NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Thomas W. Lawson (ship)

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Encyclopedia > Thomas W. Lawson (ship)

The Thomas W. Lawson was a seven-masted, steel-hulled schooner originally planned for the Pacific trade, but then used primarily to haul coal and oil along the East Coast of the United States. Built in 1902, the ship holds the distinction of being the largest schooner and the third-largest sailing ship ever built, the larger sailing ships being the French and German five-masted barques France II (1911) and R. C. Rickmers (1906) respectively. Regarding only pure sailing ships without an auxiliary engine for propulsion ever built-in, the huge schooner was the world largest sailing ship of that kind followed by the famous German full-rigged five-masted ship Preussen (Prussia) of the Flying P-Liner fleet, launched in the same year. The Thomas W. Lawson was destroyed in a storm on December 14, 1907, killing all but two of her crew. Two-masted fishing schooner A schooner (IPA: ) is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts. ... Coal Coal (IPA: ) is a fossil fuel extracted from the ground by coal mining, either underground mining or open-pit mining (surface mining). ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... The French ship France II was an extremely large tall ship. ... Preussen leaving New York under all plain sail (1908) The Preussen was a steel-hulled five masted ship-rigged windjammer built in 1902 for the famous German F. Laeisz shipping company. ... The Flying P-Liners were the sailing ships of the German F. Laeisz shipping company from Hamburg. ...

1 Development and Construction
2 Namesake
3 Service
4 Wreck
5 Ship's Specifications
6 External links
7 References
8 Further reading

Development and Construction

Designed by naval architect Bowdoin B. Crowninshield (famous for his fast yachts) for Captain John G. Crowley of the Coastwise Transportation Company of Boston, Massachusetts, the construction of the Thomas W. Lawson was contracted to the Fore River Ship and Engine Company on June 25, 1901. At a cost of approximately $250,000, the Thomas W. Lawson holds the record of being the only seven-masted schooner, the only seven-masted sailing ship in modern time (see Zheng He's Treasure Ships), the largest schooner, and the largest pure sailing ship ever built. Her design and purpose was an ultimately unsuccessful bid to keep sailing ships competitive with the steam ships that were becoming more common for freight transport purposes. In fact the underwater hull was too large and the sail area too small for good sailing properties, the reduced load capacity from 11,000 to 7,400 (see below) made a working to capacity impossible, and cut the expected profits. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Naval Architecture. ... A modern yacht A yacht (From Dutch Jacht meaning hunt) was originally defined as a light, fast sailing vessel used by the Dutch navy to pursue pirates and other transgressors around and into the shallow waters of the Low Countries. ... Nickname: City on the Hill, Beantown, Athens of America, The Hub (of the Universe)1 Location in Massachusetts, USA Counties Suffolk County - Mayor Thomas M. Menino (D) Area - City 89. ... Fore River Ship and Engine Company was a shipyard in the United States during the late 1800s and early 1900s. ... Zheng He (Traditional Chinese: ; Simplified Chinese: ; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Cheng Ho; Birth name: é¦¬ä¸‰å¯¶ / é©¬ä¸‰å®; pinyin: ; Arabic name: ØØ¬Ù‘ÙŠ Ù…ØÙ…ÙˆØ¯ Hajji Mahmud) (1371â€“1433), was a famous Chinese mariner, explorer, diplomat and fleet admiral, who made the voyages collectively referred to as the travels of Eunuch Sanbao to the Western Ocean (Chinese: ä¸‰ä¿å¤ªç›£ä¸‹è¥¿æ´‹) or...

