Double-keel vessel
Date
1685
Creator
Unknown, Artist
After
William Petty (1623 - 1687, British) , Natural philosopher
Object type
Archive reference number
Manuscript page number
p2
Material
Dimensions
height (page): 406mm
width (page): 316mm
width (page): 316mm
Subject
Content object
Description
A drawing of William Petty's 'Double-Keel Vessell' (catamaran) on a single sheet of paper, setting out in twelve points the advantages of the design, including its ability to sail without a ballast (and thus enter shallow waters).
Transcription
The Description & Excellency of the Double-Keel Vessell
Transcribed by the Making Visible project
Transcribed by the Making Visible project
Object history
This may have accompanied the dedication in 1685 of a double-keeled model, now in the Royal Society (Henry William Edmund Petty FitzMaurice Lansdowne, The Double Bottom or Twin-Hulled Ship of Sir William Petty (Oxford: the Roxburghe Club, 1931), p. xvii).
At the meeting of the Royal Society on 29 July 1685, ‘A curious model of a double bottomed ship was presented by Mr. Houghton in the name of John Worlidge of Petersfield, which had been made some years before by his brother, Mr .Worlidge, a gold-smith at Portsmouth. A paper of the description and excellency of the vessel being read was sent with it to the repository, being first entered in the letter-book [not entered in LBO]’ (Birch 4:423-24).
At the meeting of the Royal Society on 29 July 1685, ‘A curious model of a double bottomed ship was presented by Mr. Houghton in the name of John Worlidge of Petersfield, which had been made some years before by his brother, Mr .Worlidge, a gold-smith at Portsmouth. A paper of the description and excellency of the vessel being read was sent with it to the repository, being first entered in the letter-book [not entered in LBO]’ (Birch 4:423-24).
Related fellows
John Houghton (1645 - 1705, British) , Merchant
William Petty (1623 - 1687, British) , Natural philosopher
William Petty (1623 - 1687, British) , Natural philosopher
Associated place