BOAT, is a small open vessel worked by oars or sails. The construction and names ofboats are different, according to the purposes for which they are intend ed. The boats or wherries plying on the Thames about London are either scull ers, wrought by a single person, with oars ; or oars, wrought by two persons, each with an oar.
Boar, life, a boat invented by Mr. Hen ry Greathead, of South Shields, for the purpose of preserving the lives of ship wrecked persons.
In the year 1802, the Society of Arts rewarded the inventor with their gold medal and fifty guineas for his invention. The length of the boat is 30 feet, and both ends are made exactly similar, so that ;lie may be rowed in either direr Lion ; and she is steered by an oar at each end, in the place of a rudder. These oars are one-third longer than the row ing oars, and afford a great power to set the boat straight, to meet the waves in a proper manner ; she is generally rowed by ten oars, and will carry a great number of passengers, though she should be full of water. This is owing to a consider able quantity of cork made fast to her gunwale, which at the same time renders her very buoyant, and guards her against being stowed by running foul of a ship's side, &c. The particular construction of this boat will be best understood by re ferring to Plate LIFE BOAT, &c. in whick Fig. 1. .4 cross section of the Life boat.
F, F. The outside coatings of cork.
G, G. The inside cork ,filling.
II, H. The outside planks of the boat. 1. One of the stems of the boat.
K. The keel.
N, N. The timber-heads.
P. The thwarts, or rowers' Seats.
It. One of the stanchions under the thwarts, each being thus firmly support ed.
S. A section of the gang-board, which_ crosses the thwarts, and forms the pass age from one end of the boat to the other.
T. The floor-heads, or platform for the rowers' feet.
V, V. The two bilge pieces nearly le vel with the keel.
W, W. The gunwales.
X. A ring bolt for the head-fast, there being another also at the other end.
Y. Platform for the steersman.
Fig. 2. A longitudinal section of the Life Boat.
E, E, E. The sheer orcurve of the boat. I. The two sterns or ends.
K. The keel.
L, L. The aprons, to strengthen the sterns.
M, M. The sheets, or place for pas sengers.
N, N. Timber heads, or b oat-fastenings. 0, 0, 0, 0. The tholes on which the oars are slung by gromets.
T. Flooring under the rowers' feet.
Fig. 3. Plan of a Truck or Carriage with four -wheels, to convey the boat to and from the sea.
a. An oblong frame of wood, consisting of two long pieces, hollowed a little to admit the body of the boat, and secured by the cross pieces, b, b.
c, c, c, c. Four low wheels, each sunk or hollowed in the middle, to run better upon a rail-way or timber-road.
d, d. Two indents made in the side tim bers, that the bottom of the boat may be firm therein.
e, e. Two small rollers, moveable in the cross timbers, for the keel of the boat to slide upon.
f, f, Two long rollers, one at each end of the frame, to assist in raising the boat upon, or sliding it off; the truck or car riage.
This boat went off on the 30th of Ja nuary, 1790 ; and so well has it answered, and even exceeded, every expectation, in the most tremendous sea, that, during the last eighteen years, not fewer than between two and three hundred lives have been saved at the entrance of thg Tyne alone, which otherwise must have been lost : and in no instance has it ever fluiled. This useful, and, to a maritime na tion, highly important invention, was oc casioned by the following circumstance : In September, 1789, the ship Adventure, of Newcastle, was stranded on the south side of Tinemouth Haven, in the midst of the most tremendous breakers, and all the crew dropped from the rigging one by one, in the presence of thousands of spectators, not one of whom could be prevailed upon by any reward to venture out, to her assistance, in any boat of the common construction. On this melan choly occasion the gentlemen of South Shields called a meeting of the inhabi tants, and premiums were instantly offer ed for plans of a boat, which should be the best calculated to brave the dangers of the sea, particularly of broken water. Many persons laid claim to the reward, but the preference was given unani mously to Mr. Greathead's.