A wealth of double ended paddle steamers

[Tony Mattson]

Dear PDers

recently Paul wrote of my 1886 PS Britannia "what makes you think
she's a double ender? I'd be most surprised if she was as I have
rarely seen a passenger steamer of that era with that configuration."

This morning I've created five new folders in the photos section of
our group. These folders are:

PS Takapuna - built 1872
PS Tainui - built 1875
PS Britannia - built 1886
PS Eagle - assembled 1886 in NZ from a "kitset" built by Bow
McLachlan UK
PS Osprey - assembled 1887 in NZ from a "kitset" built by Bow
McLachlan UK

All are double ended steam paddle ferries, built or assembled in
Auckland, New Zealand, and so, Paul, here is a 'wealth of rarity' for
you.

Unfortunately the plans for these ferries have long since
disappeared, hence my interest in the hull design of the double ended
paddle tug AID.

These paddle ferries were some of the many paddlers that operated on
the harbour in Auckland for many years. The Osprey was the last to be
decomissioned - she was sold for scrap in 1927. The Takapuna and the
Tainui were composite steel and wood, the Eagle and Osprey were steel
and the Britannia was built from wood.

Most of the timber for Britannia's construction came from a single
tree that had fallen over a hundred years earlier and had lain
undiscovered. It yielded 100,000 feet (30,000 metres) of best kauri.
Some of the lengths of timber were over 80 feet long.

I have a heavy beam of kauri that was reclaimed during the demolition
of a warehouse built around the same time as Britannia, and plan to
use some to build my model. This tree is a native pine of New Zealand
and the largest tree species by volume in the world (the tallest
living kauri in NZ is named Tane Mahuta, or God of the Forest,
measures 45 feet in circumference and stands 169 feet tall - experts
reckon it's 2,100 years old!)

Just in passing, there is a photo of Eagle taken on January 29th
1904, 100 years and two months ago this weekend. She has just left
the city wharf and is bound for one of the islands in the inner Gulf
of Auckland. The occasion is Auckland's Anniversary Day. Eagle's
passenger load was 804 people, however I suspect that there are well
over 1,000 aboard her. The paddles are so deep in the water that the
paddle boxes are flooding and water is streaming from all the vents.
Deeply, deeply scary stuff!

kind regards for now
Tony
Auckland, NZ

[Paulrjordan]

You're absolutely right, Tony. What I SHOULD have written, and
certainly meant to, was that I have rarely seen an EXCURSION
passenger steamer of that era with a double ended configuration.
Yes, there were indeed lots of double ended sidewheeler ferries in
the 19th Century but I was really making a distinction between
excursion steamers and ferries.

Originally I looked only at the small pictures of your "Britannia"
not realizing there was a supersize image. From the smaller pictures,
her lines are so graceful she immediately struck me as an excursion
steamer rather than a ferry. When I looked at the supersize picture I
saw clearly what you had pointed out as the second wheel (helm). What
completely confirms her as being a double-ender is you can clearly
see her port AND starboard running light boards on her near side
indicating her ability to operate equally in both directions. I can
now also see how her "stern" appears to follow the identical lines of
her "bow."

So talking of "bows"...I therefore bow in humility... but gladly
so..because she is a truly BEAUTIFUL ship whose "double-endedness"
only serves to make her even more appealing as a study subject and
model project. She combines the gracefulness of an excursion steamer
with the functionality of a doudle-ended ferry.

The two helm positions must suggest strongly she has a rudder at each
end, and the Ramsgate Paddle tug "Aid" does make an interesting
comparison. I have a quite clear historical profile drawing of "Aid"
which shows that if you slice her athwart midships you'd have two
identical halves each with its own rudder.

Now here's a question for everyone to ponder. To me a true "double
ender" is able to function equally effectively in either
direction..in fact, as in many ferries that have two opposing helm
positions, there is arguably NO bow or stern other than determined by
the current direction of travel. BUT here's the catch..."Aid" is
clearly shown with feathering wheels which mean she's biased to
travelling in one direction..i.e. the "forward" direction which her
feathering blades propel her. So therefore by definition she must
have a bow and a stern as she is really only double ended in shape
rather than function. If this was the case then her opposing rudder
is therefore a BOW rudder! I'm not clear why "Aid" was configured
with a rudder at either end unless she was contemplated for ferry
duties?

Now the next question is if a ship is fitted with feathering blades
do they in fact preclude her as being a true "double-ender"? We know
they effectively DO slow a ship down and even propel her astern at a
fair speed but are they equally effective for sustained propulsion in
both directions?

This leads me to ask...did true double ended ferries (ie ships than
can operate equally effectively in either direction) have feathering
blades, or did they have radial blades which would provide an equal
thrust in either direction? The final question which this whole
thread leads me towards is...as a true double-ended ferry, did
your "Britannia" have feathering wheels or simple radials?

In any case, Tony, I think "Britannia" is lovely and will follow your
ongoing research with great interest and eagerly follow her building
progress. The profile drawing of "Aid" comes from Phil Thomas' book
and I can send you a scan if you want.

