The Sunderland Site Page 102

May I suggest that you navigate the site via the index on page 001.PRIOR PAGE / NEXT PAGE

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Copyright?

Corrections in any of the material which follows, however tiny, would be most welcome. And additions, of course! Test.

Meanings on this page ... Arcform, bark, barque, barquentine, Blackwall frigate, brig, brigantine, cementing, clipper, coble, composite construction, corrugated ship, cutter, foyboat, galiot, holder-up, hulk, keel, ketch, keelboat, lascar, optical marking or lofting, patent log, plater, schooner, ship, sloop, snow rigged, tonnage, turtleback, 'tween decks, Warrior Class tugs, whaleback ships, woodbine funnel, yawl.

To search for specific text on this page, just press 'CTRL + F' & then enter your search term. A general site search facility is here.

ARCFORM

BARQUE (OR BARK)

BARQUENTINE

I understand that the term 'barquentine' refers to a vessel which i) has three (or more) masts, and ii) has square sails on the foremast & fore-and-aft sails on all of the other masts.

BLACKWALL FRIGATE

I understand that the term 'Blackwall Frigate' refers to a 3-masted fully-rigged fast-sailing ship whose sides were pierced with gun openings, so the vessels could become war ships if that proved necessary. Later such vessels were constructed rather to look as though they were armed, to ward off pirates perhaps, with imitation gun ports. The first such vessels were built at the Wigram and Green shipyard on the river Thames at Blackwall, London, hence the name.

BRIG

A brig is a sailing vessel with two square rigged masts (fore and main), with the aft mast being the main mast and the taller of the two. The mainmast would carry a small fore-and-aft sail (also called a gaff sail), to enhance vessel manoeuvrability.

BRIGANTINE

CEMENTING

CLIPPER

COMPOSITE CONSTRUCTION

CORRUGATED SHIP

FOYBOAT OR COBLE

What did they look like? Here are some images kindly provided by a friend of the site.

The term 'holder-up' (or 'holder on'), refers to a member of a gang of riveters, a gang of from 3 to 5 members. Red hot rivets (a bolt-like piece of steel with a head and a smooth shank instead of a thread) were picked up by the 'holder-up' with tongs, & inserted into a hole drilled through the plates of steel that are to be joined. There he held the head of the rivet in place using a heavy steel pneumatic tool, termed a 'dolly', which jammed the rivet in place, while on the other side of the steel, the rivet was pounded with a riveting gun (or in the old days by hammers). And was flattened or domed to create essentially a second flattened head on that side. A tough job indeed, I am advised - but it sounds like the worker with the hammer had an even more physically demanding role!

The work so often was in confined spaces within the hull, with poor lighting & the deafening thunder of maybe hundreds of riveters similarly hammering away close by. A typical ship might require literally millions of rivets.

The term seems to most frequently mean a vessel that has been stripped down, moored permanently & used for storage. Pensioned off, you might say!

But Mori Flapan, of Sydney, Australia, (thank you, Mori) advises that the term can mean much more:

'I would suggest that a vessel that is hulked is: no longer intended to operate under its own power or sail; adapted to an ancillary�role that is normally harbour based (but not necessarily so) such as storing coal, copra, grain, but may also be used as a lighter for transhipping cargo such as explosives�between shore and seagoing steamers, or for loading coal bunkers on steamers. I have also heard of hulks being used as Bethel ships, for accommodation of prisoners, hospitals and quarantine stations, police stations, crane lighters, lightships, tank cleaning vessels, swimming baths and for use as floating dry docks. Generally hulking refers to the stripping down of a vessel from its active role as a fully operational vessel to one of these ancilliary purposes. Typically�the rig and machinery are either partially or fully removed or decommissioned, and any non-essential equipment and�fittings sold off (otherwise they will be stolen), and certain modifications made (e.g. increasing the size of hatchways on some coal hulks). They may be fitted with additional equipment such as for crane or coal loading elevators. In olden times, it was quite normal for a watchman to live on board, so they frequently retained part of their accommodation intact.'

I do have, I know, in this total site, references to 'hulked' vessels being used as a prison ship, & as a lightering barge.

Keelboats were shallow draught boats with oars or poles, about 40 ft. long, with both ends pointed. Flat bottomed barges. They were used to transport coal, about 20 tons in a load, from the upper reaches of the River Wear to waiting vessels at the mouth of the river. There the coal was loaded into waiting ships. Also used on the River Tyne.

I have read that in 1820, 1,001,163 tons of coal was shipped from Sunderland, a quantity which represented a remarkable 47,000 keel loads of coal & filled 7,500 colliers. By 1862, keelboats had all but disappeared, a victim of advancing technology - i.e. the railways & the coal staiths.

