Chapter XI · STEAM NAVIGATION—THE ‘GREAT EASTERN’ STEAM-SHIP, FROM THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE UNDERTAKING TO THE LAUNCH. A.D. 1851—1857. ÆTATIS 46—52. (continued 2)

On the other hand, by almost abandoning the present modes, and adopting measures which I shall point out presently, adapted to the new circumstances, a much greater degree of certainty and accuracy may be attained than is now even sought for. I have had the best advice on these points, both astronomical and nautical: the Astronomer Royal, Mr. Airy, who both as a man of science and a practical man, and by his official position, is the first authority on such matters, and Professor Smyth, of the Edinburgh Observatory, Captain Beecher of the Admiralty, and several other scientific naval men, have assisted me; and, under their advice, instruments are being constructed, and a system devised, which will admit of continuous observations being made with great accuracy at all times of the day, and particularly at night, and by means of which also a continuous correction of the ship’s compasses with the most minute accuracy can be kept up, and her position be ascertained with almost the same accuracy as a point on land; and I have their authority for saying that such improved means are desirable, and are attainable.

The importance and advantage of continuous observation throughout the twenty-four hours, whenever a glimpse can be obtained of any object which will answer the purpose, and even when the horizon is invisible, may not at first be evident, but it cannot be over-estimated. An exact knowledge of the ship’s movements will be soon acquired that would almost replace observation, and the average of numerous observations secures an accuracy which cannot be approached by any other method.

By a careful and continuous comparison of the exact distances run, with accurate records of the speed of the engine and of the ship through the water, registered by good instruments (the performance of which has been tested, and which are being made), and having proper reference to the varying draught of water of the vessel, the most precise measure of the speed of the vessel through the water can be learnt; and by careful observation of the force and direction of the wind, the effect of any given wind, and an accurate measure of her drift or lee-way, may be obtained; and then, by adhering strictly, without regard to wind or weather, to a course previously laid down on good charts, having upon them the sets of currents, as already observed, the true position of the ship may be determined at any moment, and there need never be the slightest hesitation, or any time or distance lost by doubts.

In addition to the instruments above named, I hope to be able to provide the means of sounding at moderate depths while the ship is going her full speed.

Having the means, then, of determining the ship’s course and position with much greater accuracy than is now practised, we must seek to make that course, or the distance to be run, the shortest possible, that is to say, the course which will occupy the least time.

The exact course to be taken by such a vessel must be determined upon and laid down upon the charts after a due consideration of all the circumstances which can possibly affect the time occupied in the voyage between any two points, and particularly by examining and considering well all the information which scientific observers have collected and recorded as to the currents, probabilities of fogs, or of ice, and other impediments, the chances of meeting vessels, which must be avoided as much as possible, the average direction of prevailing winds, varying such course, perhaps, in certain latitudes with the season of the year, but certainly not with the temporary direction or force of the winds or state of weather at the moment; for the speed which we shall attain renders these causes of secondary consideration, and would interfere with all ordinary calculations derived from present experience of the probable state of the wind in the new position which the ship would attain after a few hours’ run. The business of the commander would be, therefore, to adhere rigidly to the exact course previously deliberately determined upon, and not to be tempted to deviate except slightly, and even then only according to rules which he shall have previously laid down for himself.

The importance of adhering strictly to this rule cannot be over-estimated. The period occupied in a voyage will be materially influenced by the exact course followed, and as such course must be determined upon only by a calm and somewhat laborious study of documents, it cannot be safely determined upon except in the closet, that is, before the voyage, and uninfluenced by the excitement of hopes or by disappointments caused by difficulties.

The safety of the ship and of the enterprise may also mainly depend upon the rigid adherence to this rule.

With the means at his disposal for checking that course, and with the method and regularity involved by a rigid adherence to it, and a correction at once of any departure from it, a degree of certainty will be attained as to the ship’s position which will almost preclude the possibility of an accident, and which I consider practically invaluable as affecting the safety of our vessel. This rigid adherence to an exactly prescribed course will prevent any risk of that which is the cause of the greater number of losses. No inducement of fine weather, or a happy state of mind and body of the captain, or a desire to save time, or to show the beauties of a coast, or any other temporary cause, will lead to a nearer approach to dangerous points than had been previously determined upon as safe. The shortest and best route, the safest from all dangers, and giving the widest berth to all shores or shoals, having been laid down, must be kept to against all temptations.

