Maritime

"From the earliest times man has turned to the waters to carry goods and passengers. Through the centuries he has harnessed many different forms of energy to move his cargoes on rivers, bays, and seas. He has built rafts to move upon the currents, galleys rowed by men, sailing ships of great variety to tap the strength of the winds, and steam and motor ships driven by the energy of coal and oil. Now man is ready to use the primordial source of power, the conversion of matter into energy, to send his merchant vessels on their voyages."

"Man has profited whenever he found new sources of energy to speed the movement of passengers and goods upon the seas. His efforts reached one culmination in the nineteenth century when swift and wonderfully graceful American clipper ships sailed the long reaches of the oceans. Yet the heyday of these ships lasted less than the lifespan of a man. Long before the superb Flying Cloud made her record 374 miles in 24 hours under sail on her famous passage from New York to San Francisco in 1851, a noisy, dirty, dangerous machine — the steam engine—was taking to the seas and soon was to relieve mariners from their age-old dependence on the favor of the winds. Early in 1819 a small sailing ship, the Savannah, made the first crossing of the Atlantic with the assistance of a steam engine. Hers was a daring pioneering accomplishment sponsored by American merchants. But the shipping industries of the world were not ready for her, and the SS “Savannah” (the letters SS stand for "steamship") was a commercial failure, ending her days as a simple sailing ship. Change came slowly, and not until 20 years later did the first vessel, the British ship “Sirius”, cross the ocean propelled entirely by steam. This venture pointed the way for the development of the great British steam merchant ship fleet."

"Stop for a moment and ask yourself what would happen if the merchant fleets of the world were suddenly to vanish. How would raw materials, fuel, food, medicines, publications, and manufactured products move from one continent to another? No nation is completely self-sufficient; all find advantage in foreign trade. For example, 15 of the materials used in making a telephone in the United States must be imported. The industrialization now beginning in developing nations of Africa, Asia, and South America foretells increasing foreign trade, to be carried by the merchant marine."

"Fortune brings in some boats that are not steered."

"Tho the Ship was an excellent Sea Boat, it was as much as she could do to live in this tremendous sea where the Elements seem to wage Continual War."

"I can only conjecture that [the Mutineers] have ideally assured themselves of a more happy life among the Tahitians than they could possibly have in England, which joined to some female connection, has most likely been the leading cause of the whole business."

"It is said that by the express command of His Majesty two new sloops of war are to be instantly fitted to go in pursuit of the pirates who have taken possession of the Bounty. An experienced officer will be appointed to superintend the little command, and the sloops will steer a direct course to Tahiti where, it is conjectured, the mutinous crew have established their rendezvous."

"I find that two months after I left Tahiti in the ‘Bounty’, Christian returned in her to the great astonishment of the natives. Doubting that things had gone well with me the first questions they asked were: ‘Where is Bry?’ ‘He is gone,’ he replied, ‘to England’. ‘In what ship?’ asked the natives. ‘In Toote’s ship.’"

"It was in those violent Tornadoes of temper when he lost himself, yet, when all, in his opinion, went right, could a man be more placid and interesting ...? Once or twice indeed I felt the unbridled licence of his power of speech, yet never without soon receiving something like an emollient plaister to heal the wound."

"Mr. Bligh most certainly brands my amiable brother with the vile appellation of ‘Mutineer,’ but he has not dared to charge you with any crime that could have authoriz’d such an epithet; on the contrary, he has declared, under his own hand, that he had the highest esteem for you till the fatal moment of the Mutiny, and that your conduct during the whole course of the voyage was such as gave him the greatest pleasure and satisfaction."

"My dear Nessy, cherish your hope and I will exercise my patience."

"Awake, Bold Bligh! The foe is at the gate! Awake Bold Bligh! Alas! it is too late!"

"Fiercely beside thy cot the mutineer Stands, and proclaims the reign of rage and fear. Thy limbs are bound, the bayonet at thy breast; The hands, which trembled at thy voice, arrest; Dragged o’er the deck, no more at thy command The obedient helm shall veer, the sail expand."

"The gallant Chief within his cabin slept, Secure in those by whom the watch was kept: His dreams were of old England’s welcome shore, Of toils rewarded, and of danger o’er; ... The worst was over, and the rest seemed sure, And why should not his slumber be secure? Alas! his deck was trod by unwilling feet, And wilder hands would hold the vessel’s sheet; Young hearts, which languished for some sunny isle, Where summer years and summer women smile; Men without country, who, too long estranged, Had found no native home, or found it changed, And, half uncivilised, preferred the cave Of some soft savage to the uncertain wave –"

"Their sea-green isle, their guilt-won Paradise, No more could shield their Virtue or their Vice: Their better feelings, if such were, were thrown Back on themselves, – their sins remained alone. Proscribed even in their second country, they Were lost."

"But Christian, of a higher order, stood Like an extinct volcano in his mood; Silent, and sad, and savage, – with the trace Of passion reeking from his clouded face."

"He that only rules by terror Doeth grievous wrong. Deep as hell I count his error. Let him hear my song. Brave the Captain was; the seamen Made a gallant crew, Gallant sons of English freemen, Sailors bold and true, But they hated his oppression; Stern he was and rash, So for every light transgression Doom’d them to the lash. Day by day more harsh and cruel Seem’d the Captain’s mood. Secret wrath like smother’d fuel Burnt in each man’s blood."

"Men did not desert because they hated their commanders, or salt pork, or weevily biscuits; they deserted for love."

"There never was a mutiny of the Bounty. Rather there was a revolt of one man against another, Christian against Bligh ..."

"... the wreck of the Batavia provides the greatest dramatic tragedy in Australian history, beside which the Mutiny on the Bounty is an anaemic tale."

"Encumbered by the weight of each individual’s gear, neither their physical capability nor emergency supplemental flotations devices, if activated, were sufficient to keep them at the surface"

"United States Rear Adm. Michael DeVore according to The drownings of 2 Navy SEALs were preventable, military investigation finds (October 11, 2024)"

"A navy is essentially and necessarily aristocratic. True as may be the political principles for which we are now contending they can never be practically applied or even admitted on board ship, out of port, or off soundings. This may seem a hardship, but it is nevertheless the simplest of truths. Whilst the ships sent forth by the Congress may and must fight for the principles of human rights and republican freedom, the ships themselves must be ruled and commanded at sea under a system of absolute despotism."

"A ruler that has but an army has one hand, but he who has a navy has both."

"When a crisis confronts the nation, the first question often asked by policymakers is: "What naval forces are available and how fast can they be on station?""

"Leonardo da Vinci is the outstanding example of the comprehensively anticipatory design scientist. Operating under the patronage of the Duke of Milan he designed the fortified defences and weaponry as well as the tools of peaceful production.. What happened at the time of Leonardo and Galileo was that mathematics was so unproved by the advent of the zero that not only was much more scientific shipbuilding made possible but also much more reliable navigation. Immediately thereafter truly large-scale venturing on the world’s oceans commenced, and the strong sword-leader patrons as designing their new and more powerful world-girdling ships. Next they took their Leonardos to sea with them as their seagoing Merlins to invent ever more powerful tools and strategies on a world-around basis to implement their great campaigns to best all the other great pirates, thereby enabling them to become masters of the world and of all its people and wealth.. The topmost Great Pirates’ Leonardos discovered — both in their careful, long-distance planning and in their anticipatory inventing that the grand strategies of sea power made it experimentally clear that a plurality of ships could usually outmaneuver one ship. So the Great Pirates’ Leonardos invented navies. Then, of course, they had to control various resource-supplying mines, forests, and lands with which and upon which to build the ships and establish the industries essential to building, supplying, and maintaining their navy’s ships... The required and scientifically designed secrecy of the sea operations thus pulled a curtain that hid the Leonardos from public view, popular ken, and recorded history. p. 25"

