------------ __ ..__ ----- TRANSACTIONS VOLUME IX 1955-1961 THE CLIPPER SHIP DREAD:\Ol.GHT WAT~.RCOLOl'R B'r E. TCFNELL, 1'163 THE \ I. PARKER \c GALLERY 2 ALBEMARLE STREET PICCADILLY Park~rs arr well known for old Marine print,. paintings and models but perhaps it i' not r~alis~d that they eau product' first class water LONDON W.l. t•olou" 15x I 0 inches ( 2lx 16 mounted) of any marine subject pro­ viding sufficient details are available. I he cost is normally well under tPn pounds. TELEPHO:\E Pl~ast' write for further details and our latest Murine Catalogue. GROSVE~OR ESTABLISHED 1750 .')906-7 CARGO & PASSENGERS TO GREECE TURKEY and BLACK SEA PORTS FURNESS, WITHY & CO. L TO., Royal Liver Buildings, LIVERPOOL 3 Phone: CEN. 916t Telex 61441 SERVING UNITED KINGDOM, IRISH AND NEAR CONTINENTAL PORTS RELIANCE HOUSE, WATER ST., LIVERPOOL 2. Phone CENTRAL 5464 Congratulates The Liverpool Nautical Research Society on attaining its Silver Jubilee FOR MORE THAN HALF A CENTURY "SHIPPING" HAS PRESENTED NEWS AND VIEWS IN A CONCISE, BRIG HT AND ILLUSTRATED MONTHLY TO THE SHIPPING AND SHIPBUILDING EXECUTIVE Published 1st of the month. Annual Subsciption 25/- including postage and Illustrated Annual Numba. SHIPPING & TRANSPORT. 42 STANLEY STREET, LIVERPOOL I CENtral 9352 ii lNORLDlNIDE NIARINE RADAR SERVICE DECCA RADAR DECCA RADAR LIMITED 24 Chapel Street Liverpool I ALL TYPES OF SEA AND TRANSIT INSURANCE UNDERTAKEN ·, MARITIME INSURANCE 1 1 COMPANY LIMITED ("NORWICH UNION- SCOTTISH UNION" GROUP) Head Office INDIA BUILDINGS, LIVERPOOL London Office NORWICH UNION HOUSE 51/54 FENCHURCH ST., LONDON E.C.3 CLAIMS MADE PAYABLE IN ANY PART OF THE WORLD Ill The Port of Liverpool Serves the Industrial Areas of Britain SOUTHAMPTON 35/36 OXFORD STREET TELEPHONE SOUTHAMPTON 23677 GRAMS KESTREL. SOUTHAMPTON SWANSEA &PORT TALBOT 17 SOMERSET PLACE TELEPHONE: SWANSEA 53041 TELEGRAMS: KESTREL, SWANSEA HEAD OFFICE: liVERPOOL CASTLE CHAMBERS. CASTLE STREET \ TELEPHONE: MARITIME 2151 TELEGRAMS: KESTREL. LIVERPOOL iv THE LIVERPOOL NAUTICAL RESEARCH SOCIETY "All delight is in masts and oars and trim ships to cross the stormy sea."-Odyssey. Vol. IX TRANSACTIONS 1955-1961 Issued in April, 1963, the twenty-fifth anniversary of the founding of the Society. CONTENTS Page Council and Officers 2 The Objects of the Society 2 Editorial 3 The Shipping Galleries of the Science Museum, London B. W. Bathe 12 Seacombe Shipyards John S. Rees and E. Cuthbert Woods, F.R.HIST.s. 16 Some Minor Mersey Ports T. D. Tozer 26 Liverpool's Docks 100 years ago H. A. Taylor, M.A. 30 H.M.S. 'Liverpool', 1741-1952 R. B. Sum.merfield 33 H.M.S. 'Eagle', Thrice a Flagship John Smart and Edward Jones 60 Life aboard a Wooden Wall Edward Jones 70 The Intended Ship Canal E. Cuthbert Woods, F.R.HIST.s. 74 Nelson A. N. Ryan, M.A. 84 Reformation Afloat. The story of the 'Akbar' John Smart 90 The small warship of the period 1830-60 A. W. H. Pearsall, M.A. 96 The Development of Marine Machinery Sir Stewart MacTier, c.B.E. and W. H. Falconer 100 The Irish Sea services of British Rail­ ways and their predecessors E. P. McManus 110 The Maritime Museums of Northern Europe E. W. Paget-Tomlinson, M.A. 125 I THE LIVERPOOL NAUTICAL RESEARCH SOCIETY (Founded 1938) President: Sir Arnet Robinson, K.B. Vice-Presidents: Captain Geo. Ayre, A.I.N.A., F.R.G.s. Col. J. Lysaght Finigan, o.s.o., T.D., J.P. A. S. Mountfield E. Cuthbert Woods, F.R.HIST.s. Chairman: Hon. Secretary: R. B. Summerfield E. W. Paget-Tomlinson, M.A. Assistant to Hon. Secretary: P. J. Welsh Hon. Archivist: Hon. Treasurer: T. D. Tozer Miss E. M. Hope Council: A. M. Fletcher, B.sc. N. R. Pugh W. P. Raine A. N. Ryan, M.A. J. Smart The objects of the Society are:- 1. To encourage interest in the history of shipping (particularly local shipping) by collecting and collating material relating thereto; 2. To undertake an historical survey of Liverpool vessels, their builders, owners and masters; 3. To disseminate such information by publications or by any other available means; 4. To co-operate in every suitable way with other organisations in Liverpool or elsewhere having similar or cognate objects; 5. To encourage the making and collection of scale ship models, and their exhibition. The annual subscription entitles members to attend meetings of the Society, to read papers before it, to take part in any excursions that may be arranged and to receive "Transactions" and "News, Notes and Queries", issued from time to time. For f'..lrther particulars apply to the Hon. Treasurer Liverpool Nautical Research Society 28 Exchange Street East Liverpool2 2 EDITORIAL This volume of Transactions covers a long period, 1955 to 1961. The reason for such a delay since Volume VIII, published in 1957, has