THE
SEARCH FOR SPEED UNDER SAIL 1700-1855 HBDJ SCHOONERS PACKETS CLIPPERS BRIGS
SLAVERS
HARDBOUND BOOK with DUSTJACKET
in ENGLISH by HOWARD I. CHAPELLE
Published in 1967, this book
marked a significant advance in the study of sailing-ship history. Until then
historian discussing discussing improvements in naval architecture in terms of
speed referred only to record passages or outstanding “day’s runs’ – taking no
account of the different sizes of ships, their loadings, weather conditions or
any of the elusive factors of ship designs.
Howard Chapelle, who was trained
naval architect as well as an historian, brought a completely new approach to
the problem of comparing ships built at different times and to different
dimensions. By applying modern projections and the fundamental principles of
naval architecture and hydrodynamics, he achieved a dimensionless analysis and
an accurate evaluation of the relative merits of each design. However, each
concept was clearly explained as it was introduced, which gave the
non-technical reader a more sophisticated understanding of the nature of ship
design. Drawing his examples from over a hundred varied ship-types stretching
from before 1700 to the heyday of the nineteenth century clippers, Chapelle was
able to produce the most wide ranging and original history of sailing-ship
development ever published.
Illustrated with over 130 of his
own superb line drawings, the book was equally well-documented visually, with
plans of warships, privateers and merchantmen derived from archives all over
the world. Chapelle has many fine works on the history of sail to his credit,
but The Search for Speed Under Sail is probably his most important contribution
to the field. Oddly enough, it is now also the rarest.
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THE STATE OF NAVAL ARCHITECTURE
AND SHIPBUILDING IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
1700 to 1760 (AMERICAN BUILT
SCHOONER ST. ANN c.1736, AMERICAN SLOOP MEDIATOR 1745, PEREGRINE GALLEY, 12-GUN
DANISH SLOOP 1665, PLANS FOR FERETT & SHARKE 1711, CHESAPEAKE BAY SLOOP
MEDIATOR 1741, NEPTUNUS 1720, SIR EDWARD HAWKE & EARL OF EGMONT)
1760 to 1793 (ENGLISH MERCHANT
CUTTER, ROYAL NAVY BRIG HMS BADGER 1776, BRIGANTINE SWIFT 1778, PRIVATEER
RHODES 1778-80, BERBICE 1780, ROYAL NAVY LUGGER EXPERIMENT, DANISH XEBEC 30
GUNS 1765-70, FRENCH XEBEC LE REQUIN 1752, LYME – A 24-GUN SHIP 1739, CHAPMAN’S
BERMUDA SLOOP, HARLEQUIN, CODRINGTON 1773, MOHAWK 1779, PRIVATEER RATTLESNAKE,
NEW YORK MERCHANT SHIP LONDON 1770)
1793 to 1812 (SCHOONER FLY – A BLOCKADE
RUNNER 1810, AMERICAN LETTER-OF-MARQUE LYNX 1812, SAIL PLAN OF THE BRIG SPARK
1813, SCHOONER LA PHOENIX 1810, COUREUSE, SWIFT 1794, NON-PAREIL, DUC DE
WAGRAM, DOMINICA, HANNIBAL 1810, WILLIAM BAYARD, GRECIAN 1812, ZEBRA 1812,
TRANSFER, DASH)
1812 to 1820 (REINDEER AND AVON
1814, US NAVY BRIG SPARK 1813, NEW YORK PILOT SCHOONER ACHILLES, SNAPDRAGON)
1820 to 1845 (SPANISH FELUCCA
HURRICANE 1824, MID 18TH CENTURY SWEDISH GALLEY, US FLYING FISH
1828, YOUNG BRUTUS BALTIMORE CLIPPER, NEW YORK TO LE HARVE PACKET SHIP LE
DUCHESSE D’ORLEANS, FRENCH LA GAZELLE, SLAVER BRIG DILIGENTE 1839, SPANISH
SLAVING SHIP CONCHITA, JAMES MUNROE, KESSINGTON 1825, LAFAYETTE 1824, BROTHERS
1826, COLUMBUS 1834, CHRISTOVAL COLON 1835, YORKSHIRE, SANTIAGO 1833, ANN McKIM
1832, CHINA PACKET MONTAUK 1844, PANAMA 1844, CLIPPER ISABELLA, SLAVER THERESA
SECUNDA, MAN-OF-WAR CLIPPER LAWRENCE, RAINBOW 1845)
1845 to 1855 (CLIPPER SHIP
NIGHTINGALE 1851, CLIPPER SHIP WITCH OF THE WAVE 1851, MEXICAN REVENUE CUTTER
BUILT BY WILLIAM WEBB 1851, TERN SCHOONER ECKFORD WEBB 1855, SEA WITCH, MEMMON,
SAMUEL RUSSELL, ORIENTAL, CELESTIAL, CHALLENGE, COMET, JACOB BELL)
CONCLUSIONS and COMMENTS
SPAR DIMENSIONS OF CLIPPER SHIP “SWEEPSTAKES”
SPAR DIMENSIONS OF CLIPPER SHIP “SOVEREIGN
OF THE SEAS”
CONTEMPORARY ACCOUNTS OF CLIPPER
SHIPS (STAGHOUND, LIGHTNING, HERALD OF THE MORNING & RED JACKET)
