Transformation Of Boats During Modern European Imperialism 1750-1930

This timeline will cover the transformation of boats during modern European imperialism between 1750 and 1930.

The information in his timeline will draw upon sources to show how boats changed throughout the 18th, 19th and early 20th Centuries. The main question we will be looking at is 'What were the main factors that caused the transformation of boats from 1750 – 1930?'. This timeline has been created primarily for GCSE history students, offering concise bits of text throughout the timeline in order to easily determine how boats transformed between 1750-1930. However, this timeline is useful for any students who want to learn about the transformation of boats. There will be audio/visual sources to help demonstrate the information within the timeline. Each entry into the timeline will focus on either a particular type of boat or a specific time period and the boats that were used at that time. As a group we have looked at boats all over the world and how they have transformed over the years, but the timeline will just focus on certain countries at specific time period as we have decided to focus on what we think is the most important transformations and what we think GCSE students would find most beneficial to learn about. This means that we have not been able to cover every single country and how they've transformed their boats in this time period.

Boats Before 1750 Seafaring has been around for much of human history, it didn't just begin in 1750! There were many types of boats earlier in history used to discover, conquer and trade. Daniel Headrick wrote about the 'Five Seafaring Traditions' and these boats in the first chapter of his book 'Power Over Peoples' which are as follows;

James Cook James Cook was a British explorer who is known for his exploration of the Pacific Ocean in the late 1700s. Many explorers tried their hand and venturing to and charting the Pacific, but "the best known and most productive of these expeditions were those led by James Cook." (Headrick, Power Over Peoples, 2010, p. 49) He made 3 voyages around the world. The first voyage to Tahiti in 1768, where he, as well as a team of botanists accompanying him, was to witness the passing of Venus in front of the Sun, then charting New Zealand and Eastern Australia in search of an undiscovered (and ultimately non-existent) continent know as 'Terra Australis Incognito' before returning to Britain. Cook took only one boat with him on this voyage, the HMS Endeavour (named The Earl of Pembroke at the time). It was cargo hauling ship that had been used to transport coal across the North Sea. It was built a while before Cook commandeered it into the Pacific. Known as a 'barque', the HMS Endeavour was a wide ship, with a shallow draft that allowed it to sail across shallow coastal waters as well as across deep oceans. It had square sails rather than lateen ones as this allowed for the possibility of a small crew being able to man the ship. At around 105 feet long, Endeavour was a large ship. There was a large cargo hold for storing provisions for the crew, as would be necessary for such a long voyage. For his second voyage in 1772, Cook commanded the HMS Resolution and the HMS Adventure. Both ships were similar to the HMS Endeavour in a way, with a shallow draft for navigating through coastal waters, and being fairly wide. What differs about these boats however is that they are classed more as a warship known as a 'sloop of war' rather than a barque, as it had a gun deck of around 18 guns on board. On this voyage "Cook circumnavigated the world at high latitudes between forty and seventy degrees south" (Headrick, Power Over Peoples, p.49) with the aim of finding the "Terra Australis Incognito", however his voyage and charting of the South Pacific proved that there was no such thing, all there was in that part of the Globe were Australia, New Zealand and Antarctica. Cook's third voyage turned out to be his last, as he was killed in Hawaii in 1779. Nevertheless he still set out in the HMS Resolution and Discovery. Discovery was a smaller ship than the others he had taken to the Pacific, but it was a full rigged ship, converted to such as was Cook's order, having three masts with square sails and once again a shallow draft for the coastal waters of Africa.

