steamships
Sheesh! I thought I'd have this post out about 2 days ago. Oh well. Here it is.
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Steamships[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The use of steam boats on the rivers of North America during the War of 1812 was a real eye-opener, both for the military and for commercial merchants/shippers. While there is a big difference between a transatlantic steamship and a river boat that 1) runs on fresh water and 2) can stop every miles for more wood to fuel it, the future possibilities were clear (to some).[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The first transatlantic voyage by a steam assisted ship was in 1819 [one year earlier than OTL], while the first paddlewheel steam packet 1836 [2 years early][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Meanwhile, in 1832 Frédéric Sauvage demonstrated a screw-propeller steamboat which out-powered a similar boat with paddles [OTL]. Prince Consort Leopold hears about it and invites him to England to test out his ideas. Queen Charlotte encourages her husband in this, as he has been feeling a bit like a 5th wheel, being Prince Consort and not King. Having a useful outlet for him away from governing and politics makes for a happier Parliament and a happier marriage. Under royal patronage, Sauvage continues his experiments, and a small group of engineers accumulate around him, working on the device, including John Ericsson an inventor from Sweden who had recently arrived in Britain.[1] One of the artificers in the group (whose name wasn't recorded) broke a screw and didn't tell anyone. When the group found that this single turn screw was more efficient than the multi-turn ones first used, they moved to single turn screws. The artificer, however, seems to have been fired for carelessness[2].[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The group launches their first full sized steamship, the SS Archimedes in 1836 and she has her maiden voyage later that year. This is the first screw propelled steamship. [3][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Isambard Kingdom Brunel[4], seeing the operation and advantages of this ship, convinces the board of the Great Western Railway that their new steamship, the Great Western, should have its propulsion changed from paddle wheel to screw. This means that the ship's launch is delayed some, and leaves a clear field for the British North American Steamship Line to launch the first transatlantic steamship service with a borrowed England/Ireland packet ship, the paddlewheeler SS Rigel in 1836.[5] However the Rigel has to be massively overloaded with coal to make the trip, so it is not a commercial success. The Great Western, launched the next year was big enough to carry enough coal, and was the first commercially successful service. (Brunel had calculated the efficiencies and realized that a large ship would be relatively more efficient. The fact that screws are more efficient than paddles helped, too.)[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Again, the RN is not very interested in steam warships. At this point in time, steamships are VERY inefficient, and since the RN has to protect British interests around the entire globe, a warship with a range of only several hundred miles is almost worse than useless. As with Paixhans guns, the RN has more to lose by the introduction of the technology than they have to gain. It is only as they discover that other nations (in particular France and the US) are moving to the new technologies that they really take the plunge.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The RN does get its feet wet (as it were) with a few steam tugs for harbours in Britain (where distance doesn't matter). [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]One thing that the RN DOES pick up on quickly is that if they are going to be forced into steam, that screws are definitely the way to go. The advantages are manifold: 1) they're more efficient 2) screws can be raised out of the water for when the ship is powered by sail (depending on the design), 3) they are far less vulnerable to cannon fire. Paddlewheelers almost have to have their propulsion on the outside, where it's exposed to enemy fire. Moreover, with sidewheelers, if one a cannon hits one of the paddle wheels, the entire steam power system can be rendered useless, even if the other wheel and the engine are fine, 4) the machinery can be lower in the ship, making the ship more stable, and 5) paddlewheels (especially sidewheels) prevent cannon from being placed where the wheel is, reducing the throw-weight of a broadside.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]After the success of first the Archimedes and then the Great Western, they start investigating the idea of coastal defence vessels for North America. They hire John Ericsson from the commercial group, and send him to Halifax and Boston for a joint RN/New England steam development project. (Ericsson is having some personal conflicts with the other members of the group, so sending him across the Atlantic is a win-win situation. Britain gets to keep his skills, he gets to keep employed and keep playing with steamships.) [/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]1 This John Ericsson is not the same one as OTL, being born some 10 years after the PoD. However, OTL, both he and his brother Nils were engineers and inventors, and it is entirely plausible that iTTL the second son, probably named John as OTL, would take up with new-fangled steam engines, and work with boats, too. As for Francis Petit Smith (one of the OTL prime inventors), no doubt his parents have children, possibly even one with that name, but none of them have the same interests. As the OTL man started as a farmer, it is less likely that the ATL version would also develop the same mechanical and nautical interests.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]2 the original screws were somewhat like Archimedes screws (without the sleeve). They were much longer than they were wide. The single turn version is more efficient, and a big step towards our modern screws (propellers for us North American readers). OTL, this accidental breaking of a screw was done by Smith, and recognized by himself as an advantage. ITTL, it's done by a clumsy worker, who is not able to convince anyone of the genius of his action, even if they do recognize the usefulness of the discovery. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]3 due to the earlier start and royal patronage, the Archimedes is ready for trials 2 ½ years earlier than OTL. It probably has no particular resemblance to the OTL ship of the same name, but the name is the same, as Archimedes is the obvious name for an experimental screw ship.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]4 Again, Isambard Kingdom Brunel is a different person from OTL, being born after the PoD. He is actually 2 years older than OTL's version, being the middle child of three, not the youngest. However, given that his father was a prominent engineer, it seems likely that Isambard would follow in his father's footsteps. This IKB, however, is not the genius and fop of OTL. He is more like his father, and, while a great engineer, will not be the household name (among tech geeks) that IKB was iOTL. Note that his father was Marc Isambard Brunel, and his mother was Sophia Kingdom, so the name given to their first born son is likely to be the same. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]5 OTL, the rival line was “British and American”, but because the primary ports are Boston and Halifax rather than New York, the name is changed. Increased use of steamboats mean more development happens sooner. In particular, condensers that allow oceanic travel (reusing the original fresh water) are invented earlier, allowing earlier coastal packet ships, so the Rigel is available 2 years earlier than OTL. [OTL, the borrowed ship was the Sirius.] iTTL, the Great Western is started earlier, as part of the whole earlier steamship development, and even with conversion to screw is able to be launched a year earlier than OTL. [/FONT]