Best regards

PJ

[Tony Mattson]

Wow Paul,

you said a mouthful there! But no bowing or scraping required, kind
sir!

Thank you indeed for pointing out the running light boards - I hadn't
paid attention to them. I don't have photos or plans but do have a
couple of old books on the early days of steam on the Harbour. These
say that Britannia had rudders at each end.

As to true double endedness, I think Britannia was biased. In the 3rd
photo - Britannia 1890s leaving the city bound for Devonport - the
axis of the paddle boxes looks to divide the hull into a 35:65
forward:aft ratio. So the designer has definately favoured one end,
but whether for aesthetics or for practical reasons, who knows?

However I don't think that this stopped the Devonport Steam Ferry
Company from operating her (and her sister ships) as truly functional
double ended (double direction) vessels.

Aside from the twin steering positions and double sets of navigation
lights, in the 4th photo in Britannia's folder - Britannia 1914 - I
believe that she is travelling in the opposite direction to the one
which Stewart's painting shows her travelling. The configuration of
stanchions on the rear of the lower deck and the relative position of
the upper deck house suggest this to me. But it is hard to tell.

As to whether Britannia had feathering paddles, I have no idea
(yet!). Speculating on this, as she was a ferry then she would need
to operate efficiently at various drafts. A heavily laden ferry with
radial paddles would be relatively inefficient as much of the thrust
would be down and up as the paddles enter and exit the water.

When PS Eagle was first launched in 1887 she was equipped with radial
paddlewheels and proved to be "as slow as a wet week" when fully
laden. Mr Bow of Bow McLachlan shipyards in Paisley came out to NZ
bringing a set of feathering wheels with him and the laden speed rose
immediately from 5 knots to ten and a half knots.

(Eagle's owner originally came out from Canada in 1862 and having had
previous experience of American radial wheels, may well have imagined
that feathering wheels were a Scottish engineer's fantasy!)

Incidentally I read somewhere that AID was built for use as both a
tug and a life boat!?! Could this help explain why she was double
ended and double ruddered?

I also have Phil Thomas's book, but grateful thanks for the offer of
the profile in any case.

Many kind regards for now. Will keep you posted on progress, in
research, design and construction, naturally.

Tony
NZ

[Alistair Deayton]

I have the book "The Harbour Ferries of Auckland" by David Balderstein,
published in 1986. It has a nice painting of BRITANNIA and a number of
photos. She is clearly not symmetrical, and there is a charthouse or other
housing immediately in front of the funnel, also the funnel appears to have
a slight rake. The fore and aft enclosed wheelhouses were fitted in 1921 and
appear in the 58c stamp illustrated

Alistair Deayton

[Tony Mattson]

Hi Alistair,

yeah, that's the book that my scan of Stewart's painting of Britannia
came from. I've been a bit nervous about the painting - possibility
of artistic license and all of that!

The picture of Britannia leaving St. Heliers for Kohi is on page 18.
I think she's traveling in the reverse direction to Stewart's
painting. What do you reckon?

I've been hunting a copy of Stewart's book Steam on the Waitemata
through Auckland Public Library. I've been told there's a picture of
her stranded high and dry on Flat Rock. Hopefully this will be clear
enough to get some good ideas on hull shape.

cheers for now. Mustn't be seen enjoying myself too much, Eddie!

Tony
NZ

[Leighton]

Hi Tony,
In The Mineralogical Museum at the Thames School of Mines (in Thames
NZ)there is a painting of side wheelers high and dry on the sand at
Thames being unloaded by horse and dray. One of them appears to be a
double ender (the boat not the horse!!)
At the height of the gold mining there were 36 side wheelers and
steamers a week travelling between Auckland and Thames.
The painting as far as I know is not on display but is tucked away
somewhere, ask the curator and mention my name. You should get a
reaction.

Leighton Collins

[Alistair Deayton]

> Hi Alistair,
>
> yeah, that's the book that my scan of Stewart's painting of Britannia
> came from. I've been a bit nervous about the painting - possibility
> of artistic license and all of that!
>
> The picture of Britannia leaving St. Heliers for Kohi is on page 18.
> I think she's traveling in the reverse direction to Stewart's
> painting. What do you reckon?

I am not sure about that picture, the funnel and charthouse are in so much
shadow is it sifficult to see which is in front. But on the picture on page
57, she is definitely sailing in the opposite direction to the painting with
a light rake to the funnel in the direction in which she is heading, and the
charthouse aft of the funnel

Alistair

[wsnowdon]

Have you tried Glasgow University Archives Or the Mitchell Library
in Glasgow for plans or photographs of the two double enders built in
Scotland. Glasgow University has a massive collection of Clyde built
ships, particularly from the smaller yards. Their plan copying
service is cheep and quick. The Mitcell has a huge resource of
photos, articles and plans of Clyde ships. email them the name, year
and yard and if they have anything, they will list it and ask you
what you want sending. Best of luck, Walter.