A book has come out about CGS Concretia, North America's first self-propelled Concrete vessel. We're currenly looking into the mechanics of building an accurate model of Concretia as she must have appeared during WWI.

"Historically, concrete ships are vessels built of steel and ferro cement (reinforced concrete) instead of just steel or wood. Ferro cement is basically made by mixing cement and sand together, then applying it into a tapestry of wired-together re-bar and wire mesh to form a hull.

Concrete construction makes shipbuilding cheaper due to the availability of concrete, but a ship’s operation more costly. Concrete ships require a thick hull which allows less space for cargo.

Concrete ships actually worked, as demonstrated by the Concretia, but many sailors serving on ferro cement vessels referred to them as "floating tombstones" and did not like to serve on them.

The oldest known concrete ship was a dingy built by Joseph Louis Lambot in France in 1848.

In World War I, concrete shipbuilding really took hold as an industry. United States President Woodrow Wilson approved the Emergency Fleet Corporation program in April of 1918, which oversaw the construction of 24 concrete ships during The Great War. It’s important to note few concrete ships were completed in time to see wartime service though."

For more visit:
http://captainsofconcrete.web.officelive.com/default.aspx