North River Steamboat (Clermont) North River Steamboat (Clermont) On the 17th August 1807, the first ever successful steamboat trip took place on a boat called the North River Steamboat, or more commonly known as the Clermont, the trip happened along the Hudson River form Ney York City to Albany which was a one-hundred and fifty mile trip which took thirty hours, including an overnight stay. The steamboat was created by Robert Fulton who was an American engineer and inventor with the help of Robert “chancellor” Livingston; historians agree that the "Clermont was the first commercial successful steamboat" (Headrick, Power Over Peoples, 2010, p.115). The Clermont ushered in a new era in the history of transportation and was unique in its design, the Clermont’s dimensions included: •Length – 43 metres (142 feet) •Max Width – 4.3 metres (14 feet) •Max Height – 19 metres (62 feet) •Draught – 4.8 metres (15 feet. 9 inches) •Displacement – 1,210 tonnes •Average Speed – 4.7 miles per hour •Time saved – 150 miles in thirty two hours (KIAC, 1999, The North River Steam Ship). Before Fulton’s successful attempt of creating the steamboat there were many failed attempts all around the world, for example, “The Pyroscaphe” was the first steamboat launched by the French marquis Claude de Jouffroy d’Abbans on the River Saôre in 1783, however it only lasted 15 minutes until the hull cracked under the weight of the engine. American steamboats were very much in demand for transportation in a country that has many rivers, substandard roads, as well as more restless and adventurous people compared to longer-settled parts of the world. After seeing the success of Clermont, "Fulton and his financial backer Livingston immediately wanted to turn their success into a commercial empire"(Headrick, Power Over Peoples, 2010, p.115). They planned to build even more steamboats, not only for the Hudson River, but also for Long Island Sound, the Chesapeake Bay and the Delaware as well as many other rivers.

Opium Wars Opium is the dried, condensed juice of a poppy seed; the dried juice is a key ingredient in narcotics such as a heroin, however it did also have medicinal uses meaning that it was a very valuable in terms of trading. During the nineteenth century there was an ‘Opium War’ between China and Britain from 1839 to 1842. When Britain and China first began to trade it was seen as one sided trade as Britain received many goods that weren’t available to them at home such as silk and porcelain, however, the only product Britain could offer to them of any value was silver, this led to the Chinese beginning to question their trade deal with Britain; this changed in 1800 when Britain realised that China craved opium in “ever-increasing quantities”, however the trade of opium wasn’t all strictly legal but it was still done through loopholes. In 1839, Lin Zexu confiscated around 1,500 tonnes of opium that were kept in a warehouse in Guangzhou by British merchants; Lin Zexu also started ordering house arrests of British merchants who were found trading within the ports and docks. This meant that war was almost certain, however, it wouldn’t be like other wars as the majority of fighting took place along the rivers and coats of China as the British looked to take advantage of their military power in the form of steamboats, however, the East India Company provided the boats themselves; the company invested into six steamboats, including one called the ‘Nemesis’. The Nemesis was the EIC’s first steamboat to be ready for action, it was 183 feet long by 29 feet wide and weighed 660 tonnes (National Army Museum, The Opium War, 2011). After much speculation surrounding the steamer (people didn’t know it was built for war and to smuggle opium into China) it was finally discovered on the 6th October 1840, upon arriving in Capetown that the Nemesis would proceed to Guangzhou and the captain of the ship, Captain Hall, would be under orders from the naval commander chief in China. (Headrick, Power Over Peoples, 2010, p127). The war was predominately fought in ports and forts as the British wanted to maximise their strength in naval fleets to bombard the Chinese. After fighting in November 1839 two of Britain’s ships called the ‘HMS Volage’ and ‘HMS Hyacinth’ defeated 29 Chinese vessels, this shows how strong Britain’s navy was. After numerous victories for the British, negotiations began but China wouldn’t give Britain the compensation they wanted so in January 1841, the British looked to capture more forts and ports along Pearl River called Chuenpi and Tycocktow. As a result of this the Chinese called for a truce and signed off Hong Kong territories to the British, but the British had more demands meaning the war went on with Britain taking more and more forts in August 1841 with ease. The war ended after the assault of Chapu in May 1842 in which nine soldiers and sailors were killed; the British naval fleet moved north to Shanghai to where the Chinese military leader, Hai-Lin, was burned alive after giving orders to his men to set his house on fire with him in it. After this the Chinese sought for peace by passing the Treaty of Nanking which allowed the British to trade opium and other goods freely in Chinese ports.

