Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels . In modern times, it normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard . Shipbuilders , also called shipwrights , follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to before recorded history .
143-753: The Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Limited , was a Scottish shipbuilding company in the Govan area on the Clyde in Glasgow. Fairfields , as it is often known, was a major warship builder, turning out many vessels for the Royal Navy and other navies through the First World War and the Second World War. It also built many transatlantic liners, including record-breaking ships for
286-483: A circular arc . This was patented in 1784. A throttle valve to control the power of the engine, and a centrifugal governor , patented in 1788, to keep it from "running away" were very important. These improvements taken together produced an engine which was up to five times as fuel efficient as the Newcomen engine. Because of the danger of exploding boilers, which were in a very primitive stage of development, and
429-479: A deist . Watt's grandfather, Thomas Watt (1642–1734), was a teacher of mathematics, surveying and navigation and baillie to the Baron of Cartsburn . Initially, Watt was educated at home by his mother, later going on to attend Greenock Grammar School. There he exhibited an aptitude for mathematics , while Latin and Greek failed to interest him. Watt is said to have suffered prolonged bouts of ill-health as
572-615: A solar barque . Early Egyptians also knew how to fasten the planks of this ship together with mortise and tenon joints. The oldest known tidal dock in the world was built around 2500 BC during the Harappan civilisation at Lothal near the present day Mangrol harbour on the Gujarat coast in India . Other ports were probably at Balakot and Dwarka . However, it is probable that many small-scale ports, and not massive ports, were used for
715-479: A surveyor , then as a civil engineer —for 8 years. Roebuck went bankrupt , and Matthew Boulton , who owned the Soho Manufactory works near Birmingham , acquired his patent rights. An extension of the patent to 1800 was successfully obtained in 1775. Through Boulton, Watt finally had access to some of the best iron workers in the world. The difficulty of the manufacture of a large cylinder with
858-494: A German U-boat ( SM U-9 ). HMS Cressy HMS Aboukir Shipbuilder Until recently, with the development of complex non-maritime technologies, a ship has often represented the most advanced structure that the society building it could produce. Some key industrial advances were developed to support shipbuilding, for instance the sawing of timbers by mechanical saws propelled by windmills in Dutch shipyards during
1001-471: A Glasgow dye -maker, with whom he had 2 children: Gregory (1777–1804), who became a geologist and mineralogist, and Janet (1779–1794). Ann died in 1832. Between 1777 and 1790 he lived in Regent Place, Birmingham . There is a popular story that Watt was inspired to invent the steam engine by seeing a kettle boiling, the steam forcing the lid to rise and thus showing Watt the power of steam. This story
1144-426: A broad beam and heavily curved at both ends. Another important ship type was the galley, which was constructed with both sails and oars. The first extant treatise on shipbuilding was written c. 1436 by Michael of Rhodes, a man who began his career as an oarsman on a Venetian galley in 1401 and worked his way up into officer positions. He wrote and illustrated a book that contains a treatise on shipbuilding,
1287-520: A child and from frequent headaches all his life. After leaving school, Watt worked in the workshops of his father's businesses, demonstrating considerable dexterity and skill in creating engineering models. After his father suffered unsuccessful business ventures, Watt left Greenock to seek employment in Glasgow as a mathematical instrument maker . When he was 18, Watt's mother died and his father's health began to fail. Watt travelled to London and
1430-467: A coal consumption of about 3.25 lbs per ihp per hour. At the time the lowest rate of consumption in other steamers was about 4-4.5 lbs per ihp per hour. The merits of the engine of Brandon were not enough to persuade others, and from 1854 till about 1866 Randolph, Elder and Co were the only engineers who made compound engines under their various patents. The Pacific Steam Navigation Company did become an enthusiastic customer. In 1855-1856 it operated on
1573-460: A commercially viable process. He discovered that a mixture of salt, manganese dioxide and sulphuric acid could produce chlorine, which Watt believed might be a cheaper method. He passed the chlorine into a weak solution of alkali , and obtained a turbid solution that appeared to have good bleaching properties. He soon communicated these results to James McGrigor, his father-in-law, who was a bleacher in Glasgow. Otherwise, he tried to keep his method
SECTION 10
#17327824435391716-410: A curved, progressive joint could not be achieved. One study finds that there were considerable improvements in ship speed from 1750 to 1850: "we find that average sailing speeds of British ships in moderate to strong winds rose by nearly a third. Driving this steady progress seems to be the continuous evolution of sails and rigging, and improved hulls that allowed a greater area of sail to be set safely in
1859-406: A cylinder with a diameter of 50 inches and an overall height of about 24 feet, and required the construction of a dedicated building to house it. Boulton and Watt charged an annual payment, equal to one-third of the value of the coal saved in comparison to a Newcomen engine performing the same work. The field of application for the invention was greatly widened when Boulton urged Watt to convert
2002-900: A firm called James Watt and Co. The perfection of the invention required much more development work before it could be routinely used by others, but this was carried out over the next few years. Boulton and Watt gave up their shares to their sons in 1794. It became a commercial success and was widely used in offices even into the 20th century. From an early age, Watt was very interested in chemistry. In late 1786, while in Paris, he witnessed an experiment by Claude Louis Berthollet in which he reacted hydrochloric acid with manganese dioxide to produce chlorine . He had already found that an aqueous solution of chlorine could bleach textiles, and had published his findings, which aroused great interest among many potential rivals. When Watt returned to Britain, he began experiments along these lines with hopes of finding
2145-459: A full-scale engine. This required more capital , some of which came from Black. More substantial backing came from John Roebuck , the founder of the celebrated Carron Iron Works near Falkirk , with whom he now formed a partnership. Roebuck lived at Kinneil House in Bo'ness , during which time Watt worked at perfecting his steam engine in a cottage adjacent to the house. The shell of the cottage, and
2288-589: A given wind. By contrast, looking at every voyage between the Netherlands and East Indies undertaken by the Dutch East India Company from 1595 to 1795, we find that journey time fell only by 10 percent, with no improvement in the heavy mortality, averaging six percent per voyage, of those aboard." Initially copying wooden construction traditions with a frame over which the hull was fastened, Isambard Kingdom Brunel 's Great Britain of 1843
2431-508: A high degree of commercialization and an increase in trade. Large numbers of ships were built to meet the demand. The Ming voyages were large in size, numbering as many as 300 ships and 28,000 men. The shipbuilders were brought from different places in China to the shipyard in Nanjing , including Zhejiang , Jiangxi , Fujian , and Huguang (now the provinces of Hubei and Hunan ). One of
2574-410: A kettle as a boiler to generate steam. In 1759, Watt's friend, John Robison , called his attention to the use of steam as a source of motive power . The design of the Newcomen engine, in use for almost 50 years for pumping water from mines, had hardly changed from its first implementation. Watt began to experiment with steam, though he had never seen an operating steam engine. He tried constructing
