DEVELOPMENT OF SHIPBUILDING

Just as the name of the inventor of the wheel is unknown, the names of the builders of the first boat, helm, oar and the first man to raise a sail remain lost in the depth of centuries.

The skills of ship builders were sharpened over the millennia. Their creations were examined and tested by the most impartial judge of all: The Ocean. From ancient times to present days, many inquisitive minds and skilful hands have worked on perfecting vessels - to make them stronger and more seaworthy, and to make them faster and more comfortable.

The enormous amount of experience of the many generations of ship builders, combined with use of advanced scientific and technical ideas, now allows us to build large oil tankers, ice breakers and air-cushioned vessels. In the near future, large cargo submarines will be built, which will not be subject to whims of the World Ocean. Thousands of vessels will sail confidently by using the newest types of navigation methods.

In prehistoric times, Man began to sail along shores and coastlines on rafts made from logs or dugout canoes. Millennia passed, and these primitive types of buoyancy were replaced by larger boats able to carry greater amounts of men and cargo. These were propelled by oars, light sails, with Man making his own "approximate" navigation.

The construction of marine sailing and oar-powered vessels began in the 2^nd Millennium BC in Ancient Babylon, followed later by Ancient Egypt and Ancient China, Japan and India.

The inhabitants of the eastern Mediterranean Sea - the Phoenicians, greatly enhanced the development of shipbuilding. Later, from the 3^rd century BC to the 2^nd century AD, the powerful Mediterranean states of Ancient Greece and Rome built strong trade and naval vessels capable of distant voyages, however these were basically along the shorelines

The ancient ancestors of the inhabitants of Oceania tell legends of high-speed vessels. They designed and built very stable, twin-hulled rafts called catamarans. These vessels, although very old in design, are generating interest in modern times.

Between the 8^th and 12^th centuries, the skilful ship-builders were the Venetians, Norsemen and Coast-Dwellers. Between the 15^th and 17^th centuries, more modern ship designs were developed, first in Portugal and Spain, and later in England, The Netherlands and France.

From one century to the next, the methods of ship construction were improved, first with more freight-carrying capacity and strength then with more stability and manoeuvrability and finally, greater speed. In due course, the use of various machine tools, jacking cranes, and presses came to be used in the practice of shipbuilding; shipyards were transformed into large firms with great numbers of workers.

The wide application of steam machines from the last third of the 19^th century, and then turbines and internal combustion engines considerably increased vessel speeds and increased their freight-carrying abilities.

Advances in nuclear engineering in the 6^th decade of the 20^th century resulted in the creation and development of a new type of propulsion: the nuclear engine.

The continual growth of the volume of transportation and exploitation and harvesting of Ocean resources have required that ship builders create greater freight-carrying capacity and higher speed vessels. Large shipyards, laid out and outfitted with state-of-the-art engineering techniques and equipment, now make it possible to construct various types of vessels with displacements of one million tons.

Shipbuilding has a great future. The role of the marine fleet will steadily increase. Marine shipping is one from the most reliable and inexpensive means of freight transportation between continents. This outstanding place will take a vessels on underwater wings and cushions of air, using transport submarines and “flying ships” (ground-effect machines). The main direction in the of development of shipbuilding will be an increase of speed and freight-carrying abilities of vessels, reliability of machinery and a broad application of automation.

Oars and sails - the most ancient tools used by Man to propel vessels. The oar is a bladed mover, converting the muscular force of Man to thrust.

The oldest oar yet found. It is believed to date to about 7000 BC

Rock carvings and artefacts found in archaeological excavations (IMAGES of vessels on vases, stones with engraved designs, bas-reliefs and ancient texts) tell us of the applications of oars and also, sails by ancient seafarers. The most simple and ancient kind of oar is a wooden blade. On some boats, two oars were used for rowing from the stern, while on others, there were two short oars, bound on both sides of the stern, served as a rudder, while being propelled by a centre oar.

In order to increase speed, the Phoenicians, Greeks and Romans began to build vessels with several rows of oars. These vessels were named according to quantity of rows: bireme (two rows) and trireme (three rows). A five-row vessel - pentereme - is also known to have existed. These oared vessels were capable of developing speeds of up to 5-6 knots, but had poor manoeuvrability. Their oars reached a length of 14-16 m, and 7-9 oarsmen were required for each oar. The internal part of the handle was filled with lead for balance.

