| Description | Steam Boat Engines (8 items).
1228. Navy Steamer Congo/Chatham Dockyard (RR). Jul. 1815, Feb., May 1816. 8 items.
20 horse power independent crank engine, with 25½ inch cylinder, 3 foot stroke, cast iron beam, cast iron connecting rod, A frames.
Drawings of the boat:
Cross-section and plan of the engine and boilers, side view of the engine and outside view of paddle wheel - partially coloured original and partially coloured reverse drawings; cross-section of the boat as executed, marked "from Mr. Murdock". The reverse drawings bear letter codes.
Drawings of the engine when used as a pumping engine:
Side view of the engine and plan of the engine and boilers, views of the pumps and cross-section of the engine and boilers - reverse drawings; front view of pumps - shaded drawing cut from a larger sheet of pump drawings and marked "14 h.". The reverse drawings bear letter codes.
Original Portfolio or 'Book' No. 684. Catalogue of Old Engines p. 310.
For H. M. Navy. Experimental boat, initially named Zayre before being named Congo. This was the first boat engine that Boulton Watt & Co. supplied to the Navy. It was very similar to a standard land 20 horse crank engine, and almost identical to the engine fitted in the Tyne steam packet Eagle [see Portfolio 5/1248]; the drawings for both engines were kept in the same book. The boat was intended for service on the Zayre River in Africa, but the engine was not a success as it proved too heavy and drowned the paddles. It was removed from the boat in 1816 and used as a pumping engine at Chatham Dockyard. The List of Engines made at Soho gives this engine the dimensions of a 20 horse side lever engine. The engine is referred to in The Engineer, 1866, p. 7 & 87.
See also: 4/94 (Engine Order Book No. 8). |