Conway Maritime Press - Warship 44

An example of Sepping's iron tiller and a double sheave tiller
block fi tted to_the deckhead. One of the many excellent photographs
from Th.e Conetruction and Fitting of the Saitiig Man
of War.
Seppings' own preference
waS fcir two yeafs immeision
of all green.timber in salt
water (he had a sl.oop sunk
in Poitsmduth harbour in
1E16 to prove his point).
Once constrtcied, ships were
injected with a variety of
evil mixtures, including coal
tar, mineral oil, white lead
and slaked lime in various
proportrons. I[ rs worln
noting'that Sbveral of
SeppingS', slips lasted well
into' the twentieth century;
lhe NiIe being over 110 years
old when accidentally
destroyed in April 1953. The
ffigatp Unicorz, still afloat
at Dundee, provides an
invaluable demonstration of
the post 1815 methods. Her
survival reflects the advantages
of slow construction
with seasoned timber, and
the benefits of having no sea
service. Even well built shios
were pulled apart by the
weights they had to carry
254
and the strain of the
sea,
Seppings' successor, Sir
William Symonds, protnptly
abandoned all Seppings'
methods of avoiding dry rot,
believing they did not justify
the cost and inconvenience.
Even so, his ships, the
largest wooden sailing ships
ever built, lasted well. His
modifi cations were intended
to make ships cheaper to
build, including the use of
more iron, and less heavy,
curved timber. In a period of
reduced naval estimates this
was important.
This aside, Goodwin has
added to the literature ofBritish
wooden shipbuilding,
a literature that is better
rounded than that for any
other country, with the possible
exception of the United
States. What we need nowis a
French equivalent for this
book, and Brian Lavery's
Ship of the Line.
AT RNEE, SeNtember
Naval Vessels, Weapons
Systems and Technology
First five volumes;
* Modern Sea Power
* Ships, Submarines and the
* Surface Ships:An lntroduction
to Design Principles.
" Amphibious Warfare
* Naval Electronic Warfare
For further information on
individualtitles olease write to:
BIIASSEY'S DEFENCE PUBTISHERS
24Gray's lnn Road, London WCIXBHR