Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 08.djvu/462

SHIP 398 SHIP Europe till the discovery of the compass, which was introduced in a rude form in the 12th century, and had been improved and had come into common use in the 14th century. The opening up of the passage to India and the discovery of America made another epoch in its prog- ress. In the building of large vessels the Spaniards long took the lead, and were followed by the French, who specially distinguished themselves in the theoreti- cal study of the art. In the early prog- ress of the art of shipbuilding the English took little or no part. When Henry VII. built the "Henri Grace a Dieu," which is regarded as the parent of the British navy, the English were greatly inferior to the nations of southern Eu- rope both in navigation and in shipbuild- ing. In the reign of Elizabeth the English fleet proved its superiority to that of Spain in respect of fighting ca- pacity, but it was afterward rivaled by that of Holland. The first three-decker was built in England in 1637. She was called the "Sovereign of the Seas" and was deemed the best man-of-war in the world. In 1768 the French adopted three- deckers. In the early part of the 19th century the lead in improvement was taken by the United States. English builders were at first skeptical as to American improve- ments; but in 1832 Scott Russell theoreti- cally established the principles on which speed in sailing depends — principles which, had already been practically applied not. only by the Americans, but by the Span-, iards. From the time of their theoretical establishment they were rapidly adopted in England, and a race of improvements began between Great Britain and the United States. The true principles of construction both in build and rig were exemplified in the celebrated Baltimore clipper schooners, which were sharp in the bow, deep in the stern, of great length, and lying low in the water, with long, slender masts, and large sails cut with great skill. A great change came over the art of shipbuilding when steam was introduced and wood gave place to iron and then to steel. The first steamer built expressly for regular voyages between Europe and America was the "Great Western," launched in 1837. She was propelled by paddles, but about the same time Erics- son invented his screw propeller, which was soon adopted in sea-going ships, and the British Admiralty possessed a screw vessel in 1842. Iron vessels were built early in the 19th century for canal ser- vice, then for river service, and later for packet service on the coasts. In 1838 the first vessel of this material was built for ocean service, but the first ocean-going steamship in its present form, built of iron and propelled by the screw, was the "Great Britain," launched in 1843. As early as 1855, iron was substituted for wood in the yards on the Clyde; and on the Mersey, the Tyne, and the Wear, iron shipbuilding was in general adoption by 1863 or earlier. Puddled steel was used as early as 1862, and since 1870 Great Britain has led the world in steel ship- building. Before 1890 steel had displaced iron in British shipyards. In the United States, the transition from wooden to iron ships took place at the commencement of the Civil War. Among the shipbuilding yards that sur- vived the change was Cramp's at Phila- delphia, and the Harlan & Hollingsworth Co., at Wilmington, Del. Though the building of merchant vessels was inter- rupted (allowing England to acquire the leadership she still maintains), the Amer- ican shipyards promptly turned out war- ships. The "New Ironsides," a pioneer type for coast service, was built at Cramp's yards and went into action at Fort Sumter. The lack of efficient yards in the Confederate States was an im- portant factor in the Civil War. The "St. Louis" and the "St. Paul," two ocean liners built by the Cramp Co. between 1892 and 1896, were constructed entirely of domestic material, thus mark- ing a new era in American shipbuilding. American yards now receive orders not only from foreign firms for merchant ships, but from foreign governments for warships. During the World War and especially after the United States joined the Allies in 1917, there was a great increase in shipbuilding. In 1919 the sailing vessels (exclusive of canal boats and barges) of the United States, numbered 4,260, ton- nage 1,199,661; steamships 7,397, tonnage 10,027,400; gas vessels 10,254, tonnage 358,257 ; including canal boats and barges 27,513, tonnage 12,907,300. See Ship- building; Shipping; Navy; etc. SHIP, ARMORED. The earliest plans for the building of armored steamships appear to have been made by John Stevens of New Jersey in 1812. The idea did not then take practical shape but it was developed by his son, Robert L., who secured acceptance by the United States Government of a plan for the con- struction of an ironclad steamship in which all the machinery would be below the water-level. The keel was laid in 1854, but the French meanwhile produced the "Gloire," which, speedily followed by the sister ships "Invincible" and "Nor- mandie," was the first ocean-going iron- clad. In 1861 the United States provided for the building of the "Galena," "New