A screw sloop is a propeller -driven sloop-of-war . They were popularized in the mid-19th century, during the introduction of the steam engine and the transition of fleets to this new technology.
125-702: CSS Alabama was a screw sloop-of-war built in 1862 for the Confederate States Navy . The vessel was built in Birkenhead on the River Mersey opposite Liverpool , England, by John Laird Sons and Company . Launched as Enrica , she was fitted out as a cruiser and commissioned as CSS Alabama on August 24, 1862. Under Captain Raphael Semmes, Alabama served as a successful commerce raider , attacking, capturing, and burning Union merchant and naval ships in
250-639: A vertical beam or overhead beam , and sometimes simply referred as a "beam", was another early adaptation of the beam engine, but its use was confined almost entirely to the United States. After its introduction, the walking beam quickly became the most popular engine type in American waters for inland waterway and coastal service, eventually making its way into American transoceanic steamships as well. The type proved to have remarkable longevity, with walking beam engines still being occasionally manufactured as late as
375-457: A Joint French-American Scientific Committee for archaeological exploration. This agreement established a precedent for international cooperation in archaeological research and in the protection of a unique historic shipwreck. The Association CSS Alabama and the Naval History and Heritage Command signed on 23 March 1995 an official agreement accrediting Association CSS Alabama as operator of
500-417: A beam (i.e. walking beam, side-lever or grasshopper) engine. The later definition only uses the term for engines that apply power directly to the crankshaft via the piston rod and/or connecting rod. Unless otherwise noted, this article uses the later definition. Unlike the side-lever or beam engine, a direct-acting engine could be readily adapted to power either paddlewheels or a propeller. As well as offering
625-457: A centrally located crankshaft. Back-acting engines were another type of engine popular in both warships and commercial vessels in the mid-19th century, but like many other engine types in this era of rapidly changing technology, they were eventually abandoned for other solutions. There is only one known surviving back-acting engine—that of the TV Emery Rice (formerly USS Ranger ), now
750-492: A common, T-shaped crosshead. The vertical arm of the crosshead extended down between the two cylinders and was attached at the bottom to both the crankshaft connecting rod and to a guide block that slid between the vertical sides of the cylinders, enabling the assembly to maintain the correct path as it moved. The Siamese engine was invented by British engineer Joseph Maudslay (son of Henry ), but although he invented it after his oscillating engine (see below), it failed to achieve
875-544: A compound engine gave a significant increase in fuel efficiency, so allowing steamships to out-compete sail on the route from the UK to China, even before the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869. A triple-expansion engine is a compound engine that expands the steam in three stages, e.g. an engine with three cylinders at three different pressures. A quadruple-expansion engine expands the steam in four stages. However, as explained above,
1000-468: A compound walking beam type, compound being the cylinder technology, and walking beam being the connection method. Over time, as most engines became direct-acting but cylinder technologies grew more complex, engines began to be classified solely according to cylinder technology. More commonly encountered marine steam engine types are listed in the following sections. Note that not all these terms are exclusive to marine applications. The side-lever engine
1125-430: A different design operating at only 90 psi (620 kPa). This was insufficient to fully realise the economic benefits of triple expansion. Aberdeen was fitted with two double ended Scotch type steel boilers, running at 125 psi (860 kPa). These boilers had patent corrugated furnaces that overcame the competing problems of heat transfer and sufficient strength to deal with the boiler pressure. This provided
1250-417: A fast rate of fire compared to Kearsarge ' s gun crews, who fired less than half that number, taking more careful aim. In the confusion of battle, five more rounds were fired at Alabama after her colors were struck. (Her gun ports had been left open and the broadside cannon were still run out, appearing to threaten Kearsarge .) A hand-held white flag at Alabama ' s stern spanker boom finally halted
1375-474: A lower profile, direct-acting engines had the advantage of being smaller and weighing considerably less than beam or side-lever engines. The Royal Navy found that on average a direct-acting engine (early definition) weighed 40% less and required an engine room only two thirds the size of that for a side-lever of equivalent power. One disadvantage of such engines is that they were more prone to wear and tear and thus required more maintenance. An oscillating engine
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#17328451469441500-532: A memorial window and tablet were placed at Easton Royal Church. Another tablet was placed in Charing Cross Hospital , London, where he attended medical school. During her two-year career as a commerce raider , Alabama damaged Union merchant shipping around the world. The Confederate cruiser claimed 65 prizes valued at nearly $ 6,000,000 (about $ 117,000,000 in today's dollars); in 1862 alone 28 were claimed. In an important development in international law,
1625-468: A proportionately greater force when compared with the numbers of ships attacking (see Battle of the Atlantic ). Union officials proved immovable on the blockade, however, and although insurance prices soared, shipping costs went up, and many vessels transferred to a neutral flag, very few naval vessels were taken off the southern blockade. In fact, with clever use of resources and a mammoth shipbuilding program,
1750-450: A ship or boat . This article deals mainly with marine steam engines of the reciprocating type, which were in use from the inception of the steamboat in the early 19th century to their last years of large-scale manufacture during World War II . Reciprocating steam engines were progressively replaced in marine applications during the 20th century by steam turbines and marine diesel engines . The first commercially successful steam engine
1875-729: A ship's economy or its speed. Broadly speaking, a compound engine can refer to a steam engine with any number of different-pressure cylinders—however, the term usually refers to engines that expand steam through only two stages, i.e., those that operate cylinders at only two different pressures (or "double-expansion" engines). Note that a compound engine (including multiple-expansion engines, see below) can have more than one set of variable-pressure cylinders. For example, an engine might have two cylinders operating at pressure x and two operating at pressure y, or one cylinder operating at pressure x and three operating at pressure y. What makes it compound (or double-expansion) as opposed to multiple-expansion