"Then came the grand strategy which said, “divide and conquer.” You divide up the other man’s ships in battle or you best him when several of his ships are hauled out on the land for repairs. They also had a grand strategy of anticipatory divide and conquer. Anticipatory divide and conquer was much more effective than tardy divide and conquer, since it enabled those who employed it to surprise the other pirate under conditions unfavorable to the latter... The great top pirates of the world, realizing that dull people were innocuous and that the only people who could contrive to displace the supreme pirates were the bright ones, set about to apply their grand strategy of anticipatory divide and conquer to solve that situation comprehensively. The Great Pirate came into each of the various lands where he either acquired or sold goods profitably and picked the strongest man there to be his local head man. The Pirate’s picked man became the Pirate’s general manager of the local realm. If the Great Pirate's local strong man in a given land had not already done so, the Great Pirate told him to proclaim himself king. Despite the local head man’s secret subservience to him, the Great Pirate allowed and counted upon his king-stooge to convince his countrymen that he, the local king, was indeed the head man of all men -the god—ordained ruler. To guarantee that sovereign claim the Pirates gave their stooge-kings secret lines of supplies which provided everything required to enforce the sovereign claim. The more massively bejewelled the king’s gold crown, and the more visible his court and castle, the less visible was his pirate master. p. 29 Ch. II, Origins of specialization"

"While paintings, poems, films and histories memorialise the great naval battles – Salamis, Lepanto, Trafalgar, Midway – when one navy destroyed another, the main strategic purpose of navies is to control the seas, and the highways that criss-cross them, and prevent their enemies from doing so. Even today land communications are vulnerable to disruption, either man-made or natural; how much more so in the past before surfaced roads and railways? Ever since humans began to build floating craft, water has been the most reliable way of moving people and material. Navies exist to protect their nations, their coasts, people and shipping, and to project their power abroad. By landing troops on enemy coasts, acting as floating gun and aircraft platforms in more recent times to bring firepower to bear on land targets, or destroying enemy capacity to wage war, whether by sinking or seizing enemy and sometimes neutral shipping or blockading ports so that needed resources, including soldiers, cannot move in or out, a powerful navy can make it difficult, even impossible, for its enemy to wage war on land or at sea. ‘We destroy the national life afloat,’ said the leading British naval theorist Julian Corbett, who taught generations of officers before the First World War, ‘and therefore check the vitality of that life ashore, as far as one is dependent on the other.’"

"Britain's best bulwarks are her wooden walls."

"Our ships were British oak, And hearts of oak our men."

"Cooped in their winged sea-girt citadel."

"Right—that will do for the marines."

"The wooden walls are the best walls of this kingdom."

"Hearts of oak are our ships, Gallant tars are our men."

"Hearts of oak are our ships, Hearts of oak are our men."

"All in the Downs the fleet was moor'd."

"Now landsmen all, whoever you may be, If you want to rise to the top of the tree, If your soul isn't fettered to an office stool, Be careful to be guided by this golden rule— Stick close to your desks and never go to sea, And you all may be Rulers of the Queen's Navee."

"Scarce one tall frigate walks the sea Or skirts the safer shores Of all that bore to victory Our stout old Commodores."

"The credite of the Realme, by defending the same with Wodden Walles, as Themistocles called the Ship of Athens."

"Lysander when handing over the command of the fleet to Callicratidas, the Spartan, said to him, "I deliver you a fleet that is mistress of the seas.""

"There were gentlemen and there were seamen in the navy of Charles the Second. But the seamen were not gentlemen; and the gentlemen were not seamen."

"Now the sunset breezes shiver, And she's fading down the river, But in England's song forever She's the Fighting Téméraire."

"Tell that to the Marines—the sailors won't believe it."

"The legislature have anxiously provided for those most useful and deserving body of men, the seamen and marines of this country."

"Surely the navy must be the navy royal."

"The naval dominion of England is of great consequence and use; for it is called dotem regni. If therefore the kingdom of England consists of land and sea, I hope we shall not stand at half defence, to defend the land and leave the sea."

"The condition of the British Navy is, no doubt, a matter of national importance and public interest."

"The salvation of this country depends upon the discipline of the fleet; without discipline they would be a rabble, dangerous only to their friends, and harmless to the enemy."

"The navy is the most important defence of the country, in which every subject of the Queen has an interest of the deepest character."

"War itself is a great evil, but it is chosen to avoid a greater. The practice of pressing is one of the mischiefs war bringeth with it. But it is a maxim in law, and good policy too, that all private mischiefs must be borne with patience for preventing a national calamity. And as no greater calamity can befall us than to be weak and defenceless at sea in a time of war, so I do not know that the wisdom of the nation hath hitherto found out any method of manning our navy, less inconvenient than pressing; and at the same time, equally sure and effectual."

"It may not be fit, in point of discipline, that a subordinate officer should dispute the commands of his superior, if he were ordered to go to the mast head: but if the superior were to order him thither, knowing that, for some bodily infirmity, it was impossible he should execute the order, and that he must infallibly break his neck in the attempt, and it were so to happen, the discipline of the navy would not protect that superior from being guilty of the crime of murder."

"Our Mountains are cover'd with Imperial Oak Whose Roots, like our liberties, ages have nourished But long e're our Nation submits to the Yoke Not a Tree shall be left on the Field where it Flourished Should Invasion impend, every Tree would defend From the Hill tops they shaded, our Shores to defend For ne'er shall the Sons of Columbia be Slaves While the Earth bears a Plant, or the Sea rolls its Waves."

"O pilot! 'tis a fearful night, There's danger on the deep."

"How Bishop Aidan foretold to certain seamen a storm that would happen, and gave them some holy oil to lay it."

"O'er the glad waters of the dark blue sea, Our thoughts as boundless, and our souls as free, Far as the breeze can bear, the billows foam, Survey our empire, and behold our home!"

"Here's to the pilot that weathered the storm."

"And as great seamen, using all their wealth And skills in Neptune's deep invisible paths, In tall ships richly built and ribbed with brass, To put a girdle round about the world."

"A wet sheet and a flowing sea, A wind that follows fast And fills the white and rustling sails, And bends the gallant mast! And bends the gallant mast, my boys, While, like the eagle free, Away the good ship flies, and leaves Old England in the lee."

"Soon shall thy arm, unconquered steam, afar Drag the slow barge, or drive the rapid car; Or on wide waving wings expanded bear The flying chariot through the fields of air."

"For they say there's a Providence sits up aloft To keep watch for the life of poor Jack."

"There's a sweet little cherub that sits up aloft, To keep watch for the life of poor Jack."

"Skill'd in the globe and sphere, he gravely stands, And, with his compass, measures seas and lands."

"The winds and waves are always on the side of the ablest navigators."

"Oh, I am a cook and a captain bold And the mate of the Nancy brig, And a bo'sun tight and a midshipmite And the crew of the captain's gig."

"Thus, I steer my bark, and sail On even keel, with gentle gale."

"Though pleas'd to see the dolphins play, I mind my compass and my way."

"What though the sea be calm? trust to the shore, Ships have been drown'd, where late they danc'd before."

"Yet the best pilots have need of mariners, besides sails, anchor and other tackle."

"—They write here one Cornelius—Son Hath made the Hollanders an invisible eel To swim the haven at Dunkirk, and sink all The shipping there. —But how is't done? —I'll show you, sir. It is automa, runs under water With a snug nose, and has a nimble tail Made like an auger, with which tail she wriggles Betwixt the costs of a ship and sinks it straight."

"Some love to roam o'er the dark sea's foam, Where the shrill winds whistle free."

"Thus far we run before the wind."

"Nos fragili vastum ligno sulcavimus æquor."

"Ye gentlemen of England That live at home at ease, Ah! little do you think upon The dangers of the seas."

"A strong nor'wester's blowing, Bill! Hark! don't ye hear it roar now? Lord help 'em, how I pities them Unhappy folks on shore now!"

