An Autobiography [191]
as above referred to. In other cases, I employed what I may call Rocking centres, on which the Pedestal or "Plumber Block" rested; and thus supplied a self-adjusting means for obviating the evils resulting from any accidental change in the proper relative position of the shaft and its bearing. In all cases in which I introduced this arrangement, the results were most satisfactory.
In the case of the bearings of Blowing Fans, in which the rate of rotation is naturally excessive, a spherical resting-place for the bearings enabled them to keep perfectly cool at the highest speed. This was also the case in the driving apparatus for machine tools, which is generally fixed at a considerable height above the machine. These spherical or self-adjusting bearings were found of great service. The apparatus, being generally out of convenient reach, is apt to get out of order unless duly attended to. But, whether or not, the saving of friction is in itself a reason for the adoption of such bearings. This may appear a trifling technical matter of detail; but its great practical value must be my excuse for mentioning it.
1838. Invention of Safety Foundry Ladle.
The safety ladle is described in the text, p. 202.
1838. Invention of the Steam Ram
My invention was made at this early date, long before the attack by the steam-ram Merrimac upon the Cumberland, and other ships, in Hampton Roads, United States. I brought my plans and drawings under the notice of the Admiralty in 1845; but nothing was done for many years. Much had been accomplished in rendering our ships shot-proof by the application of iron plates; but it appeared to me that not one of them could exist above water after receiving on its side a single blow from an iron-plated steam-ram of 2000 tons. I said, in a letter to the Times, "As the grand object of naval warfare is the destruction by the most speedy mode of the ships of the enemy, why should we continue to attempt to attain this object by making small holes in the hull of the enemy when, by one single masterly crashing blow from a steam ram, we can crush in the side of any armour-plated ship, and let the water rush in through a hole, 'not perhaps as wide as a church door or as deep as a well, but 'twill serve'; and be certain to send her below water in a few minutes.* [footnote... In these days of armour-clad warships, when plates of enormous thickness are relied on as invulnerable, our Naval Constructors appear to forget that the actual structural strength of such ships depends on the backing of the plates, which, be it ever so thick, would yield to the cramming blow of a moderate-sized Ram. ...]
I published my description of the steam ram and its apparatus in the Times of January 1853, and again addressed the Editor on the subject in April 1862. General Sir John Burgoyne took up the subject, and addressed me in the note at the foot of this page.* [footnote... The following is the letter of General Sir John Burgoyne:
WAR OFFICE, PALL MALL, LONDON, 8th April 1862.
"General Sir John Burgoyne presents his compliments to Mr. Nasmyth, and was much pleased to find, by Mr. Nasmyth's letter in the Times of this day, certain impressions that he has held for some time confirmed by so good an authority. "A difficulty seems to be anticipated by many that a steamer used as a ram with high velocity, if impelled upon a heavy ship, would, by the revulsion of the sudden shock, be liable to have much of her gear thrown entirely out of order, parts displaced, and perhaps the boilers burst. Some judgment, however, may be formed on this point by a knowledge of whether such circumstances have occurred on ships suddenly grounding; and even so, it may be a question whether so great a velocity is necessary. "An accident occurred some twenty years ago, within Sir John Burgoyne's immediate cognisance, that has led him particularly to consider the great power of a ship acting as a ram. A somewhat heavy steamer went, by accident or mismanagement, end on to a very substantial wharf wall in Kingstown Harbour,
In the case of the bearings of Blowing Fans, in which the rate of rotation is naturally excessive, a spherical resting-place for the bearings enabled them to keep perfectly cool at the highest speed. This was also the case in the driving apparatus for machine tools, which is generally fixed at a considerable height above the machine. These spherical or self-adjusting bearings were found of great service. The apparatus, being generally out of convenient reach, is apt to get out of order unless duly attended to. But, whether or not, the saving of friction is in itself a reason for the adoption of such bearings. This may appear a trifling technical matter of detail; but its great practical value must be my excuse for mentioning it.
1838. Invention of Safety Foundry Ladle.
The safety ladle is described in the text, p. 202.
1838. Invention of the Steam Ram
My invention was made at this early date, long before the attack by the steam-ram Merrimac upon the Cumberland, and other ships, in Hampton Roads, United States. I brought my plans and drawings under the notice of the Admiralty in 1845; but nothing was done for many years. Much had been accomplished in rendering our ships shot-proof by the application of iron plates; but it appeared to me that not one of them could exist above water after receiving on its side a single blow from an iron-plated steam-ram of 2000 tons. I said, in a letter to the Times, "As the grand object of naval warfare is the destruction by the most speedy mode of the ships of the enemy, why should we continue to attempt to attain this object by making small holes in the hull of the enemy when, by one single masterly crashing blow from a steam ram, we can crush in the side of any armour-plated ship, and let the water rush in through a hole, 'not perhaps as wide as a church door or as deep as a well, but 'twill serve'; and be certain to send her below water in a few minutes.* [footnote... In these days of armour-clad warships, when plates of enormous thickness are relied on as invulnerable, our Naval Constructors appear to forget that the actual structural strength of such ships depends on the backing of the plates, which, be it ever so thick, would yield to the cramming blow of a moderate-sized Ram. ...]
I published my description of the steam ram and its apparatus in the Times of January 1853, and again addressed the Editor on the subject in April 1862. General Sir John Burgoyne took up the subject, and addressed me in the note at the foot of this page.* [footnote... The following is the letter of General Sir John Burgoyne:
WAR OFFICE, PALL MALL, LONDON, 8th April 1862.
"General Sir John Burgoyne presents his compliments to Mr. Nasmyth, and was much pleased to find, by Mr. Nasmyth's letter in the Times of this day, certain impressions that he has held for some time confirmed by so good an authority. "A difficulty seems to be anticipated by many that a steamer used as a ram with high velocity, if impelled upon a heavy ship, would, by the revulsion of the sudden shock, be liable to have much of her gear thrown entirely out of order, parts displaced, and perhaps the boilers burst. Some judgment, however, may be formed on this point by a knowledge of whether such circumstances have occurred on ships suddenly grounding; and even so, it may be a question whether so great a velocity is necessary. "An accident occurred some twenty years ago, within Sir John Burgoyne's immediate cognisance, that has led him particularly to consider the great power of a ship acting as a ram. A somewhat heavy steamer went, by accident or mismanagement, end on to a very substantial wharf wall in Kingstown Harbour,