Hull material history 101

Straw Hull and Leather Boilers

Like Aaron said, lots of meat in this thread, and should prove thought provoking.

The "wierdest material" used in the construction of a boat surely was the steamboat Captain Harry Louden oft described. This particular boat had a "straw hull, leather boilers, and brick chimneys, and carried a brick-layer and shoemaker on each watch."

RE; HULL MATERIALS 101:
Hi, AJ & Shipyard: Right about this thread being more than thought provoking. Again Alan Bates, Bill Judd, and others, could enlighten us on this. Most are aware of the unusual deep sea hulls composed of formed concrete. This done in time of war when materials were in short supply. Not 'steamboat in nature,' but many a modern pleasure boat or racing yacht hull composed of plastics.

I've some information I can dig out in time on the gradual transition from all wood hulls to later iron and steel here and in Europe/England. Transition from wood to iron/steel was slower on our river system than on the East Coast or Europe. Again, a number of reasons for this. One was the continuing supply of good stock wood here longer than other locations. Another based in the prevailing 'traditions' of boat yards and owners who 'stuck with what they knew.' Old Jim Burns, builder of the DELTA KING/DELTA QUEEN, apprenticed in iron hulled ship/boat building in his early years at DENNY BROS. Dumbatron, Scotland, before coming to the United States and later taking on the design, construction of the two boats with triple galvanized hulls riveted. When the DK/DQ hulls sild down the ways in Stockton, Calif. Capt. Anderson of the 'California Transportation Co.' had yard workers 'ride them down' to observe the insides once in the water and commented, "Did not 'weep' a drop."

Our old friend Capt. Frederick Marryat in the 1830s focused his attention on steam-boat building here commenting on difference in high pressure vs. low pressure engines and the use of "leather." I can only assume leather may have been used for packings etc. I quote below his comments.
* * * * * * * * * *

"On the Mississippi, Ohio, and their tributary rivers, the high-pressure engine is invariably used; they have tried the low-pressure, but have found that it will not 'answer,' in consequence of the great quantity of mud contained in solution in the waters of the Mississippi, which destroys all the valves and 'leathers;' and this is the principal cause of many accidents which take place."

Cheers,
R. Dale Flick

Several years ago I did some research on this subject for an article in a river mag. So far I've only found my notes on the Dravo Corp. Dravo's first steel barge was built in 1915 (riveted) and their first welded barge was in 1929 although they had built a ferry hull (welded) in 1925. For years they used both processes. After 1939 no hull was built using rivets.

hi all
I dug in my memory for what I remember as the first iron hull on the western rivers. She was the 199 ton side wheel steamer "Valley Forge" built in 1839 in Pittsburgh, Penn. (from Lytle page 219) I don't have her history in front of me but this is what I remember. It was hoped that the iron hull would fend off the damage done by snags. This did not prove to be the case and she sunk and was raised two or three times and repaired before being abandoned in 1845. Her poor record against snags delayed the use of iron and steel for many years.

Carl Jones

Louis C. Hunter's "Steamboats...."

For far too many years my copy of Steamboats on the Western Rivers, Louis C. Hunter's classic authority on the history and evolution of, well, steamboats on the Western rivers, has gathered dust under my bed, but recently I have started what will be a cover-to-cover reading of "this scholarly and exhaustive study" of the golden steamboat era. Many of the questions raised on this thread can be found in Hunter and shared with those without one.

Some passages of interest concerning the early development of the steamboat hull include:

"The evidence on the development of hull dimensions is useful for the light it throws on the traditional account which credits Henry M. Shreve, in designing the WASHINGTON (1816) and the GEORGE WASHINGTON (1825), with creating the prototype of the flat-bottom, shallow-draft steamboat and thereby making steam navigation on the western rivers a practical success."

"Experimentation with the lighter methods of (wood) hull constructions began in the late twenties (1820's)..... This hull (was) ... a single buoyant mass, made of light and strong materials; ... a mere float."

"Of the three major items of (construction) expenditures, hull, cabin, and machinery, the hull was usually the least in amount..."

After the VALLEY FORGE...
"A second iron steamboat (hull), the WILLIAM F. FRY (303 tons), built near Louisville in 1840, was sent to Mobile, from whence she operated without attracting particular attention. Some thirty years passed before these pioneer vessels had a successor ... on the western rivers..."

hi all
I did a little digging on the Valley Forge She was 180 ft long on deck, beam 29 ft. depth 5 1/2 ft. and across the deck and hull 49 1/2 ft. The frame of the boat was of angle iron, bottom and deck beams T iron, and the outside of 1/4 inch Juniata boiler Plate. the boiler or first deck was all iron plate, The floor and hull plates were of plain smooth surface, the sheets being joined at the butts. The sides were Clinker lap. The keel , which was of 5/8 inch iron was laid in the summer of 1838 and the vessel launched in the summer of 1839. Anyone want to explian Juniata boiler plate?