Launched on July 10, 1902, the Thomas W. Lawson was 395 feet (120.4 m) in length (lod = length on deck), contained seven masts of equal length (193 feet (58.8 m)) from which 25 sails (7 gaff sails, 7 gaff topsails, 6 staysails and 5 jib sails encompassing 43,000 square feet (4,000 m²)) of canvas would power her. Originally painted white the ship's hull appeared in black later on. The naming of her masts was always a subject for some discussion (see external link "The Masts of the Thomas W. Lawson"). In the original sail plan and during construction named (fore to aft): 'no. 1 to no. 7', no. 7 being replaced by "spanker mast" later on. The names of the masts changed then to: 'fore, main, mizzen, spanker, jigger, driver, and pusher' at launch and to: 'forecastle, fore, main, mizzen, jigger, and spanker' after launch. Later on a lot of different naming systems were formed, e.g. 'fore, main, mizzen, rusher, driver, jigger, and spanker' or 'fore, main, mizzen, no. 4, no. 5, no. 6, and no. 7', the naming preferred by the crew. Even a naming after the days of the week was discussed. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Gaff rig. ... A topsail is a sail set above another sail; on square-rigged vessels further sails may be set above topsails. ... A staysail is a fore-and-aft rigged sail whose luff is affixed to a stay running forward (and most often but not always downwards) from a mast to the deck, the bowsprit or to another mast. ... A typical jib on a small yacht A jib is a triangular staysail set ahead of the foremost mast of a sailing boat. ... mizzen mast, mainmast and foremast Grand Turk The mast of a sailing ship is a tall vertical pole which supports the sails. ...

The ship consisted of a steel hull with a double cellular bottom 4 feet deep and used 1,000 tons of water ballast. She displaced 5,218 gross tons of water, could carry nearly 11,000 tons of coal, and carried a crew of 17 (18) including captain, engineer, two helmsmen, and steward. Due to the low depth of the eastern ports except Newport News, VA, she could not enter them with her maximum load. As a result, she carried the reduced capacity of 7,400 tons. She had three decks and a large superstructure on the poop deck including the captain's cabin and the rudder house, and two deckhouses on the main deck at masts no. 5 and 6. Two huge steam winches were built in under the forecastle and behind mast no. 6. on the main deck. Smaller winches were installed beside each mast. Ballast is used in sailboats to provide moment to resist the lateral forces on the sail. ... In fluid mechanics, displacement occurs when an object is immersed in a fluid, pushing it out of the way and taking its place. ... A helmsman is an person who steers a ship. ... Newport News is an independent city located in Virginia. ... Official language(s) English Capital Richmond Largest city Virginia Beach Area Ranked 35th - Total 42,793 sq mi (110,862 kmÂ²) - Width 200 miles (320 km) - Length 430 miles (690 km) - % water 7. ... A deck is a permanent covering over a compartment or a hull[1] of a ship. ... // Sociological concept In social sciences, superstructure is the set of socio-psychological feedback loops that maintain a coherent and meaningful structure in a given society, or part thereof. ... Stern of the Grand Turk with poop deck above In naval architecture, a poop deck is a deck that constitutes the roof of a poop cabin built in the aft (rear) part of the superstructure of a ship. ... Modern self-tailing winch on a sailing boat. ...

Namesake

The ship was named for Thomas W. Lawson, a Boston millionaire, stock-broker, and President of the Boston Bay State Gas Co at that time. Thomas William Lawson (February 26, 1857 - February 7, 1925) was an American businessman and author. ...

Service

Often criticized by marine writers (and some seamen) and considered difficult to maneuver and sluggish (relations to a "bath tub" and a "beached whale" were made), the Thomas W. Lawson proved problematic in the ports she was intended to operate in due to the amount of water she displaced. She tended to yaw and neede a stormy wind to be held on course. Originally built for the Pacific trade, the schooner was used as collier (coal carrier) along the American East Coast. A year later in 1903, Crowley withdrew her from the coal trade. He had the topmasts, gaff booms and all other wooden spars removed and had chartered her out as a sea-going barge for the transportation of case oil - the ship was towed all the time. In 1906, she was retrofitted at the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company for use as a bulk oil carrier (sailing tanker) using the lower steel masts to vent the holds (tanks) from oil gases. Her capacity was 60,000 barrels. Under charter to Sun Oil Company, her purpose shifted from hauling coal to transporting bulk oil from Texas to the eastern seaboard. She was the world first pure sailing tanker. For other meanings of Pacific, see Pacific (disambiguation). ... This article is about the convenience store. ... Northrop Grumman Newport News, formerly called Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company (NNS), is the largest privately owned shipyard in the United States and the only one that can build Nimitz-class supercarriers. ... Sunoco (NYSE: SUN) is an American petroleum and petrochemical manufacturer headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, formerly known as Sun Company Inc. ... Official language(s) English (de facto) See also languages of Texas Capital Austin Largest city Houston Area Ranked 2nd - Total 268,581 sq mi (695,622 kmÂ²) - Width 773 miles (1,244 km) - Length 790 miles (1,270 km) - % water 2. ...