2717-411: A loaded cannon than settle an account or make a bargain." Until he retired, he was always very concerned about his financial affairs, and was something of a worrier. His health was often poor and he suffered frequent nervous headaches and depression. When he retired in 1800, he became a rich enough man to pass the business on to his sons. At first, the partnership made the drawings and specifications for
2860-399: A model; it failed to work satisfactorily, but he continued his experiments and began to read everything he could about the subject. He came to realise the importance of latent heat —the thermal energy released or absorbed during a constant-temperature process—in understanding the engine, which, unknown to Watt, his friend Joseph Black had previously discovered years before. Understanding of
3003-614: A number of inter-visible islands, boats (and, later, ships) with water-tight hulls (unlike the "flow through" structure of a raft) could be developed. The ships of ancient Egypt were built by joining the hull planks together, edge to edge, with tenons set in mortices cut in the mating edges. A similar technique, but with the tenons being pinned in position by dowels, was used in the Mediterranean for most of classical antiquity . Both these variants are "shell first" techniques, where any reinforcing frames are inserted after assembly of
SECTION 20
#17327824435393146-542: A partnership with Matthew Boulton in 1775. The new firm of Boulton and Watt was eventually highly successful and Watt became a wealthy man. In his retirement, Watt continued to develop new inventions though none was as significant as his steam engine work. As Watt developed the concept of horsepower , the SI unit of power, the watt , was named after him. James Watt was born on 19 January 1736 in Greenock , Renfrewshire ,
3289-661: A partnership with John Craig, an architect and businessman, to manufacture and sell a line of products including musical instruments and toys. This partnership lasted for the next six years, and employed up to 16 workers. Craig died in 1765. One employee, Alex Gardner, eventually took over the business, which lasted into the 20th century. In 1764, Watt married his cousin Margaret (Peggy) Miller, with whom he had 5 children, 2 of whom lived to adulthood: James Jr. (1769–1848) and Margaret (1767–1796). His wife died in childbirth in 1773. In 1777, he married again, to Ann MacGregor, daughter of
3432-406: A range of sailing rigs that included the crab claw sail . The origins of this technology is difficult to date, relying largely on linguistics (studying the words for parts of boats), the written comments of people from other cultures, including the observations of European explorers at the time of first contact and the later more systematic ethnographic observations of the types of craft in use. There
3575-460: A secret. With McGrigor and his wife Annie, he started to scale up the process, and in March 1788, McGrigor was able to bleach 1,500 yards (4,500 feet) of cloth to his satisfaction. About this time, Berthollet discovered the salt and sulphuric acid process, and published it, so it became public knowledge. Many others began to experiment with improving the process, which still had many shortcomings, not
3718-412: A significant number of workers, and generate income as the shipbuilding market is global . James Watt James Watt FRS , FRSE ( / w ɒ t / ; 30 January 1736 (19 January 1736 OS ) – 25 August 1819) was a Scottish inventor , mechanical engineer , and chemist who improved on Thomas Newcomen 's 1712 Newcomen steam engine with his Watt steam engine in 1776, which
3861-891: A similar design. Austronesians established the Austronesian maritime trade network at around 1000 to 600 BC, linking Southeast Asia with East Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and later East Africa. The route later became part of the Spice trade network and the Maritime Silk Road . The naval history of China stems back to the Spring and Autumn period (722 BC–481 BC) of the ancient Chinese Zhou dynasty . The Chinese built large rectangular barges known as "castle ships", which were essentially floating fortresses complete with multiple decks with guarded ramparts . However,
4004-473: A simultaneous name change to Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, after the old farm. The area of the farm itself was purchased by Isabella Elder in 1885 and donated to the people of Govan as Elder Park , dedicated to her late husband. The shipyard's imposing red sandstone Drawing Offices were designed by John Keppie of Honeyman and Keppie , with help from a young Charles Rennie Mackintosh , and built 1889–91. The sculpted figures (The Engineer and
4147-411: A single piece of hollowed-out log. At the sides were two planks, and two horseshoe-shaped wood pieces formed the prow and stern . These were fitted tightly together edge-to-edge with dowels inserted into holes in between, and then lashed to each other with ropes (made from rattan or fiber) wrapped around protruding lugs on the planks. This characteristic and ancient Austronesian boatbuilding practice
4290-639: A small workshop within the university. It was initiated in 1757 and two of the professors, the physicist and chemist Joseph Black as well as the famed economist Adam Smith , became Watt's friends. At first, he worked on maintaining and repairing scientific instruments used in the university, helping with demonstrations, and expanding the production of quadrants . He made and repaired brass reflecting quadrants , parallel rulers , scales , parts for telescopes , and barometers , among other things. Biographers such as Samuel Smiles assert that Watt struggled to establish himself in Glasgow due to opposition from
4433-457: A tightly fitting piston was solved by John Wilkinson , who had developed precision boring techniques for cannon making at Bersham , near Wrexham , North Wales . Watt and Boulton formed a hugely successful partnership, Boulton and Watt , which lasted for the next 25 years. In 1776, the first engines were installed and working in commercial enterprises. These first engines were used to power pumps and produced only reciprocating motion to move
Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company - Misplaced Pages Continue
4576-526: A treatise on mathematics, much material on astrology, and other materials. His treatise on shipbuilding treats three kinds of galleys and two kinds of round ships. Shipbuilders in the Ming dynasty (1368~1644) were not the same as the shipbuilders in other Chinese dynasties, due to hundreds of years of accumulated experiences and rapid changes in the Ming dynasty. Shipbuilders in the Ming dynasty primarily worked for
4719-746: A trip on the paddle-steamer Comet , a product of his inventions, to revisit his home town of Greenock. He died on 25 August 1819 at his home " Heathfield Hall " near Handsworth in Staffordshire (now part of Birmingham) at the age of 83. He was buried on 2 September in the graveyard of St Mary's Church, Handsworth . The church has since been extended and his grave is now inside the church. On 14 July 1764, Watt married his cousin Margaret Miller (d. 1773). They had two children, Margaret (1767–1796) and James (1769–1848). In 1791, their daughter married James Miller. In September 1773, while Watt
4862-560: A very erroneous idea of his character; he was equally distinguished as a natural philosopher and a chemist, and his inventions demonstrate his profound knowledge of those sciences, and that peculiar characteristic of genius, the union of them for practical application". He was greatly respected by other prominent men of the Industrial Revolution . He was an important member of the Lunar Society of Birmingham , and
5005-424: A very large part of one of his projects, still exist to the rear. The principal difficulty was in machining the piston and cylinder. Iron workers of the day were more like blacksmiths than modern machinists , and were unable to produce the components with sufficient precision. Much capital was spent in pursuing a patent on Watt's invention. Strapped for resources, Watt was forced to take up employment—first as