Economy of fuel is another consideration of the highest importance. The engines are of power sufficient, if fully worked, to consume considerably more than the cargo provided. Large as may be the supply which the ship is capable of carrying, it is no more than that which is calculated as necessary for the voyage intended, with a moderate allowance for contingencies; and it must be borne in mind that the ordinary means of making up any deficiencies would be totally inapplicable in our case, since no supply capable of being drawn in an emergency from other sources would be sufficient.

The precise quantity calculated and provided must be made sufficient, or the consequences would be serious. The usual practice, therefore, of going ahead as fast as the engines will take the ship must be entirely abandoned. Careful observations, systematically pursued, will show the speed which, under different states of immersion, can be attained without a disproportionate expenditure of power, and to this speed the engines must be limited. A little experience will probably show that, under certain circumstances of immersion of the ship, or of the state of the sea, it may be economical to force the screw or the paddle engine, the one more than the other. This can only be determined by somewhat delicate and very precise and accurate observations. These must be made. It is not merely a question of degree, but our whole success depends upon the application, not of one, but of all these refinements.

A close study of the relative speed of the ship, as ascertained by the self-registering logs, and by continuous astronomical observations, compared with the expenditure of power in the engines as indicated by the number of revolutions constantly registered, and the power expended as measured and recorded by the chief engineer, will be necessary for some time to come, and until indeed the management of such large ships becomes as much a matter of rule as it is now, or perhaps ought to be more than it is, with smaller ones.

As to the use of the sails, while the engines are nevertheless in full action, it must be entirely a matter of experiment, and an experiment in which, again, all previous habits and prejudices must be set aside.

Whether a sail steadies such a ship usefully or not can be, and must therefore be, positively determined by measurement with proper instruments, and not by the sensations; and the result upon the speed of the vessel as compared with the power expended must, in like manner, be ascertained by positive observations and measurements. No past experience can do other than mislead. It is quite possible that the same means which improve the rate of the present large steamers may be prejudicial to our performance.

The commander must appreciate the necessity of all this study and attention to what is rather mechanical than nautical, or our voyage will be a failure. The difference between the peculiar qualities of such a floating mass as compared with those of the largest steamer now afloat, is likely to be as great as between the last and a 100-ton cutter; and the most prejudiced believer in the acquired skill of an old sailor who had learnt to manage the small vessel in the most perfect and masterly manner, would not expect him to be able to handle one of the present large steamers, still less to elicit the best performance out of her. In the same degree the man who takes the command of our ship must, if he is to succeed, enter upon his duties with a belief that he has nearly all to learn, at the same time that this feeling is perfectly consistent with a proper confidence in his own powers to master the new circumstances, and to succeed with this as he may have done with other vessels.

Finally, the commander’s attention must be devoted exclusively to the general management of the whole system under his control, and his attention must not be diverted by frivolous pursuits and unimportant occupations. I believe that even in the present large steamers much advantage would result from relieving the captain from all care of the passengers and cargo; but in our case, where we may have to provide for thousands instead of hundreds, and arranged in different classes, and living in completely separate saloons and compartments, the present system of a captain dining at the table and associating with the passengers would be impracticable, even if it were desirable. But for much more important reasons, and on general grounds, I think that while the commander is of course supreme over every department, he should not be embarrassed by undertaking any one, still less should he have his mind occupied with the troublesome and frivolous concerns of a vast hotel, nor should he be hampered by the necessity of attending to the hours and the forms of a large society. Moreover, I consider it essential that he should by his presence and control keep up the position and the sense of responsibility of the chief officers under him, by living and messing with them; the commander and those acting immediately under him must occupy a more dignified position than they now do.

