
 countries: but this only renders the business 
 the worse f for, however paradoxical it may 
 appear, it is a fact, that the move timber 
 \vc borrow from GUT -neighbours, the greater 
 injury our navy derives, as, ra prospfyrbioii 
 to the quantity of foreign timber imported 
 for building our ships, decay lias the greater 
 opportunity of increasing the celerity of it3 
 .steps, because foreign timber is irn com- 
 monly susceptible. of rot, the writer alludes 
 principally to that species of oak which :bas 
 been imported of late ; and considers at 
 
 is coming, when a much larger consumption of limber 
 than heretofore must lake place, and -when'the n**y, great 
 as it is, must be rendered still greater : tor, as our enemies 
 increase their navies, we must, proportionately, increase 
 ours, and this increase, the writer has no doubt, must he 
 t.ikeo at a greater ratio for the time to come, than it hftt 
 been in tiofe^patft, if fhiju are butlt at at preieut,
 
 necessary to mention that oak may be pro- 
 cured from some parts of America, of a far 
 superior quality to that spoken of, and near- 
 ly, if not quite, equal in goodness to our 
 own. 
 
 - 
 
 The immense quantities of foreign tim- 
 ber introduced into our dock-yards, are, 
 undoubtedly, one great cause of the rapid 
 decay sustained by our ships. As to the ne- 
 cessity of this substitute, the writer does not 
 pretend to dispute : he is only sorry to see 
 that, by the apparent want of English tim- 
 ber, this succedaneum (the present cost of 
 which is about thirteen pounds per load, 
 though from its early and rapid decay it 
 eventually costs double that sum) must be 
 resorted to. If English timber is really so 
 scarce, that sufficient quantities of it cannot 
 be obtained to supply our wants, the writer 
 would submit that whatever foreign timber 
 is used, should be used by itself, as much as
 
 15 
 
 possible, ami not be intermixed with English 
 oak, if it can be avoided, and for this evident 
 reason -the existence of this sort of Ame- 
 rican oak never exceeds four of five years, 
 operation of the dry 
 
 consequently whatever wood comes in. 
 contact with it, must immediately take 
 the infection, and when once the infection 
 has taken place,it is an impossible task, 
 the writer will, positively, assert, to put 
 a stop to it. 
 
 It has been argued, 'that no such thing 
 as a maximum should be imposed on any 
 one article, in any country, and that, by 
 leaving matters alone, things will find their 
 level. All this may be very true : but, 
 with respect to timber, great doubts may 
 he entertained whether it ever will find its 
 level, (except on its native ground) since 
 no man can afford to plant oak, who is 
 not a man of fortune, and, as he sows bil
 
 Acorns, more frequently for the purposes of 
 decoration than for those of profit, the price 
 ^f timber will, naturally, augment Much 
 jtimbei has, undoubtedly, been planted : but 
 whether it be enough to keep pace with 
 the consumption made by our navy, re- 
 mains to be proved. Still it is a laudable 
 i 
 
 ambition that urges noblemen and gentle- 
 men, possessed of extensive domains, to take 
 some pains in embellishing the country ; and 
 so extensively has this ambition diffused 
 itself, throughout the kingdom, (the writer 
 has been informed, by good authority) that 
 more oaks are growing in it, at the pre- 
 sent moment, than there were fifty years 
 ago : they are young, certainly, and prin- 
 cipally intended for ornament, but it would 
 be paying our .great landed proprietors a bad 
 compliment, indeed, to imagine that, in a 
 case of necessity, they would not be ready, 
 even anxious, to divest their parks of their 
 verdant honours, for the support of the 

 
 17 
 
 navy. Had government forests sufficient 
 to find the navy in oak, it would prove an 
 ultimate saving of millions, and the day, 
 perhaps, will come, when our descendants 
 will have great cause to find fault* with the 
 present age, for not taking the necessary 
 steps to ensure a constant supply of oak for 
 this purpose. If it be allowed, now, that 
 our own oak is scarce, and that the quantity 
 newly planted can afford us no immediate 
 assistance, it becomes an absolute duty to 
 have recourse to such means, as may not 
 break in too largely upon our native stock ; 
 and if, on the other hand, a sufficient 
 quantity of our own oak is to be pro- 
 cured, what reason can there be for making- 
 use of such foreign oak as has, of late, been 
 imported ? In whatever way the question 
 is considered, it is evident that no good can 
 
 , * There are evera! public spirited persons in our different 
 counties, who are entitled to the praise of posterity for their 
 exertions in planting, and particularly J. P. Bastard. Esq. 
 M. P. for this county. 
 
 JB
 
 18 
 
 arise from a preference being given to fo- 
 reign oak, as, from its speedy decay, it 
 effects no eventual saving whatever of our 
 own, to which, and which only, it will be 
 found that recourse must be had at last. 
 Putting the present, then, entirely out of 
 the question, we must provide for the fu- 
 ture, and if we do, this, without delay, (in 
 the mean while, husbanding our own re- 
 sources,) in fifty years the importation of 
 oak from foreign climes will be as un- 
 profitable a speculation as that of sending 
 coals to Newcastle.* . 
 
 * There are certain trees which grow spontaneously: 
 but oaks will not do this, at least they will not thrive, and 
 must, be fenced round and takeu great care of, in their in- 
 fancy. Elm wilfgrow without the aid of art, and nearly 
 supply itself, because its consumption is less (ban that of 
 oak : but elm is only fit for certain purposes, and of com- 
 paratively short duration. Our forefathers, certainly, un- 
 derstood the nature of timber very well, or they would not 
 have employed the most durable woods, oak and chesnut, 
 in the construction of buildings intended to stand for many 
 ages. The most ancient edifices, we have in the kingdom, 
 are built, as far as the wood work goes, with Spanish ches_ 
 nut, a wood by far more durable than oak ; for iu some of
 
 19 
 
 Another great cause of decay in our ship- 
 ping is the mode of fastening, by tree- 
 nails,^ a mode which is so objectionable, 
 in every respect, that the writer will defy- 
 all the shipwrights in the kingdom, or the 
 art of man, to invent a worse instrument, 
 for confining the planks of a ship to her 
 
 these edifices, in which pieces of oak were used, it has been 
 found necessary to remove them, in consequence of their 
 being entirely decayed, while the chesnut continues sound 
 to the present hour. There is no doubt, if chesnut is kept 
 dry, that it will last for a thousand rears, while it has been 
 ascertained that oak does not last more than half the time. 
 The writer wishes that he could see more chesnut planted 
 than there is. It is a commonly received opinion, that tho 
 chesnut was, originally, brought into this countrj from 
 Spain : but there are many reasons for supposing that 
 it is indigenous to our island. This opinion must have 
 arisen from the nuts being imported in great quantities 
 from Spain, and from their being much superior in quality 
 to our own, which proceeds entirely from the superior 
 warmth of the Spanish climate : but great doubt is felt by 
 the writer, if the Spanish chesnut, cut down in Spain, 
 would be found so durable as the chesnut felied in Eng- 
 land, because the growth of our chesnut is much slower 
 than that of Spain, unless on the high lands in the latter 
 country. 
 
 + A treenail is a piece of cleft wood, (made round) from 
 one foot to three feet six inches in length, and an inch and 
 half in diameter. 
 