5148-467: Is a famous example). Later Great Britain ' s iron hull was sheathed in wood to enable it to carry a copper-based sheathing . Brunel's Great Eastern represented the next great development in shipbuilding. Built-in association with John Scott Russell , it used longitudinal stringers for strength, inner and outer hulls, and bulkheads to form multiple watertight compartments. Steel also supplanted wrought iron when it became readily available in
5291-663: Is a possibility that they may have reached the Americas . After the 11th century, a new type of ship called djong or jong was recorded in Java and Bali. This type of ship was built using wooden dowels and treenails, unlike the kunlun bo which used vegetal fibres for lashings. The empire of Majapahit used jong, built in northern Java, for transporting troops overseas. The jongs were transport ships which could carry 100–2000 tons of cargo and 50–1000 people, 28.99–88.56 meter in length. The exact number of jong fielded by Majapahit
5434-556: Is called ship breaking . The earliest evidence of maritime transport by modern humans is the settlement of Australia between 50,000 and 60,000 years ago. This almost certainly involved rafts , possibly equipped with some sort of sail . Much of the development beyond that raft technology occurred in the "nursery" areas of the Mediterranean and in Maritime Southeast Asia . Favoured by warmer waters and
5577-641: Is from the 6th to 5th millennium BC of the Ubaid period of Mesopotamia . They were made from bundled reeds coated in bitumen and had bipod masts. They sailed in shallow coastal waters of the Persian Gulf . Evidence from Ancient Egypt shows that the early Egyptians knew how to assemble planks of wood into a ship hull as early as 3100 BC. Egyptian pottery as old as 4000 BC shows designs of early fluvial boats or other means for navigation. The Archaeological Institute of America reports that some of
5720-600: Is known as the " lashed-lug " technique. They were commonly caulked with pastes made from various plants as well as tapa bark and fibres which would expand when wet, further tightening joints and making the hull watertight. They formed the shell of the boat, which was then reinforced by horizontal ribs. Shipwrecks of Austronesian ships can be identified from this construction as well as the absence of metal nails. Austronesian ships traditionally had no central rudders but were instead steered using an oar on one side. Austronesians traditionally made their sails from woven mats of
5863-571: Is noted in the works of Ibn Jubayr . The ships of Ancient Egypt's Eighteenth Dynasty were typically about 25 meters (80 ft) in length and had a single mast , sometimes consisting of two poles lashed together at the top making an "A" shape. They mounted a single square sail on a yard , with an additional spar along the bottom of the sail. These ships could also be oar propelled. The ocean- and sea-going ships of Ancient Egypt were constructed with cedar wood, most likely hailing from Lebanon. The ships of Phoenicia seem to have been of
Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company - Misplaced Pages Continue
6006-499: Is only a small body of archaeological evidence available. Since Island Southeast Asia contained effective maritime transport between its very large number of islands long before Austronesian seafaring, it is argued that Austronesians adopted an existing maritime technology from the existing inhabitants of this region. Austronesian ships varied from simple canoes to large multihull ships. The simplest form of all ancestral Austronesian boats had five parts. The bottom part consists of
6149-415: Is told in many forms; in some Watt is a young lad, in others he is older, sometimes it's his mother's kettle, sometimes his aunt's, suggesting that it may be apocryphal. In any event, Watt did not invent the steam engine, but significantly improved the efficiency of the existing Newcomen engine by adding a separate condenser , consistent with the now-familiar principles of thermal efficiency . The story
6292-411: Is unknown, but the largest number of jong deployed in an expedition is about 400 jongs, when Majapahit attacked Pasai, in 1350. Until recently, Viking longships were seen as marking an advance on traditional clinker -built hulls where leather thongs were used to join plank boards. This consensus has recently been challenged. Haywood has argued that earlier Frankish and Anglo-Saxon nautical practice
6435-589: The ghe mành . Early Egyptians also knew how to assemble planks of wood with treenails to fasten them together, using pitch for caulking the seams. The " Khufu ship ", a 43.6-meter vessel sealed into a pit in the Giza pyramid complex at the foot of the Great Pyramid of Giza in the Fourth Dynasty around 2500 BC, is a full-size surviving example which may have fulfilled the symbolic function of
6578-579: The k'un-lun po or kunlun bo ("ship of the k'un-lun [dark-skinned southern people]"). These ships used two types of sail of their invention, the junk sail and tanja sail . Large ships are about 50–60 metres (164–197 ft) long, had 5.2–7.8 metres (17–26 ft) tall freeboard , each carrying provisions enough for a year, and could carry 200–1000 people. The Chinese recorded that these Southeast Asian ships were hired for passage to South Asia by Chinese Buddhist pilgrims and travelers, because they did not build seaworthy ships of their own until around
6721-724: The Abbasid period. Mughal Empire had a large shipbuilding industry, which was largely centred in the Bengal Subah . Economic historian Indrajit Ray estimates shipbuilding output of Bengal during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries at 223,250 tons annually, compared with 23,061 tons produced in nineteen colonies in North America from 1769 to 1771. He also assesses ship repairing as very advanced in Bengal. Documents from 1506, for example, refer to watercraft on
6864-717: The Cunard Line and Canadian Pacific , such as the Blue Riband -winning sisters RMS Campania and RMS Lucania . At the other end of the scale, Fairfields built fast cross-channel mail steamers and ferries for locations around the world. These included ships for the Bosporus crossing in Istanbul and some of the early ships used by Thomas Cook for developing tourism on the River Nile . Charles Randolph founded
7007-547: The Napoleonic Wars were still built more or less to the same basic plan as those of the Spanish Armada of two centuries earlier, although there had been numerous subtle improvements in ship design and construction throughout this period. For instance, the introduction of tumblehome , adjustments to the shapes of sails and hulls, the introduction of the wheel, the introduction of hardened copper fastenings below
7150-459: The Sierra Leone river carrying 120 men. Others refer to Guinea coast peoples using war canoes of varying sizes – some 70 feet in length, 7–8 feet broad, with sharp pointed ends, rowing benches on the side, and quarterdecks or forecastles build of reeds. The watercraft included miscellaneous facilities, such as cooking hearths, and storage spaces for the crew's sleeping mats. From
7293-578: The Trades House , but this has been disputed by other historians, such as Harry Lumsden . The records from this period are fragmentary, but while it is clear that Watt encountered opposition, he was nevertheless able to work and trade as a skilled metal worker , suggesting that the Incorporation of Hammermen were satisfied that he met their requirements for membership, or that Watt managed to avoid their outright opposition. In 1759, he formed
SECTION 50
#17327824435397436-466: The engine cylinder on every cycle. This energy was wasted because, later in the cycle, cold water was injected into the cylinder to condense the steam to reduce its pressure. Thus, by repeatedly heating and cooling the cylinder, the engine wasted most of its thermal energy rather than converting it into mechanical energy . Watt's critical insight, arrived at in May 1765 as he crossed Glasgow Green park,
7579-536: The 17th century, some kingdoms added brass or iron cannons to their vessels. By the 18th century, however, the use of swivel cannons on war canoes accelerated. The city-state of Lagos , for instance, deployed war canoes armed with swivel cannons. With the development of the carrack , the west moved into a new era of ship construction by building the first regular oceangoing vessels. In a relatively short time, these ships grew to an unprecedented size, complexity, and cost. Shipyards became large industrial complexes, and
