Steam-ships : The story of their development to the present day by R. A. Fletcher
Chapter 1
618 words | Chapter 1
The Project Gutenberg eBook of Steam-ships
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Title: Steam-ships
The story of their development to the present day
Author: R. A. Fletcher
Illustrator: Charles Dixon
Release date: January 31, 2024 [eBook #72847]
Language: English
Original publication: United Kingdom: Sidgwick & Jackson, Ltd, 1910
Other information and formats: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/72847
Credits: Peter Becker, Harry Lamé and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)
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Transcriber’s Notes
Text printed in italics and bold face in the source document has been
transcribed between _underscores_ and =equal signs= respectively.
Small capitals have been converted to ALL CAPITALS. ^e represents a
superscript e.
[T], [U] and [V] represent T-, U- and V-shaped symbols rather than
the actual letters.
More Transcriber’s Notes may be found at the end of this text.
STEAM-SHIPS
_UNIFORM WITH THIS VOLUME_
SAILING SHIPS:
THE STORY OF THEIR DEVELOPMENT FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO THE PRESENT
DAY
BY E. KEBLE CHATTERTON
With a Coloured Frontispiece by
CHARLES DIXON
and over 130 Illustrations from Original Sources,
Photographs, Models, &c.
_Extra Royal 8vo, 384 pages, in Designed Cover, Cloth Gilt, 16s.
net_
[Illustration: THE “WILLIAM FAWCETT,” THE FIRST P. & O. STEAM-SHIP, 209
TONS, BUILT 1829.
ON THE LEFT IS A BOMB KETCH, A TYPE WITHDRAWN FROM THE NAVY ABOUT THIS
DATE.
ON THE RIGHT IS H. M. S. “ST. VINCENT,” 101 GUNS.
_From a Painting by Charles Dixon_
_By kind permission of the Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co._]
STEAM-SHIPS
THE STORY OF THEIR DEVELOPMENT
TO THE PRESENT DAY
BY
R. A. FLETCHER
WITH A HUNDRED AND
FIFTY ILLUSTRATIONS
[Illustration]
LONDON
SIDGWICK & JACKSON, LTD.
3 ADAM STREET, ADELPHI, W.C.
1910
_All rights reserved_
[Illustration: PREFACE]
The story of the Steam-ship, and of its development up to the
present time, covers little more than a hundred years. In the
companion volume,[1] the evolution of the sailing ship necessitated a
comprehensive survey of some eight centuries; but that we need vessels,
not only faster than the sailing ship, but also more independent of the
weather conditions, is shown by the fact that in the world’s shipping
tonnage of to-day (omitting small vessels) the proportion of steam to
sail is as nine to one. The “seven seas” must be crossed with speed and
safety, in the interest of all nations that have a mile of sea coast;
but the Anglo-Saxon race, as it has contributed--from either side of
the Atlantic--most largely to the mechanical and structural development
of the steam-ship, now depends most vitally upon the organisation of
its naval and transportation systems. Napoleon said that the strength
of an army lay in its feet; no less true is it that the strength of our
Empire lies in her ships.
[1] “Sailing Ships and their Story,” by E. Keble Chatterton, 1909.
A hundred years ago it was impossible to forecast with any accuracy
how long a journey might take to accomplish, and the traveller by
land or sea was liable to “moving accidents by flood and field”; but
side by side with the growth of the steam-ship, and the accompanying
increase of certainty in the times of departure and arrival, came the
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