1736–1819
JAMES WATT, THE ENGINEER whose flash of inspiration touched off the Industrial Revolution, was born in
Greenock, then a new port serving the lower reaches of the Firth of Clyde, and a town that was to have an illustrious shipbuilding history. The Watt family were fairly well to do, with the father James Watt (senior) running a general business which included housebuilding and of course the then associated trade of undertaker. James was the sixth of a total of eight children of whom only two survived childhood; he was of sickly indisposition and was to suffer from poor health all his life. However, he had inherited his father’s trait of longevity and his death (which was in Birmingham) would not take place until eighty-four years had passed.
He attended the local grammar school, but did not shine and was drawn to practical matters as his ability to work with his hands was more than impressive. After working with his father for some time, he made his way to Glasgow with a view to obtaining training as an instrument maker, and despite having good introductions in the city and at the University, there appeared to be no suitable openings and he made his way to London. Here at the age of twenty he worked for a year learning this trade, with many difficulties stacked against him such as his advanced age for an apprenticeship, and worse the fact that as a Scotsman he was seen as an intruding foreigner. The experience may well have been the making of him, as not long after he returned to Glasgow, was appointed instrument maker to the University and in 1757 was allowed to open a workshop on the premises.
At Glasgow he enjoyed friendly relationships with many of the academics, including the economist Adam Smith and Joseph Black, the professor who had defined the principles of latent heat. It was in 1764 that there came a turning-point in his life when the natural philosophy department tasked him with the repair of a working model of a Newcomen steam engine. This proved a lengthier and more difficult job than anticipated and taxed Watt’s patience and skills. One Sunday in May while walking on Glasgow Green, he had a flash of inspiration (a moment that has become world-famous) when he realised that the problem with this model engine, as with almost all others, was the lack of a separate condenser. It being the Sabbath, he had to wait with patience during the day of rest, but on returning to the University the next morning, he commenced making the necessary adjustments which set the model back to work, but of greater importance, Watt realised that his path in life was to be that of engineering. A commemorative stone stands in Glasgow Green reminding the citizens that at this place, one of the most important events at the start of the Industrial Revolution took place.
The bulk of machine ry from Boulton & Watt of Birmingham was for statione ry use . Howe ve r, the ir work did e nable the transition of e ngine e ring from land to marine purpose s. This drawing of a 1780s double acting rotative e ngine shows Watt’s Ball
Gove rnor and his innovative Sun and Plane t ge aring syste m. (Author)
Watt now went through one of the most difficult periods of his life. In an old warehouse on the banks of the River Clyde, he planned and then manufactured what was to be the world’s first steam engine with separate condenser. There were many difficulties, some foreseen and others unforeseen, such as poor workmanship on most subcontracted parts, but worst the death of a trusted journeyman. Ultimately the new engine was completed and worked. Joseph Black was supportive and even lent Watt money that in 1769 he was able to register a patent in London. As he became better known, James Watt was asked to take on many consulting roles, including that of surveying routes for new canals which then were spreading throughout Britain. The first was the Monklands Canal designed to bring coal from the North Lanarkshire coalfield to Glasgow, and he remained in the Canal Company’s employ as supervisor of the whole undertaking at the then substantial salary of £200 per year. Survey work was carried out also for the Caledonian and the Forth and Clyde Canals. Just at the time he was becoming known and more affluent, his wife died in childbirth.
formed with John Roebuck from West Lothian. They worked together from 1768 until 1772, during which time Watt expanded his business and made a name in the repair and maintenance of mine pumping machinery, especially in the West Country. Sadly, little new business of this sort came from the Glasgow Region, but when Roebuck went bankrupt around 1772, providence played a major role in that an entrepreneur by the name of Matthew Boulton, the owner of the Soho Engineering Works near Birmingham, came on the scene. He knew Watt and had admired his workmanship, tenacity and honesty. Boulton tried to buy his way into the Watt/Roebuck partnership, but was rebuffed by Roebuck, and succeeded only after the financial situation worsened and Roebuck was forced to sell his share of the steam engine patent. Following the transfer of interests (around 1775) the well-known name of Boulton and Watt appeared for the first time: Watt dismantled the current experimental engine at Roebuck’s home in Kinneil, moved it to Birmingham and made the Midlands his home for the rest of his life.
Watt was the engineer in the partnership, while Boulton was the businessman, and without his level- headed approach it is doubtful if Watt’s genius for mechanical and heat engineering would have made real money. Watt maintained that he had been unable to recoup his costs for the first patent and quite surprisingly by Act of Parliament his original patent was extended for some years. He was not kindly disposed to competitors and with steam engines being a novelty at the beginning of the nineteenth century spent considerable time, effort and finance in disputing alleged patent infringements. Other well-known Watt inventions – or developments – included sun-and-planet motion, the ubiquitous Watt ball-governor and the introduction of ‘cut-off’ allowing the maximum use of steam expansion in a cylinder.
