27th Oct, 2010 12:00
Maritime and Scientific Models, Instruments & Art (Audacious)
13
[M] AMERICAN School (19TH-CENTURY)<br/>'The cigar...
AMERICAN School (19TH-CENTURY)
'The cigar ship' Ross Winans at sea under full power
Watercolour heightened with white
16 x 22½in. (40.5 x 57cm.) framed and glazed
The concept of the 'cigar ship', one of the nineteenth century's most bizarre examples of naval architecture, was invented by two American brothers named Winans. Wealthy and successful railway engineers, they rejected the prevailing view that steam propulsion was merely a useful adjunct to sail whilst the theory of their so-called 'cigar ships' was to discard all masts, sails and rigging. Likewise, they did away with casings on deck - even discarding the deck itself - as well as the keel, cutwater and any superstructure that would impede the motion of the cigar-shaped hull through the water.
The first of the Winans' four 'cigar ships' was launched at Baltimore in 1858 with two more - both of different design - following in 1865, one built in St. Petersburg and the other at Le Havre. The fourth and largest however, was built at Hepworth's Yard, on the Isle of Dogs, and launched in 1866. Classed as a yacht and named the Ross Winans, she was 256 feet long overall with a maximum diameter of 16 feet amidships, and was powered by 4-foot diameter propellers at both bow and stern. Lavishly furnished and appointed throughout, she also boasted numerous technical innovations and novelties, many of which later came into general use but only in the twentieth century.
Despite her efficiency and economical operating costs, neither she nor the 'cigar ship' concept ever achieved the success they deserved, however, their principal faults being their extremely narrow beam, the problem of excessive spray thrown up by the forward propeller, and the impossibility of either passengers or crew staying on deck. Apart from one or two coastal voyages, Ross Winans never put to sea in earnest and was soon written off as an expensive failure. Both she and her French-built sister the Walter S. Winans were abandoned at their Southampton moorings for nearly thirty years, but were nevertheless well-maintained and remained a perennial attraction to holiday sightseers until finally scrapped as the century drew to a close; the Ross Winans had cost £60,000 to build and sold for a paltry £210 as scrap, a very sad end to a truly remarkable experiment.
In this work, the Ross Winans is shown wearing the ensign of the St. Petersburg's Yacht Club as her owners were still trying to interest the Russian Czar with their invention. Apart from an engraving of her launching (on a cradle) held at Greenwich by the National Maritime Museum, no other images of the Ross Winans are currently known.
For more detailed information on this unique vessel, see John Guthrie's Bizarre Ships of the Nineteenth Century, Hutchinson & Co., London, 1970.
'The cigar ship' Ross Winans at sea under full power
Watercolour heightened with white
16 x 22½in. (40.5 x 57cm.) framed and glazed
The concept of the 'cigar ship', one of the nineteenth century's most bizarre examples of naval architecture, was invented by two American brothers named Winans. Wealthy and successful railway engineers, they rejected the prevailing view that steam propulsion was merely a useful adjunct to sail whilst the theory of their so-called 'cigar ships' was to discard all masts, sails and rigging. Likewise, they did away with casings on deck - even discarding the deck itself - as well as the keel, cutwater and any superstructure that would impede the motion of the cigar-shaped hull through the water.
The first of the Winans' four 'cigar ships' was launched at Baltimore in 1858 with two more - both of different design - following in 1865, one built in St. Petersburg and the other at Le Havre. The fourth and largest however, was built at Hepworth's Yard, on the Isle of Dogs, and launched in 1866. Classed as a yacht and named the Ross Winans, she was 256 feet long overall with a maximum diameter of 16 feet amidships, and was powered by 4-foot diameter propellers at both bow and stern. Lavishly furnished and appointed throughout, she also boasted numerous technical innovations and novelties, many of which later came into general use but only in the twentieth century.
Despite her efficiency and economical operating costs, neither she nor the 'cigar ship' concept ever achieved the success they deserved, however, their principal faults being their extremely narrow beam, the problem of excessive spray thrown up by the forward propeller, and the impossibility of either passengers or crew staying on deck. Apart from one or two coastal voyages, Ross Winans never put to sea in earnest and was soon written off as an expensive failure. Both she and her French-built sister the Walter S. Winans were abandoned at their Southampton moorings for nearly thirty years, but were nevertheless well-maintained and remained a perennial attraction to holiday sightseers until finally scrapped as the century drew to a close; the Ross Winans had cost £60,000 to build and sold for a paltry £210 as scrap, a very sad end to a truly remarkable experiment.
In this work, the Ross Winans is shown wearing the ensign of the St. Petersburg's Yacht Club as her owners were still trying to interest the Russian Czar with their invention. Apart from an engraving of her launching (on a cradle) held at Greenwich by the National Maritime Museum, no other images of the Ross Winans are currently known.
For more detailed information on this unique vessel, see John Guthrie's Bizarre Ships of the Nineteenth Century, Hutchinson & Co., London, 1970.