After the Greek triremes came galleys. These military rowing vessels actually existed up until the 19^th century. On galleys, the oars were placed in one row. Their speed reached 7-8 knots. Auxiliary sails were applied for added speed. The work of oarsmen on galleys was so taxing to the human body, that to be exiled on them was considered to be the most severe form of punishment. Galleys had high manoeuvrability and good seaworthiness and made up the greater parts of the Naval fleets of Europe.

Modern oars differ only a little from those of ancient times.

The sail appeared 5-6 thousand years ago in Egypt and Mesopotamia, and later (and independently), in China, East Asia, Oceania, South America, Scandinavian and Mediterranean countries.

The materials used in the manufacture of sails were scraped skins of animals, canvas, matting, wooden slats, etc. Sails were applied as auxiliary sources of propulsion on rowing vessels.

At first it was a flat, direct sail, with the help of which it was possible to sail mainly before the wind. Later, oblique sails were applied, giving greater capability to sail by winds blowing in lateral or crossing directions.

 Until the end the 19^th century there were three types of sail rigging used, depending on the type of sail being used: direct, oblique and mixed. The vessel with a direct rigging runs with all masts bearing trapezoidal sails (brig, frigate); with oblique rigging, it bears quadrangular and triangular sails (schooner, brigantine, bark). If mixed, it bears both types of sails.

Each sail has a name, depending on its arrangement on a particular vessel. A sailing vessel is operated by simultaneously using sails and a rudder.

Under full sail vessels were still able to sail before a weak wind; when the wind strengthened, the quantity of sails was reduced: the upper sails were lowered and the lower sails were reefed, that is, shortened to diminish the surface area of the sails.

Special training and leadership was required in order to hoist and clean sails with an area of thousands of square meters as were found on sailing vessels.

The "swan song" of the age of sail came with the age of the "clipper-ships". These were remarkably efficient sailing ships on which captains could clearly exhibit their arts of seamanship and ship-handling skills, achieving speeds of 18-20 knots and more. Clippers on the move were so-named because it appeared they actually cut off or "clipped" the crests of the waves as they crossed them. They differed from their predecessors in that they had great stability, bore their sets of sails magnificently as they came upon wave after wave, took very little water on their upper decks (even in rough seas), and moved very cleanly and easily, even during times of weak or almost - calm winds. Over a number of decades, the Clippers transported freight and passengers (especially in commerce between the Far East and Western Europe / North America, and were included in the structure of several naval fleets. The highest qualification a seafarer could attain was that of "Captain of a Clipper-ship".

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In the 15^th -17^th centuries it was used for the transportation of freight and passengers in the countries of Northern Europe. It was equipped with direct and oblique sails. Length: 20-32 m; Width: 6-12 m; Draught: up to 7 m; It could carry up to 1000 persons.

The development of sailing fleets caused the appearance of numerous and highly variable tackle for attaching sails and yards to masts and for sail management. Seamen named these tackle as either standing or running rigging.

The standing rigging serves to fasten masts and spars as fixed elements and for the transfer of thrust from the sails to the hull of the vessel. Masts and spars are topmasts, yards, gaffs, bowsprits, etc., that is, all deck equipment designed for hoisting, fixing and carrying sails.

The main tackle of standing rigging are shrouds, back shrouds and stays. Shrouds keep masts and topmasts in cross-deck directions; back shrouds from an aft direction and stays from the forward direction.

There is a distinction between the running rigging of masts and spars and the running rigging of sails: The running rigging of masts and spars serves to move mobile parts of masts and spars from a non-working position into a working position. The running rigging of sails is intended for the direct service and management of sails.

There can be different numbers of masts on sailing ships. For a three-masted vessel, the first mast from the bow is the foremast, followed toward the stern by the main-mast and then the mizzen-mast. The mainmast is always the main and tallest mast. This mast was located near the middle part of the vessel. It served as the standard for shipbuilding measurements for which the length and width of the remaining masts and rigging were determined. These simple formulas were used up until the second half of the 17^th century.

