Page 101 - Nicolaes Witsen & Shipbuilding in the Dutch Golden Age

How Ships Are Built in Holland Today
Figure 2.79. Figure 2.80.
(top) Plate XXII. Breasthook. (bottom) Plate XXI. Keelson
(75 II 3) 16. About the Foremast Step, and Chock.
1. The Foremast Step broad 2 feet 5 inches.
2. Thick 2 inches.
3. The chock, underneath, is thick 10 inches. This
comes with the fore end at a ninth part of the length, over the stem, meaning the fore face of the step, and the mast rakes 21⁄2 inches, backward, from the partner: comes with a lip as high as the step itself. This step lies 4 feet 7 inches from the deck beams.
(79 II 18) The foremast step is broad 2 1⁄2 feet, and thick 10 inches: underneath it lies a chock, that is broad 18 inches: the step lies 41⁄4 feet beneath the beams at the ends.TheholeintheStepis broadatthefront1foot, and aft 71⁄2 inches, deep 6 inches, long 10 inches, deep 6 inches: it comes about 2 inches from the back.
The futtock rider is a piece of timber , be- tween the ceiling and skin: one mak es these in ships, that carry guns, or have been found weak. [Riders are, of course, inside the ceiling.]
40. Make the Hanging Knees, Fit the Ceiling in the Bilge, Make the Crutches and the Keelson, and the Mast Step
In the me antime the work ers in the hold prepared the hanging knees—one kneetoeitherendof each deck beam. They were supposed to be two thirds of the thick- ness of the stem and l ap-joined onto the be ams. Timber for knees was expensive, so shipwrights would make two knees out of a thick timber, although they would become somewhat thinner, rather than use a thick piece or reduce it to the required s ize with much loss of wood. The hang- ing knees would go from the deck beams to the turn of the bilge inside the c eiling. Wherever there h appened to be an open space between two frames, a chock could simply be inserted behind the ceiling to fasten the hanging knee securely. The outer planking had not yet been applied.
Like the sides, the bottom of the ship was now given ceiling planking—or for the most part. In the middle, right over the k eel, the k eelson was bolted down, w ith bolts straight through the fl oor timbers into the k eel. The keel- son was a lot thicker than the rest of the ceiling because it served as an inner k eel, adding longit udinal strength to the vessel, and because it was to lodge the main mast step.
To either side between keelson and ceiling some space was left open to ensure the a ccessibility of the limber holes in case they became clogged. If desirable, both gut- ters could be covered with loose planks.
In the bow and stern a number of timbers were bolted across the ceiling, adding strength. In Witsen’s pinas five breasthooks were placed in the bow and four in the stern. The ship’s structure was reinforced by sl eepers, which could stretch out fairly long. To each side of the main step rider floors were laid across the entire bilge and securely joined to a pair of bilge riders, which would be j oined to the hanging knees or to the riders above (see fig. 2.238).
(54 II 48)
(75 II 48) 20. About the Futtock Riders.
1. The futtock riders, thick 10 inches.
2. The lowers ends come over the turn of the bilge. 3. And above to the upper deck.
4. The breadth, in proportion. They are about as
thick as the hanging knees, but cut a bit sti er at the wa- terway, and cut to each end of the water way in the way the hanging knees have been cut at their bills: they con- tinue up to the upper deck, and down across the bilge ceiling.
(74 II 11) The futtock riders thick 9 inches.
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