 B 2
 
 skle, notwithstanding it is now, and *v.er 
 has been, the uniform practice of this coun- 
 try. Tim is a bald asseveration : hut the 
 writer is ready to maintain the fa.ct, and 
 the reasons he can urge in its support a*e 
 Hlany and conclusive. In the 'first place, a 
 treenail, being rathe? kss ia the middle 
 than at the ends, and always made so by 
 the workmen in order that k may clm 
 easy, never fills the hole it is driven into : 
 consequently, if ever it admits water at tin 
 outer end, which, from shrinking, it is liable 
 to do, that water, immediately, gets into 
 the middle of the plank, if not further, as 
 a treenail is always porous from end to end, 
 and thereby forms a natural vehicle for the 
 conveyance of water. In proof of this, take 
 a treenail three feet in length, wet one end 
 of it, and blow in at the other, the tubes, 
 immediately, convey the air from one end 
 to tbe other, and the water at the opposite 
 end will be seen to rise in bubbled Ano-
 
 2! 
 
 ther great objection to the treenail is, that 
 it is the second thing which decays in a 
 ship, the first, generally, being the oakum ; 
 should any part of tlie plank or timbers of a 
 ship be in an incipient state of decay, and 
 a treenail corne in contact with it, the 
 <lecay, immediately, increases, while every 
 treenail shares the same fate, and the natu- 
 ral consequence is, that the ship is soon left 
 without a fastening. How many ships have 
 gone to the bottom, and how many thou- 
 sands of lives have been lost, from this 
 mode of fastening ! A ship floating in still 
 water does not feel the use of a strong fast- 
 ening, because the natural compressure of 
 the water on the outside, has a powerful 
 tendency to keep the plank on : but when a 
 ship begins to labour in a heavy sea, then, if 
 her fastenings arc not good, she must foun- 
 der. And yet how common a thing is it to 
 hear a sailor say, that a vessel must have 
 sprung a butt, and foundered, a circum- 
 B 3
 
 22 
 
 stance that could not have happened, if her 
 fastenings had been good !* 
 
 Another very great objection to a treenail 
 is, that, if the plank be not laid close to the 
 timbers, the passage of air alone, in the inter- 
 val between them, will cut the treenail in 
 two. The writer has even seen copper bolts 
 eaten in the one-eighth of an inch, by a cur- 
 
 * The writer cannot allege a stronger proof, on Ihishead 
 . *t 
 
 than by calling the attention of his readers to Lloyd's list 
 
 of merchant-ships that have foundered within the last 
 twenty years : they will therein find that as many subjects 
 of Great Britain, valuable sailors, have been lost to their 
 country, as would have nearly colonized New South Wales, 
 nine tenths of whom, the writer, verily, believes, would 
 have been saved, had copper fastenings been made use of 
 in the vessels in which they were lost, instead of wood. Is it 
 Dot then the business of the legislature to interfere and sub. 
 stitute that which will prevent the loss of so many valuable 
 subjects ? Parliament, very humanely, voted a sum for car. 
 rying into eBect the plan proposed by Captain Manby, for 
 saving the lives of shipwrecked sailors, apian, to the pro- 
 priety of which every man living must subscribe : but 
 where one sailor can be saved by Captain Manby's plan, a 
 thousand will be rescued by the general use of copper bolt* 
 instead of treenails !
 
 23 
 
 rent of air between the plank and the tim- 
 bers, and iron, totally, destroyed. Another 
 objection arises from the large Avound which 
 the timbers receive, when they are bored for 
 the reception of the treenails. Another ob- 
 jection is, that they are, frequently, upset 
 and rendered useless, by injudicious caulk- 
 ing, and, as frequently, broken off short, by 
 the injudicious set of the caulker's reaming 
 irons. Another is, that the plank on the 
 side, which forms a principal part of the 
 strength of a ship, is wounded very consi- 
 derably by the inch and lialfjiugur* Ano- 
 ther great objection, and the greatest of all, 
 is, that treenails shrink, in a warm country, 
 and admit water, in which state, not only 
 the timbers separate from the plank, and the 
 plank from the timbers, inside and out, 
 but the treenails disengage themselves from 
 both. After a ship has been aoToad for any 
 time, it is highly dangerous to send her 
 home, without a minute inspection, for, 
 B 4
 
 ft 
 
 should she be in a state of decay, her tree- 
 nails, which ought to he the- strongest, 
 since they are her only, fastenings, are the 
 \reakest and the worst part belonging to 
 her. The consequence of that ship's ex- 
 periencing a gale of wind must he, that she 
 goes to thje bottom. Another objection to 
 a treenail is, that it never draws its work 
 home, but, on the contrary, drives off the 
 inner plank ; and Avhen once it has shrunk, 
 so as to become slack, in the least degree, 
 (which must, inevitably, be the case in a 
 warm climate,) it becomes almost useless. 
 Having said thus much on the treenail, the 
 writer would be glad to know if any thing 
 can be alleged in its favour, he believes 
 not, and, therefore, must repeat what he has, 
 before, observed^ that it is impossible for all 
 the shipwrights in the kingdom combined, 
 or tbe a,rt qf man, to invent a worse instru- 
 ment, fa confining the planks of a ship to 
 her side, than a treenail, independent of
 
 great consumption of oak timber in making 
 it, which must be of the best quality, and, 
 therefore, is very expensive. 
 
 It becomes his duty, now, to poipt -out a 
 substitute for the treenail, that shall be totally 
 free from the defects complained of, and this I 
 substitute presents itself in copper bolts, 
 the advantages of which, if duly appreci- 
 ated, would, speedily, supersede the use of 
 this destructive ami Iwjfectual instrument. 
 Irotu, also, might be employed above th$ 
 bottom : but, as this creates decay, in all 
 wood that Qo,raes in contact with it, copper 
 bolts, about seven-eighths of ajq inch in size, 
 are entitled to tjhe ppefefeuee, in every re- 
 spect. In the first place, every plank and tim- 
 ber would be wounded in a much less degree 
 (the treenail being an inch and half) in the 
 prop.Qrtion A gs. the Uqlt is smaller tha^ the 
 treenail. In the next place, the fastening- 
 \vo\di\ not only be, ten times AS strong, but
 
 26 
 
 what is still more worthy of notice and not 
 sufficiently to be prized, it would never de- 
 cay. Another great advantage to be gain- 
 ed would be, that the timbers of a ship 
 might be sided much less throughout, 
 which would make a considerable saving in 
 the conversion of the frame, and most am- 
 ply compensate for the additional expense of 
 copper. The timbers, moreover, in conse- 
 quence of a greater circulation of air being 
 diffused between them, would keep dryer 
 a circumstance, now, most materially want- 
 ed, and which would highly conduce to their 
 preservation. The mind also of the sailor 
 might be more at rest, when crossing the 
 Atlantic Ocean, in a crazy bark, from 
 feeling satisfied that the fastenings of his 
 ship are good, though her timbers are rotten. 
 
 The bolts of the knees and hooks, and the 
 nails of the decks should be all copper, by 
 the use of which, the whole, and particu-
 
 27 
 
 larly the decks, would last as long again'. 
 The prejudiced may here exclaim (for they 
 have no arguments to bring forward) that 
 the cheapness of the treenail and iron 
 should, necessarily, give them a preference 
 over a metal so scarce and costly as copper : 
 hut to this remark the writer cannot assent. 
 Will the use of copper create no saving, by 
 prolonging the duration of a ship, and are 
 men's lives of such little value to Great Bri- 
 tain, that a destructive practice must be 
 persevered in, because it is, falsely, consi- 
 dered the cheapest ? The writer, therefore, 
 until he is convinced to the contrary, will 
 continue to maintain his opinion, that cop- 
 per is the only fastening which should be used 
 for keeping a ship together, and that the 
 worst in the world is the treenail. If cop- 
 per sufficient is riot to be obtained in this 
 country, we can have as much as we please 
 from South America : but there are strong 
 grounds for supposing that there is plenty
 
 of copper in the kingdom, particularly as it 
 is now low in price, 
 
 Another cause of decay in our shipping 
 fs, the mode of caulking their seams. In 
 general, when a vessel undergoes this ope- 
 ration, the caulking is begun on her top- 
 $ide, and continued downwards. If a seam 
 should not be left wide enough by the ship- 
 wrights, the reaming irons of the caulker 
 must make it so, by driving wood into 
 wood, for a certain quantity of oakum, 
 (viz. two threads to an inch thick of plank) 
 is directed to be driven into each seam, whe- 
 ther the same be wide or narrow ; the result 
 of which process is, that, in caulking down- 
 wards, the whole strain of the preceding streal 
 lies on the treenails of the next. Ca.i*f 
 one wonder, that, under these circumstances, 
 the treenails should upset, or that the 
 planks, instead of adhering, should fly from 
 their work ? The writer has seen a ship
 