2000-407: A side-rod, extended down each side of the cylinder to connect to the end of the side-lever on the same side. The far ends of the two side-levers were connected to one another by a horizontal crosstail, from which extended a single, common connecting rod which operated the crankshaft as the levers rocked up and down around the central pin. The main disadvantage of the side-lever engine was that it
2125-503: A small, low-profile engine like the trunk engine to power the U.S. Federal government's monitors , a type of warship developed during the American Civil War that had very little space for a conventional powerplant. The trunk engine itself was, however, unsuitable for this purpose, because the preponderance of weight was on the side of the engine that contained the cylinder and trunk—a problem that designers could not compensate for on
2250-415: A smaller, lighter, more efficient design. In a steeple engine, the vertical oscillation of the piston is not converted to a horizontal rocking motion as in a beam engine, but is instead used to move an assembly, composed of a crosshead and two rods, through a vertical guide at the top of the engine, which in turn rotates the crankshaft connecting rod below. In early examples of the type, the crosshead assembly
2375-669: A vessel with a single mast rigged fore-and-aft. If the term referred to a British warship, its meaning was heavily dependent on the number of officers and men on the vessel. Under the rating system of the Royal Navy , any vessel that did not require a post-captain as commander, was a sloop. This generally referred to all vessels with less than 20 guns. By this system, small frigates that lost most of their guns and sailors so they could be used as transports, would be reclassified as sloops. The same logic also applied to fireships, which were typically made by converting fifth or sixth rate ships. In
2500-462: Is also an alternative name for the steeple engine (below). Many sources thus prefer to refer to it by its informal name of "square" engine to avoid confusion. Additionally, the marine crosshead or square engine described in this section should not be confused with the term " square engine " as applied to internal combustion engines , which in the latter case refers to an engine whose bore is equal to its stroke . The walking beam, technically known as
2625-401: Is that the engine could be easily started from any crank position. Like the conventional side-lever engine however, grasshopper engines were disadvantaged by their weight and size. They were mainly used in small watercraft such as riverboats and tugs . The crosshead engine, also known as a square , sawmill or A-frame engine, was a type of paddlewheel engine used in the United States. It
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#17328451469442750-438: Is that there are only two pressures , x and y. The first compound engine believed to have been installed in a ship was that fitted to Henry Eckford by the American engineer James P. Allaire in 1824. However, many sources attribute the "invention" of the marine compound engine to Glasgow 's John Elder in the 1850s. Elder made improvements to the compound engine that made it safe and economical for ocean-crossing voyages for
2875-627: Is the subject of an Afrikaans folk song, "Daar kom die Alibama" still popular in South Africa today. She then sailed for the East Indies where she spent six months, destroying seven more ships before finally returning via the Cape of Good Hope en route to France. Union warships hunted frequently for the Confederate raider, but on the few occasions Alabama was spotted, she eluded her pursuers by vanishing over
3000-602: The Battle of Cherbourg commenced outside the port of Cherbourg, France , whereby the Kearsarge sank the Alabama in approximately one hour after the Alabama's opening shot. Alabama was built in secrecy in 1862 by British shipbuilders John Laird Sons and Company , in north-west England at their shipyards at Birkenhead , Wirral , opposite Liverpool . The construction was arranged by the Confederate agent Commander James Bulloch , who led
3125-705: The West Indies , where she raised more havoc before finally cruising west into the Gulf of Mexico . There, in January 1863, Alabama had her first military engagement. She came upon and quickly sank the Union side-wheeler USS Hatteras just off the Texas coast, near Galveston , capturing that warship's crew. She then continued further south, eventually crossing the Equator , where she took
3250-417: The beam engine . The typical side-lever engine had a pair of heavy horizontal iron beams, known as side-levers, each secured in the centre by a pin near the base of the engine, allowing the levers to pivot through a limited arc. The engine cylinder stood vertically between this pair of levers at one end, with the piston rod attached to a horizontal crosshead above, from each end of which a vertical rod, known as
3375-471: The screw propeller , and the introduction of iron and later steel hulls to replace the traditional wooden hull allowed ships to grow ever larger, necessitating steam power plants that were increasingly complex and powerful. A wide variety of reciprocating marine steam engines were developed over the course of the 19th century. The two main methods of classifying such engines are by connection mechanism and cylinder technology . Most early marine engines had
3500-561: The 17th century. The fledgling Confederate Navy therefore adopted and used jacks, commissioning pennants, battle ensigns, small boat ensigns, designating flags, and signal flags aboard its warships during the Civil War. At the beginning of Alabama ' s raiding ventures, the newly commissioned cruiser may have been forced, out of necessity, to fly the only battle ensign available to Captain Semmes: an early 1861, 7-star First National Flag, possibly
3625-519: The 1830s and the type was perfected in the early 1840s by the Scottish shipbuilder David Napier . The steeple engine was gradually superseded by the various types of direct-acting engine. The Siamese engine, also referred to as the "double cylinder" or "twin cylinder" engine, was another early alternative to the beam or side-lever engine. This type of engine had two identical, vertical engine cylinders arranged side-by-side, whose piston rods were attached to
3750-504: The 1940s. In marine applications, the beam itself was generally reinforced with iron struts that gave it a characteristic diamond shape, although the supports on which the beam rested were often built of wood. The adjective "walking" is believed to have originated from a corruption of the technical term "working beam". Walking beam engines were a type of paddlewheel engine and were rarely used for powering propellers. They were used primarily for ships and boats working in rivers, lakes and along