Wreck

In 1907, the Thomas W. Lawson was under charter to the Anglo-American Oil Company (part of Standard Oil) and set sail on November 27 from Philadelphia to London with 58,000 barrels of paraffin oil. The transatlantic journey was quite horrible in extremely stormy weather with the loss of sails, all lifeboats, and the breach of hatch no. 6, causing the ship's pumps to clog due to a mixture of intruding seawater and the engine's coal in the ship's hold. On December 13, the ship was caught in another winter gale off the west coast of the Scilly Isles near the "Hellweather's Reef". After having passed the Bishop Rock lighthouse her captain decided to try to anchor to weather up the gale refusing several requests of the St Agnes lifeboat crew to abandon the ship. But during the night the storm increased, her port anchor chain broke, and the pounding schooner was smashed starboardside on against the rocks by tremendously heavy seas. All seven masts broke off and fell into the sea with all seamen who had climbed up the rigging for safety on their captain's command. The stern section broke apart behind mast no. 6, the ship capsized and sunk. In the morning light the ship's upturned keel could be seen near the reef from which the wreck slided off into deeper water later on. 16 of the 18 crewmen and the Scillonian pilot Wm. "Cook" Hicks who was already on board were lost, captain George W. Dow and engineer Edward Rowe from Boston being the only survivors. Despite wearing their lifebelts, the seamen died of the thick oil layer, the smashing seas, and the schooner's rigging that had drowned so many of the crew. Standard Oil (1870â€“1911) was a large, integrated, oil producing, transporting, refining, and marketing company. ... This article is becoming very long. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Atlantic redirects here. ... The Isles of Scilly (Cornish: Ynysek Syllan) are an archipelago of islands off the Cornish coast. ... Bishop Rock Lighthouse Bishop Rock (Cornish: Men an Eskob) is a small rock at the westernmost tip of the Isles of Scilly (), known for its lighthouse, and listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the smallest island in the world. ... The Peggys Point lighthouse in Nova Scotia, Canada An aid for navigation and pilotage at sea, a lighthouse is a tower building or framework sending out light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire. ...

The broken up and scattered wreck lies 56 ft deep on position 49 53' 38" N (lat.) and 6 22' 55" W (long.) and can be vistited by scuba divers under calm weather conditions.

