You've heard of concrete canoe competitions, designed to challenge the skills of engineering students. You can make concrete float, if the weight of the displaced water is greater than the weight of the boat and whatever is in it. Scale up those little concrete canoes, and you have a concrete ship. It sounds insane, but massive cargo ships made of concrete exist all over the world. They were built mainly during the steel shortages of the two world wars. Concrete may have been easier to get than steel, but these ships were slower and less maneuverable than steel ships, so they were relegated to other uses besides battle (in most cases; we will learn about a crucial exception). Still, concrete is more easily breached, and near impossible to repair before the boat sinks. You can't just bang out the dents.
Phil Edwards introduces us to concrete ships by tracing the history of 24 ships built at the McCloskey shipyard in Tampa, Florida, in just over a year (1943-44). Oh, they are still around, even if they don't float anymore. It takes more than 80 years for a concrete ship to disintegrate! Find out more about concrete ships at The Crete Fleet. This video has a 95-second skippable ad at 2:00. -via Laughing Squid
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