Richard Hall Gower

Entrepreneur

The design, building and sailing of the vessels Transit and the promotion of the novel ideas that he incorporated in them, occupied much of his life. The most original features of these vessels were their slab sides above, and the concave and convex sweeps of the hull, below the waterline, the Joints scarfed and bolted rather than chocked and treenailed, ballast was iron cast into special shapes to sit just above the deadwood and between the floor timbers and the narrowest part of the hull above the keel was reinforced by strong cross timbers bolted through the sides.

Such extensive use of iron was a novel feature at the time. Gower observed that conventional vessels were box-like and needed much movement of the rudder from side to side to preserve a steady course. When running fast, they often suffered total loss of steerage because the water failed “to close over the rudder� and left it in a “mere hole or vacuum in the water� (what we now call “cavitation�). He appreciated too that drag is proportionate to the wetted surface of the hull, and that a long narrow hull with a deep narrow keel makes for speed.

In the case of the Transit, the tapering lines also allowed the rudder to hang abaft the general spread of the bottom. This “enlivened� the steering; yet the rudder was not vulnerable to damage when the vessel grounded. Except when she was to put about, a spoke of the helm either way could steer the Transit.

Several attempts to arouse the interest of the Hon. East India Company and the Royal Mail. These failed, and the Transit loaded cargo and sailed to join convoy in June 1801. While waiting for the convoy to assemble, Gower, ever the salesman, showed her off to the King and his party on the Royal Yacht in Christchurch Bay. Gower learned later that, although George III had asked many questions about the Transit, none present had been able to answer him and none thought to ask the inventor who was nearby.

Later the Chairman of the Hon. East India Company summoned Gower to a meeting. Gower says that the Chairman said that the Company would buy the Transit, provided she proved to be a fast-sailing vessel. At the instance of Earl St Vincent, now the First Lord of the Admiralty, the Transit was tried against Osprey. She was a fast sloop of 383 tons (about twice the tonnage of the Transit) and, according to Gower, the commander of Osprey was generous in his praise.

To Gower’s chagrin, no order was forthcoming and he had to re-ship his cargo and join convoy for Lisbon on 27th August. The important question of what happened to change the decision of the Company is, as yet, unresolved. Perhaps Gower put a gloss on the intention of the Chairman of the Company or on the opinion of Osprey’s captain. Perhaps someone in the Admiralty tampered with Osprey’s report before forwarding it to the Company.

Perhaps there was some aspect of the design of the Transit, say her problems in shallow tidal harbours, or the strange way of her sailing, that killed off the Company’s enthusiasm. Maybe there is still a note in some archive that could tell us why the Transit did not become the first of a new generation of fast traders.

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