6 of 6 October 2023 The 1805 Dispatches #23.05 THE 1805 CLUB Founded in 1990, the Club: ・Promotes research into and education about the Royal Navy, merchant maritime service and other state navies of the same era; and ・Promotes and engages in the preservation of monuments and memorials relating to the Royal Navy and seafaring people of the later sailing-navy era; and ・Organises relevant cultural, historical and social events. The Club is charity No. 1201272, registered in England and Wales. Individuals desiring further information may contact: Stephen Howarth, Hon. Club Secretary, The 1805 Club Shelton, Notts, NG23 5JQ, UK Email: secretary@1805club.org Telephone: 01949 851346. For a membership application form please contact: Dr Sue Carr, Hon. Membership Secretary, The 1805 Club London, UK Email: membership.secretary@1805club.org Or: Harold E (Pete) Stark, Hon US Secretary, The 1805 Club Annapolis, MD, USA Email: the.americas.membership.secretary@1805club.org Telephone: 410-269-9760 (mobile) Or: Mark Billings, Hon Canadian Secretary, The 1805 Club Montreal, Quebec, Canada Email: canadian.membership.secretary@1805club.org Telephone: 1-514-296-1641 Peter Turner, Editor of The Kedge Anchor Aldeburgh, Suffolk, UK Email: ka.editor@1805club.org Telephone: +(44) 7903 251008 The Newsletter for Anyone Interested in The 1805 Club PURPOSE. The purpose of this newsletter is to support and advance the Club’s objectives. The newsletter provides anyone who is interested with brief items of news about the club and its activities, in the hope that the it can help the club attract wider interest in naval history and new members. Much of the content will be a précis of articles that will appear in The Kedge Anchor, the six-monthly club magazine. EDITORIAL POLICY. The Editor has full editorial responsibility for the newsletter. Views expressed in the newsletter are those of individual authors, unless claimed by the Editor. Articles which appear do not express the official position of The 1805 Club on any subject unless specifically noted as such. Content of contributions to the newsletter may be edited for grammar, space allocation, or to better serve the purpose of the newsletter. Contributors wishing to be alerted to editorial decisions should notify the Editor at the time that their contribution is submitted. Otherwise the submission will be published within the scope of the editorial policy. ISSUE AND COPY DATES The proposed issue dates for The 1805 Dispatches are: February, April, June, August, October and December. Anyone wishing to contribute an article or news item to the Editor for inclusion in the newsletter should do so by the middle of the month preceding the issue in which it is to be inserted. Any articles that are not time-specific can be submitted at any time, with a note advising the Editor of that fact. All copy is welcome, but not all copy may be used! Safeguard, sugared, garuda, augeas, argued, fraud, gradus, guard, argues, augers, sauger, fudges, surfed, surged, aurae, asura, auras, agued, fraud, durga, sudra, argue, auger, agues, usage, argus, sugar, fudge, feuds, fused, urged, degu, druse, drugs, surge, urges, frug, aura, gaud, dura, ague, urea, frau, gaur, guar, asur, rusa, sura, feud, degu, rude, rued, dues, sued, used, drug, surd, feus, fuse, urge, rues, ruse, suer, sure, user, frug, sur SHIP’S WORD WHEEL ANSWERS Strike – Seamen who had not been paid would sometimes strike, or lower, a ship’s sails to prevent her from leaving port until they had been paid. Now, any organised stoppage of labour shares the honour of this title. NAVAL TERMS THAT HAVE ‘COME ASHORE’ Most helpfully, the new presentation in Portsmouth contains, amongst the many fresh display boards, 16 pages of the dimensions of Blocks, and another four pages on the dimensions of Shivers. I was dumbstruck on realising that the word Shiver describes a vital component. They were in fact thin timber wedges, that would have been used in great numbers to enhance the watertightness of the hull. The shivering of hull timbers would have been a vital method of maintaining the water-tightness of the timber hull, especially during and after battle. This former ship's engineer was amazed to appreciate that his Georgian predecessors probably deployed Shivers, in the way we deploy “WD40” to keep the 21st century technology intact. This wonderful new display contains beautifully restored information boards to which the 18th century shipwrights would have referred to fit the appropriate dimension of shiver. The photographs here illustrate the variety of choice available, which is wonderfully described. What this reveals is the "attention to detail" that our Regency period forebears deployed. For example, the Dimensions of Shivers offer choice of timber thicknesses, such as "Snatch Thick" and "Snatch Thin", or "Long Tackle". In conclusion, one comes away with the realisation that "attention to the standard of technical detail" was a strong feature of Georgian Royal Navy warship construction. This quality of technology would have contributed to Nelson's ships having the upper hand in both endurance and effectiveness.
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