Copper sheathing of hulls
Forro de cobre de los cascos
- Date
- 1761 · confidence high
- Place
- Royal Navy dockyards on the Thames, London, England, United Kingdom
- Credited to
- Royal Navy (British Admiralty)
- Field
- Movement
What it is
Copper plates nailed below the waterline prevent shipworm and fouling, keeping the hull clean and fast. The Royal Navy tried it on the frigate HMS Alarm in 1761 and generalised it around 1780.
Iron bolts corroded galvanically against the copper, so generalisation required copper bolts (1780s).
What it led to
- faster ships with greater endurance
- demand for copper (Cornwall, Anglesey)
- cathodic protection against corrosion (Davy)