MARITIME CONVEYANCE. 



Fig. i. 



and barnacles on a long voyage. The materials 

 most used in the construction of wooden ships are 

 oak, pine, teak, and elm ; they require to be 

 sound, well seasoned, and dry. 



In an iron ship, as in a wooden one, the keel is 

 laid first. It is sometimes made in one thickness, 

 of a heavy bar, and sometimes is made of two or 

 three thicknesses of plate, riveted together. The 

 ribs in an iron ship are called ' frames,' and are 

 curved to the desired shape while in a red-hot 

 condition. They are always made of angle iron 

 (a, fig. i), and are 

 placed from 18 inches 

 to 2 feet apart. To 

 the frames are fastened 

 at the bottom the floors, 

 whicharenarrowplates 

 running across the 

 ship ; and frequently 

 additional stiffness is 

 gained by running 

 reverse' angle irons 

 along the top of the 

 floors. The horizontal 

 beams which support the decks are made of such 

 a section as is shewn at b or c (fig. i). After the 

 frames, floors, and beams are in place, the plating 

 commences, each particular plate being of a size 

 and shape exactly as settled by the model. The 

 lowest plates of all are called the 'garboard strake,' 

 and are usually riveted to the sides of the keel. 

 The thickness of the plates gradually diminishes 

 upwards, till the ' sheer strake ' the strake at the 

 level of the main-deck is reached, and this is 

 always made very strong. The deck-beams are 

 further secured by longitudinal and diagonal plates 

 called ' stringers.' All the ironwork of a ship is 

 fastened together by rivets. Holes are first 

 punched in the plates and angle irons ; these are 

 then made exactly to 

 overlap (see fig. 2), 

 and a red-hot rivet 

 inserted through them. 

 A man, called a 

 'holder-up,' holds the 

 head of the rivet 

 forcibly in its place 

 with an iron tool, 

 while two riveters on 

 the other side of the 

 plate strike its end 

 rapidly with their 

 hammers, until it is all hammered down as at a. 

 The contraction of the rivet when it cools causes 

 it to hold the two plates still more tightly together. 

 Iron ships are always divided into a number 

 of compartments by transverse partitions, called 

 'bulkheads.' These partitions can easily be 

 made water-tight, and afford great additional 

 security to the vessel, as, in the event of a leak 

 occurring, it will often be possible to confine the 

 water to the space between two bulkheads, and 

 so prevent the vessel sinking. They are also the 

 cause of great additional transverse strength. 



By the time the external plating of the ship is 

 finished, and the beams and bulkheads all in 

 their places, she is ready for launching, but much 

 still remains to be done to her. In general, the 

 greater part of the decks have to be laid, and the 

 whole of the cabin-fittings to be put up ; the rudder 

 and steering-gear have to be fitted ; the masts have 



Fig. 2. 



to be set, and all the spars, sails, and rigging put 

 up ; and lastly the engines and boilers have to be 

 placed and properly secured on the seatings pro- 

 vided for them. Of late, steel has come rapidly 

 into favour as the material for building ships. 



The decks are made of narrow pine planks laid 

 side by side, with a little space between each, and 

 calked with pitch and oakum exactly like the sides 

 of wooden ships. 



The rudder is an iron* apparatus placed at the 

 stern of the ship, under the water-line, by means 

 of which the vessel can be turned or steered to one 

 side or the other. It is pivoted or hinged like a 

 door, and by means of a hand-wheel placed on 

 deck and connected with it by suitable gear, it can 

 be moved to right or left (starboard or port). The 

 action of the rudder on the water is such that the 

 ship's head is compelled always to turn to the same 

 side as that to which it is inclined. 



The masts of a ship are carried right down 

 through the decks, and rest on the top of the keel 

 They are securely fastened where they pass through 

 the decks, and are further steadied above-board by 

 the shrouds and rigging. In vessels possessing 

 only two masts, the after-one is called the main- 

 mast, and the other the foremast : in vessels with 

 three masts, the after is called the mizzen, the 

 middle the main, and the forward the foremast In 

 large ships, each mast is made in a number of 

 lengths, the upper ones of which can be lowered 

 at will The pieces are called, in order going 

 upwards, mainmast, maintop-mast, maintopgallant- 

 mast, &c. ; or foremast, foretop-mast, &c. as the case 

 may be. The cross-pieces to which the sails are 

 fastened are called yards; and the pole standing 

 out at an angle from the stem of the vessel, the 

 bowsprit. The yards and the bowsprit are called 

 the spars, so that the expression ' masts and spars' 

 includes the whole of the woodwork which has to 

 do with the sails. The rigging which stays and 

 strengthens the fixed portions of masts and spars 

 is called standing-rigging ; while the ropes used in 

 working, shortening, and manoeuvring the sails 

 constitute the running-rigging. The latter always 

 consists of strong, well-spun ropes, generally of 

 hemp or manilla ; but the former is now very often 

 made of iron or steel wire twisted into strands. 



The sails of a ship are sheets of canvas, either 

 fastened or ' bent ' to the yards (in which case they 

 lie athwart-ship), or traversing on stay-ropes fore- 

 and-aft, or bent to 'gaffs.'t Although the rapid 

 progress of steam seems to be almost driving out 

 large sailing-vessels, still it may be interesting and 

 useful to describe the sails of a full-rigged ship, as 

 fig. 3. Since the introduction of steam-power, 

 vessels are not made to carry anything like such a 

 press of canvas as is here mentioned, being no 

 longer solely dependent on their sails for propul- 

 sion, and often very large steamers are merely 

 schooner-rigged. Ships seldom or never have the 

 whole of their sails set at one time, and in fig. 3 

 several of them are not seen ; a glance at figs. 4 

 and 5 will, however, make the description in- 

 telligible. Beginning at the forward end, there 

 are first three triangular sails the flying jib, the 

 jib, and the foretop-mast staysail, leading from the 

 bowspritj to various points on the foremast On 



Wooden in a wooden ship. 



f Spars doing the same duty as yards, but lying in a fore-atw- 

 aft plane. 



\ The bowsprit is made in lengths like the ma<ts, the outermost 

 portions being called the jib-boom and the flying-jib-boom. 