Carl Jones

JUNIATA iron/boiler plate:
Carl, 'Juniata boiler plate' was a produce of the Juniata Range in Pennysylvania, primarily Blair and Center Counties. The peak of iron production was roughly 1790 to 1850 [Juanita Furnace closed in 1848]. The iron production was based then in the use of charcoal gleaned from nearly forests. In one day a single furnace could consume one acre of wood. The basic charcoal production was a 10 to 12 day process before using in the furnaces itself. What ended this era of Juanita iron was the arrival and use of coal and coke. The area was then pretty isolated and transport of the product was a slow process. Interesting that the VALLEY FORGE was fitted with Juniata iron. Iron furnaces in those days bore picturesque names usually from the owner, his family, local region: "Martha Furnace," "Juniata Furnace," "Prosperity Furnace" Etc.

Charcoal making from ancient times on was one of the factors leading to massive deforestation world wide. I've no knowledge concerning the metallurgical composition or related production of 'Juniata Iron.' Well, what do I know?

Cheers,
R. Dale Flick

Puzzled

The construction of the VF seems like it was a revolutionary change in hull building, but what always amazed me is how technological changes were oft so slow in being adopted in times past, whereas technology literally changes with the speed of light these days.

How, I wonder, were the seams of the hull plates kept watertight without the benefit of welding if they were butt-joined? Were they caulked? I can imagine that the clinker lap (overlapped plates) side plates could be riveted and kept watertight, but the butt-joints on the bottom are a puzzle.

Where's Cap'n Bates when you need him?

RE: CLINKER LAP PLATES:
Hi, Shipyard:
Excellent questions on the above RE: CLINKER LAP plates. From my England days I know that the term derives from Old or Middle English: "Clinken or "Clinchen." The technique has ancient Phonecian and Roman roots with later use in continental Europe and English boat yards. Iron [Or wood] were joined by rivets or, with wood, "Clink Nails." How they kept the seams dry without 'weeping' is a good question and I'd humbly opine caulk or some sealing compound. They applied old techniques to new ways of building. Alan Bates, Professor John White, formerly of the Transportation Section, Smithsonian Institution, along with John Fryant may know.

Workers from the old world brought their training and techniques here as immigrants. Work in iron began over there much earlier than here. Even the early Howard men of Jeffersonville brought from England expertise of machinery in mills. Old Jim Burns of DELTA KING/DELTA QUEEN fame, as posted, apprenticed in iron hull work, steam engineering and later in America work on machines in big flour mills before moving on to California and the Sacramento River. Well, what do I know? Great topic.

Cheers,
Dale Flick

Off topic, but the original name of the SS Milwaukee Clipper was the Juniata, built for the old Anchor Line...

http://www.retrocom.com/retromilw/clipper1.htm
http://www.nps.gov/history/maritime/nhl/clipper.htm
http://www.milwaukeeclipper.com/index.html
http://www.hnsa.org/ships/clipper.htm
http://www.michigan.gov/hal/0,1607,7-160-15481_19267_20424-54633--,00.html

My mother & grandfather were repeat passengers of Clipper, hence my mention of this now...

Sorry for the topic sway.

Shipyard sam
If you think iron hull was innovative. Here is more on her construction: There was one iron bulk head the entire length of the boat and it was divided into eight water water tight sections. My wild guess is the bottom and deck plates were riveted to the T bars.
Carl Jones

I'm a-settin' and a-watchin' while you fellers grunt and strain with research. You could look it up in Morrison's History of Steam Navigation, a book that is not in my library. Pages 114-116 in Hunter's Steamboats on the Western Rivers discuss iron and steel hulls. Look it up - it'll be good for your gizzards.

Morrison

Have had a problem trying to get on board but Alan Bates and Franz have set me in between the buoys of the channel and thought this might be of interest to the steel (iron) hull dialog.

As I have previously mentioned, I cannot seem to get on the steamboat.org web. I was previously registered on the old board, and I believed it was mentioned if one was registered there you be registered on the new one. To no avail, last year I couldn't get on so I re-registered, but still can't get on when a couple of times I believed I might have some comments of interest.

Recently, they have been corresponding on western rivers steel-hulled vessels. Perhaps the following would be of some interest if you would want to post it.

From Morrison's HISTORY OF STEAM NAVIGATION:

"As to iron-hull steamboats on the western rivers, the first built in the United States was named "United States," constructed by the West Point Foundry, at New York, in 1838, for service on Lake Pontchartrain and canal at New Orleans, La. This was a double-hull boat, 110x26x3.6, with a paddlewheel in the space between the hulls. The first single iron hull built in the United States was the "Valley Forge," built by Robinson & Minis, steam-engine builders, at Pittsburg, Pa., and completed in December, 1839. The next year, the material for an iron hull, built in England, was received and re-erected at Jeffersonville, Ind., and the vessel named "W. W. Fry --- John Laird, of Birkenhead --- for the Savannah River, between 1834 and 1838, and the vessels used as passenger and towboats. They were about 120 feet long.
Nothing further was done in this line, excepting the naval steamer "Alleghany," in 1847, and three revenue steamers, about the same time, with the iron-clad monitors during the Civil War, until 1870, when the "Clyde" was built by the Iowa Iron Works at Dubuque, Iowa, and in 1871, the stern-wheeler "John T. Moore" was constructed at Cincinnati, Ohio, and, in 1874, the Western Iron Boat Building Co., at Carondelet, Mo., built the snag-boat "O.G. Wagner."

