| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Builders: | Durham Boat Company of Durham, Pennsylvania |
| Operators: | commercial freight haulers and Continental Army troops |
| In service: | 1750 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Durham boat |
| Length: | 40 ft (12 m) to 60 ft (18 m) |
| Beam: | 8 ft (2.4 m) |
| Draught: | 1 ft 8 in (0.51 m) when carrying 15 tons |
| Propulsion: | two masts with sails, or push poles, or oars |
| Speed: | varied |
| Capacity: | 17 tons while traveling downstream and two tons while traveling upstream |
| Complement: | four crew, plus steersman |
| Armament: | none |
| Notes: | Built to ferry freight, primarily across the Delaware River |
The Durham boat was a large wooden boat produced by the Durham Boat Company of Durham, Pennsylvania, starting in 1750. They were designed by company owner Robert Durham to navigate the Delaware River and thus transport the products produced by the Durham Forges and Durham Mills to Trenton, New Jersey and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Contents |
They were flatbottomed boats – provided with keels – with high vertical side which ran parallel to each other up to a point 12 to 14 feet (4.3 m) from the boat's ends, where they then tapered. The boats were constructed of 1.25-inch (32 mm) thick planks and measured up to 60 feet (18 m) long by 8 feet (2.4 m) wide by 42 inches (1,100 mm) deep. They displaced a draft of 3.5 inches (89 mm) when light and 28 inches (710 mm) when fully loaded.
Since both ends were tapered, either end could serve as the bow of the boat since the heavy steering gear, called a "sweep." could be shifted to either end. As a result, the boat could go in either direction depending on the placement of the steering sweep and the movement of the poles or oars.
They were designed to be able to carry a maximum load of 17 tons while traveling downstream and two tons while traveling upstream. Thus they could carry 150 barrels (24 m3) of flour or 600 bushels of corn. It took three or four men, plus a steersman, to operate the boats. Moving downstream they used 12-foot (3.7 m) to 18-foot (5.5 m) long "setting poles" mainly for steering and when moving upstream they used these poles to push the boats upriver. The crew walked back and forth on "walking boards" built into the sides of the boats. Some were later fitted for the use of oars.
These boats are most famous for their use in Washington's crossing of the Delaware River during the American Revolution.