Home Contact Ship models Drawings Books Photo Search: Previous page Next page Content George F.Campbell "China Tea Clippers" Page26    The background to the tea trade The homeward passage Development of the ships Hull Construction Appearence Sail plans Sails Masts and spars Coppering Steering Gear Arrangements Windlass and Forecastle Arrangement Boats Fife Rails and Bitts Decking Rudders Conclusion Swedish builders (in the forefront of theoretical design) gave arising floor, a full fore body, and a fine after body, which was the British tendency also. The best clippers had a moderate rise offloor, an easy round of bilge, and the fore and after bodies equally balanced.   The fineness of the extremities of the clippers was such that they could be easily depressed by the addition of little weight. This was taken advantage of, when loading tea, by moving portable weights in boxes along the deck to give a slight trim by the stern. It was long considered that a ship sailed better when trimmed by the stern, and as during the voyage provisions stowed in the after part and fresh water in after tanks would be consumed, this loss of weight could be compensated by the additional weights in the boxes. Tea chests were sometimes stowed (illegally) in the after accommodation.   The fineness of the underwater body could be carried too far in the interests of speed, resulting in instability. The famous Leander was at fault in this respect as she needed so much ballast that a full cargo of tea could not be stowed before the ship was down to her marks.   The development of the upper stem in the British clippers closely paralleled the American style, on the wooden and composite hull. After the planked-in, overhanging, Aberdeen type bow, the termination of the bow planking was straightened out to meet the side of the stem in a slightly raking straight line or gentle curve, with the forecastle deck line considerably fined down to a very light hollow flare or straight vee'd section.   The long projecting upper stem knees with ornamental side cheeks and headboards with their supporting timbers were too popular to eliminate ; a markedly different attitude from that of the Americans, who considered the British tradition as 'old hat'.     However, these headboards were considerably reduced in size and weight and frequently made portable so that once at sea they were unbolted and removed, leaving only a minimum framework. The iron clippers, however, did retain the skin of the ship carried out to the curved stem knee until the last days of the sailing ships, and into modern times in the case of large steam yachts. This style inherited the name 'clipper stem' which we use today whenever it occurs.   One of the greatest difficulties the clipper ship designers faced was the lack of continuing, progressive records on which to build up facts. Naval warship designers could draw on statistics from whole fleets over many years and effect gradual experimental changes to arrive at certain facts, whereas the merchant ship designer had only the ships produced from his own yard on which to prove his theories. Much of what he did was based on instinct guided by intelligent observation, after the elementary facts had been established mathematically.