the live oak is not a true oak but a semi-evergreen
and a member of the beech family
The South Carolina Historic
Ships Supply Program
Introduction
In 1993, during scheduled restoration of the
USS Constitution 'Old Ironsides,' project staff
contacted the South Carolina Department of
Transportation (SCDOT) and the South Carolina
Institute of Ap.:haeology ami Anthropology
(SCIAA) regatdingthe supply of live oak timbers
for the effort.· This request became a catalyst for
the two state agencies to form a partnership to
save live oak trees slated for unavoidable destruction
as a result of bridge and road construction,
and provide the valuable and scarce timber to an
historic ship restoration project. This effort began
the South Carolina Historic Ships Supply Program
(SCHSSP).
Background History
This was not the first time South Carolina, or
the South for that matter, provided live oak timber
to frame up navy ships. It had been long
recognized that the. timber from live oak trees
had great potential for a variety of purposes, including
shipbuilding. Live oak (Quercus
virginiana) is not a true oak, but a semi-evergreen
and a member of the beech family. It is
found along the coastal reaches of the continental
southeastern United States from southeast Virginia
to Texas, and is abundant on the west coast
of Cuba. The trees grow as high as 70 ft.with
crowns surpassing 150 ft. in diameter. Visually
the live oaks are noted for large, horizontal limbs
growing out from the trunks about five to 18 ft.
above the ground, and the gnarled nature of the
branches. The trees are very resistant to salt
spray, and flourish in coastal regions. The wood
is very dense, weighing 75 Ib./ft.3• Dry, it has a
specific gravity of 0.8 and is very resistant to rot
(Wood 1981:3-6).
While the technical details of live oak were
not known in the 16th century, its potential was
recognized when Pedro Menendez de Aviles,
founder of St. Augustine, wrote to King Philip II
of Spain in 1565 including "green" or "live" oak
in his list of the new country's wealth. When
live oak was first used in shipbuilding is not
known. However, live oak's suitability for shipbuilding
purposes was noted by Thomas Ash in
1682 when he wrote that the "Toughness, and
the Goodness of its Grain is much esteemed."
Twenty-seven years later, in 1709, John Lawson,
Surveyor General of North Carolina extolled the
virtues of live oak for ships' frames and knees,
and noted that the wood frightened sawyers due
to its hardness (Wood 1981:8-11).
By the 1740s, ships in the Southeast were being
advertised with an emphasis on the live oak
frames used in their construction, and advertisements
for transportation of southern live oak timber
to northern shipbuilding ports began to occur.
In South Carolina alone, between 1740 and 1760,
one ship and two schooners were launched with
the name, Live Oak, as well as the 180-ton ship,
Heart of Oak, launched from a Charleston shipyard
in 1763 (Coker 1987:52, 63).
The earliest extant evidence of live oak being
used in watercraft construction in North America
comes from the Brown's Ferry Vessel discovered
in the Black River, South Carolina, in 197.6
(Albright and Steffy 1979; Nylund 1989). The
vessel, built during the 1740s, had frames, posts,
and knees fashioned from live oak (S~effy 1978).
In fact, the majority of 18th- and early 19th-century
sailing vessel remains found in the coastal
regions of South Carolina a~e framed with live
oak, and archival shipbuilding records clearly
indicate the propensity of South Carolina shipwrights
to use live oak (Amer and Hocker 1995).
During the latter half of the 18th century, European
nations began. to show an interest in live
oak. A testimonial by British shipwright Roger
Fisher, sent to the British Admiralty in 1770,
destribed the lengthening of a South Carolinabuilt
ship, Fair American (Coker 1987:50). The
shipwrights complained that the ten-year-01d live
read in full here
http://www.artsandsciences.sc.edu/sciaa/mrd/s...veoaks.pdf
and a member of the beech family
The South Carolina Historic
Ships Supply Program
Introduction
In 1993, during scheduled restoration of the
USS Constitution 'Old Ironsides,' project staff
contacted the South Carolina Department of
Transportation (SCDOT) and the South Carolina
Institute of Ap.:haeology ami Anthropology
(SCIAA) regatdingthe supply of live oak timbers
for the effort.· This request became a catalyst for
the two state agencies to form a partnership to
save live oak trees slated for unavoidable destruction
as a result of bridge and road construction,
and provide the valuable and scarce timber to an
historic ship restoration project. This effort began
the South Carolina Historic Ships Supply Program
(SCHSSP).
Background History
This was not the first time South Carolina, or
the South for that matter, provided live oak timber
to frame up navy ships. It had been long
recognized that the. timber from live oak trees
had great potential for a variety of purposes, including
shipbuilding. Live oak (Quercus
virginiana) is not a true oak, but a semi-evergreen
and a member of the beech family. It is
found along the coastal reaches of the continental
southeastern United States from southeast Virginia
to Texas, and is abundant on the west coast
of Cuba. The trees grow as high as 70 ft.with
crowns surpassing 150 ft. in diameter. Visually
the live oaks are noted for large, horizontal limbs
growing out from the trunks about five to 18 ft.
above the ground, and the gnarled nature of the
branches. The trees are very resistant to salt
spray, and flourish in coastal regions. The wood
is very dense, weighing 75 Ib./ft.3• Dry, it has a
specific gravity of 0.8 and is very resistant to rot
(Wood 1981:3-6).
While the technical details of live oak were
not known in the 16th century, its potential was
recognized when Pedro Menendez de Aviles,
founder of St. Augustine, wrote to King Philip II
of Spain in 1565 including "green" or "live" oak
in his list of the new country's wealth. When
live oak was first used in shipbuilding is not
known. However, live oak's suitability for shipbuilding
purposes was noted by Thomas Ash in
1682 when he wrote that the "Toughness, and
the Goodness of its Grain is much esteemed."
Twenty-seven years later, in 1709, John Lawson,
Surveyor General of North Carolina extolled the
virtues of live oak for ships' frames and knees,
and noted that the wood frightened sawyers due
to its hardness (Wood 1981:8-11).
By the 1740s, ships in the Southeast were being
advertised with an emphasis on the live oak
frames used in their construction, and advertisements
for transportation of southern live oak timber
to northern shipbuilding ports began to occur.
In South Carolina alone, between 1740 and 1760,
one ship and two schooners were launched with
the name, Live Oak, as well as the 180-ton ship,
Heart of Oak, launched from a Charleston shipyard
in 1763 (Coker 1987:52, 63).
The earliest extant evidence of live oak being
used in watercraft construction in North America
comes from the Brown's Ferry Vessel discovered
in the Black River, South Carolina, in 197.6
(Albright and Steffy 1979; Nylund 1989). The
vessel, built during the 1740s, had frames, posts,
and knees fashioned from live oak (S~effy 1978).
In fact, the majority of 18th- and early 19th-century
sailing vessel remains found in the coastal
regions of South Carolina a~e framed with live
oak, and archival shipbuilding records clearly
indicate the propensity of South Carolina shipwrights
to use live oak (Amer and Hocker 1995).
During the latter half of the 18th century, European
nations began. to show an interest in live
oak. A testimonial by British shipwright Roger
Fisher, sent to the British Admiralty in 1770,
destribed the lengthening of a South Carolinabuilt
ship, Fair American (Coker 1987:50). The
shipwrights complained that the ten-year-01d live
read in full here
http://www.artsandsciences.sc.edu/sciaa/mrd/s...veoaks.pdf
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