"And that all seas are made calme and still with oile; and therefore the Divers under the water doe spirt and sprinkle it aboard with their mouthes because it dulceth and allaieth the unpleasant nature thereof, and carrieth a light with it."

"Why does pouring Oil on the Sea make it Clear and Calm? Is it for that the winds, slipping the smooth oil, have no force, nor cause any waves?"

"Well, then—our course is chosen—spread the sail— Heave oft the lead, and mark the soundings well— Look to the helm, good master—many a shoal Marks this stern coast, and rocks, where sits the Siren Who, like ambition, lures men to their ruin."

"Merrily, merrily goes the bark On a breeze from the northward free, So shoots through the morning sky the lark, Or the swan through the summer sea."

"Upon the gale she stoop'd her side, And bounded o'er the swelling tide, As she were dancing home; The merry seamen laugh'd to see Their gallant ship so lustily Furrow the green sea-foam."

"Behold the threaden sails, Borne with the invisible and creeping wind, Draw the huge bottomes through the furrow'd sea, Breasting the lofty surge."

"Ye who dwell at home, Ye do not know the terrors of the main."

"Cease, rude Boreas, blustering railer! List, ye landsmen all, to me: Messmates, hear a brother sailor Sing the dangers of the sea."

"Thou bringest the sailor to his wife, And travell'd men from foreign lands, And letters unto trembling hands; And, thy dark freight, a vanish'd life."

"There were three sailors of Bristol City Who took a boat and went to sea. But first with beef and captain's biscuits And pickled pork they loaded she. There was gorging Jack and guzzling Jimmy, And the youngest he was little Billee. Now when they got as far as the Equator They'd nothing left but one split pea."

"On deck beneath the awning, I dozing lay and yawning; It was the gray of dawning, Ere yet the Sun arose; And above the funnel's roaring, And the fitful wind's deploring, I heard the cabin snoring With universal noise."

"He hath put a girdle 'bout the world And sounded all her quicksands."

"We came across from Korea We braved the wind and the rain We came a thousand miles just to be here And you want to send we back again We crossed Malaysian waters We sailed the South China Sea We stopped at Singapore and Jakarta And you want to send we back to sea Don't send we back, have mercy upon us We know you don't want us but we've got no one Don't send we back, we've run out of water We won't last the morning in the baking sun The Indonesian Islands We stopped at every one As for the Philippines we tried 'em And you want to turn our boat around."

"She walks the waters like a thing of life, And seems to dare the elements to strife."

"She bears her down majestically near, Speed on her prow, and terror in her tier."

"I cannot imagine any condition which would cause a [large] ship to founder. . . . Modern shipbuilding has gone beyond that."

"For why drives on that ship so fast, Without or wave or wind? The air is cut away before, And closes from behind."

"Outwards from London, Glasgow, Amsterdam and Hamburg there radiated the lines - shipping lines, railway lines, telegraph lines - that were the sinews of Western imperial power. Regular steamships connected the great commercial centres to every corner of the globe. They criss-crossed the oceans; they plied its great lakes; they chugged up and down its navigable rivers. At the ports where they loaded and unloaded their passengers and cargoes, there were railway stations, and from these emanated the second great network of the Victorian age: the iron rails, along which ran rhythmically, in accordance with scrupulously detailed timetables, a clunking cavalcade of steam trains. A third network, of copper and rubber rather than iron, enabled the rapid telegraphic communication of orders of all kinds: orders to be obeyed by imperial functionaries, orders to be filled by overseas merchants - even holy orders could use the telegraph to communicate with the thousands of missionaries earnestly disseminating West European creeds and ancillary beneficial knowledge to the heathen. These networks bound the world together as never before, seeming to 'annihilate distance' and thereby creating truly global markets for commodities, manufactures, labour and capital. In turn, it was these markets that peopled the prairies of the American Mid-West and the steppe of Siberia, grew rubber in Malaya and tea in Ceylon, bred sheep in Queensland and cattle in the pampas, dug diamonds from the pipes of Kimberley and gold from the rich seams of the Rand."

"A small leak can sink a great ship"

"It is a national humiliation that we are now compelled to pay from twenty to thirty million dollars annually (exclusive of passage money which we should share with vessels of other nations) to foreigners for doing the work which should be done by American vessels American built, American owned, and American manned. This is a direct drain upon the resources of the country of just so much money; equal to casting it into the sea, so far as this nation is concerned."

"A great ship asks deep waters."

"It is cheering to see that the rats are still around—the ship is not sinking."

"Being in a ship is being in a jail, with the chance of being drowned."

"A navy is essentially and necessarily aristocratic. True as may be the political principles for which we are now contending they can never be practically applied or even admitted on board ship, out of port, or off soundings. This may seem a hardship, but it is nevertheless the simplest of truths. Whilst the ships sent forth by the Congress may and must fight for the principles of human rights and republican freedom, the ships themselves must be ruled and commanded at sea under a system of absolute despotism."

"I wish to have no connection with any ship that does not sail fast; for I intend to go in harm's way."

"Yet when all these reservations are made, there is no doubt that the development of the long-range armed sailing ship heralded a fundamental advance of Europe's place in the world. With these vessels, the naval powers of the West were in a position to control the oceanic trade routes and to overawe all societies vulnerable to the workings of sea power."

"And the wind plays on those great sonorous harps, the shrouds and masts of ships."

"Build me straight, O worthy Master! Staunch and strong, a goodly vessel That shall laugh at all disaster, And with wave and whirlwind wrestle!"

"There's not a ship that sails the ocean, But every climate, every soil, Must bring its tribute, great or small, And help to build the wooden wall!"

"Like ships that have gone down at sea, When heaven was all tranquillity."

"The barge she sat in, like a burnish'd throne, Burn'd on the water: the poop was beaten gold; Purple the sails, and so perfumed that The winds were love-sick with them: the oars were silver, Which to the tune of flutes kept stroke, and made The water which they beat to follow faster, As amorous of their strokes."

"A ship is safe in harbor, but that's not what ships are for."

"Ships, dim discover'd, dropping from the clouds."

"A strong nor'wester's blowing, Bill; Hark! don't ye hear it roar now? Lord help 'em, how I pities them Unhappy folks on shore, now."

"The true ship is the ship builder."

"For she is such a smart little craft, Such a neat little, sweet little craft— Such a bright little, Tight little, Slight little, Light little, Trim little, slim little craft!"

"The wooden wall alone should remain unconquered."

"Ships that sailed for sunny isles, But never came to shore."

"Morn on the waters, and purple and bright Bursts on the billows the flushing of light. O'er the glad waves, like a child of the sun, See the tall vessel goes gallantly on."

"Lord, Thou hast made this world below the shadow of a dream. An', taught by time, I tak' it so—exceptin' always steam. From coupler-flange to spindle-guide I see thy Hand, O God— Predestination in the stride o' yon connectin'-rod."

"The Liner she's a lady, an' she never looks nor 'eeds— The Man-o'-War's 'er 'usband an' 'e gives 'er all she needs; But, oh, the little cargo-boats, that sail the wet seas roun', They're just the same as you an' me, a'-plyin' up an' down."

"Her plates are scarred by the sun, dear lass, And her ropes are taut with the dew, For we're booming down on the old trail, our own trail, the out trail. We're sagging south on the Long Trail, the trail that is always new."

"Because it costs so much to keep one in paint and powder."

"They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters."

"And let our barks across the pathless flood Hold different courses."

"She comes majestic with her swelling sails, The gallant Ship: along her watery way, Homeward she drives before the favouring gales; Now flirting at their length the streamers play, And now they ripple with the ruffling breeze."

"It would have been as though he [Pres. Johnson] were in a boat of stone with masts of steel, sails of lead, ropes of iron, the devil at the helm, the wrath of God for a breeze, and hell for his destination."

"And the stately ships go on To their haven under the hill."

"Whoever you are, motion and reflection are especially for you, The divine ship sails the divine sea for you."