7722-701: The 5,000-year-old ship may have even belonged to Pharaoh Aha . The Austronesian expansion , which began c. 3000 BC with migration from Taiwan to the island of Luzon in the Philippines , spread across Island Southeast Asia . Then, between 1500 BC and 1500 AD they settled uninhabited islands of the Pacific, and also sailed westward to Madagascar. This is associated with distinctive maritime technology: lashed lug construction techniques (both in outrigger canoes and in large planked sailing vessels), various types of outrigger and twin-hulled canoes and
7865-606: The 8–9th century AD. Austronesians (especially from western Island Southeast Asia ) were trading in the Indian Ocean as far as Africa during this period. By around 50 to 500 AD, a group of Austronesians, believed to be from the southeastern coasts of Borneo (possibly a mixed group related to the modern Ma'anyan , Banjar , and/or the Dayak people ) crossed the Indian Ocean and colonized Madagascar . This resulted in
8008-764: The Admiral Zheng He . Six voyages were conducted under the Yongle Emperor's reign, the last of which returned to China in 1422. After the Yongle Emperor's death in 1424, his successor the Hongxi Emperor ordered the suspension of the voyages. The seventh and final voyage began in 1430, sent by the Xuande Emperor . Although the Hongxi and Xuande Emperors did not emphasize sailing as much as the Yongle Emperor, they were not against it. This led to
8151-507: The Chinese vessels during this era were essentially fluvial (riverine). True ocean-going Chinese fleets did not appear until the 10th century Song dynasty . There is considerable knowledge regarding shipbuilding and seafaring in the ancient Mediterranean. Large multi-masted seafaring ships of Southeast Asian Austronesians first started appearing in Chinese records during the Han dynasty as
8294-654: The Chinese, from the Old Javanese parahu , Javanese prau , or Malay perahu – large ship. Southern Chinese junks showed characteristics of Austronesian ships that they are made using timbers of tropical origin, with keeled, V-shaped hull. This is different from northern Chinese junks, which are developed from flat-bottomed riverine boats. The northern Chinese junks were primarily built of pine or fir wood, had flat bottoms with no keel, water-tight bulkheads with no frames, transom (squared) stern and stem, and have their planks fastened with iron nails or clamps. It
8437-570: The Han dynasty junk ship design in the same century. The Chinese were using square sails during the Han dynasty and adopted the Austronesian junk sail later in the 12th century. Iconographic remains show that Chinese ships before the 12th century used square sails, and the junk rig of Chinese ships is believed to be developed from tilted sails . Southern Chinese junks were based on keeled and multi-planked Austronesian ship known as po by
8580-713: The Harappan maritime trade. Ships from the harbour at these ancient port cities established trade with Mesopotamia . Shipbuilding and boatmaking may have been prosperous industries in ancient India. Native labourers may have manufactured the flotilla of boats used by Alexander the Great to navigate across the Hydaspes and even the Indus , under Nearchos . The Indians also exported teak for shipbuilding to ancient Persia . Other references to Indian timber used for shipbuilding
8723-712: The Invincible class for the Royal Navy, including the Indomitable, which was built at Fairfield. In 1909 Sir Alexander became chairman and managing director of the company, posts he held for a decade. Fisher described him as Britain's greatest naval architect. He died in 1933. Dorothy Rowntree , the first woman in UK to qualify in naval architecture and to graduate in engineering from the University of Glasgow worked for
SECTION 60
#17327824435398866-560: The Royal Mail Company's West India and Brazil trade. Both big steamers almost reached 15 knots on their trials. In 1873 it launched Iberia of 4,820 tons and 650 hp, the second largest merchant steamer then afloat. In 1871 HMS Hydra was launched with engines by John Elder. In 1886 William Pearce converted the firm to a limited company, the Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. This also entailed
9009-491: The United States in a 15-year period just before the war was a grand total of two. During the war, thousands of Liberty ships and Victory ships were built, many of them in shipyards that did not exist before the war. And, they were built by a workforce consisting largely of women and other inexperienced workers who had never seen a ship before (or even the ocean). After World War II , shipbuilding (which encompasses
9152-522: The banks of the Birmingham Canal , to establish a new foundry for the manufacture of the engines. The Soho Foundry formally opened in 1796 at a time when Watt's sons, Gregory and James Jr. were heavily involved in the management of the enterprise. In 1800, the year of Watt's retirement, the firm made a total of 41 engines. Watt retired in 1800, the same year that his fundamental patent and partnership with Boulton expired. The famous partnership
9295-599: The biggest shipbuilders in the world. The story is closely connected to the application of the compound steam engine for marine use, in which the firm played a crucial role. With regard to the compound engine two specific phases can be discerned: 'low' pressure compound engines and 'high' pressure compound engines. The compound engine with low (as it would later be called) pressure would give Randolph, Elder and Co its first renown for economic compound engines. The company's attempts centred on trying to prevent energy loss due to friction and premature condensation of steam. In July 1854
9438-771: The company as Randolph & Co. He had been an apprentice at the Clyde shipyard of Robert Napier , and at William Fairbairn & Sons in Manchester. With the knowledge that he acquired, he started as a millwright in partnership with his cousin Richard S. Cunliff, who managed the commercial side. By 1834 it built engines and machinery in the Tradeston district of Glasgow . It was the first serious local manufacturer of cog and other large wheels for driving machinery, and soon became famous for accuracy. In 1839 Mr Elliott joined
9581-494: The company became part of the Northumberland Shipbuilding Company , with Alexander Kennedy installed as managing director. In 1921 Alexander Kennedy was knighted. Sir Alexander became Fairfield chairman in 1930 and remained so until 1937. The Fairfield West Yard had been added at the outbreak of the First World War for submarine construction, but closed after ten years due to severe recession and
9724-436: The company between 1926 and 1928. The Fairfield Titan was built for the yard in 1911 by Sir William Arrol & Co. , with a maximum lift capacity of 200 tons. It was acknowledged for many years as the largest crane in the world. It was employed in lifting the engines and boilers aboard ships in the fitting-out basin. The crane was a Category B listed building but was demolished in 2007 in yard modernisation works. In 1919
9867-474: The compound engine was not affected by Randolph, Elder & Co., but by Alfred Holt . Holt succeeded in getting the Board of Trade to lift the ban on boilers with a pressure higher than 25 lbs per square inch (psi). The use of high-pressure steam made the compound engine far more effective, and Randolph, Elder & Co. quickly adjusted. It allowed the construction of a far simpler two-cylinder compound engine that
10010-501: The cylinders were 'jacketed' at the top and bottom. The jacket heated the cylinder from the outside to prevent condensation in the cylinder. It had been invented by James Watt , but the company was the first to re-apply it, probably because it first understood its purpose. The company then supplied more double-cylinder engines, but with the cylinders completely jacketed. Admiral by Robert Napier, made her trial in June 1858. Another ship with