3875-522: The 41 crew members successfully reached England. Semmes eventually returned to the Confederacy and became a Confederate admiral in the last weeks of the war. The sinking of Alabama by Kearsarge is honored by the United States Navy with a battle star on the Civil War campaign streamer . As They Signed Themselves. Dr. David Herbert Llewellyn, a Briton and the ship's assistant surgeon, tended
CSS Alabama - Misplaced Pages Continue
4000-557: The Azores; six of those were 32-pounder smooth bores. Seven cannon were identified at the wreck site: Two were cast from a Royal Navy pattern and three were of a later pattern produced by Fawcett, Preston, and Company in Liverpool . One of the Blakely pattern 32-pounders was found lying across the starboard side of the hull, forward of the boilers. A second Blakely 32-pounder was identified outside
4125-486: The Confederate Navy. Alabama ' s British-made ordnance consisted of six muzzle-loading, broadside , 32-pounder naval smoothbores (three firing to port and three firing to starboard) and two larger and more powerful pivot cannons . The pivot cannons were placed fore and aft of the main mast and positioned roughly amidships along the deck's center line. From those positions, they could be rotated to fire across
4250-445: The Confederate congress for all destroyed Union ships. The men began to shout "Hear! Hear!" in response. 83 seamen, many of them British, signed on for service in the Confederate Navy. Bulloch and the remaining seamen then boarded their respective ships for the return to England. Semmes still needed another 20 or so men for a full complement, but there were enough to at least handle the new commerce raider. The rest would be recruited from
4375-706: The English Channel. Jules Verne had himself made a previous comparison between the Birkenhead-built CSS Alabama and the Nautilus in a letter to his publisher Jules Hetzel in March 1869. Other arguments in favor of a connection were made by Birkenhead born geography teacher John Lamb. Both the United States Navy and the Confederate States Navy flew an ensign and a jack (primary and secondary naval flags) following British naval tradition that originated in
4500-617: The North Atlantic, as well as intercepting American grain ships bound for Europe. The Alabama continued its wrath through the West Indies and further into the East Indies, destroying over seven ships before returning to Europe. On June 11, 1864, the Alabama arrived at Cherbourg, France, where she was overhauled. Shortly after, a Union sloop-of-war, USS Kearsarge , arrived; and on June 19,
4625-410: The Royal Navy. The first four Alecto-class sloops had been launched in 1839-1841. The fifth unit of this class; Rattler was reordered as a screw propelled vessel. In Spring 1845 comparative trials were held between Rattler and Alecto . The most famous of these was that in which the sloops towed stern to stern, with Rattler towing Alecto backwards at 2.8 knots. In the 1860s American context,
4750-531: The U.S. government pursued the " Alabama Claims " against the United Kingdom for the losses caused by Alabama and other raiders fitted out there. A joint arbitration commission awarded the U.S. $ 15.5 million in damages. Ironically, in 1851, a decade before the Civil War, Captain Semmes had observed: (Commerce raiders) are little better than licensed pirates; and it behooves all civilized nations [...] to suppress
4875-598: The Union managed to steadily increase the blockade throughout the war. It also sent vessels to protect merchant shipping and to hunt and destroy the few Confederate raiders and privateers still operating. In November 1984 the French Navy mine hunter Circé discovered a wreck under nearly 200 ft (60 m) of water off Cherbourg at 49°45′9″N 1°41′42″W / 49.75250°N 1.69500°W / 49.75250; -1.69500 . Captain Max Guerout later confirmed
5000-509: The United States and in Ericsson's native country of Sweden, and as they had few advantages over more conventional engines, were soon supplanted by other types. The back-acting engine, also known as the return connecting rod engine , was another engine designed to have a very low profile. The back-acting engine was in effect a modified steeple engine, laid horizontally across the keel of a ship rather than standing vertically above it. Instead of
5125-616: The archaeological investigation of the remains of the ship. The association, which is funded solely from private donations, is continuing to make this an international project through its fundraising in France and in the US, thanks to its sister organization, the CSS Alabama Association, incorporated in the State of Delaware . Alabama was fitted with eight pieces of ordnance after she arrived at
CSS Alabama - Misplaced Pages Continue
5250-412: The assembly maintained the correct path as it moved. The engine's alternative name—"A-frame"—presumably derived from the shape of the frames that supported these guides. Some crosshead engines had more than one cylinder, in which case the piston rods were usually all connected to the same crosshead. Because the cylinder was above the crankshaft in this type of engine, it had a high center of gravity, and
5375-399: The bow of his opponent to deliver a heavy raking fire (to " cross the T "). The battle quickly turned against Alabama due to the superior gunnery displayed by Kearsarge and the deteriorated state of Alabama ' s contaminated powder and fuses. Her most telling shot, fired from the forward 7-inch (178 mm) Blakely pivot rifle, hit very near Kearsarge ' s vulnerable stern post ,
5500-565: The captured crews of raided ships or from friendly ports-of-call. Many of the 83 crewmen who signed on completed the full voyage. Under Captain Semmes, Alabama spent her first two months in the Eastern Atlantic , ranging southwest of the Azores and then redoubling east, capturing and burning northern merchant ships. After a difficult Atlantic crossing, she continued her cruise in the greater New England region. She then sailed south, arriving in
5625-475: The centerpiece of a display at the American Merchant Marine Museum . As steamships grew steadily in size and tonnage through the course of the 19th century, the need for low profile, low centre-of-gravity engines correspondingly declined. Freed increasingly from these design constraints, engineers were able to revert to simpler, more efficient and more easily maintained designs. The result was
5750-457: The close of the 19th century. Because they became so common, vertical engines are not usually referred to as such, but are instead referred to based upon their cylinder technology, i.e. as compound, triple-expansion, quadruple-expansion etc. The term "vertical" for this type of engine is imprecise, since technically any type of steam engine is "vertical" if the cylinder is vertically oriented. An engine someone describes as "vertical" might not be of
5875-431: The coast. The first successful transatlantic crossing by a steamship occurred in 1819 when Savannah sailed from Savannah, Georgia to Liverpool, England . The first steamship to make regular transatlantic crossings was the sidewheel steamer Great Western in 1838. As the 19th century progressed, marine steam engines and steamship technology developed alongside each other. Paddle propulsion gradually gave way to
