David Napier by David Napier and David Bell: Chapter III
Chapter III: Memoir by David Napier
"I was born at Dumbarton on {29th October, 1790}, where I was sent to the public school at five years of age, and there acquired a smattering of French and Latin. When I was twelve years of age my father removed his business to Glasgow, where, although I acquired a little more knowledge of the French language, and a little of drawing and mathematics, under Peter Nicholson, Note 1 the celebrated author on Architecture, my time was almost wholly taken up assisting my father in his business, which was that of a smith and founder. When at Dumbarton he had two steam-engines, one for blowing the cupola and another for boring cannon. At that period nearly all the cannon made in this country were cast at Carron or Clyde Iron Works, Note 2 and part of those cast at Clyde Iron Works were sent to Dumbarton to be bored. Why my father should have erected a steam-engine and machinery for boring cannon so far distant from the place they were cast at, I cannot explain, but such is the fact, as I recollect when I was a boy the engine going night and day, during the war, boring cannon. I allude to this merely to show my early connection with the steam-engine and machinery.
The engine which bored the cannon Note 3 was of the old original kind, with open cylinder and wooden walking beam. I never served a regular apprenticeship to anything but put my hand to everything, and by the time I was twenty years of age I had the complete charge and control of my father's business in every respect. Shortly after this my father died, and I married Miss Marion Smith, daughter of Mr. Francis Smith, Note 4 engineer, with whom I had fifteen of a family, six sons and nine daughters, all of whom are alive but three, and some of them have children of their own.
About the year 1812, Henry Bell, Note 5 who was frequently in the foundry getting castings for buildings he was superintending, hearing of Mr. Fulton's Note 6 success in steam navigation in America, began to build a small steamer for the Clyde, Note 7 which, although it was the first steamer that carried passengers for hire in Europe, was not the first steamer in this country.
Independent of the experiments of Mr. Miller of Dalswinton, Note 8 there was one on the great canal ten years before that date, by Symington, Note 9 which I recollect seeing at Port Dundas, when I first came to Glasgow in 1803; although then only twelve years of age, having been reared among engines and machinery, I took particular notice of it. The boiler was a common waggon-shaped boiler, with flues built round it with bricks. The cylinder lay horizontal, and the piston-rod was connected direct to the paddle-wheel in the stern by a long connecting-rod. How very little improvement has been made on that up to the present time. This was about five years before Fulton's steamer, the Clermont, commenced running on the Hudson, and ten years before the Comet began to run on the Clyde.
I made the boiler and the castings for the engine of Mr. Bell's little steamer the Comet, for which he gave me his promissory note, payable at three months, which is still in my possession, never having been paid. I recollect that we had considerable difficulty with the boiler; not having been accustomed to make boilers with internal flues, we made them first of cast iron, but finding that would not do, we tried our hand with malleable iron, and ultimately succeeded, with the aid of a liberal supply of horse dung, in getting the boiler filled. Seeing steam navigation was likely to succeed, I erected new works at Camlachie Note 10 for the purpose of making steam-engines, where the engines were made for the Dumbarton Castle, the first steamer that went up Loch Fyne, and for the Britannia, Note 11 the first that went to Campbeltown. Although these vessels did not venture outside the Cumbraes in stormy weather, they suggested the idea to a Company in Dublin, of having steamers between Holyhead and Howth, for which purpose two vessels were built at Greenock, Note 12 no expense being spared to ensure success. The engines were made by Mr. James Cook, Note 13 at that time the oldest and most respectable engine maker in Glasgow; but when tried on the station they were found so complicated and cumbersome that they broke down almost every gale of wind, and ultimately were laid up in Kingstown Dock, Dublin, as useless; and the idea of making machinery of any kind that would withstand the shock of a heavy sea in a gale of wind was put down as an impossibility.
Whether it was from pique at not having been employed to make the engines of these vessels, or from a conviction that the ocean could be safely navigated by steam, I cannot now say, but I commenced, I think about the year 1818, to build a steamer on my own account for that purpose, called the Rob Roy. Note 14 I recollect the day before starting on the first trip from Glasgow to Dublin, Mr. Charles M’Intosh, Note 15 the celebrated chemist and inventor of waterproof cloth, saying we should all be drowned. Nevertheless we did start, and although we encountered a gale from the south-west, performed the voyage out and home successfully. I afterwards placed the Rob Roy on the station between Glasgow and Belfast, and commenced to build others to run between Greenock and Liverpool, and Holyhead and Howth.
That these were the first vessels that established the practicability of navigating the open sea by steam is recorded in two Blue Books of the House of Commons, the subject having been investigated by a Select Committee on the Holyhead Roads, Sir Henry Parnell, Chairman. The names of the vessels I made for the Holyhead and Howth station were the PS Talbot and PS Ivanhoe, which were so successful as to induce the Government to send down a commission to purchase them, and who offered to take them at their value, with £5,000 of a premium besides, which I considered a very handsome offer; but, having assumed some mercantile gentlemen as partners in the speculation, they were so elated with our success that they would not listen to that proposal. The Government were consequently obliged to build vessels themselves to carry the mails, for which they employed Boulton and Watt to make the engines. When these vessels came on the station they were so unfortunate that the Government were obliged to charter the Talbot to carry the mails in their stead, and ultimately purchased the Ivanhoe.