The result of all these general views is, that the command of this ship must be considered to consist mainly in the superintending and keeping up in a high state of order the perfect working of a highly methodical pre-arranged system, by means of which the ship is to be made to go like a piece of very accurate machinery, precisely in the course which has been pre-arranged, and precisely at the speed, and with the consumption of power, which has been ascertained to be the highest attainable with the requisite economy; and there must be a proper establishment of assistants, competent to control each department of this system. As regards the constitution of this establishment, I consider the commander should have a staff of chief officers or captains. I believe three will be necessary, with a fourth performing general duties and ready to take the place of any one of the three; that one of them should always be in command of the ship (under the commander); that, besides these chief officers, there should be a master, corresponding to a master in a Queen’s ship, who would have assistants and calculators or clerks, whose duties would be to keep the ship’s reckoning, to keep up perfect and continuous observations, to calculate with precision and set from hour to hour the exact course by compass which has to be followed, to keep in the course determined upon by the captain, to keep a series of accurate observations and records of all matters that can affect the ship’s movements—duties involving an amount of science and practical astronomical and mathematical knowledge which requires a superior education, and which is found only in this class of men. The duty of the master would be therefore to supply the science necessary for the conduct of the ship, and to be the commander’s cyclopædia and book of reference, to be able at any moment to report to the commander the exact position of the ship and her course, and the variation of her compasses, and take the soundings, if any, to note the fact of a change in the temperature of the water, indicating approach of ice, and any other symptom or fact which can affect the ship’s movements—all which should be determined by continuous observations methodically and mechanically made, and not be dependent upon the chance of the commander’s anxiety or greater or less forethought. The chief engineer should also be a superior man, selected more for his general qualifications as a good director of men and machinery, than as a mere marine engineer. These should form a staff, and be of a standing to live and mess with the commander; so that each department should thus be furnished with a chief competent for the special duties of his department, and reporting to and acting under the general control of the commander.

That the principles thus laid down as to following exactly a prescribed and predetermined course, and as to regulating exactly the consumption of power and consequently of fuel, and the keeping up a system of what may be termed scientific observation for the purpose of ensuring this regularity, I submit should be rigidly enforced; and the commander should be required to adopt these principles as the guide of his conduct, and to use the measures that are placed at his disposal for working this machine in the manner and with the precision pointed out.

Letter on the Duties of the Chief Engineer.

March 19, 1857.

The duties which I apprehend will devolve upon the chief engineer of our ship will be, firstly, the supreme direction and management of both the principal engines, and all the auxiliary engines and machinery worked by them in the ship; and as the construction of such a ship, and of many of its adjuncts, such as the iron masts and yards, steering apparatus, and other parts, are strictly of an engineering character, and such as in the event of repairs, particularly at sea or in foreign ports, would require a mechanical engineer rather than a shipwright, I think it must be made part of your duty, as the most competent officer, to make yourself thoroughly acquainted with the construction of the ship and all its parts, and all mechanism within it, so as to be prepared to take such share of responsibility as to the state of the structure of the ship as it may be found desirable to throw upon you as chief engineer, and at all events to be prepared to be the captain’s chief authority and responsible adviser on all matters of mechanical engineering.

The principal duty, however, will of course be the management of the engines, including the care of the paddle, screw, and other machinery immediately connected with the engines, or worked by them; and as the success of the ship as a steamboat will depend entirely upon the amount of power developed by the engines, in proportion to the fuel consumed, there is no limit to the degree of attention, of judgment, and of skill, that not only may be usefully applied, but that must be applied to ensure success.

I have no wish to alarm you as to the amount of work or responsibility that will devolve upon you; my object is rather to show you the opportunity afforded of displaying judgment, skill, and assiduous attention, and thus, as I hope, to excite your ambition, when I seek to draw your attention very strongly to the peculiarities of this case.

In ordinary steam navigation, whatever perfection has as yet been sought for or attained, the business of the engineer has been mainly to keep the engines in perfect order, and to develope the greatest amount of power possible, and, secondly, to effect as great economy as possible in the consumption of fuel; but the latter has been merely a question of economy in a pecuniary point of view, and not of necessity, and has been entirely secondary to the first condition, so much so that the most successful ships have not been by any means the most economical, on the contrary, they have been rather extravagant consumers.

In the present case, the circumstances are totally different, and it will be essential that you should change altogether your accustomed views on this subject.

