Abstract
BACKGROUNDUSS Annapolis (PG‐10) was the first of four gunboats (Vicksburg, Newport, Princeton) built during the transition period of the maritime world, that is ‐sail to steam, wood to steel.The Annapolis’ original barkentine rig was of the composite type, typical for the day — steel keel and frames, steel shell plating from main deck to waterline, and wood planking with copper sheathing to the keel. Copper being resistant to barnacles, this method was used, in as much as dry docks were a scarcity in those days.Rear Admiral Phillip Hichborn, chief constructor of the Bureau of Construction and Repair, designed the hull.Rear Admiral George Wallace Melville, chief of the Bureau of Steam Engineering, designed her power plant. He was one of few survivors of the Jeannette expedition through the Bering Straits to the North Pole.Her power plant was a triple expansion reciprocating steam engine, better known as an “Up‐n‐Downer”. Steam was supplied by two watertube boilers at 180 psi. These gunboats were pioneers in the use of watertube boilers.
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