Page 352 - Encyclopedia Of World History Vol IV

sailing ships 1653

rivalry between European powers was waged on the seas ships because steamers could not haul enough coal to
through exploration, colonization, and naval battles. In make the journey to China and back. In 1869, with the
addition to the large warships, battle frigates, adapted from opening of the Suez Canal in Egypt, steamers began to
lean, maneuverable commercial vessels, became an impor- take over the China trade as well, marking the end of the
tant element of the naval fleets of Britain and France. dominance of sailing ships. By the dawn of the twentieth
In 1750 shipbuilders in the British colonies in North century sailing ships were used almost exclusively as
America developed an entirely new form, the schooner— training and pleasure craft, soon symbolizing luxury
a small, fast ship with only two masts that initially was rather than efficiency.
used for fishing and trade. The Revolutionary War
Jordan Kellman
brought a military dimension to the schooner, which
navies used to conduct merchant raids and run block- See also Maritime History; Navigation; Piracy
ades. Later slave traders used schooners between Africa
and the Americas, particularly after 1820, when slave
trade was outlawed by many world governments. The Further Reading
fledgling navy of the United States began with the com- Anderson, R., & Anderson, R. C. (1977). The sailing ship: Six thousand
years of history. New York: Arno Press.
missioning of six such ships in 1794, one of which, the Bass, G. F. (Ed.). (1972). A history of seafaring based on underwater
U.S.S. Constitution, is still docked in Boston. archaeology. New York: Walker and Co.
Bauer, K. J. (1988). A maritime history of the United States. Columbia:
Longer masts as well as jibs (triangular sails set on a
University of South Carolina Press.
stay extending usually from the head of the foremast) Casson, L. (1971). Ships and seamanship in the ancient world. Princeton,
were introduced on European ships during the eigh- NJ: Princeton University Press.
Casson, L. (1991). The ancient mariners. Princeton, NJ: Princeton Uni-
teenth century; all traces of forecastles and aftercastles dis- versity Press.
appeared; and poop decks were extended to cover the Chapel, H. (1967). The search for speed under sail, 1700–1855. New
York: Norton.
rudder and steering mechanisms, allowing the helmsman
Cipolla, C. (1965). Guns, sails and empires. New York: Barnes & Noble.
to be inside the ship. In 1760 the British introduced cop- Evans,A. C. (1994). The Sutton Hoo ship burial. London: British Museum
per plating on the bottom planking of their ships to Press.
Gale, N. H. (Ed.). (1991). Bronze Age trade in the Mediterranean.
reduce the effects of corrosion and parasites on the hull. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
The nineteenth century brought the rise of the large Gardiner, R. (Ed.). (1993). Sail’s last century. London: Conway Maritime
Press.
East Indiamen (50 meters long with a beam of 12
Gould, R. (2000). Archaeology and the social history of ships. Cambridge,
meters), which were built in England for cargo rather UK: Cambridge University Press.
than speed—the round trip between England and China Irwin, G. J. (1992). The prehistoric exploration and colonization of the
Pacific. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
took about a year. Clipper ships appeared first in the Jobe, J. (Ed.). (1967). The great age of sail (M. Kelly, Trans.). Lausanne,
United States in 1820 and were originally intended for Switzerland: Edita Lausanne.
Levathes, L. (1994). When China ruled the seas. Oxford, UK: Oxford Uni-
the China tea and opium trade but were quickly adapted
versity Press.
by British shipyards. One of the fastest British clippers, Martin, C. J. M., & Parker, G. (1988). The Spanish Armada. New York:
the Cutty Sark, is preserved in dry dock at Greenwich, Norton.
Morrison, J. S., & Coates, J. F. (1986). The Athenian trireme. Cambridge,
England. Built in 1869 and famous for its speedy round- UK: Cambridge University Press.
trip voyages from England to Shanghai, the Cutty Sark is Souza, D. (1998). The persistence of sail in the age of steam. New York:
Plenum.
64 meters long and capable of sailing at 17 knots.
Unger, R.W. (1980). The ship in the medieval economy, 600–1600. Mon-
treal, Canada: McGill-Queens University Press.
The Eclipse of Sail,
1850–Present
After regular transatlantic steam service began in 1838,
only long-distance China trade remained open to sailing