Friday, September 2, 2011

ELISSA ~ Why her iron is so important

Shipmates,

I have been asked why is the old iron on ELISSA so important and why don’t we just replace it all so we can get back to sailing? This is a very good question and one that possibly several of you have asked. I believe ELISSA is a noun and a verb and that by sailing she preserves the skills that will allow her to renew herself again and again and by just existing in today’s world provides us all the chance to touch a relic from the Age of Sail. The problem becomes more than a semantic question of when does a historic vessel become a replica? The original fabric contained in each historic plate left on ELISSA is priceless and we should always strive to retain the original iron…”the patina of time”, as Karl Kortum liked to say, within economic and safety constraints. Once any piece of original wrought iron fabric of ELISSA is lost due to lack of attention or maintenance or the sands of time, it cannot be replaced.

Why ELISSA’s iron is important:

Built in Aberdeen, Scotland by Alexander Hall & Company in 1877, ELISSA was built to Lloyd’s 100A1 standards –the highest standard of construction of the finest wrought iron. Wrought iron is a low carbon iron intentionally contaminated with silica during smelting with the resulting glass fibers becoming oriented by rolling/working the hot billet of material. This gives the material its characteristic fibrous texture. When iron weathers, the material takes on the appearance of tree bark. This is caused by the silica slag helping to slow down or stop the corrosion process, resulting in the wonderful texture of a weathered wrought iron.


The hull is riveted of individually formed Lomore wrought iron plates, in-out plated over a transverse iron frame. Wrought iron is a low carbon iron intentionally contaminated with silica during smelting with the resulting glass fibers becoming oriented by rolling/working the hot billet of material. Wrought iron can be thought of as the original fiber glass, but instead of resin and glass it was iron and slag. The inclusions of slag made for a ductile and very corrosion resistant material, far more impervious to the vagaries of the elements than modern steels. Usually if you look at an older steel sailing ship wreck, it is only the iron bits that remain - anchors, stern and rudder posts, stems, etc.


Wrought iron is no longer produced on a commercial scale and is impossible for us to source in replacing the damaged hull plates. Instead, we will be using modern mild steel to replace any bad plates that cannot be repaired or restored using localized repairs, i.e. clad and or plug welding, high strength epoxies, etc.


ELISSA’s original hull plating is priceless and in the eyes of many ship preservationists –the true cross.

…and we are trying our very best to preserve and save as much as is possible and still prudently put to sea. Remember with ever effort you expend in rust busting and other preservation activities you are saving something that is irreplaceable – ELISSA’s original fabric.

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