Compound monocular with rack-and-pinion focus, inclination joint, and tri-leg base. The stage is missing as is the sub-stage mirror. The “Improved Compound Microscope BY ABRAHAM LIVERPOOL” inscription on one foot refers to a Liverpool instrument firm that was in business from 1817 to 1860. Philip Carpenter, a London optician, described a similar microscope in 1825.
Ref: Philip Carpenter, A Description of Carpenter’s Improved Compound Microscope for Opake & Transparent Objects (London, 1825).
This model was filed with the application to the U.S. Patent Office for Patent Number 196,451 issued to Andrew Higginson of Liverpool, England on October 23, 1877. The patent was for an improved design for reciprocating steam engines. His patent application described three designs. One was for a single rectangular piston, non-reversing engine. The second was for a three piston version that was non-reversing. The third design, and the one represented by this model, was for a three piston engine that could be reversed. The control lever seen at the right of the image of the model was for controlling the direction of rotation.
Higginson provided two ports in the walls of each of the steam “cylinders.” As a piston oscillated up and down, a port in the skirt of the piston alternately exposed each of the ports in the wall. The control lever determined which port received steam and which acted as the exhaust and, thus, the direction of rotation. He claimed that the use of rectangular “cylinders” made the engine easier to construct and to obtain tight seals with the pistons.
The patent model is constructed of brass and illustrates of the important elements of Higginson’s design. Although not visible in the image, the rear of the model has cut-away sections to reveal parts of the pistons and valve ports. A full description of the operation of the engine along with complete diagrams of the patent can be found in the patent document online at the United States Patent and Trademark Office website, www.uspto.gov.
This transit instrument inscribed "Thos Jones Liverpool" and “U.S.C.S. No. 12" is one of the earliest extant instruments of the U. S. Coast Survey. The Thomas Jones who worked as an instrument maker and dealer in Liverpool during the period 1816–1831 should not be confused with the Thomas Jones of London who made the transit theodolite for the Coast Survey, which is also in the collections.
The vertical circle attached to one end of the slightly conical horizontal axis is graduated to 15 minutes, and read by opposite verniers to single minutes. At the other end of the axis is a wooden lamp holder. The lattice work cast iron base has 3 leveling feet.
Ref: Gloria Clifton, Directory of British Scientific Instrument Makers 1550–1851 (London, 1995), p. 154.
This is the original builder’s half hull model of the famous ship Young America, constructed by the renowned shipbuilder William Webb in 1852/53 at his New York shipyard. Measuring 243 feet long on deck and 1,961 tons, the Young America was an extreme clipper, characterized by a sharp bow and long, narrow hull. Constructed lightly for speed and commonly sailing the harsh waters of Cape Horn off the southern tip of South America with crews of up to 100 men, clippers often lasted only about ten years before being sold to foreign owners.
Costing $140,000 to build, the Young America set a number of speed records. It sailed from New York to San Francisco 20 times, averaging 118 days per trip. Its reputation for strength and speed earned high freight rates—its maiden voyage from New York to San Francisco earned $86,400. The clipper traded mainly between Liverpool, New York and San Francisco, but also sailed to China, Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand, Belgium, the Philippines, Mauritius and other countries. After a very long and profitable 30-year career, the Young America was sold to Austrian owners in 1883 and renamed the Miroslav. In February 1886, the ship cleared Delaware for a trading voyage and was never seen again.
Half hull models were the first step in the construction of a ship. They were carved out of horizontal strips of wood known as lifts, and only one side was needed since ships are symmetrical. After a model was approved, its lines were taken (measured) and it was disassembled. Then the lines were lofted, or drawn at full scale on the floor. The actual ship’s frames were cut to fit the lines on the floor and then set in place along the keel during the construction process. Sometimes the models were discarded or even burned as firewood after use, but many original examples are preserved today.
ship made transatlantic voyages from New York and Liverpool
1851-1880
ship was abandoned
1880-10
shipping firm
Black Ball Line
shipbuilder
Webb, William H.
ship's namesake
Webb, Isaac
maker
Walters, Samuel
ID Number
TR.317527
catalog number
317527
accession number
229943
Description
Operating out of New York, the Black Ball Line pioneered scheduled packet ship service to Liverpool, England in 1818, and the firm continued operating until it was dissolved in 1879. Its success resulted from focusing on the lucrative passenger trade, at a time when immigration to the United States was at its highest level.
