As we think it highly improbable that any of our readers intend to
become either ship-carpenters or ship-architects, we will not worry them
with technical explanations. To give an easily understood and general
idea of the manner of building a ship is all we shall attempt. The
names of those parts only that are frequently or occasionally referred
to in general literature shall be given.
The term _ship_ is employed in two significations. In familiar language
it denotes any large or small vessel that navigates the ocean with
sails. In nautical language it refers solely to a vessel having three
masts, each consisting of a lower-mast, a top-mast, and a
top-gallant-mast. At present we use the term _ship_ in the familiar
sense.
Elaborate and complicated drawings having been prepared, the shipbuilder
begins his work.
The _keel_ is the first part of a ship that is laid. It is the beam
which runs along the bottom of a boat or ship from one end to the other.
In large ships the keel consists of several pieces joined together.
Its uses are, to cause the ship to preserve a direct course in its
passage through the water; to check the leeway which every vessel has a
tendency to make; and to moderate the rolling motion. The keel is also
the ground-work, or foundation, on which the whole superstructure is
reared, and is, therefore, immensely strong and solid. The best wood
for keels is teak, as it is not liable to split.
Having laid the keel firmly on a bed of wooden blocks, in such a
position that the ship when finished may slide into the water stern
foremost, the shipbuilder proceeds next to erect the stem and stern
posts.
The _stem-post_ rises from the _front_ end of the keel, not quite
perpendicularly from it, but sloping a little outwards. It is formed of
one or more pieces of wood, according to the size of the ship; but no
matter how many pieces may be used, it is always a uniform single beam
in appearance. To this the ends of the planks of the ship are
afterwards fastened. Its outer edge is called the _cut-water_, and the
part of the ship around it is named the _bow_.
The _stern-post_ rises from the opposite end of the keel, and also
slopes a little outwards. To it are fastened the ends of the planking
and the framework of the stern part of the ship. To it also is attached
that little but most important part of a vessel, the _rudder_. The
rudder, or helm, is a small piece of timber extending along the back of
the stern-post, and hung movably upon it by means of what may be called
large iron hooks-and-eyes. By means of the rudder the mariner guides
the ship in whatever direction he pleases. The contrast between the
insignificant size of the rudder and its immense importance is very
striking. Its power over the ship is thus referred to in
Scripture,--"Behold also the ships, which, though they be so great, and
are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small
helm, whithersoever the governor listeth." The rudder is moved from
side to side by a huge handle or lever on deck, called the _tiller_; but
as in large ships the rudder is difficult to move by so simple a
contrivance, several ropes or chains and pulleys are attached to it, and
connected with the drum of a _wheel_, at which the steersman stands. In
the largest ships two, and in rough weather four men are often stationed
at the wheel.
The _ribs_ of the ship next rise to view. These are curved wooden
beams, which rise on each side of the keel, and are bolted firmly to it.
They serve the same purpose to a ship that bones do to the human
frame--they support and give strength to it as well as form.
The _planks_ follow the ribs. These are broad, and vary in thickness
from two to four inches. They form the outer skin of the ship, and are
fastened to the ribs, keel, stem-post, and stern-post by means of
innumerable pins of wood or iron, called _tree-nails_. The spaces
between the planks are caulked--that is, _stuffed_ with oakum; which
substance is simply the untwisted tow of old and tarry ropes. A
figure-head of some ornamental kind having been placed on the top and
front of the stem-post, just above the cutwater, and a flat, ornamental
stern, with windows in it to light the cabin, the hull of our ship is
complete. But the interior arrangements have yet to be described,
although, of course, they have been progressing at the same time with
the rest.
The _beams_ of a ship are massive wooden timbers, which extend across
from side to side in a series of tiers. They serve the purpose of
binding the sides together, of preventing them from collapsing, and of
supporting the decks, as well as of giving compactness and great
strength to the whole structure.
The _decks_ are simply plank floors nailed to the beams, and serve very
much the same purposes as the floors of a house. They also help to
strengthen the ship longitudinally. All ships have at least one
complete deck; most have two, with a half-deck at the stern, called the
_quarter-deck_, and another at the bow, called the _forecastle_. But
the decks of large ships are still more numerous. Those of a first-rate
man-of-war are as follows--we begin with the lowest, which is
considerably under the surface of the sea:--
The Orlop-deck, the Gun-deck, the Middle-deck, the Upper-deck, the
Quarter-deck, and the Poop--the latter deck being the highest deck of
all, a very small one, at the stern.
Thus a man-of-war is a floating house with six stories--the poop being
the garret, and the orlop-deck the cellars. The upper decks are lighted
by sky-lights; those farther down by port-holes (or gun-holes) and
windows; the lowest of all by candles or lamps, daylight being for ever
banished from those gloomy submarine regions!
The _bulwarks_ rise above the upper-deck, all round the ship, and serve
the purposes of protecting the upper-deck from the waves, and supporting
the _belaying-pins_, to which the ropes are fastened. In ships of war
the top of the bulwarks forms a sort of trough all round the ship, in
which the hammocks (the swinging-beds) of the men are stowed away every
morning. This trough is termed the _hammock-nettings_, and the hammocks
are placed there to be well aired. In action the bulwarks serve to
protect the crew from musketry.
The _wheel_, which has been already referred to, stands usually at the
stern of the ship, on the quarter-deck; but it is sometimes placed on an
elevated platform amid-ships, so that the steersman may see more clearly
where he is going.
The _binnacle_ stands directly in front of the wheel. It is a species
of box, firmly fixed to the deck, in which is placed the compass. It is
completely covered in, having a glass window, through which the man at
the wheel can observe the course he is steering.
The _capstan_ stands on the main-deck, sometimes near the centre of the
vessel, at other times near the bow or the stern. It is a massive block
of timber moving on a pivot, which is turned round by wooden levers,
called capstan bars, or _hand-spikes_, and is used for any purpose that
requires great _tractive_ power--the drawing in of the cable, for
instance, or warping the ship; which means that a rope is fixed on
shore, or by an anchor to the bottom of the sea, and the other end of it
is coiled round the capstan, so that when the capstan is forced round by
the handspikes, the rope coils on to it, and the ship is slowly dragged
forward.
The _windlass_ is simply a horizontal, instead of a perpendicular
capstan. Its sole purpose is for heaving up the anchor, and it is
placed close to the bow of the ship.
The _galley_, or cooking-house, is usually near to the windlass, in the
front part of the vessel. Here the cook reigns supreme; but this
nautical kitchen is wonderfully small. It is just big enough to hold
the fireplace and "coppers," with a small shelf, on which the cook
(always a man, and often a negro) performs the duties of his office.
The various decks below are partitioned off by means of plank walls,
which are called _bulk-heads_, into a variety of berths and apartments;
and the greater part of the centre of the vessel (in merchantmen) is
called the _hold_, and is reserved for cargo.
The _hull_ of the ship being finished, now gets a coat of tar all over
it, which preserves the wood from the action of the weather, and helps
to render the seams water-tight. Some vessels are sheathed from the
keel to a short way above their water-line with thin sheets of copper,
to preserve them more effectually from tear and wear, and especially to
defend them against those barnacles and marine insects that would
otherwise fasten to them.
Being now ready to be launched from her cradle into the sea--her future
home--we will proceed in our next chapter to describe the process of
launching.