been the cost of printing. Only recently has the Society accumulated enough money to cover production costs. However this volume, number IX, tries to make up for the long wait by its size and contents. Fourteen papers have been selected for publication. Many more have of course been given to the Society, but these have either been off-the-cuff talks or of largely visual appeal. There is no doubt that many more of the Society's meetings these days are addressed extempore and a tape recorder has been suggested as a means of recording. In order that readers may gain a full appreciation of the scope of the Society's meetings, a list of all of these since November, 1955, inclusive, is given in the following pages, together with brief notes about them and references to books and journals where they may be found in print. Of course all meetings have been reported in News, Notes and Queries, but it may be handy for members to have a complete list for the period covered by these Transactions. THE SOCIETY'S MEETINGS, 1955-61 lOth November, 1955: "The Royal Navy and the Defeat of Napoleon". By A. N. Ryan, M.A. Mr. Ryan spoke of the post-Trafalgar period and explained in some detail how the Royal Navy contributed to the downfall of Napoleon; by the effectiveness of its blockading squadrons and by the mobility it gave to the British Army, making possible the successful prosecution of the Peninsular campaign. A report of this paper is in News, Notes and Queries, for Novem­ ber, 1955, Volume V, No. 4. Serial number of meeting: 99. 7th December, 1955: "Nautical Research". By Frank G. G. Carr, c.B.E., M.A. This was the Society's one hundredth meeting and appropriately the speaker was the Director of the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich. Mr. Carr outlined the work of the Society for Nautical Research and ex­ plained the kind of activities the Liverpool Nautical Research Society could usefully undertake. He emphasized the study of local craft, such as Mersey flats. Finally,he said, research should have three points, like Neptune's trident; Pleasure in the Past, Pride in the Present and Fortitude for the Future. His address is reported in News, Notes and Queries for February, 1956, Volume VI, No. 1. Serial number of meeting: 100. 12th January, 1956: "The Alabama Case". By Rupert C. Jarvis, F.S.A., F.R.HIST.S. A masterly exposition by the Librarian of the Custom House Library in · London of the legal side of the Alabama incident. Mr. Jarvis outlined the rise of privateering and the provisions of our Foreign Enlistment Act. He 3 4 TRANSACTIONS explained how the Alabama left the Mersey quite legally, as she was unarmed; nevertheless the British Government paid 15-!- million dollars as reparation for the damage she and her sisters from British yards, had done. In October, 1959, Mr. Jarvis presented a similar paper to the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire. It is printed in the Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, Volume CXI, 1959, and reported in our News, Notes and Queries for February, 1956, Volume VI, No. 1. Serial number of meeting: 101. 9th February, 1956: "Marine Photography". An Exhibition arranged by R. J. Hughes, A.I.B.P., of Stewart Bale Ltd. Mr. Hughes spoke about the work of the professional ship photographer, how he had to have the "feel" of ships, and get his picture in spite of un­ favourable conditions. Mr. Hughes had a fund of anecdotes, of Mr. Molotov at the wheel of the Queen Elizabeth, and of being himself locked in the cabin of a Russian ship under repair at Birkenhead. The exhibition was superb, as one would expect from Stewart Bale Ltd. A report is in News, Notes and Queries for March, 1956, Volume VI, No. 2. Serial number of meeting: 102. 8th March, 1956: "Lancaster, West Indian Competitor of Liverpool, 1680- 1815". By M. M. Schofield, M.A. A scholarly presentation which destroyed some popular misconceptions about Lancaster's early history. Mr. Schofield spoke of the diary of William Stout, a Quaker grocer, who gave useful information about early 18th century trade. Lancaster enjoyed opulence before the advent of canals and railways, the feeders on which Liverpool depended for her growth. Mr. Schofield has published this paper, in more extended form, in the "Trans­ actions of the Lancaster Branch of the Historical Association-No. 2" under the title "Outlines of an Economic History of Lancaster". Part I, 1680 to 1800, Part II, 1800 to 1860. Dated 1951. His talk is reported in News, Notes and Queries for April, 1956, Volume VI, No. 3. Serial number of meeting: 103. 12th April, 1956: "The Shipping Galleries of the Science Museum, South Kensington, with particular reference to models of Liverpool ships".