a. [parasynthetic comb. f. copper bottom.] Having the bottom covered or sheathed with copper.
Spec. of ships, as a protection against the destruction of the planks by the teredo, and the accumulation on the surface of shells and weeds which retard the ship’s motion. First applied to ships of the British navy in 1761.
1780. Lord Rodney, in Life & Corr. (1830), I. 284. I thought it most proper, for his Majesty’s service, to leave a squadron of copper-bottomed ships to watch the motions of the enemy.
1795. Hull Advertiser, 23 May, 2/1. The copper-bottomed ship Ann.
1796. Pearson, in Phil. Trans., LXXXVI. 451. This effect of copper upon the iron bolts and nails, in copper-bottomed ships.
1807. W. Irving, Salmag. (1824), 170. The copper-bottomed angel at Messrs. Paff’s in Broadway.
1829. Marryat, F. Mildmay, xix. The wreck proved to be a … copper-bottomed schooner.