10153-655: The damage was estimated at £40,000 and caused 4,000 workmen to be thrown idle. Alexander Cleghorn FRSE became the Fairfield manager in 1909. The company also established the Coventry Ordnance Works joint venture with Yarrow Shipbuilders and others in 1905. Sir Alexander Gracie, who was born in Dunvegan, worked at various other Clydeside shipbuilders before he started at Fairfield in 1896, where amongst other things he worked with Jack Fisher to develop
10296-649: The decade-long shipyard modernisation works were completed, Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Ltd and Fairfield Rowan Ltd were placed into receivership and was subsequently sold by Lithgow's in 1965. Fairfield's Chepstow works was sold to the Mabey Group in 1966. The marine engine-building subsidiary Fairfield Rowan was closed in 1966. The recently modernised shipbuilding operation was reconstituted as Fairfield (Glasgow) Ltd in 1966, under its founding chairman and industrialist Sir Iain Maxwell Stewart who
10439-670: The eldest of the five surviving children of Agnes Muirhead (1703–1755) and James Watt (1698–1782). Watt was baptised on 25 January 1736 at Old West Kirk , in Greenock. His mother came from a distinguished family, was well educated and said to be of forceful character, while his father was a shipwright , ship owner and contractor, and served as the Greenock's chief baillie in 1751. The Watt family's wealth came in part from Watt's father's trading in slaves and slave-produced goods. Watt's parents were Presbyterians and strong Covenanters , but despite his religious upbringing he later became
10582-500: The end of the Ming dynasty in 1644. During this period, Chinese navigation technology did not make any progress and even declined in some aspect. In the Islamic world, shipbuilding thrived at Basra and Alexandria . The dhow , felucca , baghlah , and the sambuk became symbols of successful maritime trade around the Indian Ocean from the ports of East Africa to Southeast Asia and the ports of Sindh and Hind (India) during
10725-595: The engines, and supervised the work to erect them on the customers' property. They produced almost none of the parts themselves. Watt did most of his work at his home in Harper's Hill in Birmingham, while Boulton worked at the Soho Manufactory . Gradually, the partners began to actually manufacture more and more of the parts, and by 1795, they purchased a property about a mile away from the Soho Manufactory, on
10868-537: The firm and it became known as Randolph, Elliott & Co. Elliott died shortly after becoming a partner. In 1852 the company became Randolph, Elder and Company when John Elder (1824–1869) joined the business. Elder had a natural talent for engineering and had also worked at the Napier shipyard. It enabled the company to start diversifying into marine engineering . In this field, the company would acquire world fame. Its skills in this field also enabled it to become one of
11011-457: The first half of the 17th century. The design process saw the early adoption of the logarithm (invented in 1615) to generate the curves used to produce the shape of a hull , especially when scaling up these curves accurately in the mould loft . Shipbuilding and ship repairs, both commercial and military, are referred to as naval engineering . The construction of boats is a similar activity called boat building . The dismantling of ships
11154-598: The first sculptures he produced with the machine was a small head of his old professor friend Adam Smith . He maintained his interest in civil engineering and was a consultant on several significant projects. He proposed, for example, a method for constructing a flexible pipe to be used for pumping water under the River Clyde at Glasgow. He and his second wife travelled to France and Germany, and he purchased an estate in mid-Wales at Doldowlod House, one mile south of Llanwrthwl , which he much improved. In 1816, he took
11297-594: The government, under command of the Ministry of Public Works . During the early years of the Ming dynasty, the Ming government maintained an open policy towards sailing. Between 1405 and 1433, the government conducted seven diplomatic Ming treasure voyages to over thirty countries in Southeast Asia, India, the Middle East and Eastern Africa. The voyages were initiated by the Yongle Emperor , and led by
11440-507: The infrastructure required to transport the trees from their point of origin to the shipyards. Shipbuilders were usually divided into different groups and had separate jobs. Some were responsible for fixing old ships; some were responsible for making the keel and some were responsible for building the helm. After 1477, the Ming government reversed its open maritime policies, enacting a series of isolationist policies in response to piracy . The policies, called Haijin (sea ban), lasted until
11583-538: The infringement in 1796. Boulton and Watt never collected all that was owed them, but the disputes were all settled directly between the parties or through arbitration . These trials were extremely costly in both money and time, but ultimately were successful for the firm. Before 1780, there was no good method for making copies of letters or drawings. The only method sometimes used was a mechanical one using multiple linked pens. Watt at first experimented with improving this method, but soon gave up on this approach because it
11726-412: The infringers, except for Jonathan Hornblower, all began to settle their cases. Hornblower was soon brought to trial in 1799, and the verdict of the four was decisively in favour of Watt. Their friend John Wilkinson, who had solved the problem of boring an accurate cylinder, was a particularly grievous case. He had erected about 20 engines without Boulton's and Watts' knowledge. They finally agreed to settle
11869-399: The ink, select the thin paper, to devise a method for wetting the special thin paper, and to make a press suitable for applying the correct pressure to effect the transfer. All of these required much experimentation, but he soon had enough success to patent the process a year later. Watt formed another partnership with Boulton (who provided financing) and James Keir (to manage the business) in
12012-536: The introduction of outrigger canoe technology to non-Austronesian cultures in the East African coast. The ancient Chinese also built fluvial ramming vessels as in the Greco-Roman tradition of the trireme , although oar-steered ships in China lost favor very early on since it was in the 1st century China that the stern -mounted rudder was first developed. This was dually met with the introduction of
12155-674: The jet condenser. In 1862 it increased steam pressure to 40 lbs per square inch. In 1858 the company acquired the Govan Old Shipyard, and diversified into shipbuilding. The first ship was built in 1861 as No 14 . Macgregor Laird was built for the African Steamship Company . Other ships soon followed, and the business moved to a new yard at the former Fairfield Farm at the Govan riverside in 1864. From 1861 to 1866 59 ships were built. The general breakthrough of
12298-491: The keel, the hull was made by overlapping nine strakes on either side with rivets fastening the oaken planks together. It could hold upwards of thirty men. Sometime around the 12th century, northern European ships began to be built with a straight sternpost , enabling the mounting of a rudder, which was much more durable than a steering oar held over the side. Development in the Middle Ages favored "round ships", with
12441-470: The latter half of the 19th century, providing great savings when compared with iron in cost and weight. Wood continued to be favored for the decks. During World War II , the need for cargo ships was so great that construction time for Liberty ships went from initially eight months or longer, down to weeks or even days. They employed production line and prefabrication techniques such as those used in shipyards today. The total number of dry-cargo ships built in
12584-512: The leading position of the company at the time. In 1870 it launched Italy, a vessel of 400 feet, 4,200 tons gross measurement and 600 nominal hp. The largest vessel then afloat except for Great Eastern . In 1870-1871 it built two steamers for the London to Aberdeen line: City of London and Ban Righ were about 20% faster than their predecessors, while their fuel consumption was less than half of theirs. In 1871 Tagus and Moselle were launched for
