Page 178 - Nicolaes Witsen & Shipbuilding in the Dutch Golden Age

Chapter Two
Figure 2.213. Plate XLI. Rowle.
Figure 2.214.
Plate XXX. Schilt in the steering stand.
(268 I 38)
(above)
110. The Rudder
(right)
th of the
In ships, which have low steering plat- forms, the place w here the man stands to the rudder
can often be seen to be raised, for him to be able to do his work with ease, and well.
(88 I 34) In the plate No. 20 [fig. 2.213] letter K, the moving chock going in the deck can be seen, otherwise calledtherowle,throughwhichgoesthewhipsta .
The width of the rudder depended on the leng
ship: 4 inc hes for ever y 12 feet (according to Van Yk, 3 inches for every 10 feet). Above the water the width was reduced to half. Its thickness was approximately equal to the aft face of the sternpost. The forward face of the rud- der was hewn to an angle. Below, the rudder was made as thick as the sternpost together with the g arboard strake (see section 15, Then the garboard stern rabbet is made, with the keel rabbet).
Often the rudder was composed of several parts. With hooks (the pintles) it was hung into eyes (the gudgeons) fastened to the sternpost. At the top, the tiller went through a hole that was one third of the thickness of the head. On the aft side the tiller was secured with a wedge.
The tiller entered the gun room through the helm port. There it rested on the sweep, a beam athwartships lying on chocks in the ship’s sides. Often the til ler lay on the sweep with a roller, facilitating its movement.
The forward end of the tiller was attached to the whip- staff, which came up vertically through the dec k into the steering stand. A pivoting point was made in the deck, or rather in the schilt (a piec e of wood in whic h the rowle pivoted), which lay on the dec k. A c hock with a fulcrum bearing, called the rowle, c ould turn in it. The whipstaff couldmoveupanddownintherowle,en ablingamaxi- mum reach of the tiller (in this case, 23 degrees to each side). The whipstaff therefore h ad to be f airly long to be pushed as far as possible through the rowle. B ecause of its length, an opening was made in the upper dec k, al- lowing for the movement of the top of the whipstaff. Sto- ries about helmsmen of this period stic king their he ads through this aperture to see how to steer the ship seem pure fantasy to me. The helmsman could somehow see the luff of the m ainsail, or fore top sail if the m ainsail was furled, and could thus sail full and by when beating to windward. To some extent, he c ould also see st ars at night and therefore steer a c ourse, occasionally checking his heading by the compass. He also received his orders from the officer on deck and sailed on his compass.
111. The Sheet Blocks.
111. The Sheet Blocks
The sheet blocks were mostly attached to rings in the ship’s side, but as can be seen on the Wasa, they could
(92 I 31) 68. About the Rudder.
1. The Rudder, long 26 feet 7 inches, wide below 3
feet 6 inches, wide above 1 foot 6 inches, thick at the front 12 inches, thick at the back 8 inches.
2. The Hole, long 8 inch es, the lowermost hole is wide 3 inches, the uppermost 2 inches: the lowermost comes 6 inches from every side, the uppermost 5 inches, it is doubled with one- inch planks, like the ship itself, the front sheathed with copper, if doubled. To the rear of the sternpost it is doubl ed with one- inch nails, the lozenges wide 11⁄2 inches.
3. The shins, broad 11⁄2 inches, thick 1⁄2 inch.
4. The strap around the rudder head, broad 2 inches, thick 1⁄2 inch.
5. The pin of the pin tles, long 17 inches, there are 6 pintles: broad 3 inches, thick 1⁄2 inch.
6. The tiller, thick 9 inches, forward thick 6 inches, long 23 feet, hewn square.
7. The whipsta long 9 feet, thick 4 inches, the up- per end round or octagonal.
(88 I 13) The Sweep lies 4 feet 9 inches high at the ship’s side, and it is thick and broad 4 1⁄2 inches, lies 4 feet 4 inches behind the hole, through which the whip- sta goes, the pin lies on 2 chocks, is long 14 inches: the hole comes 2 feet from the bulkhead , and is wide 4 inches. The schilt [a huge plate of timber carved as an ornamental shield] is 4 feet long, and broad 3 feet; thick 31⁄2 inches. The tiller is thick and broad, forward and aft, 6 inches, the w hipsta long 8 1⁄2 feet, thick 14
160
inches, and at the bottom end broad 1 foot, the tiller long 19 feet.