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Hey, assembled wisdom of The Bilge, does anyone know how thick the sheathing on British men of war was during the American Revolution?
Thanks in advance.
Thanks in advance.
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Re: Copper Sheathing
It was 32 oz per square foot, 0.043" thick, at the bow, 28 oz per square foot,0.037" thick, elsewhere except at the stern, where it was 22 oz per sq ft, or 0.029" thick.
I believe I am right in saying that the greater thickness was also carried round the waterline. The copper sheets were 48" long x 14" wide, applied over tar and felt, starting of course at the bow and working aft.IMAGINES VEL NON FUERINT -
It really is quite difficult to build an ugly wooden boat.
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Re: Copper Sheathing
Yes, of course it was - I have managed to write down the precise opposite of what I sought to convey!IMAGINES VEL NON FUERINTComment
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Re: Copper Sheathing
Copper sheathing was reckoned to last twenty years. The quality of copper was controlled by the Navy.The nails were spaced one inch apart. I've got a coppering hammer somewhere.IMAGINES VEL NON FUERINTComment
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Re: Copper Sheathing
You know Andrew, if you can't be a little more specific, you don't have to answer.
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.”― Mark Twain,Comment
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Re: Copper Sheathing
Thanks, Brian.
A copper sheathed vessel should never be laid up in a mud berth formerly occupied by a steel hulled vessel or the copper will pit and she will lose speed.
The Cutty Sark was sheathed with Muntz metal (a type of brass) which was harder and smoother and which was thought to interact less with her wrought iron frames.
The Royal racing cutter "Britannia" was sheathed with special cold rolled sheets of copper in order to produce a smoother surface.
I think that's about my stock of copper sheathing trivia.
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Re: Copper Sheathing
Less water... Water is what corrodes the copper (Along with salt and cannon balls). If the British navy had resorted to fighting all of their naval battles in a vat of rum, instead of the ocean, things might have turned out differently...
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Re: Copper Sheathing
Actually, what corrodes the copper is the potential difference between aerated seawater in way of the bow wave and the waterline and non-aerated water deeper down; the effect is to make the copper in way of the bow and the waterline anodic and the copper elsewhere cathodic.IMAGINES VEL NON FUERINTComment
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“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.”― Mark Twain,Comment
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Re: Copper Sheathing
The fire went up not down - most of what was lost was the fake teak deck (teak over soggy ply) dating from an earlier botch up. DON'T get me started on what a complete and utter mess the Cutty Sark Trust have made...IMAGINES VEL NON FUERINTComment
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