"Speed on the ship;—But let her bear No merchandise of sin, No groaning cargo of despair Her roomy hold within; No Lethean drug for Eastern lands, Nor poison-draught for ours; But honest fruits of toiling hands And Nature's sun and showers."

"If all the ships I have at sea Should come a-sailing home to me, Ah, well! the harbor would not hold So many ships as there would be If all my ships came home from sea."

"One ship drives East, and one drives West, By the selfsame wind that blows; It's the set of the sails, and not the gales, Which determines the way it goes."

"A salvage service which hardly exceeds ordinary towage is naturally remunerated on a very different scale from an heroic rescue from imminent destruction."

"The impulsive desire to save human life when in peril is one of the most beneficial instincts of humanity, and is nowhere more salutary in its results than in bringing help to those who, exposed to destruction from the fury of winds and waves, would perish if left without assistance."

"I am sorry to see a decreasing tendency to aid vessels that are broken down."

"It is of great importance that the laws by which the contracts of so numerous and so useful a body of men as the sailors are supposed to be guided, should not be overturned."

"It was a touching answer of a Christian sailor, when asked why he remained so calm in a fearful storm, when the sea seemed ready to devour the ship. He was not sure that he could swim. "But," he said, "though I sink I shall only drop into the hollow of my Father's hand; for He holds all these waters there.""

"Some hoisted out the boats, and there was one That begged Pedrillo for an absolution, Who told him to be damn'd,—in his confusion."

"Then rose from sea to sky the wild farewell— Then shriek'd the timid, and stood still the brave,— Then some leap'd overboard with fearful yell, As eager to anticipate their grave."

"Again she plunges! hark! a second shock Bilges the splitting vessel on the rock; Down on the vale of death, with dismal cries, The fated victims shuddering cast their eyes In wild despair; while yet another stroke With strong convulsion rends the solid oak: Ah Heaven!—behold her crashing ribs divide! She loosens, parts, and spreads in ruin o'er the tide."

"And fast through the midnight dark and drear, Through the whistling sleet and snow, Like a sheeted ghost, the vessel swept Towards the reef of Norman's Woe."

"O, I have suffer'd With those that I saw suffer: a brave vessel, Who had, no doubt, some noble creature in her, Dash'd all to pieces. O, the cry did knock Against my very heart! Poor souls, they perished."

"A rotten carcass of a boat, not rigged, Nor tackle, sail, nor mast; the very rats Instinctively have quit it."

"Naufragium sibi quisque facit."

"Through the black night and driving rain A ship is struggling, all in vain, To live upon the stormy main;— Miserere Domine!"

"But hark! what shriek of death comes in the gale, And in the distant ray what glimmering sail Bends to the storm?—Now sinks the note of fear! Ah? wretched mariners!—no more shall day Unclose his cheering eye to light ye on your way!"

"Every drunken skipper trusts to Providence. But one of the ways of Providence with drunken skippers is to run them on the rocks."

"Improbe Neptunum accusat, qui iterum naufragium facit."

"Apparent rari nantes in gurgite vasto."

"Or shipwrecked, kindles on the coast False fires, that others may be lost."

"While the Enterprises mission is ostensibly "to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before," its function is really more akin to that naval vessels in the early age of mercentalism. In describing the similarities, series creator Gene Roddenberry noted: "In those days ships of the major powers were assigned to patrol specific areas of the world's oceans. They represented their governments in those areas and protected the national interests of their respective countries. Out of contact with the admiralty office back home for long periods of time, the captains of these ships had very broad discretionary powers. These included regulating trade, fighting bush wars, putting down slave traders, lending aid to scientific expeditions conducting exploration on a broad scale, [and] engaging in diplomatic exchanges and affairs...."

"A man shall not sue in the Admiralty, only because it is a ship."

"The jurisdiction of the Court does not depend upon the existence of the ship, but upon the origin of the question to be decided, and the locality."

"I for one will not re-open the floodgates of Admiralty jurisdiction upon the people of this country."

"The difficulty of dealing with Admiralty Reports by way of authority is, that there is no necessity in that Court that the Judge should, in the exposition of the grounds of his judgment, discriminate strictly between the proposition of law which is to be satisfied by all the facts of the case, and the rule of interpretation of the direct facts of maritime vicissitudes given in evidence, by which he desires to bind himself and his successors as to the inference of fact he and they ought, as a general rule, to draw from those facts."

"PIRACY, n. Commerce without its folly-swaddles, just as God made it."

"It's more fun to be a pirate than to join the navy."

"Our prize is won, our chase is o’er, Turn the vessel to the shore. Place yon rock, so that the wind, Like a prisoner, howl behind ; Which is darkest—wave, or cloud ? One a grave, and one a shroud."

"To the mast nail our flag, it is dark as the grave, Or the death which it bears while it sweeps o’er the wave. Let our deck clear for action, our guns be prepared; Be the boarding-axe sharpened, the scimetar bared; Set the canisters ready, and then bring to me, For the last of my duties, the powder-room key. It shall never be lowered, the black flag we bear; If the sea be denied us, we sweep through the air."

"When a pirate grows rich enough, they make him a prince."

"Merchant and pirate were for a long period one and the same person. Even today mercantile morality is really nothing but a refinement of piratical morality."

"[The United States] has gone to the extent of carrying out modern acts of piracy, stopping ships in the middle of the ocean and stealing cargo that was paid for by the Venezuelan people."

"Now and then we had a hope that if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates."

"Come friends, who plough the sea: Truce to navigation, Take another station. Let us vary piracy With a little burglary!"

"Fifteen men on the Dead Man’s Chest— Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum! Drink and the devil had done for the rest— Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!"

"The shipbuilder, caulking a boat, heating up fish oil, with garments not easy to clean."

"The employment of ships for various purposes dates back to very early ages, but the science of Naval Architecture is of comparatively modern growth. Ships have advanced in size, speed, equipment and structural strength, but the progress from the primitive log or bundle of reeds used by the ancients to the 100-gunship of the eighteenth century was effected wholly by methods of trial and error."

"Tools arm the man. One can well say that man is capable of bringing forth a world; he lacks only the necessary apparatus, the corresponding armature of his sensory tools. The beginning is there. Thus the principle of a warship lies in the idea of the shipbuilder, who is able to incorporate this thought by making himself into a gigantic machine, as it were, through a mass of men and appropriate tools and materials. Thus the idea of a moment often required monstrous organs, monstrous masses of materials, and man is therefore a potential, if not an actual creator."

"With breakdowns and growing costs, the U.S. Navy's most expensive destroyer ever is likely to face added scrutiny by the incoming Trump administration and could see its future role minimized."

"The Zumwalt is an unmitigated disaster. Clearly it is not a good fit as a frontline warship."

"The stealthy nature of the Zumwalt class, whose design reduces the ship’s radar signature to that of a small fishing boat, lends itself to operating in enemy waters. Coupled with a large magazine of missiles, the Zumwalt class could become the ideal warship for an aggressive antisurface-ship role. Operating as a lone wolf but fully networked into the U.S. Navy’s battle network, a Zumwalt could be sent to hunt down and destroy enemy task forces far and wide."

"The U.S. Navy's newest warship, USS Zumwalt (DDG 1000) is the largest and most technologically advanced surface combatant in the world. Zumwalt is the lead ship of a class of next-generation multi-mission destroyers designed to strengthen naval power from the sea."

"The Zumwalt-class destroyer will be capable of performing a range of deterrence, power projection, sea control, and command and control missions while allowing the Navy to evolve with new systems and missions."

"The cutting-edge technologies of the DDG 1000 class create versatility and allow for sustained operations in the littorals and land attack, as well as support special operations forces, and operate as an integral part of joint and combined expeditionary forces. Its multi-mission design and littoral capabilities make it a globally deployable asset to the Fleet and any Combatant Command."