I learn that a ketch is a two-masted sailboat whose (forward) mainmast is taller than the (aft) mizzen mast, and whose mizzen mast is stepped forward of the rudder post. The mizzen mast stepped forward of the rudder post is what distinguishes a ketch from a yawl, which has its mizzen mast stepped aft of its rudder post.

Since the mainmast is the taller of the two masts, it naturally carries a larger sail.

The words (thanks!) of Robert S. Hunter, of Westoe Village, South Shields.

'I was trained & worked at Bartrams from 1959 until 1973 & was brought up on what was then the�new technology of 'Optical Marking'.

Prior to this, the Mould Loft drew the shape of the vessel & each individual�plate full size on a huge loft floor from which wooden templates were produced which in turn were used to mark the plates for burning & shaping to size. Optical Marking reduced that practice to 1/10 the full size. 1/10 scale drawings of ship plates were produced which in turn were photographed &�converted into a 1/100 scale�photographic plates. The photographic plates were then placed in a projector at the top of a darkened Optical Tower & the image was projected full size�image onto the plate below�to be hand marked in chalk & paint and thence to the automatic burning benches. Alternatively,�for different components, the 1/100 scale photographic plate was placed into a cassette which was then placed into a 'Monopol' burning machine�used to control directly�the burning process & the shapes to be burnt.

Essentially this was the start of�'automatic plate production'�which developed into�numerical control & thence computer controlled machines.

The unsung�genius behind the introduction of this much more efficient process was my boss, Walter R. Mellanby, then Shipyard Director & a director of the company, who presented a paper on the whole process to 'The North East Coast Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders' in Newcastle on Mar. 9, 1959. He had the pleasure of seeing his innovation soon put into practice at Bartrams & elsewhere.'

The 'Monopol' burning machine? an interesting article about the machine is available here.�Thanks to the combined efforts of Derek Maidement & Robert Hunter.

The paper ('Optical Marking and Automatic Plate Production') was published on Apl. 1, 1959 & is available i) in 'Transactions of the North East Coast Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders' Vol. 75 re 1959 at pages 247-284 & ii) 'International Shipbuilding Progress' Vol. 6 re 1959 at pages 160-183. It would be good to make the full paper available to all via these pages. If anybody has a copy, I will gladly pay for the paper to be regular mailed to Canada for scanning. And will gladly return it once scanning is complete.

The term 'plater' would seem to be a U.K. term not used elsewhere.

A plater's role is to get metal ready for welding, by cutting & forming the metal in conformity with the applicable drawings or templates. Using heavy duty cutters & burners & powerful rolling & pressing machines. Have seen the role described as being to cut, saw, straighten, bend, roughly shape & punch or drill the metal with rivet holes. A plater works with metal plate or structural steel which is thicker than 3mm or 5mm (one who works on thinner metal is termed a sheet metal worker). While they do not weld the metal they do 'tack' it - to hold the metal together for the welder to then do his job. The term seems not to apply to working on pipe - such a worker is described as a pipe-fitter.

Readers may well have improved words to describe the role. Do write to me if you wish to suggest changes to my above text.

Not an easy term to put into a few words, I find!

Essentially a sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts. How many masts? Two masts is the most common but there can be up to seven masts. Thomas W. Lawson, built in 1902 by 'Fore River Ship and Engine Building Company', of Massachusetts, had seven masts and its tallest mast reached an amazing 155 ft. above the deck.

The basic plan has two masts with the forward mast being shorter or the same height as the rear mast. But there are many types of schooner:

a) Most schooners are 'gaff' rigged, which term means carrying sails that have four corners rather than three, the fourth corner being made possible by a pole or spar (called a 'gaff') tethered to the mast. Such a rig permits a large increase in sail area over a conventional triangular sail. And greater speed therefore.

b) Some schooners - 'square-topsail schooners' - carried a square topsail on the foremast and occasionally, in addition, a square fore-course (together with the gaff foresail). I must still figure out what those last words mean. I presume it must mean a square sail atop another mast.

c) Modern schooners may be 'Marconi' or 'Bermuda' rigged, which terms apply to a triangular sail with a boom that reaches to the very top of a mast. Some schooners are so rigged on the main mast and gaff rigged on the foremast.

There are clearly many other types, which hopefully I can add in here as my knowledge improves.

I read that a two or three masted schooner was quite manoeuvrable and could be sailed by a small crew. Multi-masted schooners were somewhat unmanageable and were built as a cost-cutting measure introduced towards the end of the days of sail.

Within this site there are references to iron steamships being also schooners. I believe that early iron ships also carried masts and sails, until such sails became unnecessary with advances in steamship designs.

