Man on the Ocean Part 6

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 pa.s.sage 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 s.p.a.ces between the planks are caulked--that is, _stuffed_ with oak.u.m; 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 cut.w.a.ter, 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 ma.s.sive 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 p.o.o.p--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 p.o.o.p 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 compa.s.s. It is completely covered in, having a gla.s.s 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 ma.s.sive 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 sh.o.r.e, 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 _windla.s.s_ 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 windla.s.s, 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 part.i.tioned 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.

CHAPTER NINE.

THE LAUNCH, ETCETERA.

Ships begin life with a retrograde movement; they imitate the crabs: in other words, they are launched stern foremost. Whether great or small, long or short, whether clothed in patrician copper or smeared with plebeian tar, they all start on their first voyage with their stern-posts acting the part of cut-water, and, also, without masts or sails. These necessary adjuncts, and a host of others, are added after they have been clasped to the bosom of their native sea. One notable exception there is to this rule, the launch of the far-famed _Great Eastern_, which monster of the deep was forced into her element _sidewise_, of which a full account will be found in another part of this volume.

The _cradles_ on which ships are launched are wooden frameworks, so constructed as to slide down an inclined plane, called the _ways_, bearing their burdens along with them into the water. When a ship is ready for launching, the _sh.o.r.es_, or supports, that have kept her so long in position are knocked away one by one, until the entire weight of the ship rests on the cradle. The _ways_ are then well greased, and it only remains to knock away one or two remaining checks to allow the vessel to seek her future home by means of her own weight.

But before this last act is done, a day must be fixed for the launch; friends of the owners must be invited to go on board during this her first voyage; a fair maiden must be asked to go through the ceremony of giving the ship her name; and paragraphs must go the round of the newspapers. As the hour draws near, crowds of human beings, young and old, male and female, must hurry to the spot to witness the great event, and hundreds of little boys must beg leave from school (if they can); in short, a great stir must be made, and a great day must dawn, before the last sh.o.r.es are knocked away, and the n.o.ble structure be permitted to rush down that inclined plane, and for the first time cleave the waves.

And now, having shown how the launching of our ship is accomplished, let us turn to consider the next step towards completion; for there is yet much to be done ere she is able to brave the tempest.

RIGGING A SHIP.

Although fitting-in the lower-masts of a ship cannot well be deemed a part of the rigging, we will nevertheless describe the operation here.

As the lower-masts of a large ship are from five to six feet in circ.u.mference, it is manifest that some powerful mechanical contrivance is required to raise them over the bulwarks, and put them in an upright position, into their appointed places. Such contrivances, in the form of enormous cranes, are fixed in some of the larger docks; but the most useful method is to have the masts put in by means of:

_The Shear Hulk_. This is a strongly built hull of a ship, moored in a part of a river or harbour that will afford depth of water to float vessels of any size alongside. It has one stout mast, with two immense beams attached to it near the deck, and sloping outwards over the bulwarks in such a way that their ends overhang the deck of the vessel into which masts are to be placed. These sloping beams are prevented from falling overboard altogether, and their slope is regulated, by blocks and tackles from the mast of the hulk. By means of this contrivance, which is just a gigantic floating crane, the ponderous lower-masts of large ships are raised and lowered into their places.

When these are fixed, the rigging of the ship commences. The method of putting it up cannot prove interesting to general readers; not even to boys, for when they take to rigging model ships, they do not require the mechanical contrivances that are necessary in rigging large vessels.

But all readers of sea stories and nautical history will find it of the utmost advantage to their clear understanding of what they read, to have a general idea of the names and uses of the princ.i.p.al parts of a ship's rigging.

We shall, therefore, devote a small s.p.a.ce to the explanation of this subject. And, first, let us examine the _Masts_.

These vary in size, form, and number in different ships, but in all they serve the same purpose--to support the sails. Lower masts of large vessels are never formed out of one tree. They are found to be stronger when built up of several pieces, which are fastened together by strong iron hoops. Masts sometimes consist of three distinct parts. The _lower_-mast, _top_-mast, and _top-gallant_-mast. In most large ships there are three masts, each having three parts. The centre mast, being the largest, is the _main-mast_; the front one, which is next in size, is the _fore-mast_; and the one next the stern, the smallest, is called the _mizzen_.

