San Francisco News: 1800s

The California Nautical Magazine

December 21, 1854, �Daily Alta California, San Francisco

ENGINEERING IN THE BRITISH NAVY. �

The British steam-fleet in the Baltic is provided with a complete engineers' establishment, fitted up on board the attending steam frigate �Volcano, for the purpose of effecting speedy repairs of machinery at the shortest notice. This establishment comprises a spacious room 104 feet long, 40 feet wide, and 10 feet high, in which are situated a twelve-horse power independent steam engine, and two boilers, to drive the various machines and tools which constitute the equipment of this sea-going machine shop. These consist chiefly of four turning lathes, of graduated capabilities, two planing machines, two boiler-plate punching and sheering machines, one steam hammer, with two forges, one cupalo, capable of executing any brass or iron casting below 30 cwt., with foundry apparatus and material, and a blowing fan to supply blast to the forges and foundry cupalo, together with anvils, vises, grindstones, and every other article of minor implement. Mr. James Nesmith, of Patricroft, had the charge of fitting up theVolcano.

Nautical Magazine.

December 3, 1862, �Sacramento Daily Union, Sacramento, California

CALIFORNIA NAUTICAL MAGAZINE. �-- The December number of this periodical has been received from the publisher, Captain John H. Bell. It is devoted to the advocacy of nautical education, the record of marine cases of importance and shipping statistics, and is of interest to others than those who "go down to the sea in ships."

January 7, 1863, �Daily Alta California, San Francisco

Advertisement

The California Nautical Magazine

IS PUBLISHED MONTHLY

BY CAPT. John H. Bell, at his Nautical and Astronomical Academy, 405 Front street, and henceforth will be MAILED to subscribers (postage paid) in the city or country, on or before the 1st of each month. Back numbers can be had by application at the office, or by letter, addressed "Nautical Magazine, Postoffice, Box 800."

Every Merchant, Shipowner, Captain, and Underwriter should have the �Nautical Magazine. It treats of Nautical Education, Necessity of a School Ship for the training of seamen, the Rise and Progress of the American Marine, Advise to Young Men, Take it Coolly, Marine Premiums, the Teredo, Law of Storms, Winds and Currents on The Coast of Japan, Examination of Officers, Anchoring, Astronomy, Statistics, New Discoveries, Deviation of the Compass, Centres of Motion and Gravity in Vessels, Velocity of Ships, Old Jack's Opinions, Sailing directions for China and Japan, Regulations for Saigon Harbor, New Lights, Marine Insurance, Equation of Time, Duties of Shipmasters, Rules for the stowage of mixed cargoes, the Log Book, Extraordinary forms of Mirage, Monsoons and Typhoons in the China Sea, Problems and Solutions, Ships and Ships' Timbers, Reflections on the Causes of Shipwrecks, Barratry cases in the Pacific, Shipmasters' Association, Marine Disasters, with a mass of other matter, which will be found very valuable to all who are engaged in commerce and entertaining to those who are not.

Subscriptions, $5 per annum.

Mr. J.J. LeMare is authorized to solicit and collect subscriptions or advertisements.

Call at the Postoffice for the number for December.

del0-3m

September 9, 1875, �Daily Alta California, San Francisco

ALONG THE WHARVES.

. . . The most unsatisfactory feature in the present wreck return is the great number of missing vessels. ? Notwithstanding the reasons we have given for the exceptional increase in the receipt of reports of this class of losses in the year, the numbers are truly alarming. Let us think what the numbers are. Missing vessels; vessels that no one knows anything about! Besides all the known and described wrecks, with their 2100 lives lost, 160 British ships disappeared, clean gone, wiped out like a a grease spot, never heard of after leaving port; and this is one year's record.

With the 150 missing ships there are also 2381 missing men a good many struck off the muster-roll in a year from one "class" of casualty only. "Being missing " costs the country something. No one can tell the cause of loss; but from evidence as to the loss of other ships it is only reasonable to put them down chiefly to unworthy seamen, some to inevitable accident, and some to defects. Would surveys of the ships have prevented the loss?

We find on reference to the Registers of Lloyds, the Liverpool Book and the Bureau Veritas, that nearly 60 per cent of the finest of these missing vessels were classed, and probably many of the colonial vessels were classed in local registers. It would therefore be idle to suppose that universal classification would be a sufficient remedy for these disasters, when more than half of the missing vessels in this, the worst year we have ever had, are known to have been surveyed and classed in one or the other of the three of the very best associations in the world. We observe, also, that considerably more than half these missing vessels sailed from foreign and colonial ports.

---

The Naval Order of the United States has a history dating from 1890. Membership includes a wide range of individuals, many with highly distinguished career paths.

The San Francisco Commandery meets the first Monday of each month at the San Francisco Italian Athletic Club in San Francisco, California and holds two formal dinners each year.