The increase of vessel size also required lengthening and thickening of mast and spar elements, and also an increase in the quantity and area of separate sails. In order to accommodate these, there was an inclined mast—a bowsprit—placed on the bow of a vessel. The masts and bowsprits were made of several sections - topmasts and jib-booms accordingly. Small area sails were raised on fore- and main-masts, serving mainly to increase speed. On and under the bowsprit, two small sails - the royal-blind and blind were put. They were subsequently replaced by triangular staysails and jibs, located above the bowsprit. Gradually, vessels representing certain combinations of sails, rigging, masts and spars appeared.

Toward the middle of the 19^th century, the best ship designs were achieved, but at the end of the 19^th century, steam vessels had greatly begun to replace sailing vessels.

Presently, sailing vessels are most often are used for sports, pleasure or education. However, small sailing vessels are still widely used for fishing near coasts.

Present-day ecological problems and decreasing fuel resources have renewed interest in sailing-ship construction. In a number of countries there are projects to build new sailing vessels for various uses.

The major stage in the history of shipbuilding from the last few millennia up to the middle of the 19^th century is directly related to the use of trees as the fundamental ship-building material. The tree, one of the cheapest building materials, has natural buoyancy, sufficient strength and is easily cut and shaped, therefore simplifying the technological process of manufacturing vessels. Trees superseded other materials, such as cane, papyrus, bamboo, tree bark, animal skins, pumpkins, leather and burnt clay, all used in earlier times for the construction of vessels,

Wood formed the basis for constructing the plates forming the hull of a vessel. The stays, rigging, deckhouses, deck floors, oars, helms and almost everything aboard, including containers for food and water were all made from wood. The hard, thick kinds of trees used for shipbuilding were mainly oak, elm, teak, linden, beech, cedar, acacia, mango, olive and pine.

The abundance or lack of wood necessary for shipbuilding in various regions determined the method of vessel construction. Therefore, because of a wood shortage in Ancient Egypt, hulls were built from short, sawed planks of acacia, tightly joined to each other. This method is called "caravel planking.” Northern Europe was rich in shipbuilding wood, and ship hulls were constructed from long, planed planks which overlapped against each other. This was called "clinker board". For construction of the latter, the seams were not tight, and it was necessary to caulk them with pitch. Norsemen and other coastal dwellers built vessels in the "clinker board” style. Both methods of hull construction existed independent of each other until the 12^th century. After the Crusades (11^th -14^th centuries), an exchange of methods for ship designs began. In Northern Europe in the 15^th century, building hulls by joining them smoothly to frames came into practice. People living near the Mediterranean were already doing this earlier in time. The shipbuilders begin to affix a few deck floors inside the hull, which added additional rigidity and strength. The above-decks were covered with straw, and deckhouses to shelter people were built in the bows.

To protect the below-water parts of a vessel from borers and to give it greater stability and strength, the Phoenicians sheathed their vessels with lead slabs. After the beginning of the 18^th century, hulls were covered with thin copper sheets.

During the next phase of hull construction, in the 17^th - 18^th centuries, modular frames built from separate wooden parts replaced solid, carved or naturally-shaped parts. This method negated the necessity of searching for naturally curved branches and tree trunks.

During the second half of the 18^th century, vessel hulls became much stronger by using a greater number of frames, with additional reinforcements built on top of the frames.

At present, we use mostly metals and synthetic materials in the shipbuilding industry, but these materials have not entirely replaced wood.

BOW

STERN

EVOLUTION OF THE SHIP’S BOW
13^th century

16^th century

18^th century

The first steering devices on ships appeared more than four millennia ago, made of wide-bladed oars located on both sides of the stern and permitting steering and control of low speed vessels. Vikings on dragons used one steering oar, located in a forward part of the right or starboard side of the ship.

In the 13^th - 14^th centuries, an adjustment of the steering oar to a central plane of a vessel and transferring it to the rear considerably increased the manoeuvrability of vessels. After that time, a rotary helm with the horizontal arm (tiller) was used.

With the development of deckhouses on the bow (forecastles/foc’s’ls) in the 16^th century, the steering device was moved to the upper deck and moving of tiller was executed by a colder-stock - a vertical arm, joined by a hinge to the tiller. In 18^th century, these bulky and heavy colder-stocks were replaced by a steering wheel with the rope drive on the tiller. This steering-control device has increased the manoeuvrability of vessels, and has resulted in an increase of the sizes of forward deckhouses.

