The Modern System of Naval Architecture

"The Modern System of Naval Architecture" (John Scott Russell, 1864)

John Scott Russell (1808-1882) was a Scottish civil engineer, naval architect and shipbuilder, who built the iron sailing steam ship SS Great Eastern . In 1864, he published the massive 3-volume treatise on The Modern System of Naval Architecture. Russell's master work was a comprehensive guide to the design and construction of iron steamships, and documented the state of the art of naval and mercantile shipbuilding. The 167 plates include plans for a variety of ocean and river commercial steamers, armored and unarmored warships, and several variants of the mail steamer.

His obituary said of naval architecture:

"it may be said that on commencing his career he found it the most empirical of arts, and he left it one of the most exact of engineering sciences. To this great result many others contributed largely besides himself; but his personal investigations, and the theories which he deduced from them, gave the first impetus to scientific naval architecture".

Our selection consists of facsimiles from volume 2 of the treatise.