"The evidence for the Vedic Indians’ familiarity with sea and maritime navigation is so varied and so overwhelming that it is really impossible to dismiss it as a mere figment of imagination’"

"The Indian ships are much bigger than ours. Their bases are made of three boards .. [they] face formidable storms."

"Commerce on the sea is monopolized by the British even more than transport on land. The Hindus are not permitted to organize a merchant marine of their own; all Indian goods must be carried in British bottoms, as an additional strain on the starving nation's purse; and the building of ships, which once gave employment to thousands of Hindus, is prohibited."

"Akbar had an admiralty which supervised the building of ships and the regulation of ocean traffic; the ports of Bengal and Sindh were famous for shipbuilding, and did their work so well that the Sultan of Constantinople found it cheaper to have his vessels built there than in Alexandria; even the East India Company had many of its ships built in Bengal docks."

"Or their ships, for that matter. In the middle of the eighteenth century, John Grose noted that at Surat the Indian ship-building industry was very well established, indeed. “They built incomparably the best ships in the world for duration”, and of all sizes with a capacity of over a thousand tons. Their design appeared to him to be “a bit clumsy” but their durability soundly impressed him. They lasted “for a century”. Lord Grenville mentions, in this connection, a ship built at Surat which continued to navigate up to the Red Sea from 1702 when it is first mentioned in Dutch letters as “the old ship” up to the year 1770."

"The rich build ships in which they carry on commerce with foreign nations."

"It should be remembered that the Indian Ocean, including the entire coast of Africa, had been explored centuries ago by Indian navigators. Indian ships frequented the East African ports and certainly knew Madagascar. Whether they had rounded the Cape and sailed up the west coast is not known with any certainty."

"The Indian Ocean had from time immemorial been the scene of intense commercial trade. Indian ships had from the beginning of history sailed across the Arabian Sea up to the Red Sea ports and maintained intimate cultural and commercial connections with Egypt, Israel and other countries of the Near East. Long before Hippalus disclosed the secret of the monsoon to the Romans, Indian navigators had made use of these winds and sailed to Bab‑el‑Mandeb. To the east, Indian mariners had gone as far as Borneo and flourishing Indian colonies had existed for over 1,200 years in Malaya, the islands of Indonesia, in Cambodia, Champa and other areas of the coast. Indian ships from Quilon made regular journeys to the South China coast. A long tradition of maritime life was part of the history of Peninsular India..."

"The supremacy of India in the waters that washed her coast was unchallenged till the rise of Arab shipping under the early khalifs. But the Arabs and Hindus competed openly, and the idea of ‘sovereignty over the sea’ except in narrow straits was unknown to Asian conception. It is true that the Sri Vijaya Empire dominating the Straits of Malacca exercised control of shipping through that sea lane for two centuries, but there was no question at any time of any Asian power exercising or claiming the right to control traffic in open seas. It follows from this conception of the freedom of the seas that Indian rulers who maintained powerful navies like the Chola Emperors, or the Zamorins, used it only for the protection of the coast, for putting down piracy and, in case of war, for carrying and escorting troops across the seas."

"Some ships of the larger class have, besides (the cabins), to the number of thirteen bulkheads or divisions in the hold, formed of thick planks let into each other (incastrati, mortised or rabbeted). The object of these is to guard against accidents which may occasion the vessel to spring a leak, such as striking on a rock or receiving a stroke from a whale, a circumstance that not unfrequently occurs; for, when sailing at night, the motion through the waves causes a white foam that attracts the notice of the hungry animal. In expectation of meeting with food, it rushes violently to the spot, strikes the ship, and often forces in some part of the bottom. The water, running in at the place where the injury has been sustained, makes its way to the well which is always kept clear. The crew, upon discovering the situation of the leak, immediately remove the goods from the division affected by the water, which, in consequence of the boards being so well fitted, cannot pass from one division to another. They then repair the damage, and return the goods to the place in the hold from whence they had been taken. The ships are all double-planked; that is, they have a course of sheathing-boards laid over the planking in every part. These are caulked with oakum both withinside and without, and are fastened with iron nails. They are not coated with pitch, as the country does not produce that article, but the bottoms are smeared over with the following preparations: – The people take quick-lime and hemp, which latter they cut small, and with these, when pounded together, they mix oil procured from a certain tree, making of the whole a kind of unguent, which retains its viscous property more firmly, and is a better material than pitch."

"The maritime intercourse of India and China dates from a much earlier period, from about 680 B.C..... they arrived in vessels having prows shaped like the heads of birds or animals after the pattern specified in the Yukti Kalpataru (an ancient Sanskrit technological text) and exemplified in the ships and boats of old Indian arts."

"Abraham Parsons, a British traveller, described India’s ship- building prowess in late eighteenth century:Ships built at Bombay are not only as strong, but as handsome, are as well finished as ships built in any part of Europe; the timber and plank, of which they are built, so far exceeds any in Europe for durability that it is usual for ships to last fifty or sixty years; as a proof of which I am informed, that the ship called the Bombay grab, of twenty-four guns, (the second in size belonging to the Company’s marine) has been built more than sixty years, and is now a good and strong ship."

"The early Hindu astrologers are said to have used the magnet, in fixing the North and East, in laying foundations, and other religious ceremonies. The Hindu compass was an iron fish that floated in a vessel of oil and pointed to the North. The fact of this older Hindu compass seems placed beyond doubt by the Sanskrit word Maccha Yantra, or fish machine, which Molesworth gives as a name for the mariner's compass"."

"O Asvins, you saved Bhujyu (from drowning) in a deep sea where there was nothing to hold on, by lifting him up in a boat that had a hundred oars and sending him to his place. This was indeed a brave act of yours."

"As a ship across the river (or sea), Agni, take us across to safety (I.97.8).29"

"Agni will deliver us across all difficulties, as a ship across the river (or sea; I.99.1).30"

"Agni, destroyer of difficulties, deliver us across all danger as a ship across the river (or sea; V.5.9).31"

"When he was lost in the supportless, foundationless, ungraspable ocean, you put forth your strength, oh Ashwins. You bore Bhujyu home, mounted on a ship with a hundred oars (I.116.5).32"

"For three nights and three days, oh Ashwins, you carried Bhujyu with your swift birds. To the other shore of the wet ocean, with three vehicles with a hundred feet and six horses (I.116.4).33"

"With ships of the nature of the wind that travel through the atmosphere and keep the water away (I.116.3).34"

"Ashwins, you bore Bhujyu from the flooding ocean with straight moving bird- horses (I.117.14).35"

"Ashwins, you delivered Taugrya (Bhujyu) across the ocean (I.118.6).36"

"You carried Bhujyu, the son of Tugra, from the watery ocean by birds, through the air (VI.62.6).37"

"Ashwins, Bhujyu cast in the ocean, you bore across the floods with your unfailing horses (VII.69.7).38"

"When the son of Tugra served you, abandoned in the sea, then with wings your vehicle flew (VIII.5.22)."

"Indra, you delivered across the sea, Turvasha and Yadu to safety (1.174.9).39"

"Deliver us across all difficulties, oh Universal Gods, as ships across the waters (VIII.83.3).40"

"Oh Divine Varuna, guide this hymn of your worshipper with wisdom and skill, by it may we cross over all difficulties- may we mount it as a saving ship (VIII.42.3).4'"

"Soma, deliver us as a ship across the river (or sea; IX.70.10).42"

"The ships of truth have delivered the righteous. Varuna takes us across the great ocean (IX.73.1,3).43"

"Those who do not have the power to ascend the sacrificial ship trembling fall into calamity (X.44.6).44"

"At dawn, the new vehicle is employed. With four yokes, three whips, seven rays and ten oars, human and winning the light, it should be hastened with wishes and thoughts (1I.18.1)."

