[Yimboli]

Originally posted by Beck:
A more common approach used by ships of all sizes to improve their speed was the lining of the hull below the waterline with copper. Wood in contact with the sea has problems with barnacle growth which in turn adds to the friction of moving through the water slowing it down.

I couldn't help but pipe in here. I'm in the Coast Guard, currently underway here in the Caribbean (our damn water makers just broke, so we have no fresh water.. arg..), and the CO [captain, commanding officer, etc.] recently addressed copper-bottoming in his night orders. Copper bottoming may or may not have had an effect on speed. It sounds to me like a possibility. However, the real reason for covering the hull of a ship with copper was to keep the teredo worm away from the wood. The teredo worm, a.k.a. shipworm, seaworm, or sea termite, is exactly what its nickname suggests: a wood-hungry sea creature, and was responsible for many lost ships that sunk simply because a mollusk (the name worm is misleading) ate through too many parts of the hull! I think the magical date was around 1760 that this became the accepted solution. This is the source of the phrase, "a copper-bottomed investment", which means that an investment is a sure success.

Originally posted by Beck:
Just FYI, grapeshot was used to kill crew. The weight of the shot just bounced off wooden decks.

Wasn't that in Master and Commander? (if anyone saw it... what a good movie!)

[ July 22, 2004, 23:12: Message edited by: Yimboli ]