Although we have spoken of _lower-masts_ for the sake of clearness, the name is never used. The name of the mast itself designates the lower part of it. To name the masts in order, we have the Fore-mast.

Main-mast. Mizzen-mast. Fore-top-mast. Main-top-mast.

Mizzen-top-mast. Fore-topgallant-mast. Main-topgallant-mast.

Mizzen-topgallant-mast.

The parts of the different masts are connected and secured by means of _cross-trees_ and _caps_, which are named after the mast and part of the mast to which they belong. Thus we have the _fore-top_, the _fore-top-mast cross-trees_, the _main-top_, and _main-top-mast cross-trees_, etcetera. Observe, particularly, that the _fore-top_, _main-top_, and _mizzen-top_, are the platforms, or cross-trees, at the tops of the _lower_-masts, and not--as might well be supposed by landsmen--the extreme tops of these masts. The b.u.t.ton-like objects on the summits of the masts are called the _trucks_; which, besides forming a sort of finish to them, are fitted with small _pulleys_, through which _signal-halyards_, or cords for hoisting the flags, are rove.

In first-rate men-of-war the _tops_ are so large that a number of men can be stationed on them. Besides their other purposes, they are very frequently used as a place of punishment for the midshipmen, or "middies" (the boy officers), who are often sent there to air themselves, and profit, if they can, by calm reflection in exalted solitude.

_Shrouds_ and _stays_ are the thick ropes that keep the masts firmly in position. They form part of what is termed the "standing gear" of a ship--in other words, the ropes that are fixtures--to distinguish them from the "running gear"--those movable ropes, by means of which the sails, boats, flags, etcetera, are hoisted. Nearly all the ropes of a ship are named after the mast, or yard, or sail with which they are connected. Thus we have the _main shrouds_, the _main-top-mast shrouds_, and the _main-topgallant shrouds_; the _main back-stay_, the _main-topgallant back-stay_, and so on--those of the other masts being similarly named, with the exception of the first word, which, of course, indicates the particular mast referred to. The shrouds rise from the _chains_, which are a series of blocks called "dead eyes," fixed to the sides of the ship. To these the shrouds are fixed, and also to the masts near the tops; they serve the purpose of preventing the masts from falling _sideways_. Backstays prevent them from falling _forward_, and _forestays_ prevent them from falling _backward_, or "aft." Besides this, shrouds have little cross ropes called _ratlines_ attached to them, by means of which rope-ladders the sailors ascend and descend the rigging to _furl_, that is, tie up, or _unfurl_, that is, to untie or shake out, the sails.

Our cut represents a sailor-boy ascending the mizzen-top-mast shrouds.

He grasps the _shrouds_, and stands on the _ratlines_.

_Yards_ are the heavy wooden cross-poles or beams to which the sails are attached.

_Reef-points_ are the little ropes which may be observed hanging in successive rows on all sails, by means of which _parts_ of the sails are gathered in and tied round the yards, thus reducing their size in stormy weather. Hence such nautical expressions as "taking in a reef," or a "double reef," and "close reefing,"--which last implies that a sail is to be reduced to its smallest possible dimensions. The only further reduction possible would be folding it up altogether, close to the yard, which would be called "furling" it, and which would render it altogether ineffective. In order to furl or reef sails, the men have to ascend the masts, and _lay-out_ upon the yards. It is very dangerous work in stormy weather. Many a poor fellow, while reefing sails in a dark tempestuous night, has been blown from the yard into the sea, and never heard of more. All the yards of a ship, except the three largest, can be hoisted and lowered by means of _halyards_. The top-gallant masts can also be lowered, but the lower-masts, of course, are fixtures.

The _bowsprit_ of a ship is a mast which projects out horizontally, or at an angle, from the bow. It is sometimes in two or three pieces, sometimes only in one. To it are attached the _jib-sail_ and the _flying-jib_, besides a variety of ropes and stays which are connected with and support the fore-mast.

The _cat heads_ are two short beams which project from the bows on either side, and support the ship's anchors.

_Miscellaneous_.--The openings in the decks are called _hatches_; the stair-cases which descend to the cabins are called _companions_. The pulleys by which sails, etcetera, are hoisted, are named _blocks_.