About this time I placed, on my own account, the first steamer on Loch Lomond. Note 16 Also, finding it was necessary to put a larger and more powerful steamer than the Rob Roy on the Belfast station, I sold that vessel to two gentlemen, holding a third of her myself, to run between Dover and Calais. The Rob Roy was therefore not only the first steamer that proved the practicability of navigating the open sea by steam, but was also the first to connect France and England by steam. Her success there was so complete as to induce the Government again to employ Boulton and Watt to make engines for two steamers for that station, which the little Rob Roy so thoroughly beat, particularly in stormy weather, that the French Government took such a fancy to her that they purchased her, that vessel being the first steamer they possessed, and with which they were so well pleased that, with a priest, and some holy water, they formally transformed the Scotch freebooter into a French king, i.e. Henri Quatre.
About this time I purchased the land on the north shore of the Holy Loch, Note 17 which was then in a state of nature, being inaccessible by road from any part of the world. On the shore I built piers for landing, and an hotel, Note 18 and ran steamers daily to and from Glasgow. I also put a small steamer on Loch Eck, a fresh water lake about equi-distant from Loch Fyne and the Holy Loch, and another across Loch Fyne, and had a road made from the Holy Loch to Loch Eck, on which I placed a steam carriage, Note 19 thereby making a new route to Inveraray and the Western Highlands. This steam carriage was, I believe, the first that carried passengers for hire on common roads, being long before there were any public railways in either England or Scotland conveying passengers by steam; but from the softness and the hilliness of the roads, and more particularly from the want of knowledge how to make a boiler, we could not obtain the speed I expected. But from the experience we now have in making boilers and machinery, I feel so confident that steam carriages can be made to do all the work that is done by horses on common roads, as well as a good deal of what is done by steamboats, at one half the expense, that I have again resumed the subject. Finding that steam navigation was becoming an important business, I purchased lands at Lancefield, Note 20 on the banks of the Clyde, as being more suitable for the purpose than Camlachie; which premises I let to my cousin, Robert Napier, Note 21 who, having obtained the assistance of a clever mechanic of the name of Elder, commenced to make engines at my old premises at Camlachie with very great success.
During the latter part of my career, I was very much assisted by two excellent workmen, David Tod and John McGregor, Note 22 who, since I sold Lancefield to my cousin and retired from public business, have been very successful in doing business on their own account. After retiring from business on the Clyde, I purchased land on the banks of the Thames at Millwall, for the purpose of making experiments in steamers. Having in early life satisfied myself by a temporary experiment on a small steamer, the PS Post Boy, that surface condensation would be of great advantage to steam navigation, the idea occurred to me that the bottom of an iron vessel (that is the bottom of the ship) could be applied for the purpose of condensation; and having obtained a patent, I built the PS Eclipse on that plan, which outsailed all other steamers on the Thames. I afterwards built the PS Isle of Thanet, which far surpassed the Eclipse; after that I built the Rocket, with two screws on the stern, which I am convinced would be superior in many respects to the single screw which is in general use.
I lately let part of my premises at Millwall to Mr. Scott Russell for the purpose of building a monster steamer, which I expect will turn out the most successful steam speculation that has yet been tried. I cannot, at this distance of time, recollect the various improvements, or more correctly the alterations, I made on steamers. I recollect that they were generally built with a full round bow, which, with a clear run, was considered at that time the best shape for speed; but on perusing the works of Bossut, Note 23 a celebrated French mathematician, on the resistance of fluids, I began to have serious doubts of the full bow being the proper shape, to prove which I set about a series of experiments, for which a large mill-dam that bounded the premises at Camlachie afforded great facilities.
Having obtained a block of wood of the proportional length, breadth and depth I intended to build the Rob Roy, and having erected a frame-work close to the water of considerable elevation, at the top of which was a roller or drum for winding up a weight, the other end of the line being attached to the experimental block, I carefully noted the time the weight took to descend, dragging the block at the same time through the water, and continued fining the bow as long as there was any perceptible increase to the speed, always taking care to put the block into the scales each time I altered the shape, so as to keep the weight of the block the same, which block or model I gave to the shipbuilder to take off his lines for building the Rob Roy. When it was launched nautical people said I had put the wrong end foremost; however, when it was tried it was found that they were wrong, and the old boats were put into dock to have their bows sharpened, which was found invariably to increase their speed.
