[MOC] Knapp Roller Ship, 1897

[greg3]

I stumbled across an online photo of this strange vessel while looking for something else and couldn't resist "immortalising" it in Lego... but first a bit of background info!!

Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr

Frederick Knapp was a Canadian lawyer who, while enduring a particularly rough transatlantic crossing in 1892, began to wonder if it was time to rethink the shape of ships!! His idea was to have ships travel on top of the waves rather than have to plough through them - this, he believed would improve speed, efficiency and comfort. Basing his idea on logs rolling down a river, he proposed a hollow, cylindrical hull with rails around the inside on which sat a wheeled platform for the passengers and cargo. Steam engines would propel the platform around the rails but as it was much heavier than the hull, the platform would stay still and the hull rotate (like a hamster in a wheel!!). Paddle blades on the cylinder would propel the ship at speeds up to 60mph (100 kph!!!) - or so Knapp claimed!!

Securing funding of $25,000 he had the Polson Iron Works Co of Toronto build a 34 metre long, 7-metre diameter test vessel to trail in Toronto Harbour. The first powered voyage took place on October 21st 1897 watched by a huge crowd. The ship managed several slow loops of the harbour and Knapp declared it a success, although it was clear that the predicted speeds were highly unrealistic!!

Still brimming with confidence, Knapp improved the vessel - extending the paddle blades to cover the length of the cylinder (the test version only had them on the centre section) managing to increase the speed slightly (to about 7mph!!). He then proposed a series of larger vessels (including a troop carrying version for the Army) but while the ship was travelling to a new dockyard for modifications, it suffered engine problems and ran aground. By the time it was refloated and repaired, Knapp's backers had got tired of waiting and funds were drying up so the ship was put into use as a passenger ferry on the St Lawrence River. After running aground again it was taken out off service and spent several years tied up on the Toronto waterfront.

By 1907, ten years after it's first voyage, Knapp finally gave up on this design (probably after finally realising that ships sail pointy bit first for good reason!) and began work to convert the roller ship into a conventional coal barge. The rolling mechanism and paddle blades were removed, streamlined "nosecones" were added to each end and a raised wheelhouse added to one end and a conventional screw propellor fitted to the other. However while the work was being carried out, the ship broke free during a storm collided with another ship and ran aground. Unable to pay to salvage the craft, and having been successfully sued by the owners of the ship damaged in the collision, Knapp had to sell the craft for scrap. Unfortunately, the new owners didn't seem to know what to do with the ship, so it was left stranded on the mud of the Toronto waterfront until 1933 when it was simply used as infill for a building project. Apparently the ship is still there, buried somewhere in the city!!

My version... (according to contemporary accounts the ship should be bright red but I didn't have the parts!!) 

Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr

Close up of the paddle blades. One of the problems of the actual ship was that water would remain on the blades as they exited the water, adding weight and slowing it down.

Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr

The platforms, steam engine exhausts and rudders. Like the original, the ends of the hull are open (this was to provide ventilation but ended up letting in water in rough weather - adding weight and wetting the coal) The helmsman/men would stand on the open air platforms.  I'm not entirely happy with my version of the rudders - photos show that the rudders were hinged boards on either side that I presume could be locked in place one at a time to turn the ship in that direction. From all accounts they didn't work very well!! 

Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr

Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr

The ship at sea!!

Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr

Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr

A few behind the scenes pics...

Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr

Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr

I have to say that I love these mad bits of forgotten history and really enjoyed the challenge of building this!! It also turns out that Knapp wasn't the only one building weird ships in the late 1800s but that's a story for another day (once my next Bricklink order arrives!!)

Thanks for looking - comments are always welcome!!

 

Edited October 23, 2016 by greg3