6000-635: The coastline, but were a less popular choice for seagoing vessels because the great height of the engine made the vessel less stable in heavy seas. They were also of limited use militarily, because the engine was exposed to enemy fire and could thus be easily disabled. Their popularity in the United States was due primarily to the fact that the walking beam engine was well suited for the shallow- draft boats that operated in America's shallow coastal and inland waterways. Walking beam engines remained popular with American shipping lines and excursion operations right into
6125-435: The conservatism of American domestic shipbuilders and shipping line owners, who doggedly clung to outdated technologies like the walking beam and its associated paddlewheel long after they had been abandoned in other parts of the world. The steeple engine, sometimes referred to as a "crosshead" engine, was an early attempt to break away from the beam concept common to both the walking beam and side-lever types, and come up with
6250-424: The crankshaft rotated—hence the term, oscillating . Steam was supplied and exhausted through the trunnions. The oscillating motion of the cylinder was usually used to line up ports in the trunnions to direct the steam feed and exhaust to the cylinder at the correct times. However, separate valves were often provided, controlled by the oscillating motion. This let the timing be varied to enable expansive working (as in
6375-410: The early 20th century. Although the walking beam engine was technically obsolete in the later 19th century, it remained popular with excursion steamer passengers who expected to see the "walking beam" in motion. There were also technical reasons for retaining the walking beam engine in America, as it was easier to build, requiring less precision in its construction. Wood could be used for the main frame of
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#17328451469446500-416: The engagement. Prior to this, she had her steering gear damaged by shell hits, but the fatal shot came later when one of Kearsarge ' s 11-inch (280 mm) shells tore open a mid-section of Alabama ' s starboard waterline. Water quickly rushed through the hull, eventually flooding the boilers and taking her down by the stern to the bottom. As Alabama sank, the injured Semmes threw his sword into
6625-412: The engine in the paddle ship PD Krippen ). This provides simplicity but still retains the advantages of compactness. The first patented oscillating engine was built by Joseph Maudslay in 1827, but the type is considered to have been perfected by John Penn . Oscillating engines remained a popular type of marine engine for much of the 19th century. The trunk engine, another type of direct-acting engine,
6750-517: The engine, at a much lower cost than typical practice of using iron castings for more modern engine designs. Fuel was also much cheaper in America than in Europe, so the lower efficiency of the walking beam engine was less of a consideration. The Philadelphia shipbuilder Charles H. Cramp blamed America's general lack of competitiveness with the British shipbuilding industry in the mid-to-late 19th century upon
6875-492: The ensign from his uncle. At the suggestion of retired Rear Admiral Beverly M. Coleman, Sawtell donated it to the State of Alabama on 3 June 1975. Screw sloop In the Age of Sail , there was a large variety of terms to describe sailing vessels. In British English, the meaning of the term 'sloop' depends on the context. The main source of confusion about the term sloop, is that for commercial vessels, 'sloop' referred and refers to
7000-404: The first Royal Navy steam vessel in 1820 until 1840, 70 steam vessels entered service, the majority with side-lever engines, using boilers set to 4psi maximum pressure. The low steam pressures dictated the large cylinder sizes for the side-lever engines, though the effective pressure on the piston was the difference between the boiler pressure and the vacuum in the condenser. The side-lever engine
7125-543: The first time. To fully realise their benefits, marine compound engines required boiler pressures higher than the limit imposed by the United Kingdom 's Board of Trade , who would only allow 25 pounds per square inch (170 kPa). The shipowner and engineer Alfred Holt was able to persuade the authorisation of higher boiler pressures, launching SS Agamemnon in 1865, with boilers running at 60 psi (410 kPa). The combination of higher boiler pressures and
7250-478: The general meaning of the word 'sloop' was: A three masted square-rigged ship with a full broadside on a single deck. In a more loose sense, it could also refer to a three-mast vessel like CSS Alabama , which was a barque and lacked a full broadside . USS Princeton launched in September 1843, was the first world's screw steam vessel of war. She had been designed by John Ericsson , who had previously applied
7375-584: The globe, before heading to France for refit and repairs: Upon the completion of her seven expeditionary raids, Alabama had been at sea for 534 days out of 657, never visiting a Confederate port. She boarded nearly 450 vessels, captured or burned 65 Union merchant ships, and took more than 2,000 prisoners without any loss of life among either prisoners or her own crew. On 11 June 1864, Alabama arrived in port at Cherbourg , France. Captain Semmes soon requested permission to dry dock and overhaul his ship, necessary after naval action and so long at sea. Pursuing
7500-424: The growing dominance of the so-called "vertical" engine (more correctly known as the vertical inverted direct acting engine). In this type of engine, the cylinders are located directly above the crankshaft, with the piston rod/connecting rod assemblies forming a more or less straight line between the two. The configuration is similar to that of a modern internal combustion engine (one notable difference being that
7625-691: The gunboat type exists in the Western Australian Museum in Fremantle . After sinking in 1872, it was raised in 1985 from the SS ; Xantho and can now be turned over by hand. The engine's mode of operation, illustrating its compact nature, could be viewed on the Xantho project's website. The vibrating lever, or half-trunk engine, was a development of the conventional trunk engine conceived by Swedish - American engineer John Ericsson . Ericsson needed
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#17328451469447750-411: The heavier steam corvette and the ligther gun vessel. By 1833, the Royal Navy's vessels fell in three classes: At the time sloops could be ships (three masted) or brigs (two masts ) or be corvette (also three masts) built or otherwise. The term sloop referred to a sailing vessel. Small paddle steamers like HMS Rhadamanthus , Meteor, and Firebrand were listed as 'steam vessels'. In 1840,
