[ News
| Homes
| Life
| Entertainment
| History
| Science
| Community
| Shop ]
| Sport
| Culture
| Cars
| Money
| Broadband
| Learning
| Health
| Dating
| Games ]
[ Text Only: Homepage ]
[ Graphical: Channel4 Homepage ]
Home | The team | The vehicles | Find out more | Credits | Forum
Introduction
Royal support
Keeping the water out
Other vehicles
The Salvage Squad first see the 80-year-old steamboat, Jane, lying in the corner of a Northamptonshire field surrounded by nettles. Their task is to get the steam plant back in working order and relaunch the boat. They have just one week to do it if Jane is to be ready for the Steamboat Association's Annual Windermere Parade.
Jane was built in 1921 at the Vosper & Co yard in Portsmouth, part of a tradition of beautiful steam launches dating back to the early 19th century. Lee Hurst visits the archives of Vosper Thornycroft to find Jane's original drawings and learns about the fascinating history of steamboats.
In 1788, William Symington installed a marine engine in a 'pleasure boat' on Dalswinton Lake near Dumfries, Scotland. The engine provided close to 1 horse power and reached 5mph. It was the first steam launch. Symington developed his designs and in 1801 launched the Charlotte Dundas, one of the first practical steamboats.
Queen Victoria, more than any other individual, set the tone for the Great Age of Steam. On a sailing trip to Scotland in 1842, Victoria noticed that the common steam coasters outdistanced the royal yacht. For the rest of her reign she lent her authority and enthusiasm to the development of steam power.
In the 1860s steamers grew lighter, trimmer, thriftier and more numerous as advances in marine engineering made it possible to build smaller boats.
The River Thames and Lake Windermere became centres for steam-launching as a pastime. The ratings on Admiralty steam launches in 100 Empire ports and on the Thames itself were in a different world from the starched crowd on their slender and patrician Edwardian steamboats with their gleaming brass and mahogany.
As the Squad soon discover, Jane tests their skills in steam engineering and boatbuilding. They have to refurbish and fit the engine and boiler, but one of the key tasks is also one of the most difficult – caulking.
When Jane was built at the Vosper & Co yard in Portsmouth in 1921, the shipbuilders had years of experience behind them, but the Squad have to learn on the job. Keeping the smooth hull watertight is a frustrating task. About a mile of cotton has to be squeezed between the planks on the hull to create a watertight seal.
The Squad's Jerry Thurston soon realises that caulking is a surprisingly difficult job. First he has to twist the cotton to make a fat bundle to fit in the gap between the planks. He then has to squash it into the gap with a chisel. If he hits it too hard, it goes right through and if it is not twisted enough it drops out.
In the days of sailing ships, the sailors called the longest seam to be caulked 'the devil' – the origin of the phrase: 'Caught between the devil and the deep blue sea'. For Jerry it turns out to be a hell of a job.
He and the rest of the Squad work through the night in order to keep to the schedule. After the caulking is completed, they have to put flexible sealant over the cracks.
When they take the boat to Lake Windermere, only the quality of their caulking will determine whether they sail or swim.
Gipsy Moth
Thames sailing barge
Racing car
Stolly
Fire engine
Steamboat
Gyroplane
Bristol car
Tank
Steamroller
Graphical version of this page