PAPER-BOTTOMED SHIPS.
(Glasgow Mail.) It is now claimed that through the instrumentality of paper ooe of the most puzzling problems connected with iron ships has been solved. Before the Serapis started oo her last voyage to India her bottom was coated with paper by means of a peculiar sort of cement, tho invention of Captain Warren. It was this officer who first thought of experimenting with paper as an anti-fouling covering for tho bottom of uncased iron ships, but for a considerable timo he was baffled by the impossibility of causin ; the material to adhere to the metal. At last, however, he hit upon a composition -which' he believed would serve the purpose, and the Serapis was accordingly coated witb paper below water previous to setting forth on her last voyage, So far as it has gone, the experimenfi seems to hsve been completely successful. Ia addition t9 her trip to India and back, the vessel had lain in harbor for two mouths, which, as all naval men know, tries anti-fouling compositions miich more severely than ocean sailing. But on being docked it was found tbat the paper had afforded perfect protection from marine incrustations, except in those few partß where it waa rubbed off. Here then we have an important step taken towards remedying one of the most serious defects of iron shipping, namely — their habit of fouling rapidly in tropical clircates. Is has beeu estimated that in the case of iron sailing-vessels these incrustations cause an average difference of from one to one and a-half knot 3an hour between f the speed maintained ia the outward voyage and that when coaling home. 1% is .-trua" that fooling could be prevented by first covering the iron with a layer of wood, and sheathing with copper. But tha process is very costly, while the.myientiou of Captain Warreu has the'a'dvanta^e of being inexpensive, It is certainly noteworthy that paper, of all substances in the world, should be found the be3t material for preventing fouling under water. :
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Bibliographic details
Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIII, Issue 217, 22 October 1878, Page 6
Word Count
335PAPER-BOTTOMED SHIPS. Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIII, Issue 217, 22 October 1878, Page 6
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