This report commences with a description of the iron steam-vessel, the “Garryowen,” belonging to the City of Dublin Steam Packet Company, and built by the Messrs. Laird, of Liverpool. She is constructed of malleable iron, is 281 tons burthen, and draws only 5
1/4
feet water, although the weight of iron in the hull, machinery, &c. is 180 tons. This vessel was placed under the directions of the author, in Tarbert Bay, on the Shannon, on the 19th of October, 1835, for the purpose of investigating its local attractions on the compass. The methods which were adopted with that view are given ; together with tables of the results of the several experiments, and plans of the various parts of the Garryowen. The horizontal deflections of the magnetic needle at different situations in the vessel were observed, for the purpose of ascertaining the most advantageous place for a steering compass, and also for the application of Professor Barlow’s correcting plate : and the dip and intensity in these situations were, at the same time, noted.
Report of magnetic experiments tried on board an iron steam-vessel, by order of the Right Hon. the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty