Rudder on an 1850's paddle steamship

[rodackers1]

I am in the middle of scratch building the Steam Boat Armenia which
sailed the Hudson river between New York and Albany during the the
second half of the 1800s. I have a set of plans that show a barn
door type rudder. My problem is that there seems to be a rudder post
up into the hull as well as metal hinges to the keel. Can this be
correct? If the pivot is around the hinge to the keel, does the
rudder post that passes thru the hull have to have a larger cutout to
accomidate the lateral movement along with the rotation? Anybody
have any thoughts?

[Dai Powell]

Hi there Rodakers1,
the "barndoor"type rudder "hinges" are no doubt
mounted on the rear edge of some sort of "skeg" and provided
the "rudder post" centreline is in the same vertical alignment as
the centreline of the "hinges" there should be no problems........
If you take a look at some of the old steam drifters, and clyde
puffers you will see that they seem to have a "kink" in the post,
however the "post" which imparts the turning motion to the rudder is
only fixed to the top of the rudder then passes through a tube up
into the hull, and the "blade" is in "pintles" on the rear end of
the skeg. Hope this helps in some way..............Dai Powell

[rodackers1]

I am still confused. The plans I have show a rudder post up through
the hull as you suggest, however, there is also a set of chains
attached to the top aft part of the rudder which pass through turning
pullys on the outside of the stern and then go into the hull. These
chains were obviously used to steer the rudder. In addition, there
is a stopper chain that is attached to the same point on the rear of
the rudder and just loops up to the center of the stern. It was
obviously to prevent overtravel of the rudder. I quess my question
is, which method is used for steering, the chains or the rudder post
or both. Any thoughts you might have would be helpful.

Rod Akers

[Paulrjordan]

Hi Rod:

Great to hear of your new project. Are you able to send us "under
construction" photos" as I always find this to be one of the most
exciting aspects of "Paddleducks" as a new scratch built model is
announced... and especially "Armenia" a truly splendid example of the
Hudson River steamboats. You must be referring to Captain John
Tallman's beautiful walking beam sidewheeler launched in 1848 on the
Hudson and captured on canvas by the famous Bard Brothers the same
year.

Talking of beautiful Hudson River steamboat models...I must say hi to
our member, Al Blevins, in New York whose lovely static model of the
Hudson River Towboat "America" (1852) inspired me to learn more about
those wonderful painters the "Bard Brothers" Al..I have just
received my own copy of the book you recommended, "The Bard Brothers -
Painting America Under Steam and Sail" and these paintings really are
magnificent. Since I shall never aspire to owning an original (at
over US$150,000!) I have ordered a very nice large print of the Bard
painting depicting none other than your own paddler..."America" and
it will have a prominent place in my office here. By the way...do
you have any new model projects on the go, Al?

So Rod, PLEASE give us more information, (scale, construction, plans
source etc etc) on your "Armenia" as this is a formidable modeling
undertaking. Watching her grow before our eyes will be a great source
of inspiration (and conversation) on "Paddleducks" and I'm greatly
looking forward to reading all about your progress.

Regards to all our Hudson River enthusiasts.

PJ

[Mike Mayhew]

Perhaps I can help, the central chain was there as a safety measure only,
many ships had their rudders break away and the chain saved them from total
loss. Some had the chains as you say operating from the actual blade edge,
whilst others had a quadrant on the rudder post at deck level. The chains
were led to the wheel by fixed blocks and in some cases where the wheel was
some distance from the rudder, iron bars were used in place of all
chain.Best Regards ..... Mike Mayhew
http://www.waverleymodels.co.uk