 ft 
 
 oiniked down with such narrow seam's, that, 
 in onker to- make them vide enough, thcf 
 reaimwg irons have so 1 distressed the plank, 
 an to force t>iC lower edges of many plank* 
 following, Otic-half an inch off the timbers^ 
 which half an irrchhas been dubbed off, for 
 rtre purpose of making the bottom even, to 
 receive' tire copper-sheathing ; m tin's state 
 fi e qttentl y have gone to sea 5 ! For the 
 of thts great err!, aH ships shotiltf 
 &e caulked, according to the fcillo wmg-plan* 
 In the 1 first irr3tam;e, haftcauHc tire se^tms 
 for foil* or five streaks, then finish 1 the- first 
 seam, then half caulk the sixth streak, then 
 itmsli- the sefdtid seam, and so o, until the 
 raulftmg is finished. By this simple pracess 
 a very strong barrier would be formed against 
 the mischief, now dome by the caulking irons 
 to the fastenings, in consequence of their 
 strain being thrown on three seams instead 
 of am? j <Mie course of staging, moreover, a* 
 a* pr^eat, would suffice for the purpose..
 
 30 
 
 The common method of fastening knees 
 beams, &c. is by driving bolts, which, after 
 they have been driven, are clenched on the 
 in or outside, (according to circumstances) 
 by nothing more than a ring put over the 
 end of the bolt, which is battered over it. 
 Now, let the writer ask, what degree of 
 pressure three pieces of wood confined to- 
 gether in this manner, bear to each other, 
 and if they bear any, how long the bearing 
 will last ? The question, which is a most 
 material one, may be answered thus : they 
 never can combine together, as they ought 
 to do, and for this reason while the bolt 
 is fastening the first piece to the centre one, 
 the third is driven off its work. But suppos- 
 ing this not to be the case, and that the 
 three pieces could be, effectually, bolted to- 
 gether and clenched up, they would not 
 continue close for one week, particularly if 
 composed of green wood, because every 
 piece will, naturally, shrink, and conse-
 
 31 . 
 
 quently, all bolts, fastened as they now are, 
 in ships, by no means afford the security 
 they ought to do indeed the writer has 
 frequently, seen the clenches of bolts pro- 
 truding a quarter of an inch beyond the 
 wood a fact, which no shipwright in the 
 kingdom can deny. Is it, then, at all to be 
 wondered at, that ships should get loose, and 
 work on their fastenings, when it is known 
 by every body that all wood will shrink? Let 
 a coachmaker build a coach, and fasten it to- 
 gether in the same way as a shipwright fastens 
 a ship, by driving iu bolts, and then clench- 
 ing them on the wood, how long will that 
 coach run over the stones in London, or on 
 the turnpike-road? But he resorts to a dif- 
 ferent mode, which is the strongest in the 
 world, that of compressing wood into wood 
 by means of a screw, instead of a clench ; 
 by this all racking is done away, for a cer- 
 tain time, till the wood shrinks, on the ob- 
 servation of which the carriage is driven
 
 92 
 
 again to the coachmaker's, and the fasten- 
 ings are hove up. Now, let any man in the 
 world, whether he be a mechanic or not, 
 "decide which TS the best mode of fastening 
 a clench of a screw : but the thing is so 
 very obvious, as to speak for itself. No bolt 
 was ever yet driven into a ship, that per- 
 formed the office it was meant to do. In 
 the first place, wood is never compressed to 
 wo*od by a clench ; in the next, wherever 
 ttre \vaod shrinks so much play is left for 
 the bolt, for which there is no remedy; 
 though when 1 wood is compressed together, 
 its strength is increased tenfold. In evi- 
 dence of thrs, let the reader suppose the 1 
 pieces forming a mast to be fastened by 
 bolts, and the hoops left off, and then ask 
 himself how long it would stand ? It is the 
 comprcssure alone that gives it strength: 
 
 The writer does not mean to say that it is; 
 absolutely, -necessary for every bolt to have
 
 & nut and a screw on the end of it : bolts, 
 subject to a lateral strain, only, may be per- 
 mitted to remain fastened with a clench ; 
 but, if all bolts were to be fastened with nuts 
 and screws, it would be much better work- 
 manship, and they might be much easier 
 removed, when wanted to be driven out. A 
 ship kept together, as is now the case, by 
 clenched bolts, the writer will venture to 
 affirm, is not half so strong as she would be, 
 if nuts and screws were substituted in the 
 stead of clenches, on the points. The clench 
 of a bolt is but a single thread, while that 
 of a screw forms three or four threads : on 
 .this principle, alone, it is so much the 
 stronger ; and as copper is a better fasten- 
 ing than iron, a nut and screw on the 
 end of a copper bolt would render the 
 holding complete. How admirable would 
 this be in a mortar-vessel, where the fast- 
 enings are so severely tried by every explo* 
 ion ! 
 
 c
 
 After a new ship lias been at sea some 
 time, it must be obvious to every compre- 
 hension, that the wood will shrink, iri 
 some decree, and that this shrinking; will 
 
 O ' O 
 
 be proportioned to the greenness of the 
 wood. Agreeably to this proportion, will be 
 the interval between the parts of the ship 
 that were, at first, in contact with each other: 
 consequently, when the fastenings obtain, 
 space to play, so much room is given to the 
 ship to rack, and her condition, every day, 
 gets worse and worse. In this state there is 
 no remedy, except that of cutting off every 
 clench in the ship, and hardening up the 
 bolts an Herculean task, which has never- 
 been, and, perhapSj never will be, at- 
 tempted. 
 
 Another great evil is, when a ship, having" 
 been taken into dock and undergone a par- 
 tial repair, goes out again with part of her 
 bolts driven in a-new ; while the others re-
 
 .15 
 
 tiiain, (as they were when the ship came in) 
 worked slack by her racking, and the 
 shrinking of the wood. The consequence 
 of this is, that the new bolts have to bear 
 the heaviest part of the strain, and continue 
 to do so, till they are worked as slack as 
 those that were driven into the ship, when 
 she was first built : is there any cause, there- 
 fore, for surprize that such a ship, when 
 at sea, should complain in hei 4 Water-ways 
 and bows which, by the bye, is, universal- 
 ly, the case with the ships in our navy ? 
 But a copper nut on the end of every bolt 
 might, at any time, be hove up> so as to 
 make wood and wood bear together, as it 
 ought to do ; for the nut will never so fasten 
 itself by rust on the end of the copper bolf, 
 as not to admit of its being hove up for 
 years after. It is, absolutely, impossible 
 to prevent ships from leaking in their decks, 
 according to the mode in which they arc 
 now fastened, and for the following rea*
 
 sons : in the first place, no ship was ever 
 fastened tight, nor is it pos&ible to be done, 
 by a clench on the end of a bolt ; nothing 
 but a. screw can do it the wood may, then, 
 be hove together till there is no play, and 
 should it ever shrink, by the ship's going 
 into a warm climate, or by hec being ex- 
 posed to the intense heat of the sun, at 
 home, during a warm summer, the nut on 
 the end of the bolt, may be hove up ac- 
 cordingly. In the second place, by the 
 working of the ship, copper bolts, as they 
 are now fastened, are very apt to work 
 loose ; and it not unfrequently happens, in 
 unbolting the riders in the hold, that cop- 
 per bolts, as soon as the clenches are knock- 
 ed off, drop, by the first blow, into the dock. 
 