12727-450: The least of which was the problem of transporting the liquid product. Watt's rivals soon overtook him in developing the process, and he dropped out of the race. It was not until 1799, when Charles Tennant patented a process for producing solid bleaching powder ( calcium hypochlorite ) that it became a commercial success. By 1794, Watt had been chosen by Thomas Beddoes to manufacture apparatuses to produce, clean and store gases for use in
12870-412: The mid-18th century and from the mid-19th century onwards. This was partly led by the shortage of "compass timber", the naturally curved timber that meant that shapes could be cut without weaknesses caused by cuts across the grain of the timber. Ultimately, whole ships were made of iron and, later, steel . The earliest known depictions (including paintings and models) of shallow-water sailing boats
13013-568: The most famous shipyards was Long Jiang Shipyard ( zh:龙江船厂 ), located in Nanjing near the Treasure Shipyard where the ocean-going ships were built. The shipbuilders could build 24 models of ships of varying sizes. Several types of ships were built for the voyages, including Shachuan (沙船), Fuchuan (福船) and Baochuan ( treasure ship ) (宝船). Zheng He's treasure ships were regarded as Shachuan types, mainly because they were made in
13156-647: The name John Elder & Co. William Pearce became sole partner in 1878. The new owners continued the expansion of the shipyard in 1870 and onwards. Important customers in the 1861-1875 time slot were: the Pacific Steam Navigation Company for 40 vessels at 2,500,000 GBP, the African Mail Company and British and African Steam Navigation Company for 16 vessels at 500,000 GBP and Stoomvaart Maatschappij Nederland for 8 vessels at 600,000 GBP. Some qualitative notes further explain
13299-461: The new Pneumatic Institution at Hotwells in Bristol . Watt continued to experiment with various gases, but by 1797, the medical uses for the " factitious airs " (artificial gases) had come to a dead end. Watt combined theoretical knowledge of science with the ability to apply it practically. Chemist Humphry Davy said of him, "Those who consider James Watt only as a great practical mechanic form
13442-559: The next six years, he made other improvements and modifications to the steam engine. A double-acting engine, in which the steam acted alternately on both sides of the piston, was one. He described methods for working the steam "expansively" (i.e., using steam at pressures well above atmospheric). A compound engine , which connected two or more engines, was described. Two more patents were granted for these in 1781 and 1782. Numerous other improvements that made for easier manufacture and installation were continually implemented. One of these included
13585-465: The oldest ships yet unearthed are known as the Abydos boats . These are a group of 14 ships discovered in Abydos that were constructed of wooden planks which were "sewn" together. Discovered by Egyptologist David O'Connor of New York University , woven straps were found to have been used to lash the planks together, and reeds or grass stuffed between the planks helped to seal the seams. Because
13728-526: The ongoing issues with leaks, Watt restricted his use of high pressure steam – all of his engines used steam at near atmospheric pressure. Edward Bull started constructing engines for Boulton and Watt in Cornwall in 1781. By 1792, he had started making engines of his own design, but which contained a separate condenser, and so infringed Watt's patents. Two brothers, Jabez Carter Hornblower and Jonathan Hornblower Jnr also started to build engines about
13871-471: The planking has defined the hull shape. Carvel construction then took over in the Mediterranean. Northern Europe used clinker construction , but with some flush-planked ship-building in, for instance, the bottom planking of cogs . The north-European and Mediterranean traditions merged in the late 15th century, with carvel construction being adopted in the North and the centre-line mounted rudder replacing
14014-483: The pump rods at the bottom of the shaft. The design was commercially successful, and for the next five years, Watt was very busy installing more engines, mostly in Cornwall , for pumping water out of mines. These early engines were not manufactured by Boulton and Watt, but were made by others according to drawings made by Watt, who served in the role of consulting engineer . The erection of the engine and its shakedown
14157-492: The quarter rudder of the Mediterranean. These changes broadly coincided with improvements in sailing rigs, with the three masted ship becoming common, with square sails on the fore and main masts, and a fore and aft sail on the mizzen. Ship-building then saw a steady improvement in design techniques and introduction of new materials. Iron was used for more than fastenings ( nails and bolts ) as structural components such as iron knees were introduced, with examples existing in
14300-400: The question of whether or not the original specification of the patent was valid was left to another trial. In the meantime, injunctions were issued against the infringers , forcing their payments of the royalties to be placed in escrow . The trial on determining the validity of the specifications which was held in the following year was inconclusive, but the injunctions remained in force and
14443-428: The reciprocating motion of the piston to produce rotational power for grinding, weaving and milling. Although a crank seemed the obvious solution to the conversion, Watt and Boulton were stymied by a patent for this, whose holder, James Pickard and his associates proposed to cross-license the external condenser. Watt adamantly opposed this and they circumvented the patent by their sun and planet gear in 1781. Over
14586-416: The resilient and salt-resistant pandanus leaves. These sails allowed Austronesians to embark on long-distance voyaging. The ancient Champa of Vietnam also uniquely developed basket-hulled boats whose hulls were composed of woven and resin - caulked bamboo, either entirely or in conjunction with plank strakes . They range from small coracles (the o thúng ) to large ocean-going trading ships like
14729-654: The same engine was Callao built by John Reid in 1858. On trials fuel consumption for these ships was: Inca 2.5 lbs/ihp/h, Callao 2.7 lbs/ihp/h, Valparaiso and Admiral 3 lbs/ihp/h. It amounted to a saving of 30-40 per cent, and this was maintained later on. It made it possible to continue steam navigation on the Pacific Ocean with profit. In fact, in 1858 the Pacific Steam Navigation Company had 7–8 years old traditional machinery removed from three of her large steamers, and replaced by compound engines. It saved 40% in fuel and 30 feet of space amidships because less space
14872-473: The same time. Others began to modify Newcomen engines by adding a condenser, and the mine owners in Cornwall became convinced that Watt's patent could not be enforced. They started to withhold payments to Boulton and Watt, which by 1795 had fallen on hard times. Of the total £21,000 (equivalent to £2,740,000 as of 2023) owed, only £2,500 had been received. Watt was forced to go to court to enforce his claims. He first sued Bull in 1793. The jury found for Watt, but
15015-530: The screw steamer Brandon was fit with engines by Randolph, Elder & Co. It had a vertical geared compound engine with a patented (January 1853) arrangement of the cylinders. The crankshaft was turned by two opposite cranks (arms). One was driven by the high-pressure cylinder, the other by the low-pressure cylinder, with the pistons always moving in opposite directions. Brandon , a vessel of about 800 tons and 800 ihp made her trials in July 1854. She had
15158-450: The shipbuilder learned the techniques of shipbuilding from his family and is very likely to earn a higher status in the shipyard. Additionally, the shipbuilder had access to business networking that could help to find clients. If a shipbuilder entered the occupation through an apprenticeship, the shipbuilder was likely a farmer before he was hired as a shipbuilder, or he was previously an experienced shipbuilder. Many shipbuilders working in
