The First Atlantic Liners: Seamanship in the Age of Paddle Wheel, Sail and Screw

It is important to note that the title of this book must be taken in conjunction with the sub‐title. What we have here is a book not so much about the ships themselves as about how they were handled. By the nineteenth century, seamanship under sail had profited by hundreds, if not thousands, of years of accumulated wisdom. But the introduction of steam upset much of it. The steamship required a different shape of hull, and the machinery got in the way of the optimum placement of the masts. As coal was consumed the ship’s draught altered and the immersion...