It would be endless enumerating the various alterations I was daily making in the engines and machinery of steamers before I introduced what is generally called the Steeple engine, which, although it was condemned at first, was afterwards almost universally adopted on the Clyde. It would be equally tiresome and uninteresting to enter into details connected with the various patents I afterwards obtained, for which I had the presumption to give the title of "Improvements on the Steam-Engine," etc. The following enumeration, which were the subject of half a dozen different patents, will suffice: Using the bottom of the ship for the purpose of condensation; a mode of feathering paddles; a mode of applying two screws on the stern; boilers with vertical tubes; engines with four piston-rods; a plan of connecting the crank direct to the piston by means of a slot in the cylinder-cover, which was covered by a sliding stuffing-box; a rotary engine, which I am at present engaged with; and last, although I hope not least, a mode of extracting the heat from the steam during the process of condensation after it has been used in giving motive power, and applying the heat so extracted to the reproduction of steam, by means of the steam passing through a series of very thin flat tubes, over which a current of air is blown, into the furnace, thereby supplying the furnace with heated air, and at the same time condensing the steam; which I expect will be of great value to railway travelling, as it will save the stopping for water on the journey. To prove the utility of this I intend trying it myself in a steam carriage for common roads.
It may appear strange that, after such a long public career, the Government should not have granted me a pension of £1,000 a year, or that I have received so very little of the public money in the way of business. Whether the latter arose from a certain independent spirit or pride that would not allow me to estimate for work, or from an inherent dislike to bribery, which I believe to be very generally pursued in one way or another by those who obtain Government employment, I cannot say; but the following transaction, the only one I ever had with the Government, may throw some light on that subject A gentleman of Liverpool having taken a fancy to a small steamer of mine, purchased it, and took it to Liverpool; where it suggested to the officials connected with the Mail Packets that something of the kind would be very useful for conveying the mails and passengers to and from the large Packets when they could not get over the bar. I consequently received a letter from Sir Francis Freeling, the Commander-in-chief of the Post Office in London, commanding me to go to Liverpool and meet with certain parties there about a steam tender. Not being accustomed to be addressed in that manner, I had considerable doubts about going; however, I did go, and met with captains of Mail Packets and others, who agreed to whatever I suggested; and a contract was at once entered into, that I was to build a steamer of a certain size for a given price; but I had no sooner returned to Glasgow than I discovered I could make a vessel altogether more suitable for the purpose than that for which I had contracted. I consequently wrote to Sir Francis Freeling to that effect, and that I would proceed with the vessel, and after it was finished, if it did not please, both as regards price and everything else, they would not be required to take it; to which I received for answer that I must send a description of the alterations I was going to make, and the cost; but, as I might change my plans at the end of a week, and as the one which I had contracted for was in a manner left entirely to myself, I saw no use in being so shackled, and therefore did not comply with that request, which produced a great deal of angry correspondence, and ultimately a Commissioner was sent from London to adjust matters, which ended in nothing but a letter from Sir Francis Freeling's son saying they considered the contract annulled. To which I replied that I did not intend being at all the trouble and expense of going to Liverpool for nothing; and, without letting them know what I was doing, proceeded with the vessel according to my own views.
When finished I wrote to London to that effect, and that the cost was £900 more than what I had contracted for, and that they might either take the vessel or not as they chose, when certain parties were sent down, accompanied by an engineer to examine her, who took her away, and gave me an order for the whole price I asked; and were so pleased with her when she went to Liverpool, being the fastest vessel there, that she was called Richmond, after the Duke of Richmond, then Postmaster-General; but I had no sooner got the money, than I received a hint from certain parties that a percentage of gratuity was expected, it being customary; which I set my face decidedly against, although it was at the risk of never being employed again.
About a year ago, seeing the difficulty of taking Cronstadt and Sebastopol, I wrote to the Admiralty, through the Duke of Argyle, suggesting a gun-boat "that would destroy anything that could be destroyed by cannon balls, while it was itself indestructible. The principal feature of it was, that it was not to have any sides above water, only the deck, which would be eighteen inches or two feet thick the outside of which would be iron plates, one inch thick, and the inside skin plates half-inch thick, and solid woodwork between them. The deck to have a considerable curvature, for the quadruple purpose of giving the vessel greater buoyancy; elevating the aperture or port of the gun, in the bow, out of the water; give more head-room for the men inside; and to make it more difficult for any person to stand on the deck, or shot to damage it. The vessel to be about 100 feet long, and 20 feet broad, with an engine of twenty horse-power, which would impel it at a rate of seven miles an hour. To have an aperture in the bow for a malleable iron gun which would load at the breech, which aperture would be opened and shut at pleasure from the inside by a strong malleable iron water-tight and shot-proof valve. If desirable there might be more guns than one, placed behind each other, with apertures in the deck. The fan that would supply the boiler furnace with air would cause a circulation through the whole vessel. When the port-hole was shut, air could be admitted by small india-rubber tubes, standing a foot above deck, which would fall down when the sea passed over the deck without admitting water. Such a vessel would live in any sea, there not being a projection of any kind on her surface either on deck or any where else but the screw at the stern; and having had some experience as an amateur in gun-making in my youth, I offered to get a malleable iron gun made, that would load at the breech with perfect safety, and would fire two shots for one of any gun in the Navy balls of one hundred-weight if required, or no pay. I also suggested that a gun of that kind could be mounted on wheels to be used on land, and enclosed in a strong case of iron, narrow in front and wide enough behind to contain half a dozen men to work the gun, and who could move it backwards or forwards at pleasure; or, one of a large class could have steam to move it. The iron case to be perforated with holes for muskets, so that no one dare approach it. To this letter I received an answer from the Admiralty declining my proposal, without assigning any reason."