Coal, Steam and Ships: Engineering, Enterprise and Empire on the Nineteenth-Century Seas

ISBN-13: 9781107196728 / Angielski / Twarda / 2018 / 468 str.

Crosbie Smith

Opis

An innovative account of the trials and tribulations of first-generation Victorian mail steamship lines, their passengers and the public.

Recenzje

'Crosbie Smith's latest book is the culmination of his long train of work on the subject of energy in the British culture … The index is as meticulous as the research; sixty-two pages of extensive cross-referencing ensure that the reader will never be lost.' Larrie D. Ferreiro, Technology and Culture

Spis treści

Introduction: coal, steam and ships; Part I. North Atlantic Steam: 1. 'Trust in the promises of God': the moral and spiritual credibility of steam navigation; 2. 'The character of fine workmanship': making Clydeside's marine engineering reputation; 3. 'A swarm of projectors': promises of North Atlantic steam navigation; 4. 'This noble vessel': realizing the promises of transatlantic steam; 5. 'Giving rich promise of serious intentions': Mr Cunard's line of steamers; 6. 'Proprietor of the Atlantic Ocean': politics and patronage on the seas; Part II. Westward for Panama: 7. 'Mail-coaches of the ocean': the West India Company project; 8. 'A most perilous enterprise': Royal Mail Steam Packet's vulnerabilities; 9. 'In highly creditable order': RMSP's new board of management in action; 10. 'She was one mass of fire': reading the maiden voyage of the Royal Mail Steamer Amazon; 11. 'An uncompromising adherence to punctuality': Pacific Steam from Valparaiso to Panama; Part III. Eastward for India and China: 12. 'Built on a large, commodious and powerful scale': forging P&O's Eastern Mail Steamship system; 13. 'So great a cloud of obloquy and mistrust': locking and unlocking the secrets of a maritime empire; 14. 'A more desirable result in the performance of the vessel': P&O's mail steamers in action; Part IV. Engineering an Oceanic Economy: 15. 'She would be perfectly stable and strong': rival systems of engineering economy; 16. 'The engines were imperfect': Pacific Steam's coal economy; 17. 'A constant succession of unfathomable and costly experiments': making credible the marine compound engine; 18. 'The modern Clyde ships': economy and power for ocean steam navigation; Epilogue: 'The sovereignty of the seas' – the maritime system builders.