Sold for £322
Estimated at £300 - £500
(inc. buyer's premium of 24%)
AMERICAN School (19TH-CENTURY)
'The cigar ship' Ross Winans at sea under full power
Watercolour heightened with white
16 x 22½in. (40.5 x 57cm.) framed and glazed
The concept of the 'cigar ship', one of the nineteenth century's most bizarre examples of naval architecture, was invented by two American brothers named Winans. Wealthy and successful railway engineers, they rejected the prevailing view that steam propulsion was merely a useful adjunct to sail whilst the theory of their so-called 'cigar ships' was to discard all masts, sails and rigging. Likewise, they did away with casings on deck - even discarding the deck itself - as well as the keel, cutwater and any superstructure that would impede the motion of the cigar-shaped hull through the water.
The first of the Winans' four 'cigar ships' was launched at Baltimore in 1858 with two more - both of different design - following in 1865, one built in St. Petersburg and the other at Le Havre. The fourth and largest however, was built at Hepworth's Yard, on the Isle of Dogs, and launched in 1866. Classed as a yacht and named the Ross Winans, she was 256 feet long overall with a maximum diameter of 16 feet amidships, and was powered by 4-foot diameter propellers at both bow and stern. Lavishly furnished and appointed throughout, she also boasted numerous technical innovations and novelties, many of which later came into general use but only in the twentieth century.
Despite her efficiency and economical operating costs, neither she nor the 'cigar ship' concept ever achieved the success they deserved, however, their principal faults being their extremely narrow beam, the problem of excessive spray thrown up by the forward propeller, and the impossibility of either passengers or crew staying on deck. Apart from one or two coastal voyages, Ross Winans never put to sea in earnest and was soon written off as an expensive failure. Both she and her French-built sister the Walter S. Winans were abandoned at their Southampton moorings for nearly thirty years, but were nevertheless well-maintained and remained a perennial attraction to holiday sightseers until finally scrapped as the century drew to a close; the Ross Winans had cost £60,000 to build and sold for a paltry £210 as scrap, a very sad end to a truly remarkable experiment.
In this work, the Ross Winans is shown wearing the ensign of the St. Petersburg's Yacht Club as her owners were still trying to interest the Russian Czar with their invention. Apart from an engraving of her launching (on a cradle) held at Greenwich by the National Maritime Museum, no other images of the Ross Winans are currently known.
For more detailed information on this unique vessel, see John Guthrie's Bizarre Ships of the Nineteenth Century, Hutchinson & Co., London, 1970.
'The cigar ship' Ross Winans at sea under full power
Watercolour heightened with white
16 x 22½in. (40.5 x 57cm.) framed and glazed
The concept of the 'cigar ship', one of the nineteenth century's most bizarre examples of naval architecture, was invented by two American brothers named Winans. Wealthy and successful railway engineers, they rejected the prevailing view that steam propulsion was merely a useful adjunct to sail whilst the theory of their so-called 'cigar ships' was to discard all masts, sails and rigging. Likewise, they did away with casings on deck - even discarding the deck itself - as well as the keel, cutwater and any superstructure that would impede the motion of the cigar-shaped hull through the water.
The first of the Winans' four 'cigar ships' was launched at Baltimore in 1858 with two more - both of different design - following in 1865, one built in St. Petersburg and the other at Le Havre. The fourth and largest however, was built at Hepworth's Yard, on the Isle of Dogs, and launched in 1866. Classed as a yacht and named the Ross Winans, she was 256 feet long overall with a maximum diameter of 16 feet amidships, and was powered by 4-foot diameter propellers at both bow and stern. Lavishly furnished and appointed throughout, she also boasted numerous technical innovations and novelties, many of which later came into general use but only in the twentieth century.
Despite her efficiency and economical operating costs, neither she nor the 'cigar ship' concept ever achieved the success they deserved, however, their principal faults being their extremely narrow beam, the problem of excessive spray thrown up by the forward propeller, and the impossibility of either passengers or crew staying on deck. Apart from one or two coastal voyages, Ross Winans never put to sea in earnest and was soon written off as an expensive failure. Both she and her French-built sister the Walter S. Winans were abandoned at their Southampton moorings for nearly thirty years, but were nevertheless well-maintained and remained a perennial attraction to holiday sightseers until finally scrapped as the century drew to a close; the Ross Winans had cost £60,000 to build and sold for a paltry £210 as scrap, a very sad end to a truly remarkable experiment.
In this work, the Ross Winans is shown wearing the ensign of the St. Petersburg's Yacht Club as her owners were still trying to interest the Russian Czar with their invention. Apart from an engraving of her launching (on a cradle) held at Greenwich by the National Maritime Museum, no other images of the Ross Winans are currently known.
For more detailed information on this unique vessel, see John Guthrie's Bizarre Ships of the Nineteenth Century, Hutchinson & Co., London, 1970.
Auction: Maritime and Scientific Models, Instruments & Art (Audacious), 27th Oct, 2010