7875-493: The higher boiler pressures that became prevalent in the latter half of the 19th century due to the difficulty of maintaining a steam seal around the trunk, and builders abandoned them for other solutions. Trunk engines were normally large, but a small, mass-produced, high-revolution, high-pressure version was produced for the Crimean War. In being quite effective, the type persisted in later gunboats. An original trunk engine of
8000-408: The horizon. All together, she burned 65 Union vessels of various types, most of them merchant ships . During all of Alabama ' s raiding ventures, captured ships' crews and passengers were never harmed, only detained until they could be placed aboard a neutral ship or placed ashore in a friendly or neutral port. All together, Alabama conducted a total of seven expeditionary raids, spanning
8125-400: The hull planking underneath. A second 32-pounder shell exploded and broke a link of the chain armor, tearing away a portion of the deal-board covering. Had those rounds come from Alabama ' s more powerful 100-pounder Blakely pivot rifle, they would have easily penetrated, but the likely result would not have been very serious, as both shots struck the hull a little more than five feet above
8250-525: The hull structure, immediately forward of the propeller and its lifting frame; the forward 32-pounder was recovered in 2000. Both of the Royal Navy pattern 32-pounders were identified: One lies inside the starboard hull, forward of the boilers, adjacent to the forward Downton pump . The second was identified as lying on the iron deck structure, immediately aft of the smoke pipe; it was recovered in 2001. The sole remaining 32-pounder has not been positively identified, but it could be underneath hull debris forward of
8375-492: The impact binding the ship's rudder badly. That rifled shell , however, failed to explode. If it had done so, it would have seriously disabled Kearsarge ' s steering, possibly sinking the warship, and ending the contest. In addition, Alabama ' s too rapid rate-of-fire resulted in poor gunnery, with many of her shots going too high, and as a result Kearsarge 's outboard chain armor received little damage. Semmes later said that he did not know about Kearsarge 's armor at
8500-455: The late 17th century, sloops were generally ketch-rigged bomb vessels or generally ship-rigged fireships. After the start of the Seven Years' War in 1756, the majority of sloop was designed to have three masts. Steam vessels driven by propellers were differentiated from those driven by paddle-wheels by referring to the ship's screws (propellers). Other propeller-driven warships included
8625-500: The literature of the early period then, an engine can generally be assumed to be simple-expansion unless otherwise stated. Compound engines were a method of improving efficiency. Until the development of compound engines, steam engines used the steam only once before it was recycled back to the boiler. A compound engine first recycles the steam into one or more larger, lower-pressure secondary cylinders, to use more of its heat energy. Compound engines could be configured to increase either
8750-459: The location of the lever pivot and connecting rod are more or less reversed, with the pivot located at one end of the lever instead of the centre, while the connecting rod is attached to the lever between the cylinder at one end and the pivot at the other. Chief advantages of the grasshopper engine were cheapness of construction and robustness, with the type said to require less maintenance than any other type of marine steam engine. Another advantage
8875-559: The most prizes of her raiding career while cruising off the coast of Brazil . After a second, easterly Atlantic crossing, Alabama sailed down the southwestern African coast where she continued the campaign against northern commerce. After stopping in Saldanha Bay on 29 July 1863 in order to verify that no enemy ships were in Table Bay , she finally made a much-needed refitting and reprovisioning visit to Cape Town , South Africa . Alabama
9000-485: The much less well armed blockade ship Hatteras . The Kearsarge was not clearly superior to Alabama , and Semmes did not wish his ship to be interned by the French. Therefore, after preparing his ship and drilling the crew for the coming battle during the next several days, Semmes issued, through diplomatic channels, a challenge to the Kearsarge ' s commander, "my intention is to fight the Kearsarge as soon as I can make
9125-421: The necessary arrangements. I hope these will not detain me more than until to-morrow or the morrow morning at farthest. I beg she will not depart until I am ready to go out. I have the honor to be Your obedient servant, R. Semmes, Captain." On 19 June, Alabama sailed out to meet the Union cruiser. Jurist Tom Bingham later wrote, "The ensuing battle was witnessed by Édouard Manet , who went out to paint it, and
9250-637: The new cruiser. Upon completion of the reading, musicians assembled from among the three ships' crews began to play the tune "Dixie" as the quartermaster finished hauling down Enrica ' s British colors. A signal cannon was fired and the ship's new battle ensign and commissioning pennant were broken out at the peaks of the mizzen gaff and mainmast. With that the cruiser became the Confederate States Steamer Alabama . The ship's motto: Aide-toi et Dieu t'aidera (French which approximately translates as " God helps those who help themselves ")
9375-656: The number of expansion stages defines the engine, not the number of cylinders, e.g. the RMS Titanic had four-cylinder, triple-expansion engines. The first successful commercial use was an engine built at Govan in Scotland by Alexander C. Kirk for the SS Aberdeen in 1881. An earlier experiment with an almost identical engine in SS Propontis in 1874 had had problems with the boilers. The initial installation, running at 150 psi (1,000 kPa) had to be replaced with
9500-438: The owner of an English yacht who had offered his children a choice between watching the battle and going to church." As Kearsarge turned to meet her opponent, Alabama opened fire. Kearsarge waited until the range had closed to less than 1,000 yards (900 m). According to combatants, the two ships steamed on opposite courses in seven spiraling circles, moving southwesterly with the 3-knot current, each commander trying to cross
9625-456: The port or starboard sides of the cruiser. The fore pivot cannon was a heavy, long-range 100-pounder, 7-inch-bore (178 mm) Blakely rifled muzzleloader ; the aft pivot cannon a large, 8-inch (203 mm) smoothbore. The new Confederate cruiser was powered by both sail and by a two-cylinder John Laird Sons and Company 300 horsepower (220 kW) horizontal steam engine , driving a single, Griffiths-type, twin-bladed brass screw. (Note: At
9750-410: The practice altogether. However, she and other raiders failed in their primary purpose, which was to draw Union vessels away from the blockade of the southern coastline that was slowly strangling the Confederacy. The Confederate government had hoped that panicking shipping companies would force the Union to dispatch ships to protect merchant shipping and hunt down the raiders, a task which always requires
