" Lt. Conway Whittle, Jr, the Exectutive Officer and the one who really ran the ship"
David,
That is interesting. I would think that ships carpenters would be most able to make a tight room. They would be used to fitting hull planks and caulking them so that they were water tight and the same would hold true for the powder room. As for XO Whittle, he is an ancestor of our Henry Whittle. I agree the XO makes things happen both in their day and in the present. That and of course the Chiefs in the modern navy. Where would we be with out them. The Shennendoah was built to be a fast cargo ship for the China and India trade, I think. In any case she was a three masted square rigged vessel with a full complement of Spinnakers forward and a large sail on the Mizzen. I think. Could make 8 knots under steam power and 16 knots under steam with all of her sail unfurled. FC