In 1851, the massive three-deck packet Isaac Webb was the seventh and last Black Baller launched from the shipyard of famous New York shipbuilder William H. Webb, who also owned a 1/16 share of the ship. Named after the builder’s father, the Isaac Webb measured 185 feet in length and 1,359 tons. It made about four round trips per year between New York and Liverpool, England from 1851–1879. The average length of a passage was 37 days, with the shortest voyage recorded as 25 days.
In June 1863, while westbound from Liverpool to New York with 658 passengers, the Isaac Webb was captured by the Confederate commerce raider Florida. A bond for a $40,000 ransom freed the ship to complete the passage. In late December 1866, while westbound for New York, the Webb encountered a gale so cold that it killed three crew, and several others were badly frostbitten. On the same passage nearly two years later, another powerful gale killed the captain.
The Isaac Webb continued to sail after the Black Ball Line closed. In late October 1880, while bound from Europe to New York, it was abandoned at sea by its crew of 24, who were rescued by a passing steamship bound for Boston. British marine painter Samuel Walters completed this oil painting around 1851, when the ship was new.
sailed for the Dunham & Dimon Liverpool Line out of New York
1845
sailed for the Black Diamond Line out of Philadelphia
1846
sailed for the New LIne out of Philadelphia
1847
abandoned at sea
1854-08
shipbuilders
John Vaugn & Son
ship owners
Thomas P. Cope & Son
ID Number
TR.322426
catalog number
322426
accession number
247838
Description
The packet ship Shenandoah was built in 1840 by John Vaugn & Son at Philadelphia, Pa. for Thomas P. Cope & Son, better known as the Cope Line. Wealthy Philadelphia Quakers, the Copes transported about 60,000 passengers—mostly Irish immigrants—from Liverpool to Philadelphia from 1820-1870.
Measuring 143’ long and 738 tons, the Shenandoah spent nearly its entire career on the Philadelphia–Liverpool passage. It made 14 voyages for the Cope Line from 1839-44. In 1845 it sailed for the Dunham & Dimon Liverpool Line out of NY, but the following year it returned to Philadelphia for the Black Diamond Line. By 1847 it served the New Line, clearing Philadelphia on the 1st of the month and leaving Liverpool five weeks later, on the 8th of the following month. In the late 1840s, it lost its popular captain to the new Collins ocean steamship Atlantic. Many of the old sailing packet companies lost their captains to the newer and faster transatlantic steamship lines. The Shenandoah was abandoned at sea in August 1854.
lantern and panels were donated to the Smithsonian
1970s
architect
Robinson, George Thomas
ID Number
TR.336295
accession number
1978.0206
catalog number
336295
Description
Built in 1890 by Belfast shipbuilders Harland & Wolff, the RMS Majestic was designed for luxury ocean travel. Like its sister ship, the RMS Teutonic, which was launched the previous year, the Majestic was built for the White Star Line’s service between Liverpool and New York.
The interior of the Majestic was opulent. Staterooms featured colored glass screens over the ports, while the smoking room walls were embossed with gilded leather and mahogany panels. Skylights, or lanterns, were installed in the ship’s dining rooms and other common areas. The lantern domes were designed to allow natural light to filter into the Majestic’s interior spaces.
The lantern in the Majestic's first class dining saloon was designed by British architect George Thomas Robinson. It was made up of 56 individual pieces, including eight plaster friezes, leaded stained glass and wood paneling. The plaster friezes depicted the “shipbuilder’s art from the early days of the Spanish Armada to the Battle of Trafalgar.”
