Ralph Davis
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780986497384
- eISBN:
- 9781786944467
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5949/liverpool/9780986497384.003.0016
- Subject:
- History, Maritime History
This chapter provides case studies of the working life of four merchant vessels from different points in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries: Diamond (1634-1640); Cadiz-Merchant (1675-1684); ...
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This chapter provides case studies of the working life of four merchant vessels from different points in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries: Diamond (1634-1640); Cadiz-Merchant (1675-1684); Diligence (1728-1742); and Caroline (1754-1766). They illustrate the long-standing difficulties faced by shipowners, charterers, and masters in earning a livelihood at sea, and provide a range of maritime and commercial experiences across the two centuries. These studies show that the first two ships engaged in a variety of trades, but the latter two quickly learnt to specialise in a single trade by a specific route, which proved the more profitable and secure option of the two.Less
This chapter provides case studies of the working life of four merchant vessels from different points in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries: Diamond (1634-1640); Cadiz-Merchant (1675-1684); Diligence (1728-1742); and Caroline (1754-1766). They illustrate the long-standing difficulties faced by shipowners, charterers, and masters in earning a livelihood at sea, and provide a range of maritime and commercial experiences across the two centuries. These studies show that the first two ships engaged in a variety of trades, but the latter two quickly learnt to specialise in a single trade by a specific route, which proved the more profitable and secure option of the two.
Ralph Davis
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780986497384
- eISBN:
- 9781786944467
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5949/liverpool/9780986497384.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, Maritime History
This chapter explores the development of ships and the role of shipbuilders across England during the seventeenth century. It begins by examining the technical changes to ships in the sixteenth ...
More
This chapter explores the development of ships and the role of shipbuilders across England during the seventeenth century. It begins by examining the technical changes to ships in the sixteenth century, with major elements including the transition to three-masted ships and the lengthening of ships in relation to their beams. It examines the seventeenth century struggle to trade coal in English vessels due to their structural unsuitability in comparison to superior European flyboats. It then explores the British use of Dutch bulk-carriers taken as prizes during the Dutch Wars; and the reasons for the reluctance of British shipbuilders to alter their methods. It concludes with the collapse of East Anglian shipbuilding due to the preference for Dutch prize-ships, and the realisation that British shipbuilding needed to develop in order to expand.Less
This chapter explores the development of ships and the role of shipbuilders across England during the seventeenth century. It begins by examining the technical changes to ships in the sixteenth century, with major elements including the transition to three-masted ships and the lengthening of ships in relation to their beams. It examines the seventeenth century struggle to trade coal in English vessels due to their structural unsuitability in comparison to superior European flyboats. It then explores the British use of Dutch bulk-carriers taken as prizes during the Dutch Wars; and the reasons for the reluctance of British shipbuilders to alter their methods. It concludes with the collapse of East Anglian shipbuilding due to the preference for Dutch prize-ships, and the realisation that British shipbuilding needed to develop in order to expand.
