Democratic Sentinel, Volume 13, Number 43, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 November 1889 — Ramming Ice Floes. [ARTICLE]

Ramming Ice Floes.

No stronger vessels than those of the Dundee whalers are built; they are from 400 to 1,000 tons displacement, have powerful, well-secured engines to resist the shockof ramming or stoppage of the propeller by ice, and are built with an eye to the easy and rapid replacement of rudder, propeller and propeller shaft if damaged, these parts being carried in duplicate. Above all other considerations, they possess strength for ramming as well as resistance to lateral pressure when nipped. Another very important feature is that the bow shall have considerable inclination, which permits the vessel, when ramming very heavy ice, to lift slightly and slide on it, thus easing the shock and assisting the cutting action of the bow with the downward crushing weight of the ship. In this way it is possible for these steamers at full speed to ram ice over twenty feet thick and receive no immediate incapacitating damage. If the ice is not too heavy the shearlike rise and fall of the bow is repeated several times as the vessel steams powerfully ahead until her headway is checked. The difficulty then is to extract the ship from the dock she has cut by her advance-