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LeighSabio Mate Griffon To Mare from Love party! Since: Jan, 2001
Mate Griffon To Mare
#1: Mar 26th 2011 at 1:14:54 PM

Who here knows a lot about the 18th century and can help me?

I want to know how fast a passenger ship in the 18th century was.

"All pain is a punishment, and every punishment is inflicted for love as much as for justice." — Joseph De Maistre.
annebeeche watching down on us from by the long tidal river Since: Nov, 2010
watching down on us
#2: Mar 26th 2011 at 2:14:27 PM

Google is your friend.

Start reading up on the 18th century in vivid detail. Every thing about it, from clothing, to food, to technology, etc. Start with wikipedia, then work your way to other websites. Do a lot of reading.

You might also want to know what decade you're working in, by the way.

Banned entirely for telling FE that he was being rude and not contributing to the discussion. I shall watch down from the goon heavens.
LeighSabio Mate Griffon To Mare from Love party! Since: Jan, 2001
Mate Griffon To Mare
#3: Mar 26th 2011 at 2:46:09 PM

[up] Google is not being very friendly to me. I searched for it, and didn't get any answers.

"All pain is a punishment, and every punishment is inflicted for love as much as for justice." — Joseph De Maistre.
annebeeche watching down on us from by the long tidal river Since: Nov, 2010
watching down on us
#4: Mar 26th 2011 at 2:49:31 PM

Try searching for ships from the 18th century in general, and peruse the fatter articles for information.

Banned entirely for telling FE that he was being rude and not contributing to the discussion. I shall watch down from the goon heavens.
Yej (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: They can't hide forever. We've got satellites.
#5: Mar 26th 2011 at 2:50:56 PM

Unless historical accuracy is paramount, go with modern speeds? You could also go with the speed of the Titanic, 21 knots, which was from 1912.

edited 26th Mar '11 2:51:16 PM by Yej

Wanderhome The Joke-Master Since: Apr, 2009 Relationship Status: Healthy, deeply-felt respect for this here Shotgun
The Joke-Master
#6: Mar 26th 2011 at 4:51:31 PM

[up]

Comparing the speed of the average ship from the 1700s and the speed of the Titanic is like comparing a speedboat to a yacht.

MattII Since: Sep, 2009
#7: Mar 26th 2011 at 6:23:44 PM

Well first you have to decide on the ports you're going to be visiting, because that makes a huge difference. You're unlikely to be making it into double-digit speeds.

kurushio Happy Human from Berlin, Germany Since: Sep, 2009 Relationship Status: I've got a total eclipse of the heart
Happy Human
#8: Mar 28th 2011 at 2:19:12 AM

First of all, you'll have difficulties finding a dedicated ocean-going passenger ship during that time, most of those were freight hulls. You'd be on one hell of a ship if it ever goes faster than 8 knots. Modern replica East Indiamen - consideerd one of the best ship designs during that time - manage about 5-6.

For a (lenghty but entertaining) overview of late 17th and early 18 century living, I highly recommend The Baroque Cycle by Neal Stephenson. It even has some sailing in it, and is very thoroughly researched.

kurushio

Educational tidbit: The purely theoretical top speed of every displacing sailing vessel is determined by it's waterline length in feet (1.34 times the square root of it). So, if you take a typical East Indiamen, you can be sure it could never exceed 15-17 knots. (Theoretically, mind you. Even for a 19th century tea clipper, that would be about the fastest average speed possible.)

edited 28th Mar '11 2:21:05 AM by kurushio

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