SS Great Britain The SS Great Britain was the world's first iron-hulled screw-driven ocean liner, propelled by a combination of steam and sail power and launched from Bristol in 1843 (Bomford, 2010). She was designed by the famous English engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel. At her launch date she was the largest and most technically innovative ship of her day. She was 321.80 feet in length, 50.895 feet in breadth and 32.00 feet in depth. She weighed 3443.00 tonnes (National Historic Ships UK, ND). She had a twin-cylinder, 1000hp, direct-drive steam engine with three boilers (Davies, 2012). She was designed to carry passengers between Bristol and New York, meaning she would have to cross the Atlantic; a task which had never been completed by an ocean liner, like SS Great Britain, at that time. The ships ability to successfully harness both sail and steam power simultaneously was an important technological innovation. The original rigging and sails on the Great Britain were specially designed to work efficiently with her 1000-horse power engine, and to supplement the engine's power. This saved on the cost of fuel and allowed the Great Britain to cross the Atlantic in half the time of contemporary ships (Brunel's SS Great Britain, 2017). Her first voyage to America began on 26 July 1845, and she covered 3,100 miles in 14 days and 21 hours. On the return journey, because of the loss of propeller blades, she used sail only, but still completed the voyage to Liverpool in 20 days (National Historic Ships UK, ND). The SS Great Britain underwent many modifications over the years. She originally had a six-mast schooner rig but in 1846 it was reduced to five masts to improve her balance (Davies, 2012). That same year she began her fifth voyage. Unfortunately, she ran aground in Dundrum Bay, County Down and it was not until August of the following year that she was refloated and towed back to Liverpool. Then in 1852 she was significantly altered (National Historic Ships UK, ND). She had her original engine replaced by a more efficient one. A second funnel was added, and her rudder and propeller were replaced. On the Australia run the ship was to rely more on sail power than on her steam engine - this would save money. Her engine and propeller would be used mostly as a back-up, when the wind was light or blowing from the wrong direction. An extra upper deck was built, so that the ship could carry up to 700 passengers. She criss-crossed the Atlantic, making 32 runs to Australia with emigrants. In 1854 she was altered slightly and served as a troop ship in the Crimean war and the Indian Mutiny (Bomford, 2010). Returning to the Australian run, she carried the first touring English cricket side. In 1882 she was converted entirely to a sailing vessel for transporting coal to San Francisco and returning with wheat (National Historic Ships UK, ND). In 1886, her masts were destroyed by a hurricane off Cape Horn and was towed to shallow water in Sparrow Cove where holes were punched in her bottom and she settled on the seabed. Her recovery came in 1968, led by Dr Ewan Corlett and in April 1970, she was refloated, returning to her original dock Bristol in July that year where she underwent a major conservation programme. She is now available to the public to view at Bristol Harbour side. Check out this game where you can build your own ship! http://www.ssgreatbritain.org/full-steam-ahead