9875-545: The procurement of sorely needed ships for the fledgling Confederate States Navy . The contract was arranged through the Fraser Trenholm Company, a cotton broker in Liverpool with ties to the Confederacy. Under prevailing British neutrality law, it was possible to build a ship designed as an armed vessel, provided that it was not actually armed until after it was in international waters. In light of this loophole, Alabama
10000-409: The protection of early steam vessels, such as protected cruisers ). A hit to her engine or boilers could easily have left Kearsarge dead in the water, or even caused a boiler explosion or fire that could destroy the cruiser. Her armor belt was struck twice during the fight. The first hit, by one of Alabama ' s 32-pounder shells, was in the starboard gangway, cutting the chain armor and damaging
10125-558: The raider, the American sloop-of-war , USS Kearsarge , under the command of Captain John Ancrum Winslow , arrived three days later and took up station just outside the harbor. While at his previous port-of-call , Winslow had telegraphed Gibraltar to send the old sloop-of-war USS St. Louis with provisions and to provide blockading assistance. Kearsarge now had Alabama boxed in with no place left to run. Up to this point, Semmes had faced another warship only once -
10250-499: The refitting of the new vessel with various provisions, including armaments, and 350 tons of coal, brought there by Agrippina , his new ship's supply vessel. After three days' work by the three ships' crews, Enrica was equipped as a naval cruiser , designated a commerce raider , for the Confederate States of America . Following her commissioning as CSS Alabama , Bulloch then returned to Liverpool to continue his secret work for
10375-531: The same battle ensign flown aboard his previous command, the smaller commerce raider CSS Sumter . Between 21 May and 28 November 1861, six more Southern states seceded and joined the Confederacy. Well before Alabama was launched as Enrica at Birkenhead, Merseyside in North West England, six more white, 5-pointed stars had been added to the "Stars and Bars" far away across the Atlantic on the Confederate mainland. One such early "Stars and Bars" battle ensign
10500-595: The same cylinder technology (simple expansion, see below) but a number of different methods of supplying power to the crankshaft (i.e. connection mechanism) were in use. Thus, early marine engines are classified mostly according to their connection mechanism. Some common connection mechanisms were side-lever, steeple, walking beam and direct-acting (see following sections). However, steam engines can also be classified according to cylinder technology (simple-expansion, compound, annular etc.). One can therefore find examples of engines classified under both methods. An engine can be
10625-455: The same widespread acceptance, as it was only marginally smaller and lighter than the side-lever engines it was designed to replace. It was however used on a number of mid-century warships, including the first warship fitted with a screw propeller, HMS Rattler . There are two definitions of a direct-acting engine encountered in 19th-century literature. The earlier definition applies the term "direct-acting" to any type of engine other than
10750-486: The screw to commercial boats. Princeton was also revolutionary, because it had its engines under the waterline, and had an armament that included a very high caliber wrought iron gun. This gun proved able to penetrate 4.5 inches of armor. The success of Princeton led the United States Navy to slowly shift to the propeller as means of propulsion. In 1857 the United States ordered 5 large screw sloops. USS Hartford
10875-666: The sea, depriving Kearsarge ' s commander, Winslow, of the traditional surrender of the sword (an act which was seen as dishonorable by many at the time). Of her 170 crew, the Alabama had 19 fatalities (9 killed and 10 drowned) and 21 wounded Kearsarge rescued most of the survivors, but 41 of Alabama ' s officers and crew, including Semmes, were rescued by John Lancaster's private British steam yacht Deerhound , while Kearsarge stood off to recover her rescue boats as Alabama sank. Captain Winslow had to stand by and watch Deerhound spirit his adversary away to England. Semmes and
11000-493: The ship's bell along with more than 300 other artifacts, including more cannons, structural samples, tableware, ornate commodes, and numerous other items that reveal much about life aboard the Confederate warship. Many of the artifacts are now housed in the Underwater Archaeology Branch, Naval History & Heritage Command conservation lab. Alabama is the subject of a sea shanty , Roll, Alabama, Roll which
11125-475: The side-to-side motion of the connecting rod, which links a gudgeon pin at the piston head to an outside crankshaft. The walls of the trunk were either bolted to the piston or cast as one piece with it, and moved back and forth with it. The working portion of the cylinder is annular or ring-shaped, with the trunk passing through the centre of the cylinder itself. Early examples of trunk engines had vertical cylinders. However, ship builders quickly realized that
11250-406: The small monitor warships. Ericsson resolved this problem by placing two horizontal cylinders back-to-back in the middle of the engine, working two "vibrating levers", one on each side, which by means of shafts and additional levers rotated a centrally located crankshaft. Vibrating lever engines were later used in some other warships and merchant vessels, but their use was confined to ships built in
11375-409: The starboard Trotman anchor. Alabama ' s heavy ordnance were one Blakely Patent 7-inch 100-pounder shell rifle mounted on a pivot carriage forward and one 68-pounder smoothbore similarly mounted aft. The Blakely 7-inch 100-pounder was found beside its pivot carriage, atop the forward starboard boiler; this was the first cannon recovered from Alabama . The 68-pounder smoothbore was located aft, at
11500-436: The steam engine is double acting, see below, whereas almost all internal combustion engines generate power only in the downward stroke). Vertical engines are sometimes referred to as "hammer", "forge hammer" or "steam hammer" engines, due to their roughly similar appearance to another common 19th-century steam technology, the steam hammer . Vertical engines came to supersede almost every other type of marine steam engine toward
11625-470: The steam vessels of the Royal Navy were also divided into classes: By 1845, the List of the Royal Navy referred to dozens of 'steam sloops'. Most of these were commanded by a commander, many others had a lieutenant commander. Cyclops was still a steam frigate. Gorgon was now a steam sloop commanded by a captain. Hydra was a steam sloop. Meteor was a steam vessel. In 1845 the first screw sloop appeared in
11750-414: The stern, immediately outside the starboard hull structure; it is possible that the remains of its truck and pivot carriage lie underneath the gun barrel. Both heavy cannon were recovered in 1994. In addition to the seven cannon, the wreck site contained shot, gun truck wheels, and brass tracks for the gun carriages; many of the brass tracks were recovered. Two shot were recovered, and one conical projectile