 The power of the screw on the end of the 
 bolt is such, that were the opposite end of 
 the bolt one quarter of an inch larger than 
 the bolt itself, the screw would heave it
 
 through the solid wood. Some of the long- 
 est and largest bolts in a ship are those driven 
 into the knee of the head, being in diameter, 
 generally, two inches and 5-8ths, and 
 in length twenty-two feet or more. These 
 bolts are driven by a heavy weight, acting 
 against them, like a battering ram, with a 
 force proportioned to their size, and being 
 impelled from the outside, pass through the 
 knee of the head, the stem, the apron of 
 the stem, and the breast-hook within. By 
 this mode the apron and the breast-hook 
 would be driven off their work, if it were 
 not prevented by a shore against the breast- 
 hook. When the bolts are driven up to their 
 heads they are clenched on the inside, some- 
 times on the breast-hook, and the operation 
 of fastening is supposed to be finished : but 
 this is a false supposition for the writer will 
 venture to affirm, that it is impossible for 
 these bolts to hold all things together, so 
 
 O O ' 
 
 tightly, as they ought to do, even for one 
 f ^ 
 
 V \J 
 
 354!
 
 38 . 
 
 \vcek ! Will any one attempt to argue that 
 two and twenty feet of wood, driven through 
 in the lateral way of the grain, will not 
 shrink? Every one must allow that it will 
 shrink : as a matter of course, then, it shrinks 
 from its fastening, namely, the clench ; 
 and it was not long since, that the writer 
 pointed out to the overseer of a ship on the 
 stocks, that in every bolt on the scaph of 
 her keel, the wood had shrunk one-quarter 
 of an inch from the clench. If the least play, 
 Avhatcvcr, occurs, where there is any fasten- 
 ing, water will .get in i particularly in the 
 forepart of a* ship, when she is riding with 
 her bows to wind, and in a heavy sea. Is 
 there a seaman in the I}ritis]i navy, who will 
 hesitate to say, that the bows of his ship are 
 almost always leaky? And this will ever 
 be the case, until the present practice is 
 abandoned, and the plan proposed by the 
 yrriter, of cutting a screw on the end of 
 t)i bolt, and /leaving the work 'home by u
 
 39 
 
 nut, is adopted : this is the otily way, in 
 which solid work can be made in ship- 
 
 building. 
 
 Having said thus much on the modes of 
 fastening, the writer will now .endeavour 
 to anticipate and examine the objections 
 that may, unthinkingly, be alleged against 
 his plan. These objections will, most pro- 
 bably, comprise the difficulty of cutting 
 the screw, and the time it might take to 
 do it These objections have no basis, and 
 whoever urges them, will employ himself 
 in an useless labour ; for the nut may be 
 cast in a mouldy with the thread complete ; 
 and the screw on the point of the bolt may 
 be cut in an engine, easily to be made for 
 the purpose. \Vith respect to the length of 
 time employed in cutting the screw, the 
 writer has no hesitation in saying, that it 
 can be done sooner than battering the 
 clench. 
 
 c 4,
 
 40 
 
 Another cause of decay in our shipping 
 is the insinuation of moisture between the 
 openings in the water-ways, from the work- 
 ing of the ship, which then proceeds down- 
 wards between the timbers, where no circu" 
 Jation of air can come; fungi*, immediately, 
 
 * Suffocated damps, are the principal occasion of fungi 
 or mushrooms, inuumerable species of which, have 
 been dicovered by naturalists, in every country. The 
 one created by damp in timber, is the sort to be 
 here spoken of. Although in species the same as mush- 
 rooms, it it in quality, very different ; for the writer 
 has known it to grow so strongly betwixt the timbers 
 in a man of war, at to force a plank from the ship's side 
 half an inch, In a strong heat fungi will not \egetate; 
 they only thrive where a degree of quickening is given, 
 imilar to that afforded by lime to the field that is dressed ; 
 fervent heat will destroy them ; drought will destroy them; 
 lime, wherever it can be applied, dissipates them instantly, as 
 will any poisonous substance, such as mundic, or other 
 things that destroy vegetation: but damps, immediately, 
 generate them. After a ship, however, is put together! 
 the application of lime or mundic, or any thing else, of 
 s. similar nature, is out of the question, (except she he taken 
 to pieces) since nothing can do good in this destructive dis- 
 ease, while she remains whole, but the diffusion of as much 
 hear, by the meaus of stoves, throughout the ship, as can 
 be excited without setting her on fire. 
 
 W :lii respect to the dry-rot, ifs origin, may be abscribed 
 also lu damps, though it must bt understood, that fungus
 
 41 
 
 form, and extend their deadly ramifications, 
 in every direction ; and the dry rot, at the 
 same time, makes its silent encroachments,- 
 until the timbers are reduced to powder* 
 In considering this part of the subject, it 
 x xnay be, truly, said, that nothing is more 
 
 and dry-rot are not one and I lie same thing ; for the latter 
 does not require one-huff of the moisture to keep ft in a 
 stale of activity, that fungus does, and so extensive it its 
 power in spreading contagion, whether in buildings or in 
 ships, that, by taking a small portion of dry-rot and scatter- 
 ing it in a confined spot, between the wood work, the timbers, 
 instantly, contract the complaint, and get into as bad a stale 
 as the building or ship, from whence the rot was taken. 
 But there is still another remark to be made; fungus and 
 dry-rot being bbth poisonous in their nature, occasion 
 deleterious vapours in a ship, and, therefore, mut render 
 her very unhealthy. We must know this, from the ill 
 effects attendant on our residing in a damp house. Nothing 
 will totally fret: a ship from the dry-rot, when once it has 
 taken root; it may, fora while, be, partial!)', suspends d by 
 fire or heat : but it cannot be extirpated, unless the sbip is 
 taken to pieces, and the infected timber is removed. Drip or 
 damp, the writer repeats, is the only cause that creates it, 
 and this never can be prevented, while our ships are built as 
 they now are. Foreign timber is, generally, touch more 
 susceptible of the dry-rot than timber of English growth, 
 (though grown in the sine latitude as that of America) 
 a circumstance arising, perhaps, from the nature of the 
 oil in which it grows.
 
 42 
 
 destructive to wood work, than partial 
 leaks, for if it be kept always wet, or always 
 dry, its duration, in either case, is of long 
 continuance. 
 
 After a ship has stood a twelvemonth or a 
 little more, in her frame, to season, her 
 beams are crossed, and she is completely 
 planked from her wales upwards ; the upper 
 deck is then laid and caulked in, and the 
 top side is caulked also, in order to prevent 
 moisture from insinuating itself between the 
 timbers : in this state, it is taken for granted, 
 that she must keep dry how dreadful is 
 this mistake ! At the period when the im- 
 portant operation of caulking in is perform- 
 ed, it too often happens that some of the tim- 
 bers are, partially, affected, others are, com- 
 pletely, saturated, with wet, proceeding from 
 their greater or lesser exposure to the ele- 
 ments, while the frame was building, or from 
 the evaporation in the planks taken from the
 
 43 
 
 Viln, in which they are boiled, according to 
 their thickness, one inch to an hour. The 
 quantity of water they imbibe, is, in propor- 
 tion to a cubic foot, at least one pound 
 weight, or a pint: its dispersion, under these 
 circumstances, from the pores of the wood, 
 is, at all times, slow and tedious, and parti- 
 cularly during the winter months. Thus, 
 the very thing which is intended to prevent 
 the formation of fungus and dry ro^, una- 
 voidably create them! In some dock-yards, 
 salt water is used in the boilers, in others 
 fresh ; not from any idea that one is more 
 fit for the purpose than the other, but from 
 considerations of convenience: but the fact 
 is, plank boiled in salt water never gets rid 
 of the salts that, naturally, enter the pores 
 of the wood in boiling; and such being the 
 case, the ship in which this plank is used, is 
 much more liable to the effects of damp 
 than she would have been, if the plank had 
 been boiled in fresh water. All those who
 
 44 
 
 ckmbt this, are desired to look at buildings 
 in which mortar has been mixed with sea 
 sand : the art of man cannot make such 
 buildings dry. 
 