When the Majestic was broken up in 1914, parts of the first class dining saloon lantern were sold to a ship salvage company, including the plaster panels. Several of these were paired with a smaller lantern from the ship and installed in the executive board room of Thomas W. Ward Ltd., in Sheffield, England. In the early 1970s, the director of the company donated this lantern and the plaster panels from the Majestic to the Smithsonian. He pointed out that the lantern had been saved three times, once when the ship was broken up and twice during the world wars of the twentieth century. He thought it fitting to donate this survivor to the United States “in memory of the many very gallant merchant seamen . . . who served in the Atlantic during the two World Wars.”
"My invention relates to a contrivance to assist the helmsman in swinging the rudder laterally against the resistance offered by the water," James Davies wrote in 1877. "It consists in the combination of a pivoted cylinder containing a spring and a piston, the latter connected with the tiller." When the tiller is turned, and the rudder encounters pressure from the water rushing past it, Davies's spring and piston counteract the water's force. Because the device does not work when the vessel is backing-the spring would work with the pressure of the water rather than against it-Davies provided a pin along the side of the cylinder to block the spring.
James Davies was a resident of Liverpool, England. He may also have patented this steering gear in the United Kingdom.
This is a 1/8-scale model of the tobacco ship Brilliant, a 250-ton vessel built in Virginia in 1775 for British owners. The Brilliant's first and probably only commercial venture from Virginia took place when it set sail for Liverpool, with a full hold of tobacco, in the summer of 1775. Typically the Brilliant would have returned with manufactured goods, but because of growing hostilities between Britain and the colonies, the ship remained in England. Records show that the Brilliant made one voyage to Jamaica and returned to London in 1776. Later that year, the Royal Navy purchased the vessel for just over £3,000 and converted it to a ship of war for service in the American Revolution.
The ship Brilliant had three masts and square-rigged sails. Its lower deck was 89'-3" long, its breadth was 27'-1/2", and the depth of the hold was 12'-2". The ship was built of oak, pine, and cedar. When purchased for war service, the Royal Navy assessed its hull, masts, and yards at £2,143. The cordage, including halyards, sheets, tack, and anchor cables, were assessed at £340. Brilliant's sails, 27 in all, were valued at £143. Five anchors were assessed at £58, while a long boat with a sailing rig and oars was estimated to be worth £45. Other items aboard the Brilliant were inventoried, including block and tackle, metal fittings, iron-bound water casks, hour and minute glasses, compasses, hammocks, an iron fire hearth, and 10 tons of coal.
After its conversion in 1776 as a ship of war in the Royal Navy, the Brilliant was commissioned as the HMS Druid. Its first voyage westbound across the Atlantic was as an escort for a convoy to the West Indies. The vessel served as the Druid until 1779, after which it became the fire ship Blast. In 1783, it was sold out of the service for £940 and, for the next 15 years, the former Virginia tobacco ship served as a whaler in Greenland. The vessel was lost in the Arctic in 1798.
This model was built by Charles and N. David Newcomb of Bolingbroke Marine in Trappe, Md. The model makers began their work in March 1975, scaling every timber to size and making everything out of the same type of wood as the original. They devised miniature rope-making equipment to manufacture the 5,000 feet of rigging and anchor cable required in 20 different sizes. Women from the Newcomb family and the surrounding community made the rigging and sails.
The model makers left the starboard side of the vessel unplanked to reveal the timbering and joinery of the hull and to permit a view of the vessel’s living accommodations in the stern and cargo stowage, complete with tobacco hogsheads.
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt named May 22 as National Maritime Day in honor of the <I>Savannah</I>
1933-05-22
ship captain and owner
Rogers, Moses
owner
Scarbrough, William
ship captain
Holdridge, Nathan
designated 05-22 as National Maritime Day in honor of the <I>Savannah</I>
Roosevelt, Franklin Delano
ID Number
TR.319026
catalog number
319026
accession number
236167
Description
The steamer Savannah holds pride of place in American history as the first steamboat to cross the Atlantic. Measuring 98’-6” and 320 tons, the little two-decker began as a sailing vessel at a New York shipyard. Local ship captain Moses Rogers and his partner William Scarbrough of Savannah, Ga. formed a Savannah-based steamship line, and Rogers had the shipyard convert the vessel to a 75-hp auxiliary steamer for a total cost of $66,000. It was luxuriously appointed, with 32 berths in 16 cabins, full-length mirrors, mahogany-lined public areas, and other amenities.
