A search for a sheathing that would protect the hull of a ship from the teredo worm continued for years in the Royal Navy. Species of teredo worm occur in all seas but they are most prevalent in warmer waters and cause great damage to wooden ships by boring through all the timbers below the waterline.

Originally the only protection had been a thin layer of plank laid on a coating of tar and hair but this covering was itself susceptible to the teredo worm. Experiments with copper sheathing were first carried out in 1761 when the frigate Alarm was sheathed with the material prior to a two year voyage to the West Indies. Although it proved to be successful in keeping the hull clean there was the problem of corrosion by the galvanic action of the copper on the iron bolts which secured the main frame and the planking. This was solved in 1783 when orders went out that copper and zinc bolts should replace iron bolts and copper sheathing then became general.

Copper sheathing was an important technological innovation as not only did the copper afford protection against the teredo worm but kept ships relatively free from weed thus improving their sailing performance.