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Safety at Sea during the Industrial Revolution

Author

Listed:
  • Kelly, Morgan
  • Ó Gráda, Cormac
  • Solar, Peter M.

Abstract

Shipping, central to the rise of the Atlantic economies, was an extremely hazardous activity. Between the 1780s and 1820s, a safety revolution occurred that saw shipping losses and insurance rates on oceanic routes almost halved thanks to steady improvements in shipbuilding and navigation. Copper sheathing, iron reinforcing, and flush decks were the major innovations in shipbuilding. Navigation improved, not through chronometers, which remained too expensive and unreliable for general use, but through radically improved charts, accessible manuals of basic navigational techniques, and improved shore-based navigational aids. “Curse thee, thou quadrant!” dashing it to the deck, “no longer will I guide my earthly way by thee; the level ship’s compass, and the level dead-reckoning, by log and by line; these shall conduct me, and show me my place on the sea.” Captain Ahab in Moby Dick, Ch. CXIII

Suggested Citation

  • Kelly, Morgan & Ó Gráda, Cormac & Solar, Peter M., 2021. "Safety at Sea during the Industrial Revolution," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 81(1), pages 239-275, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:jechis:v:81:y:2021:i:1:p:239-275_7
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Peter M. Solar & Oliver Buxton Dunn & Aidan Kane, 2024. "Shipping in the London coal trade, 1700‒1860," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 77(3), pages 1005-1034, August.
    2. Timothy J. Hatton, 2024. "Sailing Ship Technology, Navigation and the Duration of Voyages to Australia, 1848-85," CEH Discussion Papers 07, Centre for Economic History, Research School of Economics, Australian National University.
    3. Arteaga, Fernando & Desierto, Desiree & Koyama, Mark, 2024. "Shipwrecked by rents," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    4. Timothy J. Hatton, 2025. "Emigrant voyages from the UK to North America and Australasia, 1853–1913," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 78(2), pages 452-473, May.
    5. Miotto, Martina & Pascali, Luigi, 2025. "Solving the longitude puzzle: A story of clocks, ships and cities," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    6. Dan Bogart & Oliver Buxton Dunn & Eduard J. Alvarez‐Palau & Leigh Shaw‐Taylor, 2022. "Organizations and efficiency in public services: The case of English lighthouses revisited," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 60(2), pages 975-994, April.
    7. Cormac Ó Gráda, 2019. "Economic History: «An Isthmus Joining Two Great Continents»?," Rivista di storia economica, Società editrice il Mulino, issue 1, pages 81-120.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • N - Economic History
    • N73 - Economic History - - Economic History: Transport, International and Domestic Trade, Energy, and Other Services - - - Europe: Pre-1913
    • G22 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Insurance; Insurance Companies; Actuarial Studies

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