"Come with the ship of our thoughts to take us to the other shore, Ashwins, employ your vehicle. Your oar that is as wide as Heaven, your vehicle in the ford of the rivers by thought the drops of Soma are employed (I.46.7-8).43"

"Pushan, your ships that are within the sea, golden in the atmosphere which travel, by them you go on the embassy of the Sun, made by love, desiring glory (VI.58.3).46"

"When, oh Ashwins, you cross the ocean, men bring you fruits and delights (V.73.8).47"

"Heaven and Earth, the incomparable good protector, the Goddess Aditi who gives protection and guidance, may we ascend the Divine ship, free of sin, that has good oars which does not sink, to happiness.... Auspicious be our paths along the shores, auspicious in the convergence of the waters that bear the light of Heaven (X.63.10, 15)."

"Agni, give us a ship for our vehicle and house, with constant oars and quarters, which can take across our heroes and benefactors and our people to safety (I.140.12).53"

"The Sun mounted the luminous ocean, having yoked his straight-backed horses. The wise have led him like a ship through the water. The Waters, listening, have come here. We hold in the waters your vessel (or thought) that wins the light, by which the seers of the nine rays crossed over the ten months. By this vessel may we gain the protection of the Gods, by this vessel may we cross over all narrowness (V.45.10-11)."

"May the Divine One-footed Goat give us peace, peaceful be the Dragon of the Depths, peaceful the Ocean. May the Son of the Waters who is a ship be peaceful to us (VII.35.13).64"

"Ancient Tamil literature and the Greek and Roman authors prove that in the first two centuries of the Christian era the ports on the Coromandel or Cholamandal coast enjoyed the benefits of active commerce with both East and West. The Chola fleets.....uncrossed the Indian ocean to the islands of the Malaya Archipelago."

"In Les Hindous, Solvyns, after introducing about 40 sketches of boats and river vessels used in the Indian north in the 1790s, observed that “the English, attentive to everything which related to naval architecture, have borrowed from the Hindoos many improvements which they have adapted with success to their own shipping”."

"There's sky and death shimmering the waves."

"Vieil océan. ... Si tes vagues sont quelque part en furie, plus loin, dans quelque autre zone, elles sont dans le calme le plus complet."

"The breaking waves dashed high On a stern and rock-bound coast, And the woods against a stormy sky, Their giant branches toss'd."

"Each wave, instead of the big, smooth glossy mountain it looks from shore or from a vessel's deck, was for all the world like any range of hills on dry land, full of peaks and smooth places and valleys."

"Ye waves That o'er th' interminable ocean wreathe Your crisped smiles."

"What are the wild waves saying, Sister, the whole day long, That ever amid our playing I hear but their low, lone song?"

"Whilst breezy waves toss up their silvery spray."

"Come o'er the moonlit sea, The waves are brightly glowing."

"Hitherto thou shalt come, but no further; and here shall thy proud waves be stayed."

"LIGHTHOUSE, n. A tall building on the seashore in which the government maintains a lamp and the friend of a politician."

"[I]n standing out like a lighthouse over a stormy ocean it marks the entrance to a port where those who are wearied at times with the woes of the world, and troubled often by the trials of existence, may search for and may find that "peace that passeth all understanding"."

"The human heart is a meadow full of fireflies, a summer western sky of shimmering distant lightnings, a shore set round with flashing lighthouses, far-away voices calling that we cannot understand."

"Anythin' for a quiet life, as the man said wen he took the sitivation at the lighthouse."

"And o'er them the lighthouse looked lovely as hope,— That star of life's tremulous ocean."

"Actuality is when the lighthouse is dark between flashes: it is the instant between the ticks of the watch: it is a void interval slipping forever through time: the rupture between past and future: the gap at the poles of the revolving magnetic field, infinitesimally small but ultimately real. It is the interchronic pause when nothing is happening. It is the void between events."

"Lighthouses are more useful than churches."

"My invention shows a new product which helps to replace timber where it is endangered by wetness, as in wood flooring, water containers, plant pots, etc. The new substance consists of a metal net of wire or sticks which are connected or formed like a flexible woven mat. I give this net a form which looks in the best possible way, similar to the articles I want to create. Then I put in hydraulic cement or similar bitumen tar or mix, to fill up the joints."

"[W]elded wire reinforcement (WWR) [was] formerly known as welded wire mesh or fabric. Welded steel wire reinforcement is the predominant form... A grid of orthogonal longitudinal and transverse cold-drawn steel wires is welded together at every wire intersection... The size and spacing of the wires can vary... based on the requirements... Welded wire reinforcement can be epoxy coated or zinc coated (galvanized). ...Plain and deformed welded wire reinforcement is covered in... ASTM A1064... Stainless steel wires are specified according to ASTM A1022... Epoxy-coated WWR... in accordance with ASTM A884... Galvanized WWR... with ASTM A1060... Even plain wire used in welded wire reinforcement has both chemical bond and mechanical bond to the concrete. The mechanical bond results from bearing of the welded cross wires against the concrete in the grid of reinforcement."

"A thin shell is a special kind of vault whose geometry may include many shapes. ...a three-dimensional form made thicker than a membrane, so that it can not only resist tension as membranes do, but also compression. On the other hand, a thin shell is made thinner than a slab, which makes it unable to resist bending, as a slab does. In short, thin shells are structures thicker than membranes, but thinner than slabs. Thin shells are made possible by the use of materials that work well under tension and compression. Masonry has no tensile strength... Only the availability of and made a thin shell possible."

"RECOMMENDATION 6: Ferrocement in Disaster Relief. After fires, floods, droughts, and earthquakes... [t]ransportation is often disrupted... Supplies of bulky conventional building materials may be stranded outside the disaster area, whereas the basic ingredients of ferrocement may be available on the site or easily transported. The versatility of ferrocement also reduces logistical supply problems: wire mesh, cement, sand, and water can be substituted for the metal used for roofing, woods or plastic for shelters and clinics, asphalt for helipads, steel for bridges, and so on. Moreover, most ferrocement structures, though built for an emergency, will last long after the emergency is over. ...[F]errocement could be used at a disaster site for many purposes: Transport facilities, from simple boats to barges, docks, marinas, helipads, and simple floating bridges or short footbridges as well as road repairs. ...Food-storage facilities, quickly designed to local needs and quickly built, to preserve emergency food supplies. ...Emergency shelters such as, for example, the quonset type of roof, which is easy to erect and highly efficient. ..Public health facilities, such as latrines and clinics, built with ferrocement roofs and stucco-type walls of the same wire mesh and mortar. ...[C]adres of ferrocement workers could be trained in emergency applications and the supervision of local laborers at the disaster site."

"[Ferrocement defined:] A thin walled construction, consisting of rich cement mortar with uniformly distributed and closely spaced layers of continuous and relatively small diameter mesh (metallic or other suitable material)."

"The construction method chosen was the inverted wooden mold. For hulls up to 50 feet in length, and for utilizing unskilled labor, this method has been shown to be most efficient. ...The shape and fairness of the hull is first established and checked with the quick and easy-to-build wooden mold. ..The use of air-powered staple guns to fasten mesh and rods to the hull mold is a quick and efficient method and can be performed with unskilled labor. ..Lamination of the concrete skin is eliminated as the mortar is applied from one side only and vibrated through the hull shell reinforcing. ...Sagging of large unsupported areas is avoided. The men work from the outside of the hull and downwards."

"One inch (25 mm), 21 gauge, hexagonal galvanized mesh was used. This mesh was the type manufacturers describe as "reverse twist," galvanized after weaving. Ten layers were applied... Four layers of mesh were stapled to the mold over 4-mil plastic sheathing. Two more layers of mesh were stapled over 1/4-inch (6.4 mm) diameter vertical reinforcing bars which had been stapled on at 6-inch (152 mm) centers. 1/4-inch (6.4 mm) diameter reinforcing bars were then stapled longitudinally over this second layer of mesh. This layer of reinforcing bar was spot-welded to the first layer at approximately every second joint. This second layer of horizontal rods was applied on 3-inch (76 mm) centers. The last four layers of mesh were hogring fastened to the outside of this last layer of rods."

