Samuel Plimsoll portrait.
Samuel Plimsoll

An Unsafe Ship
Unsafely loaded [coffin ship]

The Samuel Plimsoll of the Aberdeen Line
The Samuel Plimsoll, a 3-masted passenger clipper built in 1873 for the Aberdeen Line, the only shipping concern that Samuel Plimsoll lauded for never overloading their ships.

The Mark Map

The Plimsoll Mark diagrammed above is for the starboard side of a vessel; on the port side, the markings are reversed. The center of the disk is placed at the middle of the loadline. The lines are one inch think.

The letters signify:

LTFF     Lumber, Tropical, Fresh
LF     Lumber, Fresh
LT     Lumber, Tropical
LS     Lumber, Summer
LW     Lumber, Winter
LWNA     Lumber, Winter, North Atlantic
LR   Lloyds Register of Shipping

TF    Tropical Fresh Water Mark
F   Fresh Water Mark
T   Tropical Load Line
S     Summer Load Line
W     Winter Load Line
WNA     Winter Load Line, North Atlantic

The water could reach different parts of the line (see drawing above ) as its temperature and saltiness varied with season and location.
The basic symbol, of a circle with a horizontal line passing through its center is now recognised worldwide.

 

Plimsoll GearRed Reg Mark

Good Links
if you want to read more...


SAMUEL PLIMSOLL (1824-1898), British politician and social reformer, was born at Bristol on the 10th of February 1824. Leaving school at an early age, he became a clerk ...
www.1911encyclopedia.org/Samuel_PlimsollSamuel Plimsoll (British politician and social reformer ...

Samuel Plimsoll (British politician and social reformer), Feb. 10, 1824 Bristol, Gloucestershire, Eng. June 3, 1898 Folkestone, Kent British politician and social ...
www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/136483

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Site design by Conk Point Graphix - ©2011 Plimsoll Gear, Inc®c

site design by conk point graphix   © 2011 plimsollgear.com