Robert Seppings

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Sir Robert Seppings (* 1767 in Fakenham ( Norfolk ), † September 25, 1840 in Taunton ) was a British ship designer.

Life

In 1782 he began training at the Plymouth Naval Shipyard . In 1800, when he was promoted to Master Shipwright Assistant , he invented a device that significantly shortened the repairs to be made to the lower parts of the ship in dry dock. A multi-part wedge construction in the dry dock made it possible to knock away many wedges after the ship to be repaired had been fixed, so that it was held by the remaining wedge system, but the workers had free access to the entire keel and could therefore carry out their repairs more quickly. For this invention, Seppings received £ 1,000 from the Admiralty and received funding accordingly. In 1804 he was appointed Master Shipwright of the Royal Shipyard at Chatham .

Views of the frigate HMS Unicorn (1824) (clip). Outwardly, the round tail is the most striking of the Sepping innovations

Despite the naval administration's predominant reluctance to innovate, he succeeded in implementing important improvements in shipbuilding methods. In particular, he was able to achieve greater longitudinal strength of his ships by installing a system of diagonal struts. In addition, he modified the design of the stern and the bow so that they were structurally stronger than older designs and the stern could be better armed.

Seppings was named Surveyor of the Navy in 1813 . In 1818 he received the Copley Medal for his services , a prestigious award given by the British Royal Society to scientists of all disciplines.

In 1819 he was knighted as a Knight Bachelor ("Sir"). He held the office of surveyor until he retired in 1832.

literature

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personal data
SURNAME Seppings, Robert
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British ship designer
DATE OF BIRTH 1767
PLACE OF BIRTH Fakenham ( Norfolk )
DATE OF DEATH September 25, 1840
Place of death Taunton