"Clear plastic 4-millimeter sheathing was hand-stapled to the mold for two reasons: ...To stop the moist mortar from falling through the joints and gaps between the wooden battens planking the mold. ...To form a barrier between the wooden mold and the fresh mortar. If no barrier were placed the wood would draw moisture from the new mortar and reduce its final strength."

"The first four layers of mesh were stapled to the mold over the plastic sheeting. Each length of mesh, already folded double, formed two layers. This first layer of mesh strips, 1-1/2 feet (457 mm) wide, was butted together. The second layer of mesh strips was laid out so as to cover the joints where the first layer was butted together, making a total of four layers of mesh."

"The vertical rods were stapled firmly to the hull. An air-powered staple gun was used..."

"Two more layers of mesh were stapled over the mold. Again 1" x 2" (25.4 mm x 51 mm) wide staples were used. The folded mesh was not lapped but just butted."

"The horizontal rods were welded on. Where a rod terminated on the hull it was lapped for six inches (152.4 mm) with another rod and spotwelded. All the rod joints were treated in this same way. The rods were stapled at approximately three-inch (76 mm) centers. Every second intersection of horizontal with vertical rods was spot welded. As there were two layers of mesh between the vertical and horizontal rods, the mesh was faired smooth in this small area. Care was taken not to burn too large a hole in the plastic sheeting where the rod welding took place."

"Wooden plugs of the same diameter as each through-hull fitting were cut out and placed on the mold in the exact position where the future through-hull fitting was to be installed later. These were cut from doweling and made one inch (25.4 mm) deep. A hole was drilled in the center of the doweling to ensure that the plug did not split when nailed to the mold. The mesh was cut away under the plug and trimmed neatly at the edges. Some attempt was made to place the doweling in a position clear of the intersecting rods."

"Starter rods for the stem, webs, bulkheads, bilge stringers, and engine beds were welded in place. These starter rods were placed at approximately six-inch (152 mm) centers. They were six inches (152 mm) long where they extended through the hull. Quarter-inch (6.4 mm) holes were drilled for these... The starter rods were lap-welded to either the vertical rods or the horizontals, depending on their position."

"One-inch (25.4 mm) chain links were welded to the hull reinforcing cage where scuppers were to be placed. These links were aligned and welded in at deck level. ...[E]xposed steel pieces such as scuppers or screeds which require welding... should always be cleaned and protectively coated."

"The last four layers of mesh were stapled to the hull mold. They were laid in the same way as the first layers. The mesh was fastened... as smoothly and as tightly as possible. It was clipped onto the horizontal rods with 3/4-inch (19 mm) hog rings. ...One-half inch (12.7 mm) hog ring staples which do a neater job could not be located ...All edges of the mesh were stapled down tightly so that no stray ends of mesh would penetrate later through the fresh mortar and thus interfere with the plasterers' work... Mesh over the chain link scuppers was clipped away and the ends fastened down neatly."

"The mortar used for the hulls was a mixture of clean, graded silica sand, ...Portland Cement Type II, and drinking-type water. This silica sand, of the grading and particle shape used in high-strength structures... The sand content used was... one 50-pound (22 Kg) bag of coarse grade, one 100-pound (44 Kg) bag of medium grade and one 50-pound (22 Kg) bag of fine grade. To this graded sand was added two 80-pound (31 Kg) bags of Portland Cement Type II and just sufficient water to make the mortar workable into the hull mesh reinforcing. ...There was one plasterer for roughly every 100 square feet (9 m2) ...Retarders or additives were not used. The sun shelters were moved into place ..."

"First a heavy coat was applied all over the hull. Men stationed inside the hull mold began systematically vibrating the mold planking and checking the gaps between the planking for mortar penetration. Once the mortar had all been applied to the satisfaction of the men vibrating and checking, the excess mortar was then scraped back to the mesh. ...A new thin coat was troweled over the hull and allowed to start setting. When it started to set the hull was sponge troweled, the sponge trowel being used in a circular motion to smooth out surface irregularities. As soon as the sponge troweling was finished, the final steel troweling began. This was carried on until the hull surface had set up too hard to be worked on any further, and was as smooth and fair as the plasterers could make it."

"The hulls were steam cured for 24 hours at a temperature of 150°F (66° C). A steam pipe, perforated for its entire length, was placed under the inverted hull and a rubberized canvas steam tent drawn completely over. The temperature was carefully brought up to 150°F (66°C) in a period of four hours. Twenty-four hours were then maintained at this prescribed temperature until, finally, it was allowed to drop slowly to ambient temperature of 85° F (30°C)."

"The hull was left untouched for 18 hours after the plaster finishing work had ceased. This allowed the hull to set-up hard enough for the men to drag the steam tent over it. It is not advisable to start steam curing too soon, as the jets of hot water from the steam pipe may wash some of the mortar off the hull while it is still green. Before steam curing began the wooden screeds were removed from around the hull sheer."

"[These] low cost, easily built, high quality ferrocement roofings... offer an innovative solution to the serious dwelling problem affecting large numbers of people, especially in the marginal urban areas and rural zones of developing countries..."

"Ferrocement was chosen as the material for the proposed roofing because of its physical properties (strength in compression and tension, impact, permeability, etc.) and because it is cheap and easy to build."

"[I]t was decided to develop a type of roofing based on prefabricated sections. ...With the partial results obtained in this stage, another part of the study could be initiated, i.e. to build this same type of element "in situ"... thus providing solutions for situations in which prefabrication is not appropriate..."

"The adaption of ferrocement precast roofings in self-help construction projects... permits the use of standard components which are easily erected without sophisticated equipment."

"The construction of the mold simply consists of making a dome of well compacted earth, covered by a layer of well-finished concrete having a thickness of 8 cm [3.15 inches], with the shape defined by the trusses... used to [shape] the mold."

"The reinforcement consists of two no. 2 bars along the edges, one of them straight and the other one with the necessary bends to provide the handles to lift and fix the dome to the structure. ...[T]wo layers of galvanized chicken wire, guage 22 with a separation of 13 mm are attached to the bars and directly mounted over the mold, one perpendicular to the other. ...[E]nsure a minimum overlap of 5 cm... and... ensure that these are stretched... to achieve the thinnest section possible."

"The mortar used for the mix is made (using a mixture) of normal or ic cement and sand in a proportion of 1:1.5 by volume and with a water-cement ratio of 0.55."

"After a couple of hours, the desired finish is applied (polishing or brushing), with the object of sealing the cracks or faults that may appear on the surface of the dome."

"The curing of the shell is achieved by covering the surface with wet sand for a period of 72 hours."

"An alternative construction method was also developed which did not require the use of any type of mold or form."

"The best solution found was to form a double curvature surface... The curvature does not necessarily follow a pre-determined law, so that it may be checked roughly "with the naked eye"."

"[T]he smaller the thickness of the cover, the better will be its quality, which is why at the time of pouring, the meshes of the wire should be well stretched. Care should be taken that only enough mortar to cover the reinforcement is used."

"One worker on one of the supports... either manually or with a trowel distributes the mortar over the chicken wire... Simultaneously, another worker from within the room... holds the mortar which is applied from the outside with a metal float or trowel in order that the mortar does not fall. Once this operation is completed, the required finish is applied both from the outside and the inside."

"The central part remains [bare wire] and will be completed after 72 hours. ...[T]he worker can [then] climb on the previously cast portion, carrying out the same process ...[S]upport the dome until the mortar has cured in order to avoid deformations caused by the weight of the mortar and to guarantee curvature of the shell."

"As eight of the shells tested failed as a result of the failure of the supporting concrete ties on the walls, it was decided to build samples which were very well reinforced... The ultimate load increased by 1.7 times for these shells..."

"The domes were very easily repaired by replacing the damaged mortar or mesh..."

"[T]he ferrocement roofings are practically waterproof and that they do not need any special treatment."