 Should any one be so thoughtless as to 
 suppose, that the caulking of a ship's side, 
 so soon after planking, will prevent it 
 from leaking? And yet, if he did not 
 think so, he would not caulk it. Would 
 he hut-reflect, for one moment, ere he closes 
 up the deadly seeds of decay in their con- 
 genial soil, he would feel convinced that 
 the plank must immediately shrink from 
 the oakum, and owing to the concavity of 
 the side, must admit a considerable quanti- 
 ty of moisture between it and the oak- 
 um, the latter of which will act as a 
 spunge indeed, much more moisture gets 
 in, than could find an entrance, if the side 
 were perpendicular, and therefore, the great- 
 er caution is required in caulking. In proof
 
 45 
 
 of this, the writer, not long si nee, observed 
 a ninety-eight-gun ship, on her slip, with 
 her top sides, after caulking, all shrunk 
 from the oakum, in such a manner, that 
 a thin chip might have been laid between the 
 oakum and the plank, fore and aft the ship: 
 it is necessary to mention that, on a re- 
 presentation of the circumstance, the ship 
 was re-caulked. Can any one wonder, 
 after all these operations from without 
 and from within, that fungus and dry- 
 rot should unite together, to doom our 
 ships to a mouldering destruction ? If a 
 ship, while building, were to be, wholly, sod- 
 dened with water, fungus would not form, 
 or if she were to be kept, perfectly, dry, it 
 would not form : but it is partial leaks, 
 suffocated damps, and oozing drip, where 
 there is no circulation of air to dry the 
 timbers, that produce it. It may be 
 asked, why do our ships decay faster now, 
 than they, formerly, used to do ? To this,
 
 4(3 
 
 it may be answered, that the materials for 1 
 building our ships were, formerly, collected 
 and seasoned for use, a considerable time 
 before they might be wanted : but, even 
 \vhen our ships did last longer, they stilt 
 decayed much sooner than they ought to 
 have done, by several years. The writer has 
 known ships stand so long in their frames, 
 exposed to the open air, that many of their 
 timbers were completely decayed, before a 
 plank was put on : in short, no ships, built 
 in the way they now are, can, generally 
 speaking, last for any thing like the time 
 they would do, if built as herein pointed 
 out. 
 
 The Royal William has enjoyed a longer 
 duration, perhaps, than any ship in his Ma- 
 jesty's navy ; by what physical cause an ex^ 
 traordinary duration has happened to this 
 particular ship, the writer has not the 
 means of ascertaining: but that our ships
 
 47 
 
 become useless, in the course of four of 
 five years, without great repairs, equal, 
 almost, to their first cost, and that the ave 1 * 
 rage existence of the British shipping does 
 not exceed the short space of eight or nine 
 years, is a fact, which he, unfortunately, 
 knows too well. The melancholy spectacle 
 
 is now to be seen in one of our yards, of 
 a three-decked ship, only a twelvemonth old^ 
 in a state of entire decay. 
 
 When the writer looks round, and ob- 
 serves the magnificent undertakings aiid 
 projections; that have, of late, been brought 
 forward in this country, such, as for in- 
 stances, the wet docks of London, the three 
 additional bridges across the Thames, the 
 inclosure of Plymouth Sound, and, he may 
 add, the dock at North Fleet (which latter, 
 however, he hopes never to see underta- 
 ken) he cannot refrain from admiration. 
 It must be allowed, that the people of Eng-
 
 , be gin to view things on a much more 
 extended scale than they did formerly, and 
 as riches, which are daily accumulating, 
 increase in this nation, grand and elegant 
 designs will be the natural result. Why it 
 has not, heretofore, paid greater attention 
 to the formation and establishment of great 
 national works, may have proceeded from an 
 unwillingness, in the country, to divert any 
 part of its capital, from the channel of com- 4 
 inerce, while that channel was open to the 
 spirit of adventure : but there are parti- 
 cular eras of improvement in every nation, 
 and it is very reasonable to suppose, if 
 England can but maintain the glorious 
 height she now occupies, for some time 
 longer, that money will soon be the least 
 of her necessities. Such times are favorable 
 to superb and useful undertakings, and if 
 the country be but true to herself, these 
 times may be, confidently, anticipated, if 
 they have not, already, arrived.
 
 49 
 
 In all works carried on by a body of mer- 
 chants, such as the London docks, &c. the 
 ultimate object in view is convenience, 
 and the present, or acting stimulus, is pro* 
 fit; and, in general, it is Government, only, 
 that can undertake works, in which conveni- 
 ence, rather than profit, is to be considered ; 
 but, if the writer can point out to Govern- 
 ment a plan, the result of which would pro- 
 duce profit, as well as convenience, he will 
 not do Government the injustice to sup- 
 pose that it would hesitate, for a moment, 
 in carrying such a plan into immediate exe- 
 cution. 
 
 As our past object has been to establish 
 a naval preponderance, the present aim, 
 should be to preserve it unimpaired, and \ve 
 cannot do this more effectually than by 
 taking such steps as may ensure the exis* 
 tence of our ships for five and twenty years, 
 nay more, if possible, instead of eight. In.
 
 50 
 
 order to effect this, it would be necessary, 
 besides what has been, already, recommend- 
 ed, to build all our ships under cover, which 
 might be done with the greatest ease. Why 
 this practice ftlioUld not be adopted* with 
 respect to ships as well as boats, the writer 
 is at a loss to understand : but it is not yet 
 too late to obey the dictates of common 
 sense. A ship built undercover is better, in 
 the proportion of three to one, than the one 
 framed in the open air indeed, it may be 
 asserted, that the advantages to arise from 
 building all our ships under cover, are in- 
 calculable, and the expense of doing it 
 would be a mere trifle, compared with its 
 great utility, convenience, and profit. Be- 
 sidesshall it be said that millions are to 
 be expended, in making a safe roadstead 
 for the reception of our ships, while the 
 ships themselves are suffered to contract 
 rot, and go to decay, through improper 
 management in building them ? Surely
 
 the next object to that of modelling a man. 
 of war, in a proper manner, is to render hef 
 as lasting, as the perishable nature of hex 
 component parts will permit. 
 
 It ought, also, to be well understood, by 
 every one in this country, that another 
 thing is required, and it is an essential one, 
 to bestow a longer existence on our ships, 
 and this is, to have the timber well seasoned 
 before it is used in a ship, and that ship is 
 permitted to go into the water. Ships, it 
 must be well known, are now allowed to 
 stand in their frames, for two years or up- 
 wards, to season, before the plank is laid 
 on, or their finishing is completed. The 
 writer has known instances, in which ships 
 have stood from ten to fourteen years in 
 Jheir frames a most unreasonable period, 
 as was plainly proved, by the decay of 
 many of their timbers, and by the necessity 
 of substituting others in their place, before
 
 52 
 
 the ship coukl be gone on with; and the iiii* 
 propriety of this delay, cannot be stronger 
 exemplified than in a ninety-gun ship, 
 now under repair, the- whole stern frame of 
 which is decayed, from standing too long 
 exposed, though she has not been launched 
 inore than iive years. A ship standing ex- 
 posed in her frame to the influence of all 
 sorts of weather, is not dry. on an average, 
 
 ; J ' O ' 
 
 . for one half of the year ; indeed some parts 
 of her scarcely dry at all, which parts are 
 in the lower part of the cantbody forward, 
 in the lower part of the cantbody aft, round 
 her bows, between her knight-heads and 
 the stern, and in the joining of dig tran- 
 soms and the fashion-pieces abaft, in fact 
 in all those parts where the timbers come 
 close, and are in contact one with the other. 
 What are the effects of this exposure, par- 
 ticularly in the places before enumerated? 
 The result is, that, after a ship has been 
 planked up and all is close, these places first
 