The automatic control device provides manoeuvrability and stability of a vessel travelling along its course. It consists of a helm, tiller, controlling device and point of control.

The assembly of a ship’s hull made from a number of separate wooden pieces allowed ship builders to considerably increase the size of vessels and change the shape and main measurements of the hulls, all of which have increased seaworthiness. During the span of time from the 8^th to the 18^th centuries, ship builders from many countries constructed different types of wooden vessels.

The sailing-rowing vessels of the Vikings between the 8^th - 11^th centuries (dragons) had a high degree of seaworthiness, lengths of up to 40 m and widths of up to 6 m. These keeled, deckless vessels were built with high stern-posts which were decorated by a dragon’s head. During raids, heavy shields were mounted on the sides to shelter the oarsmen from arrows.

Between the 13^th and 16^th centuries, there were a large number of karackes - large sailing vessels displacing up to 2,000 tons built and sailed, first by Portugal and Venice, and later by England and France. A karacke had up to 4 decks, well-constructed deckhouses and 3-5 masts with direct and oblique sails.

In Holland in the 16^th to 18^th centuries, vleuts (commercial sailing vessels) were widely used. Their most significant design feature was a small draught with significant weight capacity. The steering-wheel appeared for the first time on these vessels.

Merchant ships (coggs) of the Northern European countries between the 12^th and 15^th centuries had high convex sides and well-developed deckhouses with sites for archers. The lengths of coggs reached up to 30 m, widths up to 8 m and draughts up to 4m.

Caravels were widely used in the maritime countries of Southern Europe between the 13^th and 17^th centuries. Their length did not exceed 35 m, width 9 m and draught 4 m. Caravels had one deck, high sides and a deckhouse, and 3-4 masts, which carried either all oblique or mixed sails.

In England, Spain and France, basic warships of the 16^th - 17^th centuries were galleons, having lengths of about 40 m, widths of up to 14 m and displacing 500-1400 tons. Their armament consisted of 50-80 guns located on 2 decks. The high sides and the deckhouses had up to 7 decks, which reduced the seaworthiness of galleons, because they were top-heavy. In the 16^th century, galleons were used to transport Europeans to America; on their return transits they brought gold and other riches from the Americas.

The anchor has been an essential fitting of most vessels for millennia. A stone, bound to liana or a rope made from animal sinews, became the first device to keep a floating vessel in one place. In shallow depths, anchors were actually placed in position by "anchor divers". To keep a vessel stationary in greater depths, seafarers designed an anchor with two flukes and a rod, which enabled it to bury itself in the sea floor or harbour bottom, without the assistance of an anchor diver. Wooden anchor cross-bars on which fluke and rod are attached later became the principle design of the anchor, which has become a classical design, and is used as a symbol of the Admiralty anchor until the present time.

The appearance of a completely metallic anchor goes back to the 7^th century BC and its first application is considered to be the Mediterranean sea. Modern anchors are positioned as required on the bow to hold a vessel at anchorage and in an auxiliary status.(A vessel moored by a bow anchor will hold a vessel with its beam to the wind). Advantages of an anchor are strength, simplicity of use and reliability of holding the ground.

The tendency by seamen to make anchors more reliable has resulted in the application for more than 5,000 patents over the course of nautical history. The anchor is an indispensable attribute of the maritime symbol.

 The first steering devices on ships appeared more than four millennia ago, made of wide-bladed oars located on both sides of the stern and permitting steering and control of low speed vessels. Vikings on dragons used one steering oar, located in a forward part of the right or starboard side of the ship.

In the 13^th - 14^th centuries, an adjustment of the steering oar to a central plane of a vessel and transferring it to the rear considerably increased the manoeuvrability of vessels. After that time, a rotary helm with the horizontal arm (tiller) was used.

With the development of deckhouses on the bow (forecastles/foc’s’ls) in the 16^th century, the steering device was moved to the upper deck and moving of tiller was executed by a colder-stock - a vertical arm, joined by a hinge to the tiller. In the 18^th century, these bulky and heavy colder-stocks were replaced by a steering wheel with the rope drive on the tiller. This steering-control device has increased the manoeuvrability of vessels, and has resulted in an increase of the sizes of forward deckhouses.

