Name (required):

  Expression ^{(Optional mood/title along with your name) Examples: (happy, sad, The Joyful, etc.) help)}

  E-mail address (optional):

* Type your message here:
>Hi, > >Can not say about the other nations, but coppering >started in earnest for the British during the >Revolutionary war, and for the United States from the >beginning of the US navy but unlikely to have been >widespread during the Continental Navy period. Note >that the British had experimented with coppering back >to the early 1760’s. > >The British originally coated the hull with tar and >paper (45 pound, I know that paper thickness is rated >in pounds, but not the details, nor whether the rating >has changed since then) underneath the copper to >protect the hull from the worm, then to protect the >iron bolts in the hull from electrolytic interaction >with the copper and seawater (that is they continued >to coat the same way, but changed the reasoning). >This was found to be inadequate and the iron bolts >were replaced with bronze bolts (copper and zinc >alloy) after the war. I do not know if they continued >to coat the hull, or with what after switching to the >bronze hull bolts. > >The American practice was "well caulked & horsed home, >Then pay'd over with half made stuff Then papered & >then the Copper is put on." This was at the time of >the first Barbary War. > >Both the British and the Americans used copper sheets >that were 40” x 14” in size. The British used three >weights of sheet: 32, 28 and 22 ounces per square >foot. The 32 oz sheet was used at the bow, the 28 oz >directly aft and the remainder of the hull was covered >with the 22 oz sheets. The copper would wear through >in service, thinning out the sheet. The greatest wear >was at the bow, and reduced as the flow proceeded >along the hull. > >The Americans used a somewhat different scheme. The >practice in 1819 was 1692 34 oz sheets, 2068 32 oz >sheets, and 752 14 oz sheets, as well as 432,400 large >sheathing nails and 11,500 small nails for a 74 gun >ship. These would be the original three, so >equivalent to an 80 gun ship (British or French). >This would be 32,626 pounds of copper (does not >include the weight of the nails), or 14.6 long tons. >The British weight would be some what less. > >To get an idea of the sheets, the 14 oz sheets were a >hair under 0.5 mm thick and weighed 3.4 pounds, while >the 34 oz sheets were 1.17 mm thick and weighed 8.3 >pounds. > >carl > >> >>I should have added another question: Wasn't there >>some sort of interface applied between the copper and >>the wooden hull? If so, what kinds of material and >>what thicknesses? >> >>Thanks again.

Notice: Copies of your message may remain on this and other systems on internet. Please be respectful.