Crimean War The Crimean War was the conflict between Russia and the alliance forces of Turkey, Britain, France and Sardinia. this conflict developed due to Russian expansion into the Danube region. Pulling Britain and France into the war in 1854 due to fear of Russian expansion against their Colonies. therefore, the usefulness of boats will be assessed through this Conflict on how they were used and developed. The Crimean war began in 1953 as Russia invaded the area of the Crimea which was under Turkish rule and control. the main amount of conflict was seen around the Crimean peninsular as a major target for Britain and France was the Russian Naval port of Sevastopol to cripple Russian naval power in the Black Sea. therefore Boats were of great importance during the Crimean war for control of the Black sea. The use of boats and their development can be seen as extremely significant in the crimean war, this can be seen with the battle of Kinburn 1855. The battle took place off of the Kinburn peninsular where Allied forces attacked Russian forces on the coast. this battle was significant to boats as a new form of Boat was used for the first time, as three ironclad War ships crewed by the french forces destroying the forts in just three hours. The ironclad warships revolutionised naval boats as after the display at Kilburn they were seen as the superior ship to replace wooden warships. the iron clad warship was a steam powered war ship that was protected by steel or iron plating after the vulnerability of wooden warships against explosive shells was identified. these ironclads were designed for several roles such as, high seas battle ships, costal defence ships and long range cruisers. the ironclads were further developed from wooden hulled vessels with sails to full iron clad with turreted weapons featuring some of the heaviest mounted naval guns at the time. the first ocean going ironclad ship was the French commissioned ship the Gloire. the shipswooden hull was modelled on that of a steam ship of the line, reduced to one deck, sheathed in iron plates 4.5 inches (110 mm) thick. The Gloire was also propelled by a one screw steam enging at a spreed capable of 13 notts (24 km/h). it was also was armed with thirty-six 6.4-inch (160 mm) rifled guns.The Crimean war began in 1953 as Russia invaded the area of the Crimea which was under Turkish rule and control. the main amount of conflict was seen around the Crimean peninsular as a major target for Britain and France was the Russian Naval port of Sevastopol to cripple Russian naval power in the Black Sea. therefore Boats were of great importance during the Crimean war for control of the Black sea. The use of boats and their development can be seen as extremely significant in the crimean war, this can be seen with the battle of Kinburn 1855. The battle took place off of the Kinburn peninsular where Allied forces attacked Russian forces on the coast. this battle was significant to boats as a new form of Boat was used for the first time, as three ironclad War ships crewed by the french forces destroying the forts in just three hours. The ironclad warships revolutionised naval boats as after the display at Kilburn they were seen as the superior ship to replace wooden warships. the iron clad warship was a steam powered war ship that was protected by steel or iron plating after the vulnerability of wooden warships against explosive shells was identified. these ironclads were designed for several roles such as, high seas battle ships, costal defence ships and long range cruisers. the ironclads were further developed from wooden hulled vessels with sails to full iron clad with turreted weapons featuring some of the heaviest mounted naval guns at the time. the first ocean going ironclad ship was the French commissioned ship the Gloire. the shipswooden hull was modelled on that of a steam ship of the line, reduced to one deck, sheathed in iron plates 4.5 inches (110 mm) thick. The Gloire was also propelled by a one screw steam enging at a spreed capable of 13 notts (24 km\h). it was also was armed with thirty-six 6.4-inch (160 mm) rifled guns

