The designs of American blockships that have survived are those of the
_Tchifonta_,[6] 145 feet long, 43-foot moulded beam, 8-foot 6-inch depth
in hold, and about 152 feet 9 inches on deck. She was to carry a battery
of 22 long guns (32-pdr.), on the main deck 12 carronades (42-pdr.), on
forecastle and quarter decks. She was to have been rigged to rather
lofty and very square topgallant sails, and would have been capable of
sailing fairly well, though of rather shoal draft, drawing only about 8
feet 6 inches when ready for service. She was sold on the stocks at the
end of the war and her later history is not known.
Another and earlier design for a blockship, or floating battery, was
prepared by Christian Bergh for Captain Charles Stewart in 1806. This
was a sailing vessel for the defense of the port of New York, planned to
mount 40 guns (32-pdr.), on her two lower decks and 14 carronades
(42-pdr.), on her spar deck. She was to be 103 feet 6 inches between
perpendiculars, a 44-foot moulded beam, 10-foot depth of hold, and
drawing about 9 feet when ready for service. She was intended to be
ship-rigged, but was never built.[7] A few small sloop-rigged block
vessels also were built during Jefferson's administration. The
sloop-of-war _Saratoga_, built on Lake Champlain by the Browns, in 1813,
was practically a blockship. A plan for a proposed "Guard Ship," or
"Floating Battery," was made by James Marsh at Charleston, South
Carolina, in 1814. This was an unrigged battery, 200 feet extreme
length, 50-foot moulded beam, 9-foot depth of hold, to mount 32 guns
(42-pdr.), on a flush deck, with a covering deck above.[8]
[Illustration: Figure 4.--DESIGN FOR AN UNRIGGED FLOATING BATTERY
proposed by James Marsh, Charleston, South Carolina, March 14, 1814.]
Through the courtesy of the trustees of the National Maritime Museum,
Greenwich, England, the Rigsarkivet, Copenhagen, Denmark, and the
Statens Sjöhistoriska Museum, Stockholm, Sweden, the author has been
able to illustrate in this article the designs of some of the early
floating batteries.
In the last quarter of the 18th century and later, the Danes had built
sail-propelled floating batteries or blockships, which were employed in
the defense of Copenhagen. The British built at least one sail-propelled
battery, the _Spanker_, in 1794. This was a scow of very angular form
with overhanging gun-deck, bomb-ketch-rigged, and about 120 feet overall
42-foot 4 inches moulded beam and 8-foot depth of hold. She is said to
have been a failure due to her unseaworthy proportions and form; the
overhanging gun deck and sides were objected to in particular. She is
called a "Stationary Battery" in her plans, which are in the Admiralty
Collection of Draughts, National Maritime Museum, Greenwich.