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sea, that it was impossible to include a definite speed over a voyage or measured distance as one of the essential requirements of a design; and the speed actually obtainable was See also:

low even under the most favourable conditions when judged by See also:

MODERN

modern See also:

STANDARDS

standards. Stability depended principally on the amount of See also:

BALLAST (O. Swed. barlast, perhaps from bar, bare or mere, and last, load)

ballast carried, and this was determined experimentally after the completion of the vessel. Under these conditions there was no See also:

ROOM

room for any striking originality of design. One vessel followed so closely on the lines of another, that the qualities of the new See also:

SHIP

ship could be determined for all See also:

PRACTICAL

practical purposes by the performance of an almost identical vessel in the past. The theoretical See also:

SCIENCE (Lat. scientia, from scire; to learn, know)

science of shipbuilding, the See also:

OBJECT

object of which is to establish quantitative relations between the behaviour and performance of the ship and the See also:

variations in design causing them, was generally neglected. With the introduction of See also:

IRON [symbol Fe, atomic weight 55.85 (0=16)]

iron, and later of See also:

STEEL, FLORA ANNIE (1847– )

steel, as a structural material for the hulls of ships, and of See also:

HEAT (0. E. haktu, which like " hot," Old Eng. hat, is from the Teutonic type haita, hit, to be hot; cf. Ger. hitze, heiss; Dutch, hitte, heet, &c.)

heat engines for their propulsion, the possible variation of size, proportions and propelling See also:

POWER [WILLIAM GRATTAN] TYRONE (1797-1841)

power of ships was enormously increased. In See also:

order to make the fullest use of these new possibilities, and to adapt each ship, as closely as may be, to the See also:

SPECIAL

special purpose for which it is intended, theoretic knowledge has become of See also:

PARAMOUNT (Anglo-Fr. paramont, up above, par el mont, up or on top of the mountain)

paramount importance to the designer. He has been forced to investigate closely those branches of the abstract See also:

PHYSICAL

physical sciences that See also:

bear specially on ships and their behaviour, and these mathematical and experimental investigations constitute the study of Theoretical Shipbuilding. It embraces the See also:

CONSIDERATION (from Lat. considerare, to look at closely, examine, generally taken to be from con-, and the base seen in sidus, sideris, a star, the word being supposed to be originally an astrological or astronomical term)

consideration of problems and questions upon which the qualities of a ship depend and which determine the various features of the design, having regard to the particular services that the ship will be required to perform; i.e. the requirements that must be fulfilled in order that she may make her various passages economically and with safety in all conditions of wind and sea, the best See also:

FORM (Lat. forma)

form for the See also:

hull with regard to the resistance offered by the See also:

WATER

water and the See also:

engine power requisite in order to attain the speed desired, the nature of waves and their See also:

ACTION

action upon the ship, and the structural arrangements necessary in order that she may be sufficiently strong to withstand the various stresses to which she will be subjected. The determination of the most suitable dimensions to fulfil certain conditions involves the consideration of a different set of circumstances for almost every service; and here the experience gained in vessels of similar type, together with the known effect of modifications made to fulfil new conditions of each particular design, can be used as a See also:

GUIDE (in Mid. Eng. gyde, from the Fr. guide; the earlier French form was guie, English " guy," the d was due to the Italian form guida; the ultimate origin is probably Teutonic, the word being connected with the base seen in O. Eng. witan, to know)

guide.

The requirements of economical working, safety, &c., determine the length, breadth, See also:

DEPTH

depth and form. The length has a most important bearing on the See also:

ECONOMY

economy of power with which the speed is obtained; and on the breadth, depth and height of See also:

side, or See also:

FREEBOARD

freeboard, depend to an important degree the stability and seaworthiness of the vessel. While, however, the importance to the ship designer of mathematical theories based on first principles and experiment can hardly be overrated, it should be observed that the circumstances and conditions postulated are invariably much less complex than those which surround actual ships. The applicability of the theories depends on the closeness with which the assumed circumstances are realized in practice. The ultimate guide in the design of new ships must, therefore, still remain practical experience. To this experience theory is a powerful assistance, but can by no means replace it.

End of Article: SHIPBUILDING

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