15301-456: The ships are all buried together and near a mortuary belonging to Pharaoh Khasekhemwy , originally they were all thought to have belonged to him, but one of the 14 ships dates to 3000 BC, and the associated pottery jars buried with the vessels also suggest earlier dating. The ship dating to 3000 BC was about 75 feet (23 m) long and is now thought to perhaps have belonged to an earlier pharaoh. According to professor O'Connor,
15444-429: The ships built were financed by consortia of investors. These considerations led to the documentation of design and construction practices in what had previously been a secretive trade run by master shipwrights and ultimately led to the field of naval architecture , in which professional designers and draftsmen played an increasingly important role. Even so, construction techniques changed only very gradually. The ships of
15587-421: The shipwright) flanking the entrance are by James Pittendrigh Macgillivray . John Carmichael was manager of the Fairfield yard in 1894. He had been born in Govan in 1858 and had entered Fairfield as an apprentice in 1873. When his apprenticeship was completed seven years later, Sir William Pearce made him head draughtsman, and later he was promoted to assistant manager. In February 1897 a major fire broke out in
15730-422: The shipyard were forced into the occupation. The ships built for Zheng He's voyages needed to be waterproof, solid, safe, and have ample room to carry large amounts of trading goods. Therefore, due to the highly commercialized society that was being encouraged by the expeditions, trades, and government policies, the shipbuilders needed to acquire the skills to build ships that fulfil these requirements. Shipbuilding
15873-433: The shipyards, the marine equipment manufacturers, and many related service and knowledge providers) grew as an important and strategic industry in a number of countries around the world. This importance stems from: Historically, the industry has suffered from the absence of global rules and a tendency towards ( state - supported ) over-investment due to the fact that shipyards offer a wide range of technologies, employ
16016-666: The site of Portus in Rome revealed inscriptions in a shipyard constructed during the reign of Trajan (98–117) that indicated the existence of a shipbuilders guild . Roughly at this time is the last migration wave of the Austronesian expansion , when the Polynesian islands spread over vast distances across the Pacific Ocean were being colonized by the (Austronesian) Polynesians from Island Melanesia using double-hulled voyaging catamarans . At its furthest extent, there
16159-409: The steam engine was in a very primitive state, for the science of thermodynamics would not be formalised for nearly another 100 years. In 1763, Watt was asked to repair a model Newcomen engine belonging to the university. Even after repair, the engine barely worked. After much experimentation, Watt demonstrated that about three-quarters of the thermal energy of the steam was being consumed in heating
16302-482: The stronger flushed deck design derived from Indian designs, and the increasing use of iron reinforcement. The flushed deck originated from the Bengal rice ships, with Bengal being famous for its shipbuilding industry at the time. Iron was gradually adopted in ship construction, initially to provide stronger joints in a wooden hull e.g. as deck knees, hanging knees, knee riders and the other sharp joints, ones in which
16445-558: The treasure shipyard in Nanjing. Shachuan , or 'sand-ships', are ships used primarily for inland transport. However, in recent years, some researchers agree that the treasure ships were more of the Fuchuan type. It is said in vol. 176 of San Guo Bei Meng Hui Bian (三朝北盟汇编) that ships made in Fujian are the best ones. Therefore, the best shipbuilders and laborers were brought from these places to support Zheng He's expedition. The shipyard
16588-429: The use of the steam indicator which produced an informative plot of the pressure in the cylinder against its volume, which he kept as a trade secret . Another important invention, one which Watt was most proud of, was the parallel motion linkage , which was essential in double-acting engines as it produced the straight line motion required for the cylinder rod and pump, from the connected rocking beam, whose end moves in
16731-540: The waterline, the introduction of copper sheathing as a deterrent to shipworm and fouling, etc. In the early decades of the Industrial Revolution (1760 to 1825) western ship design remained largely based on its traditional pre-industrial designs and materials and yet greatly improved in safety as "the risk of being wrecked for Atlantic shipping fell by one-third, and of foundering by two thirds, reflecting improvements in seaworthiness and navigation respectively." The improvement in seaworthiness has been credited to adopting
16874-503: The west coast of South America. In that area, fuel was imported from Britain and therefore more costly. When the Crimean War broke out, freight tariffs increased to the point that the price of coal almost doubled there. The directors then conferred with the company, resulting in the 'double-cylinder engine'. Inca and Valparaiso were paddle-steamers which got this engine, that got patented in March 1856. Construction of that for Inca
17017-425: The yard. The fire spread rapidly and within ten minutes the vast majority of the buildings, covering several acres , were ablaze with the joiner's, pattern, and fitting shops totally destroyed. Various ships under construction were threatened, amongst which were HMS Argonaut and RMS Empress Queen . The vessels were however separated from the buildings and no significant damage was sustained. The cost of
17160-532: Was a much sought-after conversationalist and companion, always interested in expanding his horizons. His personal relationships with his friends and business partners were always congenial and long-lasting. According to Lord Liverpool (Prime Minister of the UK), A more excllent and amikable man in all the relations of life I believe never existed. Watt was a prolific correspondent. During his years in Cornwall , he wrote long letters to Boulton several times per week. He
17303-408: Was able to obtain a period of training as an instrument maker for a year (1755–56), then returned to Scotland, settling in the major commercial city of Glasgow , intent on setting up his own instrument-making business. He was still very young and, having not had a full apprenticeship , did not have the usual connections via a former master to establish himself as a journeyman instrument maker. Watt
17446-452: Was also chairman of Thermotank Ltd . It became known as the famous Fairfield Experiment , into new ways of improving productivity through new reforms to industrial relations and the application of scientific management methods to improve productivity . The era of the Fairfield experiment was captured by Sean Connery in his documentary The Bowler and the Bunnet . In 1968 the company
17589-575: Was averse to publishing his results in, for example, the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society however, and instead preferred to communicate his ideas in patents . He was an excellent draughtsman . He was a rather poor businessman, and especially hated bargaining and negotiating terms with those who sought to use the steam engine. In a letter to William Small in 1772, Watt confessed that "he would rather face
17732-795: Was demolished by National Shipbuilders Securities in 1934. The Fairfield West yard site was later used by the United States Army Corps of Engineers in 1944 to build four landing craft. In 1924, the company bought a shipyard at Chepstow on the River Wye in South Wales, previously developed as National Shipyard No.1 in the First World War and then taken over by the Monmouthshire Shipbuilding Company. The works later specialised in assembling bridges and other major structures. In 1935 Fairfield