In these pages, I try to refer to a tonnage measurement that is universally accepted. As a measure of comparative size, essentially. Not too easy in practice! I try to use 'GRT' consistently, though I should use 'GT' after 1982 or 1994. There were new tonnage measurement rules applied to all ships built after Jul. 18, 1992, however vessels built prior to that date could continue to use the old terms for 12 years, until Jul. 18, 1994.

is a measure of the total internal volume of a vessel, with some exemptions for non-productive spaces, crew quarters an example. 1 gross register ton is equal to a volume of 100 cubic feet. I am not surprised to read that the calculation can be most complex, in ways quite beyond my ability, and probably yours, to understand. The result can be different according to the nature of the cargo, it would appear. The term is since 1982 or 1994 incorrect. Since those dates one should refer to 'Gross Tonnage' ('GT') per a 'Tonnage Measurement Convention' of 1969. GT is a measure of all of a ship's enclosed spaces (even to the funnel) measured to the outside of the hull framing. It is always larger than GRT. It would not seem to be comparative with GRT since it includes areas excluded in GRT.

is a term even the webmaster can understand in principle - the volume of the space available for carrying cargo or passengers, i. e. the GRT or GT less the volume of the many spaces that will not hold cargo or passengers. But the result would seem, amazingly, to vary by the port or country in which the calculations are being done!  The term is, since 1982 or 1994, incorrect. Since those dates one should refer to 'Net Tonnage' ('NT') per a 'Tonnage Measurement Convention' of 1969. But NT cannot be less than 70% of GT.

is a another term the webmaster can understand in principle, i.e. the actual total weight of the vessel. Computed on the basic physical law of Archimedes that the weight of a floating object equates to the water it displaces. That would seem to be universal. But it is not that simple. It can be expressed in long tons or metric tons. The measurement of the water displaced can vary, depending upon such factors as whether the water is fresh or salt & the temperature of the water. There is, however, a 'nominal specific gravity' for seawater (1.025). Again a complicated computational method is used, for the details of which I must refer you to other sources.

is the measure of what a ship carries i.e. the DT in a loaded condition minus the bare or lightship weight. It includes the crew, passengers, cargo, fuel, water, and stores. Again the result can be expressed in long or metric tons. Have not tried to learn exactly how 'lightship weight' might be computed.

There is at least one vessel listed in these pages where its 'tonnage' changed as a result of a new computational method adopted in the late 1800s. More on that in due course, I hope. In that regard one set of new measurement rules took effect on Jan. 1, 1836.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. What better way to show what such a vessel looks like. A fine image of a vessel with a turtleback forecastle - of Royal Navy Destroyer Kangaroo, built 1900 and broken up in 1920. HMS Kangaroo was not a Sunderland built vessel. Rather built by Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company at Jarrow-on-Tyne. The partial image that I show dates from 1911, I understand.

I have read at 'eBay University' that the 'turtleback' forecastle was intended to clear water from the bow, but actually, in practice, 'tended to dig the bow into anything of a sea, resulting in a very wet conning position'.

My definition may well need correction. The WWW dictionary sites re the term seem to be quite poor. Anyway, reading between the lines, the term seems to refer to the space between the decks of a ship, especially the space above the lowest deck & below the upper deck. A space usually used for storage - of food, water, baggage, cargo, etc. It had very little headroom, it would appear.

The usage of the term on this site seems to refer to the use of the space for sleeping accommodation for passengers. Not the affluent passengers of course, who would have cabins etc. Rather emigrants or steerage passengers.

In advancing these pages, I have seen a number of references to 'Warrior' Class Tugs being ocean-going tugs. 'Tug', of Thames Tugs, advises me however that Bill Harvey in his book 'Empire Tugs' describes the 'Warrior Class' as being 'useful for river and estuary work and in emergencies could be used for coastal work'. 'Tug' further advises that war stretched these definitions to the limit considering the Iceland episode (Empire Wold) and those that even made it to the Far East under their own power!

'The basic difference regarding the improved or modified 'Warrior' (or Roach Class) tugs was that they were a couple of feet shorter in length but about four feet beamier, which made them more stable and also they were oil fired with a slightly more powerful engine, the original Warriors being coal fired.'

All these wartime classes were based on known successful pre-war commercial designs, the 'Warrior' having been built for Steel and Bennie of Glasgow in 1935 by Scott of Bowling.

Incidentally 'Crown' appear to be the only Sunderland builders of these tugs, although there were several different builders on the Tyne.

A term used to describe a tall & thin funnel necessary to create a strong natural draught & air flow to permit coal to be burned in the ship's natural draught furnaces - before a forced draught was applied to boilers and boiler-rooms. The name was coined in reference to 'Woodbine', or 'Wild Woodbine', a brand of rather thin cheaper cigarettes, likely named after the common honeysuckle 'woodbine' plant. The brand tended to be smoked by working men.

An example of such a funnel. Stesso built at Sunderland in 1922 by S. P. Austin.