Ship's Specifications

Construction type: steel hull designed as a flushdecker (ship with a continuous upper deck), superstructure on poop and main decks (at masts No. 5 and 6)
Rigging: rigged as a seven-masted gaff rigged schooner; lower masts made of steel, wooden spars, booms, and upper masts
Number of decks: 3 continuous steel decks, forecastle and poop decks, upper decks planked with pitch pine
Contract signed: 21 June 1902
Launching date: 10 July 1902
Maiden voyage in September 1902 to Philadelphia and Newport News
Shipyard: Fore River Ship & Engine Building Co., Quincy, Mass., USA
Naval Architect: Bowdoin Bradlee Crowninshield
Ship-owner: Coastwise Transportation Co. (John G. Crowley), Boston, Mass., USA
Homeport: Boston
Figurehead: none
Length over all (LOA): 475 ft (144 m) (measured from tip of jib boom to tip of spanker boom)
Length over all (LOA): 460 ft (140,1 m) (measured from tip of jib boom to stern reeling)
Length of Hull: 405 ft (123.5 m) (measured from prow to stern)
Length on deck (LOD): 394.3 ft (120,21 m) (measured from leading edge of stem post to trailing edge of stern post on deck level)
Length in the construction (CWL) waterline (LCW): 373 ft (113,7 m) (measured from leading edge of stem post to trailing edge of stern post in the CWL incl. rudder blade)
Length between perpendiculars (LBP): 369.25 ft (112,26 m) (measured from leading edge of stem post to trailing edge of stern post in the (CWL))
Beam: 50 ft (15.25 m) (maximum breath or width of a ship measured at deck level amidships)
Depth of hold: 35.12 ft (10.71 m) (vertical distance between the hold's bottom and the top of the beams of the deck covering the hold measured at the side amidships)
Depth moulded: 36.5 ft (11.12 m) (vertical distance between the moulded base line (bottom of the ship, above the keel’s underside) and the top of the beams of the uppermost continuous deck measured at the side amidships)
Draft: 28 ft (8.53 m); 35.33 ft 10.71 m at 11,000 tons) (vertical distance between the moulded base line and any defined waterline measured at the side amidships)
Tonnage: 5,218 GRT / 4,914 NRT
Displacement: ~16,050 ts (at 11,000 ts load); ~12,500 t (at 7,400 ts load)
Lightship's weight (mass): ~4,900 ts
Load capacity (deadweight): reduced (applied) capacity ~7,400 tons; max. (not applied) 11,000 tons (1 ton = 1.016 t);
Sail area: 43.000 sq ft (4,000 m²) [46,617 sq ft (4,330.86 m²)]; 25 sails: 7 gaff main sails (No. 1 to 6 of equal size, spanker sail of larger size), 7 gaff topsails, 6 staysails, 5 foresails
Mast height: 189.25 ft (57.6 m) (keel to masthead truck); 155 ½ ft (47.3 m) (main deck to masthead truck)
Length of jib boom: 63 ft (19 m)
Length of spanker boom: 76 ft (23.2 m) (mast no. 7)
Length of gaff boom: 44 ft (13.4 m) (mast no. 1 to no. 6)
Mast gap: 47 ft (14.3 m)
Auxiliary propulsion: none; auxiliary steam engine for the sail winches and the steam rudder
Costs: $ 248.000 construction, total costs with cargo (oil): ~ $ 400.000
First ship's master: Arthur Crowley
Other captains: Ernest D. Sproul; George W. Dow
Crew: 16 to 18 seamen (captain, engineer, steward, two helmsmen, 11 to 13 able seamen); crew of 18 men on her last voyage
Maximum speed: 16 knots under sail