11875-404: The technical solution that ensured that virtually all newly built ocean-going steamships were fitted with triple expansion engines within a few years of Aberdeen coming into service. Multiple-expansion engine manufacture continued well into the 20th century. All 2,700 Liberty ships built by the United States during World War II were powered by triple-expansion engines, because the capacity of
12000-521: The time a cylinder was also called an engine. Therefore, the machinery involved, which had two cylinders, could also be referred to as a pair of engines as often found in literature.) The telescopic funnel could be raised or lowered by chains to disguise the fact that the vessel was a steamer. With the screw retracted using the stern's brass lifting gear mechanism, Alabama could make up to ten knots under sail alone and 13.25 knots (24.54 km/h) when her sail and steam power were used together. The ship
12125-513: The time of his decision to issue the challenge to fight, and in the following years firmly maintained he would have never fought Kearsarge if he had known. Kearsarge's hull armor had been installed in just three days, more than a year before, while she was in port at the Azores. It was made using 120 fathoms (720 ft; 220 m) of 1.7-inch (43 mm) single link iron chain and covered hull spaces 49 feet 6 inches (15.09 m) long by 6 feet 2 inches (1.88 m) deep. It
12250-411: The triangular crosshead assembly found in a typical steeple engine however, the back-acting engine generally used a set of two or more elongated, parallel piston rods terminating in a crosshead to perform the same function. The term "back-acting" or "return connecting rod" derives from the fact that the connecting rod "returns" or comes back from the side of the engine opposite the engine cylinder to rotate
12375-543: The type was compact enough to lay horizontally across the keel . In this configuration, it was very useful to navies, as it had a profile low enough to fit entirely below a ship's waterline , as safe as possible from enemy fire. The type was generally produced for military service by John Penn. Trunk engines were common on mid-19th century warships. They also powered commercial vessels, where—though valued for their compact size and low centre of gravity—they were expensive to operate. Trunk engines, however, did not work well with
12500-420: The vertical inverted direct-acting type, unless they use the term "vertical" without qualification. A simple-expansion engine is a steam engine that expands the steam through only one stage, which is to say, all its cylinders are operated at the same pressure. Since this was by far the most common type of engine in the early period of marine engine development, the term "simple expansion" is rarely encountered. In
12625-719: The waterline. Even if both shots had penetrated Kearsarge ' s side, they would have missed her vital machinery. However, a 100-pound shell could have done a great deal of damage to her interior; hot fragments could have easily set fire to the cruiser, one of the greatest risks aboard a wooden vessel. A little more than an hour after the first shot was fired, Alabama was reduced to a sinking wreck by Kearsarge ' s powerful 11-inch (280 mm) Dahlgrens, forcing Captain Semmes to strike his colors and to send one of his two surviving boats to Kearsarge to ask for assistance. According to witnesses, Alabama fired about 370 rounds at her adversary, averaging one round per minute per gun,
12750-654: The world's "first practical steamboat ", the Charlotte Dundas , in 1802. Rivaling inventors James Rumsey and John Fitch were the first to build steamboats in the United States. Rumsey exhibited his steamboat design in 1787 on the Potomac River; however, Fitch won the rivalry in 1790 after his successful test resulted in a passenger service on the Delaware River. In 1807, the American Robert Fulton built
12875-568: The world's first commercially successful steamboat, simply known as the North River Steamboat , and powered by a Watt engine. Following Fulton's success, steamboat technology developed rapidly on both sides of the Atlantic . Steamboats initially had a short range and were not particularly seaworthy due to their weight, low power, and tendency to break down, but they were employed successfully along rivers and canals, and for short journeys along
13000-462: The wounded during the battle. At one point the operating table was shot away. He worked in the wardroom until the order to abandon ship was finally given. As he helped wounded men into Alabama ' s only two functional lifeboats, an able-bodied sailor attempted to enter one, which was already full. Llewellyn, understanding that the man risked capsizing the craft, grabbed and pulled him back, saying "See, I want to save my life as much as you do; but let
13125-469: The wounded men be saved first." An officer in the boat, seeing that Llewellyn was about to be left aboard the stricken Alabama , shouted "Doctor, we can make room for you." Llewellyn shook his head and replied, "I will not peril the wounded." Unknown to the crew, Llewellyn had never learned to swim, and he drowned when the ship went down. His sacrifice did not go unrecognized in England. In his native village,
13250-549: The wreck to be Alabama ' s remains. In 1988 a non-profit organization, the CSS Alabama Association, was founded to conduct scientific exploration of the shipwreck. Although the wreck is in French territorial waters , the United States Government, as the successor to the former Confederate States of America , is the owner. On 3 October 1989 the US and France signed an agreement recognizing this wreck as an important heritage resource of both nations and establishing
13375-485: Was a paddlewheel engine and was not suitable for driving screw propellers . The last ship built for transatlantic service that had a side-lever engine was the Cunard Line 's paddle steamer RMS Scotia , considered an anachronism when it entered service in 1862. The grasshopper or 'half-lever' engine was a variant of the side-lever engine. The grasshopper engine differs from the conventional side-lever in that
13500-399: Was a good example of these. Brooklyn also belonged to this order that made the screw sloop popular. In 1858 seven smaller screw sloops were ordered. USS Mohican and Narragansett were examples of these seven. This naval article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Marine steam engine A marine steam engine is a steam engine that is used to power
13625-406: Was a type of direct-acting engine that was designed to achieve further reductions in engine size and weight. Oscillating engines had the piston rods connected directly to the crankshaft, dispensing with the need for connecting rods. To achieve this, the engine cylinders were not immobile as in most engines, but secured in the middle by trunnions that let the cylinders themselves pivot back and forth as