HMS Dreadnought and the Naval Race During the 1890s there was unrest in Europe as tensions were growing over who should control Europe. Under Kaiser Wilhelm's foreign policy of Weltpolitik, Germany began developing a large Navy. The first German Naval Defence Act of 1898 was seen as a direct challenge to the British Royal Navy. Britain therefore had to react, and their response was to accelerate the building of battleships and warships (Ridley-Kitts, 2013). This led to HMS Dreadnought. HMS Dreadnought was the most powerful battleship in the world. She was the first all-big-gun battleship to enter service, and the first battleship to be powered by Parsons turbines (Rickard, 2007). A quadruple screw design was adopted that developed 23,000 horsepower and gave a speed of 21 knots; a huge development from SS Great Britain's 1000 horsepower engine. It's two high-pressure turbines that were fitted to each wing shaft, one for steaming ahead and the other for going astern (Parkinson, 2015). The turbines were the real key to the success of the Dreadnought. The Lord Nelson, the predecessor to the Dreadnought, was powered by four-cylinder triple expansion engines, providing 16,750hp. The 4-shaft Parson turbines in the Dreadnought provided 23,000hp. The turbines also had a massive impact on the working environment in the engine room, making it a much more pleasant and much less noisy place to be (Rickard, 2007). The Dreadnought's main armament of ten 12in B/L 45 calibre Mark X guns were mounted in five turrets, arranged with three on the centreline and two wing turrets firing an 850lb projectile, with a velocity of 2,735 fps, giving a range of 17,900 yd. at 13.5°. The main aim of the Dreadnought was to be able to engage an enemy at great range, operating from a zone of immunity from enemy fire, to hit first and hit hard before the enemy could effectively reply (Ridley-Kitts, 2013). At this time, Britain was a nation obsessed with the Navy. The Navy was at the centre of national life and the public wanted their Navy to be world-beaters (Edwards, 2014). In 1909 the popularity of the Navy with the public sparked the campaign for more Dreadnoughts to be created. The campaign tagged with the famous 'we want eight and we won't wait' slogan. There was a 'dreadnought mania' created across Europe and even the world, with America and Japan also developing their Navies. This led to a Naval race that increased tension across Europe. Ultimately Britain won the naval arms race with Germany several years before World War One, and in time Dreadnoughts were replaced by super-dreadnoughts - with even larger guns, faster engines and more armour (Edwards, 2014). The HMS Dreadnought was a catalyst for these later developments. Dreadnought herself was taken out of service shortly after WW1 and sold for scrap in the early 1920s but she had already changed Naval Warfare forever (Edwards, 2014). Now fill in this worksheet to see how much you've learnt! https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf2su7bz9vieot6j9cbanJ8JhkbLvtGhatgbDxEEKZSBrRkLQ/viewform?usp=sf_link

RMS Titanic The production of the Titanic began in 1909 (Deady,2003). It was built by the firm Harland and Woff (Hourly History, 2018) under the White Star Line, a shipping company controlled by the international Mercantile Marine Company. A ship that size had never been built before. It was 882 feet long and 92 feet wide. It had nine decks and stood 104 feet tall. Altogether the Titanic weighed 46, 328 tons. Its 29 boilers produced enough steam to power the ships engines. These engines powered three large propellers (Deady, 2003). It took over 15,000 men and 2 years to build the ship and cost $7.5 million to build; that's around $176 million in today's money. Her top speed was 23 knots, which is similar to the Dreadnought as they were built only a few years apart. The ship could carry 829 crew members and 2435 passengers. (Goldstein & Taylor, 2014). Its maiden voyage set sail from Southampton but unfortunately did not reach New York after hitting an iceberg on her 4th day at sea. This was no fault of the ship itself, the iceberg was seen too last minute for anything to be done (Hourly History, 2018). the Titanic had a significant impact on the way boats were used, as it was the largest ship ever built which was designed for transporting people as a cruise liner for people to travel continent to continent creating a new commercial use for boats rather than their design for war or transporting cargo. therefore the titanic revolutionised the use of boats as a way of generating income and connection people continent to continent. Check out this cool 3D experience online which gives you a greater insight into what the Titanic was like. http://titanic3d.ca/virtual_tour/virtualtour.html

HMS Argus The HMS Argus was an aircraft carrier constructed during the First World War. While she was commissioned to late to actually be part of the war, she was used by the British until being decommissioned in 1929. Originally being constructed with the intention of being an ocean liner, she was converted into an aircraft carrier, and was really the first ship that looks somewhat similar to a modern-day aircraft carrier, with a flat top ‘through deck’, an idea which had been suggested to the Royal Navy by William Beardmore before the war, but had been rejected. However as WWI raged on and Britain joined the fight against the Triple Alliance in mainland Europe “The Beardmore Concept was then given a second look and officially supported by the desperate Royal Navy by way of a formal conversion contract.” (Military Factory, 2017). During 1918 and 1929, she was used, as said in the video “in the development of the optimum design for other aircraft carriers” which eventually led to her being overtaken by newer ships in the mid 1920s. In the late 1920s, prior to decommission in 1929, Argus was used as a training platform. She was decommissioned in 1929 but recommissioned in 1938, in the build up to the Second World War. Her job during the war was to transport fighter planes to Malta, Gibraltar and Ghana. Called back to the United Kingdom In 1943 to be repaired and reclassified as a barracks ship. After the war ended she was sold for scrap in 1946, officially bringing her career to an end, after 26 years. Argus weighed 14 thousand tons under standard load, was 565 feet long and 68 feet wide, required around 500 people as a crew to commandeer her and could store 15 to 18 aircrafts at one time. Propelled by 4 steam turbines, her top speed was around 20 knots. This made her quite slow, not particularly manoeuvrable and, due to the lack of armour she had, quite vulnerable to being attacked. Compared to the vessels that followed, Argus was not a particularly impressive ship and was easily rendered obsolete, but as the first flat-top aircraft carrier, she was extremely important for setting a precedent that all following vessels would be kept to. Development of aircraft carriers that turned them into what we know them to be today and they massively changed naval and aerial warfare, and Argus was the first of its kind.

