“Iron Wood?”

By Scott Hamilton

Last week I wrote about the USS Constitution, the world’s oldest war ship. She had the nick-name Old Ironsides, because of the extreme strength of her hull. The British Navy at the time was sure she was made of iron as the cannon balls from their warships just bounced off of her hull and fell harmlessly into the ocean. What was it that made her hull so stout compated to the British naval ships of the day? You might say it was some very old material science at work.

You see it was discovered by American ship builders that the Southern Live Oak, ourcus virginiana, which grows along the the eastern coast of the southern United States had a very special property not seen in any other hardwood. The live oak had a very unique property not seen an other hardwoods, and definitely not found anywhere outside of the United States. The grain of the live oak does not run straight, but it interlocks in twists. These interlocking twists in the grain make the live oak tought and nearly indestructbile. The only downfall of this wood for shipbuilders was the density of the wood makes it such that it does not float easily.

The live oak is also so hard it quickly dulled saws and frequently resulted in borken tools when attempting to shape the wood. This is something the American ship builders knew, so when it came to building the first US naval fleet, they selected this particular wood. They harvested live oak from Georgia and South Carolina and then selected the logs which showed the most twists, interlocking grains, and highest density. The built the Constitution’s hull from these exceptionally strong trees.

Not only did they select these strong trees, but they did another unique thing with the Constitution and the rest of the early fleet. They built the hull from multiple layers up to 25 inches thick in critical areas of the hull. This gave the Constitution a unique position in the global navy. She could absorb and deflect impacts that would easily shatter the softer European vessels, made from the softer european oak and pine.

You see the early American engineers not only had a superior wood product to build the robust ship, but they also understood the mechanics behind the strength of the wood and how to select the best pieces for the critical parts of the ship’s hull, making it act like iron armor. The gave our young nation a great advantage in the War of 1812 and future wars. You see we understood the uniqueness of our resources, and how to use them to our advantage.

I can speak form expeience with cutting firewood on my own land that wood with the twisted grain pattern, like our Missorui Blackjack Oak, is much harder to cut, split and work with in general compared to all the other types of oak on my land. Blackjack will dull a chainsaw faster than any other tree I have the experience of cutting. A close second is Hickory, which is also a very dense hardwood, but there is a significant difference between the two. You can even see the difference when you look at the live trees and how their limbs form.

The Hickory grows tall and straight with branches coming off in nearly semetrical angles. The grain in the Hickory runs straight, making it one of the easiest woods to split, and once you split a hickory you get an almost perfectly flat and staight split. I really believe you could cut a hickory into planks with nothing more than a splitting mull. The Blackjack, on the other hand, grows in a twisted way, the trunks is rarely straight, the limbs take off in all directions and even loop back on themselves. They are a complete tangled mess when it comes to cleaning up a fallen tree. You don’t even want to try and split a Blackjack log with a spitting mull. No matter how hard you swing the mull, it wants to bounce off the cut surface of the log, barely denting the surface, and if you do manage to split the log you get a twisted chunk of wood, that most of the time is only about half the length of the log with the bottom of the log still completely intact. I imagine that the Southern Live oak wood has a similar texture to the Blackjack, with one exception, the Southern Live oak grows straight and tall. You don’t really see the twisted nature of the tree when standing, so it has fewer knots and can be cut into longer, straighter boards.

The Engineering feat of the USS Constitution makes her more than just a ship, she lives as a reminder. Young nations with limited resources can compete with empires, if they are smart enough to use what they have brilliantly and with a well executed plan. It is proof that the right materials, chosen wisely can change the outcome of wars, battles, and history itself. Finally it is a reminder that the freedom of the press and it’s impact on normal people can drive the government to do the will of the people. It was a simple poem quoted last week that changed the fate of the Constitution, and that would not be possible without our American freedoms, including those of free speech and the freedom of the press. Please make sure you always stand up for your rights to voice you opinion in print and in person. Until next week, stay safe and l earn something new.

Scott Hamilton is an Expert in Emerging Technologies at ATOS and can be reached with questions and comments via email to shamilton@techshepherd.org or through his website at https://www.techshepherd.org.