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Plimsoll Line
Plimsoll Line, a mark painted on the sides of British merchant ships which indicated the load line to which a ship might be loaded with cargo for varying conditions of season and location. Load lines are now controlled by an International Convention adopted by the International Maritime Organization.
The Plimsoll Mark was made compulsory in Britain under the conditions of the Merchant Shipping Act 1876, passed after a long and bitter parliamentary struggle conducted by Samuel Plimsoll MP (1824–98), a champion for better conditions for seamen. After an early life of hardship, which he later claimed introduced him to the wretched conditions under which the poor lived, he became aware of what were known as ‘coffin ships’, those vessels which were unseaworthy and overloaded, heavily insured against loss, in which many shipowners, under the existing law, were permitted to risk their crews. After eventually succeeding in business, Plimsoll entered Parliament in 1868 and began his campaign to improve the lot of British seamen. He wrote a book called Our Seamen which aroused so much interest that in 1873 a royal commission was appointed which recommended changes. The government introduced a Bill in 1875 but this was abandoned due, so it was said, to the political pressure from shipowners. However, the depth of public feeling on the matter forced the government to reintroduce the Bill which became the 1876 Merchant Shipping Act. |
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Cite this article
"Plimsoll Line." The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Plimsoll Line." The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O225-PlimsollLine.html "Plimsoll Line." The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea. 2006. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O225-PlimsollLine.html |
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Plimsoll line
Plimsoll line ˈplimsəl; ˈplimsōl also Plimsoll mark a marking on a ship's side showing the limit of submersion legal under various sea conditions.
named after Samuel Plimsoll (1824–98), the English politician whose agitation in the 1870s resulted in the Merchant Shipping Act of 1876, ending the practice of sending to sea overloaded and heavily insured old ships, from which the owners profited if they sank. |
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Cite this article
"Plimsoll line." The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Plimsoll line." The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O63-Plimsollline.html "Plimsoll line." The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. 2001. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O63-Plimsollline.html |
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Plimsoll line
Plimsoll line a marking on a ship's side showing the limit of legal submersion when loaded with cargo under various sea conditions. It is named after Samuel Plimsoll (1824–98), the English politician whose agitation in the 1870s resulted in the Merchant Shipping Act of 1876, ending the practice of sending to sea overloaded and heavily insured old ships, from which the owners profited if they sank.
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Cite this article
ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Plimsoll line." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Plimsoll line." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-Plimsollline.html ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Plimsoll line." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-Plimsollline.html |
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