Discovery The progress of technology is mirrored by the sense of entitlement man feels to discover new lands and seas; as time porgressed, the technology of boats improved over time resulting in mans knowledge of the world and it elements consistently increasing and bettering. Boats and the discovery of the world link back to thousands of years ago to the Polynesians who were alive around 1500BC, due to their lack of technology, the Polynesians would use canoes to travel the oceans and seas using only the wind and gravity to direct themselves. However from the eighteenth century onwards the porgression of boats improved in leaps and bounds due to each country wanting to be the first to dsicover new lands in order to build and extend the empire they could be trying to create; this meant that there was the added aggression of war which now came with discovery which is why boats developed in the way they did that saw these normal sailing boats developed into warships which would have to be the biggest, fastest, best equipped in order to discover more than other countries. The imporatnce of being the first to discover land was very significant as it could bring a country a lot of wealth and luxuries they wouldn't have been able to get without the drastic improvement of boats from 1750 onward. An example of the importance of discovery would be the British Empire, it went from a small nation in Europe to one of the defining powers of the world and at its height covered of 23% of population worldwide, this shows the advancement in technology and boats has dramatically changed some countries fortunes.

Commercial - transporting passengers In the 1800s, the trans-Atlantic luxury passenger trade began to emerge. This was because many people had decided to leave their homes and emigrate to America. People were tired of failing crops, land and job shortages, rising taxes and famine. America was perceived as the land of economic opportunity so many wanted to travel there to improve their wealth. Others were seeking personal freedom or relief from political and religious prosecution (Library of Congress, ND). The SS Great Britain was built to serve the emerging trans-Atlantic passenger trade and could carry 252 first and second-class passengers and 130 crew members. The SS Great Britain marks the beginnings of international passenger travel and world communications (Brunel's SS Great Britain, 2017). In the second half of her career, the new owners took advantage of the increase in emigration caused by the Australian gold rush, and re-built the ship as an emigrant carrier, taking people to Australia. With a new upper deck added and a new engine fitted, she could now transport 750 passengers in three classes. Over the next 24 years and 32 voyages she carried over 16,000 emigrants to Australia and was known in her time as one of the fastest, most elegant and luxurious emigrant clipper ships. The average time she took on the return journey to Australia was 120 days, which was very competitive for the mid-19th century (Johnson, ND). Another ship this timeline looks at is the Titanic which was also built to transport passengers. The White Star Line Company, who built the titanic, had always been in competition with another company called The Cunard Line, in the years before the Titanic was built. Cunard had had all the publicity in the recent years so White Star Line knew that they needed to do something to put their company back into the headlines. They came up with the idea of building the world's largest passenger liners. In an era where 'bigger' meant 'better', they knew the news would generate tremendous interest. They wanted to appeal to high class people by making their liners luxurious, but they also wanted them to be fast in order to attract businessmen, who couldn't afford to spend too much time at sea (Whiting, 2007). So as you can see from these two examples, commercial use of boats to transfer passengers was one of the reasons why boats developed over the years.