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Vintage merchant ships with plumb bow

Y

yahya

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Feb 8, 2025
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Hello, I am looking for a reference source, possibly with silhouettes, on the vintage merchant ships with plumb bow, which were built at the end of the 19th century till the 1920s. Many of these were built by various shipbuilders worldwide, and were also lost during WW I and WW II. The design of merchant ships with plumb bow seems to have been eventually retired in the 1930s towards the more contemporary racked or flared bow concept. Do you know if such a publication is available, possibly in public domain?
 
I think yayha means a vertical stempost. Here's a link to possibly the last surviving working 19th century steamship in London docks. Robin has a vertical stempost, no rake and very little flare.

ssrobin.com

ABOUT — SS ROBIN

ssrobin.com ssrobin.com
 
I think there's a lot of material in these two books including some plans - unfortunately they are no longer cheap.

British Ocean Tramps. volume 1 - Builders and Cargoes. volume 2 - Owners & their Ships ( 2 Bde.).
Thomas, P.N.
 
But there's a reasonably priced set of plans here for a rather large model 4-island steamer with plumb bow.

www.vintagemodelplans.com

Full size Printed Plans Raised Quarterdeck Coaster S.S. MOYGANNON Scale 1:48 Suitable for Radio control

Listing for full size Printed Plans Not a KIT or MODEL S.S. MOYGANNON Raised Quarterdeck Coasters It is worth making a large model of this type of steamer Full size printed plan on a sheet 45” x 36” Three page article with descripting a few building ideas and photos Experience scratch builders...
www.vintagemodelplans.com
 
P.N. Thomas’s two Volume British Ocean Tramps recommended by Alan Smith is great. Highly recommended. A related book by the same publisher is C. V. Waine’s Steam Coasters. Lots of drawings including a few hull lines. If Thomas’s books are beyond your budget Waine’s might be less expensive.

Unfortunately you don’t tell us where in the world you are writing from but almost all steamships sailing on the American Great Lakes were built with plumb bows. There drawings for these are held in the archives of Bowling Green State University in Ohio. Copies are available.

Roger
 
Thank you, Gentlemen, for the suggestions. I will try to find these books.

I wonder if vessels identification books used by the WW I and WW II submariners, which listed the silhouettes and tonnage of various ships, including cargo steamers, of the opposite side is a available in the public domain. So far, I have not found such a reference publication. Could you please recommend a source if known?

A photo of the P&O “SS Viceroy of India” torpedoed on 11th November 1942. Ernest Sandall was one of the crew members which survived. Source: Flickr.

<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="
https://flic.kr/p/6gT4hn
" title="board_36_13"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/3509/3461493033_a8d72cb12d_h.jpg" width="1600" height="1067" alt="board_36_13"/></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="
https://flic.kr/p/6gXeX9
" title="board_36_15"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/3512/3462309370_6a7685bdb0_h.jpg" width="1600" height="1067" alt="board_36_15"/></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The sinking vessel seems to have a straight-stem bow.
 
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