DIFEERENT KINDS OF SHIPS. 71 



corvettes, brigs, cutters, sloops, &:c. The English, however, reckon six 

 classes, the Dutch seven, and the French five. In England, ships of the 

 first class number 850 to 900 men, 100 to 130 guns, 178 to 200 feet in 

 length, and 2000 to 3200 tons burden. They descend in proportion until we 

 come to the sixth class, which have 150 to 200 men, 20 to 32 guns, 88 to 120 

 feet in length, and 400 to 680 tons burden. It is more common, however, 

 to designate ships by the number of their guns. Ships which carry 64 guns 

 and upwards are called ships of the line {pi. 25, jig. 2), because they form 

 the line of battle in a naval action {pi. 29, Jig. 3), and at sea always sail in 

 a line before or abreast of each other. If they have three decks, they are 

 called three-decTiei's ; the others are called two-deckers. PL 14, Jig. 5, is a 

 French ship of the line of the second class. Fi'igates are the most rapid 

 and easy sailers of all ships. Fig. 4 is a French frigate of 60 guns, and 

 pi. 10, Jig. 3, is one of the latest construction. The build of frigates and 

 their outfit serve as models for ships of the line and other men-of-war, 

 which are said to be frigate-built. In fact, two-deckers and three-deckers 

 are nothing but frigates with one or two additional stories and larger masts, 

 although their masts and sails are smaller in proportion than those of frigates. 



The interior arrangement of ships of war differs in different countries, but 

 it may be reduced to three principal methods, the English, the French, and 

 the Dutch, as other countries merely copy one or the other of them, with more 

 or less modifications. Ships of war of 90 or more guns are built with three 

 decks, and those of 50 to 80 guns with tw^o decks, besides those which are 

 not furnished with guns or only partially. Frigates and smaller ships have 

 only one gun-deck and no poop deck. The gun-decks are numbered from 

 below, and are also called lower, middle, and main or upper decks. Each deck 

 between the main deck and the hold is called a between-deck. The deck 

 is divided lengthwise into the fore-deck, midships-deck, and after-deck. 

 The lower deck carries the heaviest guns, in three-deckers mostly 36- 

 pounders, and rarely 48-pounders or 56-pounders. The middle deck carries 

 24-pounders and 18-pounders, the main deck 12-pounders. On the fore- 

 castle and quarter-deck are 6- and 8-pounders. Two-deckers have light 

 guns throughout, from 24-pounders to 4- and 6-pounders. We will give a 

 more detailed description of a Dutch and a French two-decker, as it is 

 easy to apply the descriptign to a three-decker or a frigate, by supposing 

 one deck added or taken away. PI. 9, Jig. 27, represents the longitudinal 

 section, and pi. 10, Jig. 1, the upper view of the lower gun-deck ; Jig. 2, the 

 view from above of the poop, the quarter-deck, the gangways, as well as the 

 upper part of the middle deck of a Dutch two-decker of 74 guns. Although 

 many parts of the main deck are concealed by the forecastle, the quarter- 

 deck, and the poop, we have designated their place by numbers. 



The hold, A (pi. 9,fg. 27), is the space between the keel and the lower 

 gun-deck. It is divided into the lower hold and the upper hold, which are 

 separated from each other by the orlop, a light deck near the water line. 

 On this deck are the steps for the heel of the mizen-mast and for the 

 gudgeon of the forward capstan *' ; the lower ends of the bitts " are also 

 fastened here Th ^ lower officers and mechanics have their berths on this 



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