This ship is built to go round the world with a defined and limited amount of fuel, which you have no power to exceed, or rather, if you exceed it, at any part of the voyage, the whole is a failure. The circumstances are therefore reversed, with this additional condition, that there is no medium or partial success. In the ordinary cases you have a limited power of engine and an excess of fuel, in which it is desirable but not essential that you should effect economy; in the present case you have a limited and defined quantity of fuel to consume, with an excess of engine power, and the art will be to obtain the largest total amount of power from this fuel, expending it progressively, and in such a manner as to reach a given point. To effect this, and obtain the best possible results, will require of course that the engines should be kept in the best possible order; but this, although a preliminary condition, is an ordinary one, requiring no peculiar duties or exercise of judgment, and must be assumed, as on all occasions, a matter of course. The peculiar duties in our case will be the continuous study in every trifling detail that can effect the result of the means of obtaining the largest amount of steam from the defined expenditure of fuel and the use of this steam, so as to obtain the largest amount of power, and the largest amount of result.

The mere study of this question must necessarily occupy some time, and for several voyages it will be a subject of experiment; but the more rapidly positive information can be obtained, the more prompt and certain will be our success. To attain success will require a degree of attention to every minute detail, which it has never yet been necessary or profitable to devote to this branch.

The continuous weighing out of coals and measure of the products of each boiler (for which means will be provided), the continual observation of the extent to which blowing-off is desirable, the continuous measure by indicator of the performance of the engines under different pressures and degrees of expansion, so that you can at all times furnish the captain with the exact performances of the two engines, and the cost of fuel required to produce given results in each; so that he may have the means of comparing your expenditure with the results he obtained in the speed of the ship, and of learning the relative beneficial effects of employing more or less the paddle or the screw in different states of weather, or different immersions of the ship, will be required; and every method of increasing the performance of each gang of stokers, and of stimulating their skill and care, and every refinement in each separate branch of the work, to effect economy of fuel, or rather, development of power with a given amount of fuel, will be necessary. We all know full well how, if every effort is continuously made and every possible care is continuously bestowed in each department, 4 or 5 per cent. can be saved or gained in many points, and at many times in the 24 hours, between the drawing of the coals from the bunkers and the development of power at the paddle board or the screw blades; and if only 1 per cent. can be thus gained in a few points, the aggregate will soon amount to 10 per cent., which with us may make the difference between success and failure. All these things will require judgment, thought and attention, rather than labour, and, above all, close watching and method, and good management of men.

Besides these more than ordinary duties during the voyage, the only peculiarity in the service will be that, with such a costly machine, the mere interest of money and fixed expenditure upon which will not be short of 200l. a day, and the perfect state of which is so essential, you will be required to give more attention to the machinery when in port than is usually required.

I trust that this strong but not exaggerated statement of what would be expected of the chief engineer, will excite your desire to undertake the duties, rather than deter you from seeking the post; and that, if the Directors should accept the offer of your services, you will enter upon the duties with confidence, though with a sense of their serious importance. In the event of your appointment, it will be a necessary condition that you should be able to commence at once the supervision of the erection of the engines. This work is already much farther advanced than I should have wished it to be before the chief engineer had taken charge of it. I attach great importance to his having that familiar knowledge of all the parts and their condition, which no study of drawings can give so well as actual inspection during erection, and I wish also that he should satisfy himself of the perfect truth of every adjustment.

It will be seen from the documents which have been printed in this chapter how ‘deeply and seriously’ Mr. Brunel had considered all the conditions which were, in his opinion, necessary for the economical construction, and the successful employment, of the great ship; but it is hardly possible, by means of extracts from his correspondence, to convey an adequate impression of the amount of labour he expended—from the year 1852 to the last days of his life—on the supervision of every detail of the work. ‘The fact is,’ he said, ‘I never embarked in any one thing to which I have so entirely devoted myself, and to which I have devoted so much time, thought, and labour, and on the success of which I have staked so much reputation.’

Heavy as Mr. Brunel’s duties were in October 1854, when he wrote these words, a far greater amount of labour was subsequently imposed upon him.

During the year 1855 financial difficulties arose which interfered with the progress of the ship; and at last, in February 1856, although Mr. Brunel had done everything in his power to prevent the necessity of such a step, the works were suspended; and they were not resumed till the end of May, after which date they were carried on by the Company under the supervision of the existing staff. It was greatly against Mr. Brunel’s wishes that this was attempted, except as a temporary measure, as he considered it impossible for a company to carry on such a work efficiently and economically.

Notwithstanding all these difficulties, that which seemed at first only a confused mass of iron assumed by slow degrees the graceful proportions of a ‘great ship’; and the hull of the vessel was completed by the end of the summer of 1857, so far as it was desirable to proceed before the commencement of the launching operations.