Men from Francisco de Orellanas expedition building a small brigantine, the San Pedro, to be used in the search for food Shipbuilding is the construction of ships. ... The steel cable of a colliery winding tower. ... A hull is the body or frame of a ship or boat. ... // Sociological concept In social sciences, superstructure is the set of socio-psychological feedback loops that maintain a coherent and meaningful structure in a given society, or part thereof. ... Stern of the Grand Turk with poop deck above In naval architecture, a poop deck is a deck that constitutes the roof of a poop cabin built in the aft (rear) part of the superstructure of a ship. ... A mast is a pole which holds a sail of a boat, see mast (sailing). ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Gaff rig is a sailing rig in which the mainsail is a four-cornered fore-and-aft rigged sail controlled at its head by a spar called the gaff. ... Two-masted fishing schooner A schooner (IPA: ) is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts. ... The steel cable of a colliery winding tower. ... This article is about the convenience store. ... June 21 is the 172nd day of the year (173rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 193 days remaining. ... 1902 (MCMII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... This article needs to be wikified. ... July 10 is the 191st day (192nd in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 174 days remaining. ... 1902 (MCMII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... The maiden voyage of a ship or aircraft is the first cruise or flight in revenue service, typically following a series of shakedown cruises or test-flights. ... 1902 (MCMII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... This article is becoming very long. ... Newport News is an independent city located in Virginia. ... Small shipyard in KlaksvÃk (Faroe Islands), reparing fishing vessels Dockyards and shipyards are places which repair and build ships. ... Fore River Ship and Engine Company was a shipyard in the United States during the late 1800s and early 1900s. ... Quincy is the name of several places in the United States of America: Quincy, California Quincy, Florida Quincy, Illinois Quincy, Massachusetts Quincy, Michigan Quincy, Mississippi Quincy, Missouri Quincy, New Mexico Quincy, Ohio Quincy, Washington Quincy, Adams County, Wisconsin Quincy Township, Michigan Quincy may also refer to: Josiah Quincy (disambiguation) Quincy... This article is about the U.S. State. ... Men from Francisco de Orellanas expedition building a small brigantine, the San Pedro, to be used in the search for food Shipbuilding is the construction of ships. ... Ship owners can be owners of small personal watercraft such as motor boats or sailboats. ... Nickname: City on the Hill, Beantown, The Hub (of the Universe)1, Athens of America, The Cradle of Revolution, Puritan City, Americas Walking City Location in Massachusetts, USA Counties Suffolk County Mayor Thomas M. Menino(D) Area - City 232. ... Nickname: City on the Hill, Beantown, The Hub (of the Universe)1, Athens of America, The Cradle of Revolution, Puritan City, Americas Walking City Location in Massachusetts, USA Counties Suffolk County Mayor Thomas M. Menino(D) Area - City 232. ... A figurehead is a person, usually in a political role, who may hold an important title or office yet executes little actual power. ... o/a, o. ... A hull is the body or frame of a ship or boat. ... Prow, the fore part of a ship, the stem and its surrounding parts, hence used like keel, by metonymy, of the ship itself. ... Aft of the Soleil Royal, by Jean BÃ©rain the Elder. ... w/l, w. ... Fig. ... p/p, p. ... The beam of a ship is its width at the widest point, or a point alongside the ship at the mid-point of its length. ... The draft of a ships hull is the vertical distance from the bottom of the hull to the waterline. ... Tonnage is a measure of the size or cargo capacity of a ship. ... THE GRT GROUP The GRT Group is promoted by GR Thangamaligai South Indias leading jewellery house, established in 1964 by Mr. ... NRT refers to: Nancay Decimetric Radio Telescope (NRT) a radio telescope in the town of Nancay near Paris, France. ... In fluid mechanics, displacement occurs when an object is immersed in a fluid, pushing it out of the way and taking its place. ... A long ton is the name used in the US for the unit called the ton in the avoirdupois or Imperial system of measurements, as used (alongside the metric system) in the United Kingdom and to some extent in other Commonwealth countries. ... Tonnage is a measure of the size or cargo capacity of a ship. ... Tonnage is a measure of the size or cargo capacity of a ship. ... A spanker is either of two kinds of sail. ... A spanker is either of two kinds of sail. ... A topsail is a sail set above another sail; on square-rigged vessels further sails may be set above topsails. ... A staysail is a fore-and-aft rigged sail whose luff is affixed to a stay running forward (and most often but not always downwards) from a mast to the deck, the bowsprit or to another mast. ... A typical jib on a small yacht A jib is a triangular staysail set ahead of the foremost mast of a sailing boat. ... // In boats and ships, keel can mean either of two parts; a structural element, or a hydrodynamic element; these parts overlap. ... A masthead refers to the top of a mast of a ship. ... The driver of this DAF tractor with an auto-transport semi-trailer truck prepares to offload Å koda Octavia cars in Cardiff, Wales A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle for transporting goods. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... // The term steam engine may also refer to an entire railroad steam locomotive. ... Modern self-tailing winch on a sailing boat. ... Captain is a nautical term, an organizational title, and a rank in various uniformed organizations. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... A knot is a unit of speed, abbreviated kt or kn. ...

External links

References

Kates, Minor W., History of the Sun Marine Department. Retrieved from http://www.fleetsheet.com/lawson.htm on August 2, 2006.
Sarcone, Anthony F. and Lawrence S. Rines, A History of Shipbuilding at Fore River. Published 1975. Retrieved from http://ci.quincy.ma.us/tcpl/shipbuildingheritage/history/history.htm on August 2, 2006.

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