"[T]o increase the load capacity of the domes and to avoid excessive deformations, it is necessary to provide the best possible anchoring at the edges."

"[A] dome of any shape will amply comply with safety requirements. Because of this it is believed that it is possible to build domes in situ without specifying the shape of the dome, which makes skilled labor unnecessary."

"Chicken wire mesh was recommended because of its ductility. It shows no oxidation problems as it is made with galvanized wire. It has reliable properties and is low in cost."

"The purpose of this book is to match an existing resource with an existing need. The need is shelter... simpler structures... that can be assembled quickly in the wake of a hurricane or flood... that can be built economically in undeveloped countries... that... provides pleasure in the form of self-made personal retreats..."

"This highly specialized, but by no means highly complicated building technique had been almost forgotten after its first use... in the middle of the nineteenth century until it was virtually reinvented in the 1940s by... ."

"Ferrocement is used relatively little in the housing field because it is regarded as a labor-intensive... building technique. ...It is true that considerable labor is required to put together... sand, cement, and wire mesh... However, the elaborate temporary framework which consumes most of the labor in conventional work is often entirely eliminated... Even if we concede that ferrocement is impractical where labor is expensive... its use requires only time, not skill..."

"All ferrocement can be said to be , but all types of reinforced concrete are not ferrocement."

"[F]erroconcrete would be a more accurate term for our material, but that term is already in common use to describe... reinforced concrete work."

"[F]errocement ...uses wire mesh, rather than heavy rods or bars, as the primary part of its metal reinforcement and which uses sand [in a mortar mixture] rather than a mixture of sand and stone ...as the aggregate in its concrete mix. ...The resultant product can be a shell of surprising thinness, durability, resilience, and, when properly shaped, strength."

"The structural effectiveness of any reinforced concrete, including ferrocement, depends on the almost miraculously fortuitous fact (first discovered in 1870 by ) that steel and concrete have close to identical coefficients of expansion, swelling at exactly the same rate when heated, shrinking at exactly the same rate when cooled. Thus they may be permanently bonded together as a single material, utilizing the best structural characteristics of each: steel has the tensile strength... while concrete has the ..."

"Ferrocement... often acts more like steel than like a standard reinforced concrete. Hit with a hammer, it rings like a bell."

"[F]errocement... may eliminate the need for separate layers of waterproofing."

"[A]t the new ... [the] famous sail-shaped roofs (built of conventional reinforced concrete) have been covered with tile-surfaced panels of ferrocement which serve as waterproofing..."

"[B]ecause of its intrinsic hardening process which continues indefinitely, good concrete gets better and better, imperfect concrete (with flaws that invite erosion and corrosion) gets worse and worse."

"[B]efore... crude beginnings of work with conventional reinforced concrete, work with ferrocement had already begun. ...The ferrocement technique seems to have been first used by ... and, apparently... independently, by ...Jean-Louis Lambot. ...Lambot called his invention "ferciment" and used it to build boats... He constructed his first boat in 1848..."

"Although... two of the first patents for reinforced concrete of any type... were for ferrocement, that particular type of reinforced concrete was generally underutilized—in fact, forgotten—until 's work of the 1940s. ...The turning to ferrocement... was based on the logical use of a known fact: the structural behavior of reinforced concrete is most effective near the points of its reinforcement. ...Nervi was first to ask the question... why not distribute the metal reinforcement so evenly that all the concrete is in immediate proximity to it? On this theoretical foundation Nervi performed the experiments which led to his establishment of ferrocement building technique as we know it today."

"[B]y the end of 1943 Nervi's firm was at work on three 150-ton transport boats, their hulls completely of ferrocement, and one 400-ton vessel, largely of ferrocement. The first construction was interrupted by the war, and it was not until 1945 that Nervi's method resulted in... [t]he Irene... a motor boat with a 165-ton displacement. On a supporting frame of 1/4" steel rods spaced about 4" apart, Nervi spread eight layers of wire mesh, four on each side of the rods, which were tied tightly together and plastered by hand with a rich cement mortar. The resultant ferrocement was 1 3/8" thick (about the same thickness as Lambot's boat). Other than the rods sandwiched into the mesh, no formwork was needed."

"In 1947 [Nervi] built his first ferrocement structure on land, a storage warehouse... 35' x 70' and all four... walls [and] roof were of ferrocement 1 3/16" thick, their thinness made structurally feasible by their corrugated shapes."

"The following year Nervi designed and built a 41' ... the Nennele... the hull's total thickness was less than 1/2"."

"Nervi's first used of ferrocement in an important public structure was in the 1948 Exposition Hall in Turin. ...The great corrugated roof is... ferrocement panels 1 1/2" thick tied together by ribs of conventional poured concrete..."

"In the 1953 Milan Fair building and in the 1959 Flaminio stadium... Nervi used ferrocement corrugations... in strikingly cantilered roofs. A further use by Nervi of the material has been in... smooth, lightweight forms into which conventional poured concrete could be molded..."

"Most of the more recent use of ferrocement have been by others, but it is to the insight and pioneering work of that they owe their successes."

"Ferrocement is a form of reinforced concrete... [utilizing] closely spaced multiple layers of mesh or fine rods completely embedded in cement mortar. It can be formed into thin panels or sections, mostly less than 1 in. (25 mm) thick... Unlike conventional concrete, ferrocement reinforcement can be assembled into its final desired shape and the mortar... plastered directly in place without the use of a form."

"[T]he early work of Lambot... was one of the first applications of , but [was] also... a form of . His patent on wire-reinforced boats that was issued in 1847... This was the birth of reinforced concrete, but subsequent development differed from Lambot’s concept. The technology of the period could not accommodate the time and effort needed to make mesh of thousands of wires. Instead, large rods were used to make what is now called conventional reinforced concrete, and the concept of ferrocement was almost forgotten for 100 years."

"Portland cement is generally used, sometimes blended with a . The filler... is usually a well-graded sand capable of passing a 2.36 mm (No. 8) sieve. However, depending upon the... reinforcing material (mesh opening, distribution, etc.), a mortar containing some small-size gravel may be used. ...Addition of short and discrete fibers of different types favorably affects the control of cracking and the capacity... to resist tensile loads. ...[R]elatively short and slender (l/d = 100) steel fibers may be randomly distributed in hydraulic cement mortars... the overall effect being to increase tensile strength and improve the shear resistance..."

"So he walks the path at nightfall with a bundle in his hand. Into a nest of cedar bark and twisted grass he lays the coal and feeds it with his breath. It dances and then subsides. Smoke pools darkly as the grasses melt to black and then erupt into flame, climbing one stem and then another. All around the meadow, others do the same, setting in the grass a crackling ring of fire that quickens and gathers, white smoke curling upward in the fading light, breathing into itself, panting across the slope until its convective gasp sets the night alight. A beacon to bring their brothers home."

"Modest doubt is call’d The beacon of the wise, the tent that searches To the bottom of the worst."

"Founded on rock and facing the night-fouled sea A beacon blinks at its own brilliance, Over and over with cutlass gaze Solving the Gordian waters ..."

"The beacon-blaze unsheathing turns The face of darkness pale And now with one grand chop gives clearance to Our human visions . . ."

"On the following morning, the 22nd, I climbed to the top of the lighthouse of Port Said. It is one of the highest in the world—160 feet high—and its electric light is visible at a distance of twenty-one s. Its strong walls are built of blocks of the same concrete as the mole of the harbour—immense cubes of artificial stone, composed of seven parts of desert sand and one part of French hydraulic lime. The view from the top did not in any respect answer my expectations, for, beyond Port Said itself and its immediate neighbourhood of flat sand, nothing is to be seen but water on every side."

"There is a small light exhibited on each of the pier ends: Port Said Lighthouse itself stands at the inner entrance of the western . It is a grey-colored octagonal-shaped tower, constructed of concrete, 180 feet high, exhibiting an electric light visible at a distance of 25 miles, and it forms a noble beacon by day or night."