 53 
 
 begin to get into a state of decay, arising 
 from partial wet, both in winter and sum- 
 mer, and from the snow's lying, some times, 
 for a considerable time, on the frame : by 
 these means, damp is enabled to form the 
 seeds of future destruction, which do not 
 burst into active growth, till a genial and 
 quickening degree of closeness is created, 
 by the laying on of the planks and the ap- 
 plication of the caulking irons. The writer / 
 lias seen a^sjiip planked over, when her frame 
 was as green as grass; and there is not even 
 a solitary instance, within his recollection 
 or knowledge, of any ship being planked 
 over, whose frame was entirely free from 
 this greenness. It is true, that the outside 
 is dubbed over, and so is the inside, after 
 a vessel has stood to season : but the mould- 
 ing,' or lateral part of her frame, is never 
 touched, after it is once set up, nor is it 
 possible to be got at, even if it were thought
 
 necessary, or desired, without taking the 
 frame to pieces. If a ship, therefore, is at 
 all damp, after being finished, this damp' 
 ness, which is, chiefly,* occasioned by her 
 frame being exposed to our variable weather, 
 never ceases to prosecute its ravages, until it 
 has reduced the noble fabric to its mother 
 earth. 
 
 The writer lias heard it remarked by 
 many (who certainly proved by the re^ 
 mark how little they had considered the 
 subject) that the decay among our shipping 
 
 * Another cause of internal damps arises from permitting 
 timber to lie in uncovered piles, exposed to the attacks of 
 all sorts of weather. By this highly improper, though com- 
 mon practice, the interiors of the piles are kept in a state 
 of partial moisture, for Ihe formation of fungi and dry rol ; 
 and Vth respect to their exterior*, the same objection is 
 applicable to them as to the frame of a ship. That limber 
 in M '.' seasoned prior to its being used, by other modes 
 than those recommended, there can be no doubt : but 
 iiH, whether these modes be advisable or not, the propriety 
 pf sheltering the pile*, and building our ships under cover, 
 cannot be impeached'
 
 55 
 
 is entirely accidental, and not to be account- 
 ed for, on any principles : the writer can by 
 no means assent to this opinion, for he 
 lias, he believes, satisfactorily, though pain- 
 fully, proved, that the decay is not acciden- 
 tal, but that the same is caused by the use of 
 unfit materials, and improper methods of 
 building, caulking, fastening, &c. 
 
 Were alt ships to be made equally firm 
 in their construction, and of timber grown 
 in the same soil, they would last equally 
 long. As has been before observed, it is 
 partial leaks, suffocated damps, and oozing 
 drip, added to the variation in materials 
 and workmanship, and to the difference of 
 the times or seasons, in which they are 
 planked up and caulked, that affect one 
 ship more than another, and confer a 
 greater or a lesser degree of durability. 
 In evidence of this let two ships be placed 
 side by side on the stocks, and let both 
 D 4
 
 56 
 
 be built with exactly similar materials fronj 
 one forest; let one of these be planked 
 and caulked in the rnonth of August, and 
 the other in the month of January : if the 
 summer be dry, the former will possess three 
 times more durability than the latter. Can 
 it be said, after this, that the decay of ships 
 is purely, accidental ? All ships built, and 
 caulked in, quickly, will most undoubtedly 
 have created within themselves a certain 
 degree of fermentation, amply sufficient tjo 
 promote and encourage a quickening of 
 fungus or dry rot. If a large quantity of 
 chips be thrown together in a heap, they will, 
 in a very few clays, become quite hot, and 
 ferment like horse dung : let this remark be 
 applied to, a ship, and we must confess, that 
 greater causes will occasion, greater effects. 
 
 Can it, therefore, on mature reflection, he 
 doubted, for a moment, that extraordinary 
 au vantages must result froan ships being-
 
 Iwilt in the dry ? The writer verily believe* 
 that a ship built in the dry, would season 
 more in one year than in five, by a contrary 
 mode, as fungi would have no opportunity to 
 form, and should any have formed on the 
 timbers before they were used, and not have 
 been destroyed by the vessel's being built 
 in the dry, they would soon die for want of 
 moisture. Nothing can be more fallacious 
 than the mode which is now practised of 
 seasoning our ships. The frame is but one 
 p:irt of a ship, and no one will say a plank, 
 ten inclies thick, laid on her outside, and a- 
 nother nearly as thick within, are trifling 
 pieces of timber. Do these planks require no 
 seasoning? By the mode in which ships are 
 now built the writer is bold enough to say, 
 that it is impossible for more than a very par- 
 tial seasoning to take place. The plank is 
 brought to, both seasoned and green, but 
 chiefly the latter, for it seldom happens, that 
 seasoned, plank is. to behad; and supposing
 
 M 
 
 i. even that it were to be procured, in sufficient 
 quantity, the preparation of boiling it so ma- 
 ny hours in water, in order to niake it bend 
 to the ship's side, saturates it so much with 
 moisture, that a long time necessarily elapses 
 before the middle gets, properly, dry ; and 
 too often, long before it is possible for the 
 plank to become, perfectly, dry, it is bored 
 off, fastened, and caulked. What else can be 
 expected, than that the plank should shrink 
 from its work, and the work from its fasten^ 
 ings, that the seeds of destruction should be 
 sown in the treenails, and that the oakum 
 should become sodden with wet, and admit 
 through it an oozing drip, into the interior 
 of the ship's side? The timbers in contact 
 with the planks that have been boiled, are 
 kept, constantly, damp, as long as any 
 moisture remains within them. It is this kind 
 of damp, above all others, which fosters 
 the fungus most, and creates immediate 
 decay in such parts of a ship's frame as
 
 59 
 
 have collected a green vegetable thereon, 
 from standing exposed, or have come in 
 contact with any sap that had not been. 
 taken off. Surely, after a little considera- 
 tion, when real facts are thus plainly told, 
 there needs no conjuration to discern where- 
 in the principal cause lies of the early de- 
 cay of our shipping. But, if a ship were 
 built in the dry, nothing of this kind could 
 happen, even though her timbers and 
 plank should be composed entirely of green 
 materials. 
 
 The mode the writer would, strongly, re- 
 commend is this : convert the timbers, 
 set the frame up, and finish the ship out of 
 the way, without at all caring whether her 
 materials are green or not ; after the ship is 
 finished, as to her wood- work, let her stand 
 to season, but by no means let a caulking- 
 jron approach her side, for two years at 
 Jeast, for caulking is the last thing that
 
 should be done, before she launches into the 
 deep ; no more of h?r bolts should be 
 driven, than may be sufficient to hold her 
 together, as every aperture should be left 
 open for the circulation of air ; no treenails 
 should be used on any account, but the 
 work should be fastened with copper alone, 
 wherever it is practicable, not with iron, 
 the rust of which is certain destruction to 
 all wood, particularly in salt water. The 
 advantages of this mode would be, that the 
 timbers, plank, bulkheads, and all other 
 parts of the ship, would be equally and 
 properly seasoned together; and what, 
 perhaps, would be a greater advantage 
 still, the caulking of the ship would be 
 done at the only time it ought to be 
 done, that is, just before she is put into 
 the water, when her plank has so shrunk, 
 as to be likely to shrink no more. Every 
 part of the ship would thus be as dry as 
 possible : no fungus, no drip, no unwhole-
 
 61 
 
 snme damp, would arise to endanger the 
 health of the ship's company; for when, the 
 oakum is driven up, it will continue its ad- 
 hesion to both edges of the plank conse- 
 quently the sides of the vessel will be both 
 wind-tight and water-tight, and what is 
 more, the plank will even swell upon the 
 oakum, and unite with it in forming one 
 solid body. Oakum, if tile wood shrinks 
 from it, decays immediately : otherwise it 
 will endure for many years. The longer 
 the ship stands ou her sli{\ after being 
 finished, the more seasoned she will, of 
 course, become '. when this seasoning is 
 deemed complete, then, let the screws on 
 the ends of the bolts be hove up, so as to 
 bring wood and wood together, in the closest 
 contact. This method of fastening is ten 
 times as secure as a clench, and a degree 
 of strength is thereby effected, which is 
 not to be obtained by any other means. 
 The ship, moreover, would be as tight as
 
 a drum, water-proof, and healthy throitgfi- 
 oiit, which the writer again affirms she could 
 not be, on the present plan. Fastened as 
 vessels now are, they must, necessarily, 
 leak, because a clench never will, nor ever 
 can, bind wood and wood together, so as 
 to prevent them from racking. The result 
 is, that the water-ways admit a drip, and 
 this drip co-operates with the foe, already 
 busy within, in hastening the work of de- 
 struction. 
 
