Rise of the screw collier

摘要

Until 1850 Most of London's coal came from Northumberland and Durham by sea, all of it in sailing colliers. The capital's enormous appetite for 'sea-coal' - over three and a half million tons of coal per year - needed 1,200 of these craft, mostly brigs or their near-relatives. But sail had its problems: when winds were contrary or too strong in the North Sea, hundreds of craft could be weather-bound, with disastrous effects on coal supply.rnIn the 1840s there had been several attempts to build a steam ship suitable for carrying coal, but none succeeded in supplanting the sailing ship. The impetus for the development of a practical steam collier came from the fast-growing London gas industry. Gas works simply could not put up with the fluctuations in coal supply which could not be avoided with sailing ships. Disruption was particularly severe in winter months when demand was greatest.