On May 22, 1819 the Savannah cleared Savannah, Ga. under steam for Liverpool. It carried 25 cords of wood and 1,500 bushels of coal for fuel, but neither a single passenger nor any cargo. No one—not even the owners—trusted the new technology enough on the open ocean to invest their own money. On the 29-day passage to Liverpool, the Savannah operated its engines for about 100 hours, or 16% of the time. The rest was spent under sail.
The failure to secure any paying cargo or passengers altered the company’s plans for transatlantic service. The steamer left Liverpool for Stockholm, Sweden on July 23, 1819, again unladen. Under steam 28% of the passage to Sweden, the Savannah became the first steamboat in the Baltic on August 13. Capt. Rogers declined an offer for the ship from Swedish King Charles XIV for $100,000 in hemp and iron, as well as an offer from Russian Tsar Alexander for an exclusive monopoly on steam navigation in the Black and Baltic Seas.
The Savannah returned to Savannah in November 1819 and almost immediately sailed for Washington, DC. After two months in Washington, Rogers had failed to interest the U.S. Navy in his vessel, and it was sold to Capt. Nathan Holdridge of New York. He promptly removed the engine and began packet service between New York and Savannah. On its first voyage in October 1820, the Savannah sailed with 24 passengers and a full cargo hold. Ironically, four of its prior owners consigned cargo aboard the ill-fated vessel, now that it was an old-fashioned sailing ship. After a successful year as a packet, the Savannah wrecked at Fire Island, NY on November 5, 1821.
In 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt designated May 22 as National Maritime Day, in honor of the day that the Savannah hoisted anchor on its inaugural transatlantic passage. The Smithsonian has Savannah’s original logbook detailing that pioneering voyage.
US Congress awarded an annual transatlantic mail contract to Collins
1847
Collins Line service started
1850
Collins Line service ended
1858
Atlantic acquired by the government for Civil War service
1858
Atlantic scrapped
1871
Collins steamship line
New York and Liverpool United States Mail Steamship Company
ship owner
Collins, Edward Knight
ship owner and Knight's competitor
Cunard, Samuel
built SS <I>Atlantic</I>
Dramatic Line of Atlantic Sailing Packets
maker
Louis Honore Frederick Gamain
ID Number
TR.336491
accession number
1978.0362
catalog number
336491
Description
In 1840, Canadian Samuel Cunard inaugurated regular transatlantic steamship service from Liverpool, England to North America. Within a few years, he had two competitors, one of whom was American Edward Knight Collins (1802-1878), owner of the Dramatic Line of Atlantic sailing packets.
Collins had been lobbying the U.S. government for nearly a decade for the subsidy of an American overseas steamship mail service, and in 1847 Congress authorized an annual transatlantic mail contract for $385,000. Won by Collins, the contract called for five steamships and bimonthly mail service from New York to Liverpool.
Collins founded the New York and Liverpool United States Mail Steamship Company (known as the Collins Line) and commissioned the four sister steamships Atlantic, Pacific, Arctic and Baltic. When service started in 1850, the Collins ships were the fastest, largest, and most magnificently appointed steamships in the world, with stained glass skylights, steam heat in the public rooms and 3,500-bottle wine cellars.
This painting shows the arrival of the Collins liner Atlantic in May 1850 after her maiden voyage from New York to Liverpool. Measuring 282 feet long and 2,856 tons, the Atlantic set a speed record on this passage, while consuming 87 tons of coal per day. Although the Collins line ceased operations in February 1858, the Atlantic was acquired by the U.S. Government for Civil War service. After the war it was operated by other owners until scrapped in 1871.
Straight tapered mug with molded rim and base having a concave outside bottom and flat inside bottom; pint size. Plain, hollow, D-section, S-curve handle tapers to an applied scrolled heart terminal on low-domed oval attachment. Vertical seam of plain body at center under handle. Struck incuse "57" above "DIXON & SON" in serif letters on outside bottom.