The automatic control device provides manoeuvrability and stability of a vessel travelling along its course. It consists of a helm, tiller, controlling device and point of control.

The increase in the volume of sea transportation resulted in the construction of large tonnage vessels. With the increase in size wooden beams and planks become insufficiently strong and were, therefore, unsuitable for the construction of large vessels. The change in construction was made from wood to steel. At first, it was used in the manufacturing of separate parts. These were so-called "composite vessels", in which frames and the keel were made from metal and the hull from wood. In 1787, plating of the whole hull of a vessel from forged steel plates was accomplished by D. Wilkinson (England). Advances in metallurgy and engineering in the beginning of the 19^th century, in particular, methods of producing of leaf rolled metal, opened a new path for the construction of vessels, consisting completely of steel parts and fabrication. At the end of the second decade of the 19^th century, the first of the large metal vessels, "Volcano," an English coal transport, was built in 1819 by T. Wilson, followed shortly by the Russian motorised riverboat, "Vsevolod" (1821). Because of the useful combination of high strength, ease of fabrication, availability and durability, steel became the basic ship-building material.

The use of steel solved many problems, from strength for large tonnage vessels to an increase in the quantity of fabrication. A gradual accumulation of experience, development of the science, perfecting metallurgy, all of this has advanced scientific and technical progress in the field of shipbuilding in the 19^th and 20^th centuries.

The use of steel allowed Man to build vessels of various shapes and lengths. Hulls of ships began to be fitted with double bottoms and waterproof bulkheads that protect a vessel from sinking if holes occur in the bottom of the ship.

The labour-consuming way of joining steel parts by metal rivets during the first 30 years of our century was replaced by welding. This process sped up assembly of the hull, reduced its weight by 20%, and therefore increased the speed of the vessel. The bow and forward designs of the first metal vessels imitated those of the clipper ship, but later on, their shapes have been determined by the type of vessel being built.

Evolution of the external and internal architecture of a vessel occurred simultaneously. In the second and third decades of the 20^th century, the use of diesel engines on ships resulted in the "single-island" type of architecture: central deckhouses were moved to the stern. This design was first used on oil tankers, and later spread to cargo and some passenger vessels. It is interesting to note that, until the present time, ship builders have not removed the traditional smokestack (funnel), which has basically become a decorative element of ship architecture. The great emblems of shipping companies or national flags proudly reside on this otherwise non-functional part of modern ships.

The internal architecture of a vessel, furniture in passenger cabins and lodging for a crew have passed through a long series of design modifications. In order to attract passengers, cabins, restaurants, entertainment salons and ballrooms of passenger liners were pompously decorated. Some characteristic features of the modern furnishings of a modern ship include light, soft decor, indirect lighting and air conditioning.

 Cross-sectional view of a modern cargo ship

In shipbuilding, the search for strong and easy substitutes for steel parts is being conducted. The new materials - synthetic filaments and alloys of light and strong metals are being introduced.

The modern ship is an outcome of complex theoretical calculations made by computers, experiments on new-design models and is the fruit of a co-operative labour of scientists, engineers and workers.

Attempts to use steam energy to propel vessels were first attempted at the beginning of the 18^th century. Using the designs of steam engines, I. Polzunov and D. Watt build the first steam-powered vessels. They were low-power and low-speed, and were used for towing freight on rivers and lakes and for towing large sailing vessels in ports. The names of vessels have come down in the history of the steam wheel fleet:: "Charlotta Dandas", 1802; "Clermont", 1807 and "Elizabeth", 1815. The first steam-powered vessels to cross the Atlantic Ocean were "Savannah" in 1819 and "Sirius" in 1838.

The design of any steam machine consists of two parts: the boiler to make steam and machinery to transform steam energy mechanical energy capable of turning the propeller shafts. The first steam engines were constructed as experiments. The steam pressure in the boiler did not exceed 1.5-2 atmospheres, and used steam was expelled. These machines required huge reserves of coal, which sometimes exceeded the amount of cargo carried by the vessel. Over a period of a more than a half centuries, engineering thinking was directed toward searching for ways and means for designing the most effective boilers and steam engines. To this end, he cylindrical boiler, capable of withstanding steam pressure of up to 16 atmospheres, was introduced. In the 1860s the single-cylinder steam engine was replaced by the double-cylinder engine. It increased the distance steam-powered vessels could travel to about 8,500 miles. This important stage in development of steam engines was made possible by the invention of the condenser, which converted spent steam back into water. It was a distillate and contained considerably fewer salts and sharply reduced the collection of residues on the walls of the boiler. Ship boilers and engines took up a lot of place, required large reserves of a fresh water and, in spite of this, was unable to produce a great amount of power. The maximum power of the main engine did not exceed 900 horsepower.

