European shipping history references

 

 

I’m still working on getting to grips with this aspect for lack of ready access to primary sources. See elsewhere on my site concerning my interest in Bureau Veritas as a source.

 

If your interests in international Sail and the transition from Sail to Steam overlap with mine you are likely to be interested in the following sources.

 

References are listed under the following headings:

 

The Scandinavian Economic History Review, Vol. XXVIII, (2), 1980

Separate articles and books in English

Gropallo’s books on Italian sailing ships

Items in Log Chips

 

 

The Scandinavian Economic History Review, Vol. XXVIII, (2), 1980 has a series of relevant articles (all in English)

 

The transition from Sail to Steam in the Danish Merchant Fleet, 1865-1910, Ove Hornby and Carl-Axel Nilsson, pp 109-134. Diagram 1 shows the Steam tonnage overtaking Sail in 1896.

 

The Substitution of Steam for Sail in Norwegian Ocean Shipping, 1866-1914. A Study in the Economics of Difffusion, Ole Gjølberg, pp 135-146. Diagram 1 shows that the ton-miles covered by Norwegian steam ships overtook Sail in the mid 1890’s. Ton-miles is a measure of actual performance superior to the number of ships and their tonnage which may well imply a later transition.

 

Shipping in Sweden, 1850-1913, Martin Fritz, pp 147-160. Table 4 shows that the number of sailing ships still exceeded steam ships in 1911/13 but that steam tonnage was larger by 1901. Table 6 adjusts Steam tonnage by a factor of three to allow for superior performance and puts Stream ahead during the late 1880’s.

 

The Transition from Sail to Stream in Finnish Shipping, 1850-1914, Yrjö Kaukiainen, pp 161-184. Table 1 shows Steam tonnage as a percentage of the total in 1892 and 1914 for Finland, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Russia and the Scandinavian average. The Finnish percentage in 1914 was 18 percent but Table 3 shows that steam ships accounted for 70 percent of total arrivals and departures in 1914.

 

The articles include vary in their approach but include a range of further analyses such as variation in size, shares of trade for different origins and destinations, investment and so on.

 

 

Separate articles and books in English

 

Fischer, Lewis W. and Nordvik, Helge W., 1986, Maritime Transport and the Integration of the North Atlantic Economy, 1850-1914, in The emergence of a world economy 1500-1914: papers of the IX. International Congress of the Economic History Association, Wolfram Fischer, R. Marvin McInnis and Jurgen Schneider (eds), Stuttgart, 1986, pp 519-44. For further discussion refer to Transition.

 

Panopoulou, Marie, ?1995, Shipping and Shipbuilding in Greece, 1850-1914, The Journal of Transport History, ?1995, pp 159-178. Table 1 shows the tonnage of steam ships overtaking Sail between 1900 and 1905 but that the number of sailing ships was still well above half the total in 1915. Table 2 reproduces estimates for steam tonnage as a percentage of the total from 1850 to 1910 for all the European maritime nations (except Turkey) in comparison with Britain, Canada and the United States (derived from Fischer and Nordvik cited above).

 

Villiers, Alan and Henri Picard, 1972, The Bounty Ships of France, Patrick Stephens Ltd, London, 240 pages.

 

 

Tomaso Gropallo’s books on Italian sailing ships

 

I don’t currently have access to either but some of the content is in English and one or both have lists of ships in English. Content as far as I know is limited to square-riggers. (Fuller information on contents appreciated for addition to this site.)

 

Gropallo, Tomaso, 1964, Il Romazo Della Vela. Storia della Marina Mercatila a Vela Italiana nell’Ottocento, Edizioni Maralunga, Genova.

 

Gropallo, Tomaso, 1969, Ultima Vela. The Last Sail. La Storia dei Grandi Velieri Dell'Evo Moderno. Bogliasco, Genova: Edizioni Maralunga.

 

 

Items in Log Chips (title, Volume in Roman numerals, pages in Arabic numerals)

 

Danish Square-Riggers Since 1869                                                                    III – 107

Four Masted Schooners Built in Denmark                                                          III - 119

French-Built Steel Sailing Vessels                                                                      III - 8, 20, 35

German-Built Iron & Steel Sailing Vessels                                                          II - 105, 117

German-Built Iron & Steel Sailing Vessels, correction                                        II - 128

German-Built Iron & Steel Sailing Vessels, addenda                                           III - 32

German 4-Masted Bark, First                                                                            III - 105

German Navy and Air Force Ships                                                                    IV - 3

German Sailing Vessels and World War I                                                          IV - 6, 17, 32

German Sailing Vessels and World War I, corrections                                        IV - 44

German Ships Under Danish Flag                                                                      IV – 20

Netherlands Built Coasters                                                                                III - 19, 69

Netherlands, Sailing Ships Built in, Since 1860                                                   I - 143, II - 8, 11

Netherlands, Sailing Ships Built in, Since 1860, additions and corrections            Suppl. 1: 12

Netherlands, iron sailing ships built in, prior to 1860                                           Suppl. 1: 12

Sailing Ships Built in Norway 1885-1937, of iron or steel                                   Suppl. 10: 10-11

Sailing Ships Built in Sweden 1880-1912, of iron or steel                                   Suppl. 10: 11

Schooners, Portuguese Grand Bank                                                                   I - 62, 92,  II - 2

 

 

 

 

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