1865
Image: Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Following the Industrial Revolution, wooden shipbuilding techniques which had lasted for millennia were radically altered with the introduction of steam propulsion and iron materials.
Initially used to reinforce certain parts of a wooden hull and frame, iron gradually overtook more components — some ships used a timber hull around an iron frame; others used hulls built of iron plates.
In Victorian Britain, the construction of steamships was in many cases sponsored by the government in order to protect the empire’s dominance in naval trade.
These pictures from Europe and the United States capture naval engineering at a time of epochal change. Read more…
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