His official retirement came in 1800 when he and Boulton handed over responsibility for the business to their sons. Watt continued to manufacture advanced equipment on a private basis and spent much time in the workshops attached to his elegant home. Along with his FRS he was awarded an LL.D by Glasgow University, most probably the first such honorary degree ever awarded to a practising engineer. These honours were justified; they were given to the man who had invented the power system that drained mines, rolled hot metals, drove looms and propelled ships across the oceans. Furthermore he was the man who had defined the horsepower, the unit that was to remain in vogue for well over a century. Now by- passed by fundamental units of the SI System, it is pleasing to note that the international unit of power is the Watt. SOURCES: Dickinson, H W A Short History of the Steam Engine Cambridge, 1938 ———, and Jenkins, R James Watt and the Steam Engine London, 1927 Smiles, Samuel Lives of the Engineers London, 1861
Joshua Humphreys
1751–1838REMEMBERED AS THE FIRS T constructor in the United States Navy and as the designer of the USS Constitution,
Joshua Humphreys is assured of his place in American history. The family, who were Quakers, had migrated from Wales in the late seventeenth century and settled in Pennsylvania. Joshua was a second- generation American, and served an apprenticeship as a shipwright in Philadelphia. Following the death of his employer just at the completion of his indentures, he had full responsibility for a shipbuilding
undertaking thrust on him. This opportunity was grasped with both hands and Joshua was on his way, soon to be recognised as an up-and-coming east coast shipbuilder.
Following the Declaration of Independence, consideration was given to the raising of an American navy. Humphreys was consulted and gave thoughtful support to the idea; he followed this up with detailed correspondence on the types of ship he felt appropriate for work on coastal protection as well as out in the oceans. He proposed that the first ships should have a keel length of not less than 45 m (147ft), should carry around forty guns and have scantlings* equal to those of the best European 74s. Humphreys was instructed to design and to superintend the construction of six of these ‘superfrigates’ and to oversee their construction. In this task he was assisted by Josiah Fox (1763–1847), then a draughtsman trained in Britain at Plymouth Dockyard, who would rise to the rank of Master Constructor in the US Navy.
The hull shape was quite full forward and the displacement was surprisingly high at 2,250 long tons. These ships were designated frigates, but in reality were larger than British frigates and smaller than 74s. This size was unique at that time, and was to prove successful in many naval actions. Alexander Magoun, a lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said ‘… Humphreys’ design … balances the conflicting claims of speed, armament and protection to a nicety’. Considerable use was made of a timber native to the southern states of the USA known as Live Oak – quercus virginiana, a member of the beech family. With great inherent strength and with a specific gravity far greater than unity, this timber was ideal for strength members and was chosen for the frames, futtocks, floors, knees and breast hooks of the new ships. There was a downside, however, since this timber, already becoming scarce through over- harvesting, was to be found only in inaccessible places like the disease-ridden marshes of Georgia. This logistical problem was handed over to his son Samuel Humphreys, who had to face long journeys in conditions of extreme heat and then select wood to be cut and transported over boggy terrain. Joshua Humphreys maintained that while ships built of American white oak and traditional material might last only ten years, those with their strength members of Live Oak should remain seaworthy five times longer. The first group of superfrigates would not disappoint him. They were Constitution, President, United
States, Chesapeake, Constellation and Congress.
This is the e arlie st accurate de piction of Constitution, Humphre ys’ re alisation of a large frigate which was de signe d to be supe rior to any Europe an frigate and a match for far large r ships. Gre at hull stre ngth and longe vity came through the choice of
The Constitution was built by Edmond Hartt at Boston, Massachusetts in 1797 and is still afloat nearly two and a quarter centuries later. Thirty years after her launch she was laid up at Boston and in 1830 it was decreed she should be broken up. This so upset a young law student, Oliver Wendell Holmes, that his poem Old Ironsides stirred patriotic citizens and funds were raised for her preservation. The
Constitution has been preserved as a unit of the United States Navy, the first ship in the world to be
accorded such status. She has had major reconstructions in the 1920s and again in the 1990s, but remains afloat at the former Boston Navy Yard. Each year, at a well-publicised ceremony, she is towed into Boston Harbor and turned before being returned to her berth, in order that each side of the ship weathers equally. Joshua Humphreys would be pleased with her. SOURCES: Magoun, F Alexander The Frigate Constitution and other Historic Ships New York, 1928 Wood, Virginia Steele Live Oaking: Southern Timber for Tall Ships Boston, 1981 *The scantling is the official and regulated dimension for each important structural part of a ship’s hull.