Ma Robert (Steam Launch)
From Graces Guide
This was a steel-hulled steam vessel constructed by Macgregor Laird for David Livingstone's expedition along the Zambesi. The steel plates, probably the first used for steam ship, were of material patented by James Howell and supplied by Shortridge, Howell and Jessop of Sheffield.[1]. The vessel was a failure, one of the main problems being the rapid corrosion of the steel, the hull plates being only 1/16" thick when new.
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Sources of Information
- ↑ [1] 'The Sinking of the "Ma Robert": An Excursion into Mid-19th-Century Steelmaking' by J. Gordon Parr. Technology and Culture, Vol. 13, No. 2 (Apr., 1972), pp. 209-225 (17 pages). https://doi.org/10.2307/3102611. This provides an excellent account of the problems with the vessel's hull