"Nautical Routine," Murphy & Jeffers, Ship Model Society of Rhode
Island, ed. 1933, (Higgins).
"Sheet Anchor," Darcy Lever, Charles E. Lauriat, ed. 1938.]
The rig shown in figure 7 is based upon Marestier's sketch and his
incomplete description. Since the ship had long royal poles on her
topgallant masts it is highly probable she crossed royal yards, like
the later packet ships. The proportions for the length of spars are
based upon the masting rules given by M'Kay[23] in 1839. The fore
spencer gaff, used as a crane for handling coal and cargo if the fore
or main yards were not available, may have been long enough to be used
also as a crane to handle the side wheels. The stack and mainstays may
have made the fore spencer sail a nuisance, so it may not have been
set while the vessel had her engine. In general, aside from the use of
the spencers on fore and main, the sail plan shown is of standard
proportions and arrangement of 1815-1825. For rigging, Darcy Lever's
book[24] was consulted. The drawing of the reconstructed _Savannah's_
sail plan agrees with contemporary sail plans of ships in the author's
collection. The log shows she set studding sails and had all the light
canvas of a ship of her type.
There remain a number of matters that do not directly concern the
reconstruction project but which are of sufficient technical
importance to warrant comment. Apparently the engine was mounted on a
wooden frame consisting of two large oak timbers on each side, say
about 10" x 10", one above the other, that probably supported iron
saddles in which the two cylinders rested. Between each pair would
have been the iron track, or channel, in which the ends of the
crosshead travelled, along the axis of the engine in elevation. These
frames measured about 9 feet 2 inches, outside to outside, and reached
from the beams of the upper deck on either side of the crank hatchway
to abaft the mainmast on the lower deck. It is probable that the fore
and after ends of the frame were supported by stanchions stepped on
the lower deck at the fore end and in the hold at the after end. The
crosshead was of iron and probably had shoes at the ends to work in
the tracks or channels in the frame. To help steady the crosshead,
these shoes probably were a foot or more long, for the loading of the
crosshead is spread out. The pitman to the paddle wheel shaft is to
starboard of the centerline of the engine; the steam cylinder piston
is slightly off center of the frame and crosshead; and the piston of
the air cylinder is close to the port engine frame. The steam lines to
the valves of the steam cylinder come in horizontally over the frames.
As has been mentioned, the frame may also have supported the paddle
wheel axle bearings at the crank.
This engine has been criticized by some writers (see Tyler's[25]
resume of Gilfillan's[26] comments), but the _Savannah_ logbook shows
it gave no trouble, and should be compared with the logs of _Sirius_
and _Great Western_ as summarized by Tyler. The relatively slow piston
speed and small power put little strain on the moving parts. Tallow
was probably used for lubrication, being introduced into the valve
chest by pots on top of the casing, where radiated heat would melt the
tallow. From the valve chest the melted tallow was carried into the
cylinder, and from there probably passed into the jet condenser. No
doubt the lubricant became a sludge that had to be removed from the
condenser at least once every 48 hours. There is no real evidence
that the engine and boilers suffered any great strains; the operating
pressure of steam must have been low at all times. The boilers were
probably of very low efficiency and made steam slowly. Fuel
consumption was high, and, according to the logbook, the vessel ran
out of coal when she reached the English coast; however, she had
enough fuel left to steam up the Mersey to Liverpool, probably using
wood. At the time she ran out of coal she had used her engine about 80
to 83 hours. While this indicates a fuel consumption of almost a ton
per hour, it must be remembered that the intermittent operation of
the engine required expenditure of fuel to raise steam in cold boilers
over and over again. This was one of the weaknesses in the auxiliary
steamship, particularly, as in the case of the _Savannah_, when the
engine was used a number of times during a voyage without long periods
of continuous operation. Also, there is doubt that the vessel carried
as much as 75 tons of coal; she probably had no more than 55 to 60
tons aboard, if the figure of 1,500 bushels is correct. It is
impossible to establish exact weight-cubic measurements with the
available data.
Though the authorities quoted seem to agree that the _Savannah_ could
steam only 4-1/2 to 5-1/4 knots in smooth water, her logbook credits
her with 6 knots under steam alone at sea. However, this is probably
an approximation affected by current and sea rather than a truly
logged speed.
Judging by references in the logbook, the _Savannah_ carried one boat
on the stern davits. The davits, shown in Marestier's sketch, would
handle a boat of about 16 to 18 feet in length. At sea the boat was
probably carried on top of the deckhouse. The vessel obtained a new
boat during her European trip. It is probable that the lack of
passengers is why a second boat, which could have been stowed on the
deckhouse roof, was omitted.
There is no record of how the _Savannah_ was painted, except that the
logbook refers to her "bright" strake. Packets appear to have followed
what once was a Philadelphia practice in having a varnished band along
the topsides. Marestier's sketch indicates that there may have been
four or five bands of color, beginning at or a little above deck and
wide enough for the top band to be up about two-fifths the height of
the bulwarks. The hull was commonly black. The bands were red, white,
and blue and there was a "bright" strake, or alternate black and
varnished bands. These bands were about 3 to 5 inches wide. Sometimes
the "bright" band, as mentioned in the _Savannah_ logbook, was along
the topside just above and adjacent to the top of the wale, or belt of
thick planking, or might be the uppermost strake of the wale. Perhaps
the _Savannah_ had a wide bright band above the wale and multicolored
bands just above the deck. The headrails were painted black, with
mouldings at top and bottom of rails and with knees picked out with
very narrow bands of yellow, or "beading." The figurehead was then
commonly painted in natural colors, to suit the form of head if a
figure or a bust. The bowsprit and davits probably were black. Deck
structures were probably white, the neck natural, with waterways and
inside of bulwarks white, the stack black, and rail caps varnished.
In this period it was unusual to copper a wooden ship before launch,
so it is doubtful that the _Savannah_ was copper sheathed. Since her
voyage occurred during a period of financial depression, it is
probable that her bottom was "white" (tallow and verdigris).
The reconstruction described herein produced a plan for a model that
complied to the fullest extent with all the known dimensions and
descriptions of the _Savannah_ that have yet been found. The result
showed that the United States National Museum's old model could not be
altered to agree with the known features of the _Savannah_ and that a
new model was therefore necessary. So that the new model would be
comparable to other models of early American steamers, existing or
intended, in the Watercraft Collection, it was constructed on the
scale of one-quarter inch to the foot. The new model (figs. 2, 8, and
9) is now on exhibition at the Smithsonian Institution.
[Illustration: Figure 8.--Stern-quarter view of the new model of the
_Savannah_, showing one wheel partially folded and the iron frames for
canvas wheel-boxes in place.]
[Illustration: Figure 9.--Bow-quarter view of the new model of the
_Savannah_, showing deck arrangement details.]