13750-559: Was also the basis of a 2014 record of the same name by British contemporary folk band Bellowhead . Alabama ' s visit to Cape Town in 1863 has passed (with a slight spelling change) into South African folklore in the Afrikaans song, Daar Kom die Alibama . The Alabama Hills in Inyo County, California, are named after the vessel. In 1998 the Jules Verne scholar William Butcher
13875-420: Was built with reinforced decks for cannon emplacements, ammunition magazines below water level, etc., but was not fitted with armaments or any "warlike equipment" originally. Initially known only by her shipyard number "ship number 0290", she was launched as Enrica on 15 May 1862 and secretly slipped out of Birkenhead on 29 July 1862. U.S. Navy Commander Tunis A. M. Craven , commander of USS Tuscarora ,
14000-411: Was developed by Thomas Newcomen in 1712. The steam engine improvements brought forth by James Watt in the later half of the 18th century greatly improved steam engine efficiency and allowed more compact engine arrangements. Successful adaptation of the steam engine to marine applications in England would have to wait until almost a century after Newcomen, when Scottish engineer William Symington built
14125-489: Was engraved in the bronze of the great double ship's wheel . Captain Semmes then made a speech about the Southern cause to the assembled seamen (few of whom were American), asking them to sign on for a voyage of unknown length and destiny. Semmes had only his 24 officers and no crew to man his new command. When this did not succeed, he offered signing money and double wages, paid in gold, and additional prize money to be paid by
14250-490: Was in Southampton and was tasked with intercepting the new ship, but was unsuccessful. Agent Bulloch arranged for a civilian crew and captain to sail Enrica to Terceira Island in the Azores . With Bulloch at his side, the new ship's captain, Raphael Semmes , left Liverpool on 13 August 1862 aboard the steamer Bahama to take command of the new cruiser. Semmes arrived at Terceira Island on 20 August 1862 and began overseeing
14375-416: Was inside the barrel of the 7-inch Blakely rifle. A shell for a 32-pounder was recovered from the stern, forward of the propeller; that shot was attached to a wood sabot having been packed in a wood box for storage. Additional round shot were observed scattered forward of the boilers and in the vicinity of the aft pivot gun, one possibly having been fired from Kearsarge . In 2002, a diving expedition raised
14500-464: Was large and heavy. For inland waterway and coastal service, lighter and more efficient designs soon replaced it. It remained the dominant engine type for oceangoing service through much of the first half of the 19th century however, due to its relatively low centre of gravity , which gave ships more stability in heavy seas. It was also a common early engine type for warships, since its relatively low height made it less susceptible to battle damage. From
14625-404: Was originally developed as a means of reducing an engine's height while retaining a long stroke . (A long stroke was considered important at this time because it reduced the strain on components.) A trunk engine locates the connecting rod within a large-diameter hollow piston. This "trunk" carries almost no load. The interior of the trunk is open to outside air, and is wide enough to accommodate
14750-416: Was purposely commissioned about a mile off Terceira Island in international waters on 24 August 1862. All the men from Agrippina and Bahama had been transferred to the quarterdeck of Enrica , where her 24 officers, some of them Southerners, stood in full dress uniform. Captain Raphael Semmes mounted a gun-carriage and read his commission from President Jefferson Davis , authorizing him to take command of
14875-619: Was rectangular in shape, but over time it was refined into an elongated triangle. The triangular assembly above the engine cylinder gives the engine its characteristic "steeple" shape, hence the name. Steeple engines were tall like walking beam engines, but much narrower laterally, saving both space and weight. Because of their height and high centre of gravity, they were, like walking beams, considered less appropriate for oceangoing service, but they remained highly popular for several decades, especially in Europe, for inland waterway and coastal vessels. Steeple engines began to appear in steamships in
15000-607: Was salvaged from Alabama ' s floating debris, following her sinking by Kearsarge . It still survives and is held by the Alabama Department of Archives and History . It is listed there as "Auxiliary Flag of the C.S.S. Alabama, Catalogue No. 86.3766.1." According to their provenance reconstruction, DeCost Smith , an American from New England, discovered this "Stars and Bars" ensign in a Paris upholstery shop in 1884, where he purchased it for 15 francs. Smith's nephew, Clement Sawtell of Lincoln Square, Massachusetts, later inherited
15125-438: Was stopped up and down to eye-bolts with marlines and secured by iron dogs. Her chain armor was concealed behind 1-inch deal-boards painted black to match the upper hull's color. This "chaincladding" was placed along Kearsarge ' s port and starboard midsection down to the waterline, for additional protection of her engine and boilers when the upper portion of her coal bunkers were empty (coal bunkers played an important part in
15250-680: Was the first to identify a possible link between the Birkenhead-built Alabama and Captain Nemo ’s Nautilus from the Jules Verne 1869 novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas . Butcher stated The Alabama, which claimed to have sunk 75 merchantmen, was destroyed by the Unionist Kearsarge off Cherbourg on 11th June 1864…. This battle has clear connections with Nemo’s final attack, also in
15375-470: Was the first type of steam engine widely adopted for marine use in Europe . In the early years of steam navigation (from c1815), the side-lever was the most common type of marine engine for inland waterway and coastal service in Europe, and it remained for many years the preferred engine for oceangoing service on both sides of the Atlantic . The side-lever was an adaptation of the earliest form of steam engine,
15500-406: Was the most common type of engine in the early years of American steam navigation. The crosshead engine is described as having a vertical cylinder above the crankshaft, with the piston rod secured to a horizontal crosshead, from each end of which, on opposite sides of the cylinder, extended a connecting rod that rotated its own separate crankshaft. The crosshead moved within vertical guides so that
15625-433: Was therefore deemed unsuitable for oceangoing service. This largely confined it to vessels built for inland waterways. As marine engines grew steadily larger and heavier through the 19th century, the high center of gravity of square crosshead engines became increasingly impractical, and by the 1840s, ship builders abandoned them in favor of the walking beam engine. The name of this engine can cause confusion, as "crosshead"
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