 *A ship built under cover has the great 
 advantage, also, of having her workmen 
 in the dry, who get on with their work 
 faster than they could do, if subjected to the 
 
 *Let it, however, be well understood, that the writer'* 
 plan of building ships will not keep them one minute longer 
 on the storks than they are, at present, or delay their being 
 launched, when wanted for use. The ships should be first 
 completely put together under cover, and then stand to 
 season, in the dry, instead of being exposed to all change* 
 of weather. Let this plan be but well considered, and the 
 propriety of it must come home to the senses of every raao.
 
 63 
 
 Various changes of an English atmosphere, 
 They will be enabled, moreover, to perform 
 their work better, in the interior of the ship, 
 as it will not be necessary to lay ; the upper 
 deck, as a shelter, andj consequently, they 
 \vill always have sufficient light to work from 
 the hold upwards. Notwithstanding all 
 these advantages, there may be many so pre- 
 judiced as to prefer the present mode of 
 building ships in the open air, because it has 
 long practice to recommend it. To these the 
 writer will do nothing more than point out 
 the saving that is likely to accrue to the 
 country, on the adoption of his plan, which 
 may induce them to alter their sentiments. 
 
 One most material point to be avoided in 
 all buildings, is a thorough draft, for few 
 are aware, or have the opportunities of per- 
 ceiving, what a destructive foe it is, not 
 only to wood, but to things of a much more 
 durable nature. To prevent the operation
 
 of this, in building our ships, as proposed^ 
 in the dry, the covering, the writer would 
 recommend, should not be a mere tempo- 
 rary shed,* but a permanent substantial 
 erection, the roof of which ought to he 
 made in one span, and covered with cop- 
 per ; the writer prefers copper, because it is 
 much lighter than stone, and is not so lia- 
 ble to be lifted by the wind in separate 
 parts. Such erections as these may appear 
 to many to be mot stupendous undertak- 
 ings: but what are they, compared with 
 many other great works now in hand, such 
 as the inclosing of Plymouth Sound? For 
 a rough estimate, let it be supposed that 
 ten thousand pounds would complete the 
 
 * In 1785, the Rojal Sovereign was launched, with a 
 bousing over her, open at both ends, and attached to the 
 rfiip. Another vessel, the Argonaut, had a covering placed 
 over her while afloat, which was also open at both endg. 
 In both these instances the thorough draft was found so ex- 
 tremely injurious, that it became necesiary to remove lbee 
 temporary protection*.
 
 65 
 
 housing over one ship an immense sum 
 some persons may, unthinkingly, exclaim, 
 for merely keeping a ship dry, during her 
 continuance on the stocks. But is merely 
 keeping her dry the sole object in view ? Is 
 it not intended to give her a longer exis- 
 tence, and will she not, by the plan of 
 the writer, last three times as long as she 
 can, by the present mode ? If the expend- 
 iture of ten thousand pounds, or, perhaps, 
 less, will effect this, what friend to his 
 country can object to its being incurred, 
 particularly when he considers that this 
 covering will serve for many ships ? There- 
 fore, taking as a standard, a first-rate man- 
 of-war, and supposing her to cost, by the 
 time she goes into the water, one hundred 
 thousand pounds, the saving, on this ship 
 alone, provided the writer's principles are 
 well founded, would, in consequence of 
 her greater duration, be one hundred and 
 ninety thousand pounds, exclusive of in- 
 E
 
 terest : on looking at the subject, only in 
 this point of view, the expense of throwing: 
 a covering over our ships, must appear a 
 bagatelle ; and the plan only wants the sane-* 
 tion of persons, who are ' able and willing 
 to order it to b&carried into execution, to. 
 demonstrate its utility, beyond all contra- 
 diction. 
 
 The writer thinks he may venture to say, 
 e .have *eight hundred thousand ton 
 of shipping in the British navy, and that 
 the average price per ton for building, may 
 be estimated at or near the sum of twenty- 
 five pounds; but, as wood gets scarcer, the 
 cost of buliding will, also, increase. Ifj 
 therefore, by the means the writer has sug- 
 gested, the ships composing the British 
 navy can be made to last twenty-four years, 
 instead of eiglit, (which is three times as 
 
 * This is the amount of tonnage allowed by the late Lord 
 Melville, iu his pamphlet on the dock-yards 1809.
 
 long as at present), and his calculation of 
 price per ton for building (viz. twenty-five 
 pounds) be a fair average, the saving to 
 Great Britain may be computed at two- 
 thirds of the expense, both in money and 
 timber, now incurred. To exemplify this 
 argument if the amount of tonnage and 
 the present duration of our ships, as before 
 stated, be correct, it costs England twenty 
 millions, every eight years, in building a 
 navy equal to that which she now possesses, 
 or sixty millions in twenty-four years, in 
 renewing her navy three times: but, by 
 adopting the plans of the writer, forty mil- 
 lions of money, besides interest, would be 
 kept in the national purse, and the con- 
 sumption of timber, an object of no inferior 
 importance to the country, would be dimi* 
 nished (as far as its use extends to ship- 
 building) two-thirds, or in an equal ratio 
 with the money. Nor is this. all it is not 
 to be doubted, indeed it may be, reasonably,
 
 hoped, if proper materials and workmanship 
 are used in building our ships, agreeably to 
 iHe modes which the writer has pointed 
 out, that maily of them might endure 
 many years longer than the period be has- 
 assigned for their duration. 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 No ship should ever have any repair, 
 given to her, the expenses of which may 
 exceed one-third of her original cost ; for, if 
 every thing 1 be taken into consideration that 
 
 V C* 
 
 comprises the thorough repair of a ship, 
 it will be found I'd : be an extraordinary 
 waste of the public money. No ship, the 
 writer 'will, positively, assert, ever received 
 a thorough repair, without costing more 
 money than when she was first built, and, 
 in some instances, half as much again. Her 
 time of service cannot be expected to be so 
 long after a repair as when she was first built, 
 because no more pains or cautions are taken 
 in making this repair, to prevent decay,
 
 6*9 
 
 $ 
 
 than wlien her original frame was put to- 
 gether: but, if a ship be built, fastened, and 
 seasoned, so as to run out the whole time 
 bhe ought to last, (viz. twenty-four years) 
 
 there will be little or nooccasion for large 
 repairs; and if there is, it will be better by 
 far, in most cases, to set another ship on 
 the stocks. 
 
 The writer not only proposes that all our 
 ships should be protected by. housings, while 
 building, but that the greater part of our 
 docks also should be covered over, particu- 
 larly such docks, wherein it is required that 
 a ship should remain any length of time. The 
 propriety of this must be obvious to every 
 one: ships, at all times, receive much injury 
 by being stationary and, continually, ex- 
 posed to the effects of the weather. It may 
 not be necessary to cover all docks over, as 
 some should be kept open for the admission 
 of ships with their masts in: but all possible 
 E 3
 
 70 
 
 means ought to be taken with a ship, in 
 every stage, from her being first set up in 
 her frame, to the day she is condemned, 
 not to permit any moisture or drip to in- 
 sinuate itself between her timbers. The 
 writer is well aware, when he Fays this, how 
 impossible it is, in the dreadful gales which 
 ships, sometimes, have to encounter at sen, 
 to prevent the partial admission of wet : but 
 he does not mean to argue against impos- 
 sibilities, all he intends to prescribe is, 
 that every possible caution should be used to 
 prevent untimely decay in our ships, and to 
 give them as much strength and stability 
 as are consistent with their perishable ma- 
 terials. 
 
