Before the late 19th century, ships were small in size and made of wood and bamboo. But that industry has developed and changed a lot after the invention of steam engines, and after that the steel industry began, and then it has developed further at the present time to lighter materials such as aluminum and fiber.

A concrete boat was first launched in 1855, when French engineer Louis Lambeau built boats of concrete, which were reinforced with iron grille.
The mass production of concrete ships began during the First World War, they were used as a cheap means of transportation.

Concrete ships became very popular during World War II. They were actively produced in the United States not because of their quality, but the fact that regular ships were easy targets for German submarine torpedoes, in addition to the lack of iron at the time.

These were the so-called Liberty-class ships, which were created specifically for military needs, and their average service life was 5 years, because they were difficult to repair. It was these same ships that brought a large part of the army during the famous Allied landings in Normandy. After anchoring, they were used as barriers.

Pros and cons of concrete ships

This type of vessel is considered inexpensive in terms of manufacture. The manufacturing technology is very simple and requires a minimum of iron, it is neither affected by fire nor rust.

The most prominent disadvantages are that it is more vulnerable to sinking than other ships due to its heavy structure, in addition to the difficulty of passing it in shallow waters.

This type of ship in Russia was not widely used. Perhaps because it did not have any problems with the production of minerals, not to mention the resources, there is a lot of wood and iron, according to the website of the Russian Arab Library.

It is noteworthy that seven concrete ships floating so far as a floating dock for the breakwater on a Canadian river.