At the end of the 19^th century, the invention of a radically new, cylindrical boiler increased the power of the main engine to up to 6,000 horsepower. In this boiler the water travelled through numerous pipes heated by a flame and hot fire-box gases. Large volumes of steam and high pressure (30-40 atmospheres.), which was developed inside the water-tube boiler, enhanced development of triple cylinder steam engines at the end of 19^th century. There were high-power installations, consisting of several engines turning 2-4 propeller screws. The best ship steam installations were created at the end of the 19^th-beginning of the 20^th centuries. They provided vessels with speeds of up to 25 knots and had intricate designs of boilers and engines which were equipped with devices for self-feeding water and for fuel consumption.

Economy of steam engines steadily increased. In 1840, the consumption of coal was 2.3 kg per horse power, in 1907 it was 0.7 kg; by 1935 it had reached 0.42 kg/hp. Despite this economy brought about by technological advances, further escalation of steam power installations were contained by the necessity to increase power and at the same time, decrease size and weight. Therefore, at the beginning of the 20^th century, engineers and shipbuilders began to develop the next generation of steam-powered engines. The result was the development of the steam-turbine ship engine.

 Russian inventors (Zalesov, etc.) were engaged in the construction of experimental steam-turbines as early as 1806-1813. However, the first practical application of steam turbines was demonstrated at the end of the 19^th-beginning of the 20^th centuries. In 1894, the English engineer, Charles Parsons, equipped the vessel, "Turbinia," having a displacement of 44 tons with a steam-turbine which was capable of generating of up to 37 knots.

The turbine is an engine capable of immediately transforming compressed steam energy into mechanical energy which turns a shaft. In the turbine, steam is directed by nozzles on blades fixed around a drive wheel, causing it to turn, which, in turn, causes the turbine to revolve. The application of the turbine on ships has had an effect on shipbuilding as well. In 1906, steam turbines were installed on the largest ocean liners of the time, "Mauritania" and "Lusitania.”

In the years 1910-1912, naval ships-of-the-line in Russia were constructed with turbines. Steam-turbine installations allowed such giants as the passenger-liners as the "Normandy" in France, "United States" in USA, vessels of the "Queen" class of the "Cunard Line" to develop maximum speeds of 30-35 knots. Up until the 1950s, these liners were the best means of passenger-travel between continents.

As the steam turbine became the primary means of propulsion on vessels, they developed power plants capable of generating up to 30,000 hp. Fuel consumption in 1940 was 240-250 gram per horsepower unit per hour. By 1970, it was only 140-150 gram.

The advantage of the turbine is the capability of developing of great powers with relatively small power plants. It provides smoothness of operation, accompanied by lower vibration. The turbine is 50% less difficult to build, operate and maintain than a diesel engine. The disadvantage of the turbine is that it is impossible for a vessel of reverse course, since the turbine turns in only one direction. It is therefore necessary to install an independent turbine with the blades situated in a reverse direction to reverse course and this requires an independent turbine with a separate steam supply. Usually, the power generated by a turbine in a reverse direction generates about 40 - 50% of the power generated for a forward course.

In 1950, gas replaced steam for the first time, and appeared to be more efficient. However, complications arose because of the inability of the metal to maintain the high temperatures produced by the use of gas. Development of heat resistant alloys revived the use of the gas turbine. Now gas turbines are widely used in naval and merchant marine fleets of many nations.

The fastest modern vessels, container ships, are equipped with several gas-turbine engines which are each capable of generating power in the 60,000-120,000 horsepower ranges, which allow them to develop speeds of up to 26 knots. The gas turbines differ from earlier engines in that they are lighter in weight and easier and simpler to maintain. The controls are implemented by automatic systems.