17875-544: Was even more effective than the low-pressure compound steam engine. In 1868 Charles Randolph retired from the firm, and John Elder became sole partner. The company became known as John Elder & Co in 1869. When John Elder died in September 1869 his wife ran the business for a while and renamed it in his honour. In 1869 she sold the company to a new partnership consisting of her brother John Francis Ure (1820–1883), J.L.K. Jamieson (1826–1883) and Sir William Pearce . It kept
18018-402: Was fundamental to the changes brought by the Industrial Revolution in both his native Great Britain and the rest of the world. While working as an instrument maker at the University of Glasgow , Watt became interested in the technology of steam engines . At the time engineers such as John Smeaton were aware of the inefficiencies of Newcomen's engine and aimed to improve it. Watt's insight
18161-405: Was made part of Upper Clyde Shipbuilders , which collapsed in 1971 when a strike and work-in received national press attention. As part of the recovery deal, Fairfields was formed into Govan Shipbuilders in 1972, which was itself later nationalised and subsumed into British Shipbuilders in 1977. On the break-up of British Shipbuilders under denationalisation in 1988, the former Fairfield yard
18304-540: Was much more accomplished than had been thought and has described the distribution of clinker vs. carvel construction in Western Europe (see map [1] ). An insight into shipbuilding in the North Sea/Baltic areas of the early medieval period was found at Sutton Hoo , England, where a ship was buried with a chieftain. The ship was 26 metres (85 ft) long and 4.3 metres (14 ft) wide. Upward from
18447-417: Was needed for coal. From 1854 till about 1866 Randolph, Elder & Co. constructed 18 sets of paddle engines and 30 sets of screw engines, all compound. A highlight was the conversion of the frigate HMS Constance to steam propulsion in 1863, and her race against two frigates with engines by John Penn and Sons and Maudslay, Sons and Field . In 1860 the company started to use surface condensation instead of
18590-549: Was not the sole industry utilising Chinese lumber at that time; the new capital was being built in Beijing from approximately 1407 onwards, which required huge amounts of high-quality wood. These two ambitious projects commissioned by Emperor Yongle would have had enormous environmental and economic effects, even if the ships were half the dimensions given in the History of Ming . Considerable pressure would also have been placed on
18733-496: Was possibly created by Watt's son, James Watt, Jr. , who was determined to preserve and embellish his father's legacy. In this light, it can be seen as akin to the story of Isaac Newton and the falling apple and his discovery of gravity . Although likely a myth, the story of Watt and the kettle has a basis in fact. In trying to understand the thermodynamics of heat and steam, James Watt carried out many laboratory experiments and his diaries record that in conducting these, he used
18876-479: Was saved from this impasse by the arrival from Jamaica of astronomical instruments bequeathed by Alexander MacFarlane to the University of Glasgow – instruments that required expert attention. Watt restored them to working order and was remunerated . These instruments were eventually installed in the Macfarlane Observatory . Subsequently, three professors offered him the opportunity to set up
19019-428: Was so cumbersome. He instead decided to try to physically transfer ink from the front of the original to the back of another sheet, moistened with a solvent, and pressed to the original. The second sheet had to be thin, so that the ink could be seen through it when the copy was held up to the light, thus reproducing the original exactly. Watt started to develop the process in 1779, and made many experiments to formulate
19162-483: Was sold to the Norwegian Kværner group and renamed Kvaerner Govan . The yard passed to BAE Systems Marine in 1999 and is now part of BAE Systems Surface Ships . Some of the better-known ships built by Fairfield's include: Two of three ships that were lost in the action of 22 September 1914 were built at Fairfield's. These ships alongside HMS Hogue were the first vessels ever to be sunk by
19305-485: Was started in May 1856. It had two pairs of cylinders, lying so their piston rods were at a 60-90 degree angle. Each pair consisted of a high- and low-pressure cylinder lying next to each other, so they could easily exchange steam. Their pistons moved in opposite directions and drove one crank, which was attached to the crankshaft opposite the crank of the other pair. This gave the optimal balance of driving forces that could be attained for this number of cylinders. Furthermore,
19448-400: Was supervised by Watt, at first, and then by men in the firm's employ, with the actual work being accomplished by the purchaser of the engine. Supervising erectors included at various times William Murdoch , John Rennie , William Playfair , John Southern , Logan Henderson , James Lawson , William Brunton , Isaac Perrins and others. These were large machines. The first, for example, had
19591-502: Was taken over by Lithgows of Port Glasgow after it had become entangled with the insolvency of the Anchor Line . In the 1950s the yard underwent a major £4million modernisation programme which was implemented slowly over a period of ten years to minimise disruption to the yard. In 1963, the Fairfield engine building division merged with another Lithgow subsidiary, David Rowan & Company, to form Fairfield Rowan Ltd. Soon after
19734-444: Was the first radical new design, being built entirely of wrought iron. Despite her success, and the great savings in cost and space provided by the iron hull, compared to a copper-sheathed counterpart, there remained problems with fouling due to the adherence of weeds and barnacles. As a result, composite construction remained the dominant approach where fast ships were required, with wooden timbers laid over an iron frame ( Cutty Sark
19877-478: Was to cause the steam to condense in a separate chamber apart from the piston , and to maintain the temperature of the cylinder at the same temperature as the injected steam by surrounding it with a "steam jacket". Thus, very little energy was absorbed by the cylinder on each cycle, making more available to perform useful work. Watt had a working model later that same year. Despite a potentially workable design, there were still substantial difficulties in constructing
20020-537: Was to realize that contemporary engine designs wasted a great deal of energy by repeatedly cooling and reheating the cylinder . Watt introduced a design enhancement, the separate condenser , which avoided this waste of energy and radically improved the power, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness of steam engines. Eventually, he adapted his engine to produce rotary motion, greatly broadening its use beyond pumping water. Watt attempted to commercialise his invention, but experienced great financial difficulties until he entered
20163-624: Was transferred to the men's sons, Matthew Robinson Boulton and James Watt, Junior . Longtime firm engineer William Murdoch was soon made a partner and the firm prospered. Watt continued to invent other things before and during his semi-retirement. Within his home in Handsworth , Staffordshire, Watt made use of a garret room as a workshop, and it was here that he worked on many of his inventions. Among other things, he invented and constructed machines for copying sculptures and medallions which worked very well, but which he never patented. One of
20306-426: Was under the command of Ministry of Public Works . The shipbuilders had no control over their lives. The builders, commoner's doctors, cooks and errands had lowest social status. The shipbuilders were forced to move away from their hometown to the shipyards. There were two major ways to enter the shipbuilder occupation: family tradition, or apprenticeship. If a shipbuilder entered the occupation due to family tradition,
20449-414: Was unknown when the Chinese people started adopting Southeast Asian (Austronesian) shipbuilding techniques. They may have been started as early as the 8th century, but the development was gradual and the true ocean-going Chinese junks did not appear suddenly. The word "po" survived in Chinese long after, referring to the large ocean-going junks. In September 2011, archeological investigations done at
#538461