Excerpt from The Design and Construction of Ships, Vol. 1: Vol; 1. Calculation and Strength Usually the problem of making a ship is one of doing something very like what has been done before. To understand fully how to make a new ship, it is necessary to study the qualities and history of creation of existing ships. The finished ship is generally first seen floating at rest in smooth water. All the forces acting upon the ship are in equilibrium. The weight of the whole structure and all the ship contains must be balanced by the supporting forces of the water. The pressures of the water on the sides and bottom of the vessel are balanced by the resistances of the material to change of form. The vessel, when floating in absolutely smooth water, is in such a condition that a small inclination from its position of rest is not followed by an increased departure from this position, but by a return to it. This tendency is known as the stability of the vessel. If we consider the duty which a ship has to perform by moving in smooth water, we see that force from some source has to be developed equal and opposite to the resistance to be overcome. If the circumstances are still further complicated by the water not being smooth, the ship will have move ments other than in the direction of intended locomotion, and the movements impressed upon one part of the vessel will develop resistances to change of form in the material of the structure. These resistances are known as the strength of the ship. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.