 ' 
 
 Having before given his opinion, as to 
 
 v the mode of fastening, the writer again 
 
 says it is impossible that any ship can 
 
 l>e made, properly, tight, without a nut and 
 
 a screw en the end of everv bolt. This
 
 71 
 
 mode of fastening speaks for itself, and it 
 is a folly for any one to attempt to say one 
 word to the contrary. 
 
 A very particular friend of the writer, a 
 captain, at this time, of one of the finest 
 frigates in the service, told him on his ho- 
 nour, that, during a gale of wind, in a 
 ninety-eight-gun ship, which he then com- 
 manded, the centre of the round-house 
 beam, passed, on the roll of the ship, six 
 inches to leeward, and so on the reverse, 
 when the ship went on the other tack. 
 This ship, to the writer's knowledge, was 
 launched only four years before: but he 
 understands that such a circumstance is by 
 no means an uncommon thing with 
 weak ships. Had this ship, however, been 
 put together in the manner he has be- 
 fore described, he will venture to af- 
 firm that such a circumstance could not 
 have happened on the contrary, she 
 
 4
 
 7* 
 
 would have been as tight as a drum ; and 
 he cannot but express his surprize how she 
 was enabled to weather the storm, and 
 reach her port. 
 
 Let only one ship be built, by way of ex- 
 periment, in the .way proposed, and let her 
 remain on the slip the writer has no hesi' 
 tation in saying, that she would Ue sound, 
 at the end of two hundred years; indeed, 
 that she would last as long as the oak in any 
 of our ancient buildings, 'which have been 
 kept dry. But, contrast this with the.present 
 mode, of exposing ships to the wet and dry 
 how long would she then last? Eight 
 or ten years, at farthest, and if her ex-, 
 istencc is to be prolonged after that period, 
 it must be -by fresh caulking, fresh paint- 
 ing, fresh paying, and patching throughout. 
 
 Actuated by the purest motive, that of 
 jserving his country, the writer has, now,
 
 73 
 
 completed his enquiry into the chief causes 
 of premature decay in our ships, and his ex- 
 amination of the means, best calculated to 
 render them stronger, more lasting, and, 
 consequently, more effectual instruments 
 of advantage to our naval service. In 
 
 O 
 
 doing this, it is very probable, as he has 
 remarked before, that his ideas and plans 
 will be regarded with envy, by some, who 
 think well of no scheme, however advan- 
 tageous, that is not projected by them- 
 selves, and considered theoretical by others, 
 who are sceptical on all points that tend, 
 either directly or indirectly, to occasion 
 innovations, whether they are desirable or 
 not, in established systems. But, the 
 writer muse repeat, that he has nothing to 
 fear from misconstruction. He has not 
 launched out into a boundless sea of spe- 
 culative opinions, to bewilder himself ad 
 readers, in a maze of plans, without use 
 or without explanation : hut every thing 
 he has said, is founded on the terra jirma
 
 74 
 
 of facts, incontrovertible facts, ascertained 
 during a long course of daily, he may al- 
 most say, hourly observation of every parti- 
 cular. Nay, he will say more he will be 
 ready toprove, at any time, whenever called 
 on, to the kingdom at large, that the bene- 
 fits of the plans he has proposed for build- 
 ing, fastening, and seasoning our ships, 
 will correspond, to the fullest extent, with 
 his expectations. 
 
 To impress the important truths contained 
 in this pamphlet still more strongly than he 
 may have, already, done, on the public 
 mind, he will, briefly, recapitulate and 
 compress them together in one view. 
 Let all our ships be framed, planked, and 
 caulked in the dry let them be fastened 
 with copper,* instead of treenails or iron, 
 
 * The writer hopes to see the day, and that not a very 
 distant ons, when the use of copper fastenings will extend , 
 generally, to our merchant vestelt, as well aa to our ships 
 of war.
 
 the latter of which should be, completely, 
 abolished let a screw be employed to 
 heave up the bolts instead of a clench 
 let the ships be built under cover, and re- 
 main so to season let foreign timber (fir 
 excepted) be, entirely, expelled from our 
 dock-yards, unless it be of a quality equal, 
 or nearly equal, to English oak let no 
 caulking iron be permitted to approach any 
 part of a ship, till she is in a proper state 
 for launching and the writer has every 
 reason to believe, that our men of war would 
 not only last three times as long as they 
 now do, but that they would be better able 
 to combat the dangers to which they are 
 exposed ; that millions of money would be 
 thereby gained to the nation ; that thou- 
 sands of lives would be saved ; that one 
 third of the timber now used would be suffi- 
 cient ; and that, by no other means, can 
 our wooden walls be rendered so durable 
 as the country has a right to expect, from
 
 76 
 
 the trouble and expense incurred in build- 
 ing them. 
 
 These, it must be confessed by all, are 
 objects of no trivial importance to a king- 
 dom that possesses the empire of the seas, 
 and, if they can and may be effected, they, 
 most assuredly, have imperious and irresist- 
 ible claims on the immediate attention of 
 government. The writer has observed, 
 with much pleasure, the attention paid, of 
 late, to useful plans, suggested by various 
 meritorious individuals, for the good of the 
 navy ; and when he looks round and sees 
 .how admirably the tactics of that navy are 
 conducted, (and every Englishman must 
 do this with an innate glow of national 
 exultation) he cherishes the hope that, ere 
 long, when his plans may have been carried 
 into general practice, the mechanics of the 
 navy will attain a similar degree of proud 
 perfection. Let the latter only be put on
 
 77 
 
 an equality with the former, in the manner 
 lie has conceived it to be his duty to re- 
 commend, and it will never be requisite, 
 ;i second time, to enquire into the causes 
 of premature decay in our shipping, or td 
 investigate the means, best calculated to 
 prolong their duration : for the causes that, 
 now, form the subjects of complaint, will 
 have, then, completely, vanished; and the 
 means, now sought to be obtained, will bq 
 so -effectually realized, by the execution of 
 his plans, as to render all ulterior measures, 
 totally, unnecessary. 
 
 The writer, nevertheless, is, fully, aware, 
 how tardy the measures of government are, 
 always, obliged to be, in effecting any ex- 
 tensive plan of operations for the public 
 good, (particularly when those operations, 
 directly, militate against commonly received 
 opinions, and long established practices) 
 from the necessity it labours under of con*
 
 78 
 
 suiting and arranging with various depart- 
 ments ; and he is also sensible how difficult 
 it is to obtain a hearing, even where the 
 true interests of the country are at stake, 
 without having some powerful or com- 
 manding authority to support the plan pro- 
 posed. But, he conceives that the contents 
 of this pamphlet are, sufficiently, strong of 
 themselves, without requiring the aid of 
 any patron, that they cannot fail to excite 
 the most serious notice of the kingdom at 
 large, and that, when noticed, conviction 
 must arise, and k execution will follow, like 
 cause and effect 
 
 L. CUWCDO.V, PRINTER.
 
 ERRAtA. 
 
 P.ige 6, line 8 from top, add * mere capacity to" letwtcn the and 
 dbour. 
 
 Page 43, line 11 from top, read creates, imtead of create. 
 Page 49, line 2 from bottom, read four, instead of five. 
 Page 57, line 3 from bottom, Jdt comma Ictwetn brought and to.
 
 *? 3*
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 AT
 
 3 115800903991-
 
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