Well we've got a real good start on this history lesson, now I'll throw in what boats remain today that where constructed using iron hulls, riveted hulls, etc. I know the Corps has at least one iron hulled boat still working. I'll bet Capt. Bill and others will known more.

The transportation museum in St. Louis claims that the HERMAN T. POTT was the first all welded steel hulled towboat on the western rivers. Can't remember the build date on her but I think the information at the museum said 1929 or 1931. Capt. Bill mentioned DRAVO built some early welded barges in the mid 20's but can we prove any boats were built earlier then that.

Thanks for the interesting information found in this thread.

Aaron

Iron Hull in Natchez

Thanks for the lead-in.

The riveted iron hull that I loved to visit, when I lived in Natchez in the early (19)'90's, was beached-out on the bank below the palatial home, Magnolia Vale. From photographs taken in Natchez between 1870 and 1913 by Henry C. Norman and reproduced in Dr. Tom Gandy's books, I feel certain that this was the hull of the single-screw, steam tug, J. B. O'BRIEN. Hopefully that old hull is still in existance. For its age, the iron hull was in remarkable shape; perhaps not enough to be floated again, but it would make an interesting display piece of late-19th Century shipyard craftsmanship.

Margaret Peabody, do you remember the black, iron hull on the banks of the Mississippi River beneath your home?

J. B. O'brien

Another shot of the J. B. O'BRIEN.

Several members of the O'Brien family have gathered on the deck of their steam tug to get their pictures taken by Mr. Norman. The O'Brien home still stands on the bluff on South Broadway Street, catty-corner from the top of Silver Street, and the last I heard (and that's been awhile) the descendants of these folks, shown here on the JBO'B, still reside there in the family home. Coal was the name of the game for the O'Briens.

Here is a clear shot of that magnificent, riveted, iron hull that was, possibly, one-and-the-same as the hull described earlier.

shipyard sam
just a bit more on the Valley Forge. "There was a bulkhead the entire length , divided into eight water tight sections." How is that for an up to date innovation? She cost $60,000 to build. If I had to guess on how the butt joints worked I would guess that the plates were riveted to each side of the T beam.
Carl Jones

Still a Bargain

That's $1,154,641.54 in today's dollars-- still a bargain. Today, if we had to factor in all the additional CG (and other) requirements, the construction costs would increase another five million; maybe more.

Captain Kevin Mullen gave me a piece of an original steam line fitting off the BELLE OF LOUISVILLE that was sawn through the piece so that all parts of the fittings were visible. It was amazing how tight the connections were made; so I can imagine that the plates of the VF would have been made watertight if they riveted with the same degree of craftsmanship that was evident in the piece that came out of the Jim Rees shop.

Found more notes here to add to my original thread. Dravo built the welded steel barge Keystone 817 in August 1929 only to find their bragging rights were false as the American Bridge Co. had built the first welded steel inland rivers barge, launched 6-4-1929. The James Rees & Sons of Pittsburgh is generally credited with construction the first steel hull ( riveted) river packet, the Francisco Montoya in 1878. This and three more were completed and sent to South America. In 1881 Rees built the first steel hull packet for U.S. rivers the Chattahooche. In 1899 the steel hull Kate Adams was built at Howards with James Rees & Sons in charge of construction and Tom Dunbar, manager. An interesting side note to all of this is that the famous Charles Ward Engineering Works, although a leader in arc welding for boilers and bridges, never out of all its famous boats, ever built a welded hull.

This is a reply to Shipyard Sam's query re how butt joints were constructed. Where smoothness was a factor, butt joints and flush rivets were used with what was known as a butt strap behind the joint and the rivets into that from both sheets...forming the flush joint. Bucking the rivets up tightly tends to pucker the sheets and cause leaks. And, yes, caulking was used but not in the way you might think. The caulking was done with a caulking chisel and hammer. This was a chisel not unlike a common cold chisel. The seam was caulked by using the hammer and chisel to bite into the butt strap near its joint with the sheet and turn a big, fat burr into the sheet to affect a water-tight joint. At least that is the way it was done with boilers; hulls may have been a bit different. Reasonably pure Iron was preferred to steel because, although not as strong, it was more resistant to corrosion than steel. This has been covered before on this site. Iron readily rusts but does not form localized deep pits like steel does and therefore lasts far longer although pure iron is somewhat more expensive than steel. Rivet joints are not as strong as the parent metal employed.

I think you can learn anything on steamboats.org.

According to my notes, the first iron hull didn't make it to the Red River until ca. 1870. That was the John T. Moore, built in Cincinnatti (Way #3121). She advertised that her cargo insurance rates were one half those for wooden bottoms due to the iron hull.