Page 27 - Nicolaes Witsen & Shipbuilding in the Dutch Golden Age

Witsen’s Shipbuilding Method
The building method described b y Witsen is called the shell-first method, as distinguished from its counterpart, the frame-first method. With the former method construc- tion begins with the pl anking or sk in of the hul l, after which the fr ames are fi tted into the shel l formed b y the outer planking; with the l atter method the fr ames are raised first, after which the planking is applied to them.
The shell-first method i s very old. In the recl aimed IJs- selmeer Polders in the c entral Netherlands, wrecks of cog ships have been found that were built, without any doubt, using the shel l-first method, while Scandinavian excava- tions in Nydam, K valsund, Oseberg, and Gok stad, among others, have shown that this method was practiced in northern Europe during and even before the Middle Ages.11
Originally the shel l-first method was used for clinker- built ships only; both the nor thern European ships, like the viking ships and mediev al cogs, were built this way, either entirely or in part. What is interesting is that Witsen describes the use of this method for carvel-built vessels.
The shell-first method represents one of the simplest ways to c onstruct a hul l; yet this does not imply that it is a primitive method —quite the contrary. Seventeenth- century shipbuilders had a precise understanding of the effects produced by any variation in the tr aditional con- struction formulas, even though they were not capable of making scientific calculations of their adaptations. It was precisely this freedom to vary the standard formulas that makes Dutch shell-first shipbuilding of that time unique.
Another fascinating aspect of this method is that there was no dis tinction between design and execution. The ship was not des igned on the draw ing board but was shaped during the buil ding process, not on the b asis of an engineer’s calculations but through the m aster ship- builder’s active eng agement in the building proc ess on the yard. As Witsen notes:
(265 II 50) The outward shape of the ships is made with the eye and approval of the master.
Archaeologists use the fol lowing criteria to determine whether a nor thern European ship was built shell-first (these criteria do not necessarily apply to other shell-first traditions):
1. Theframingtimberslieinarelativelyarbitraryorder, and the available timber determines the way the parts are joined.
2. The frame timbers are not connected to one another to make complete frames but are fastened to the planking and the ceiling.
3. Small dowels (spijkerpennen) are present in holes made by nails of the cleats, which held the lower hull planks in place in the first stage of the building process.12
In my view, however, the most important feature of this method is that building took place without preparatory drawings: the design came into being in the yard through the actual construction of the ship itself . During build- ing the traditional formulas were not used in an absolute way. On the c ontrary, the shipbuilder h ad a sense of the effects produced by small adaptations in the applic ation of the tradition al rules: a slightly wider ship was more stable, which was useful f or a man- of-war; a fl atter bot- tom and a les s raking stem g ave more loading c apacity for a freighter , while a bottom with greater rising and a more raking stem and stern c aused the ship to be f aster, which was desirable for frigates. It was not po ssible for the shipwright to c alculate the effects of small changes in the formulas, but his experience, it was hoped, led him to the best results. It was this game of playing with the traditional rules that established the quality of the ship- wright. Witsen offers this advice:
(262 II 38) It is not m y intention that one should ob- serve these proportions exactl y to absurd precision: think of it as a guideline, from which one is not to di- verge too far, and an assurance against awful blunders as long as one follows the rules.
Shipbuilding as Described by Van Yk
A completely different method of shipbuilding i s de- scribed by the Delfsh aven master shipbuilder C ornelis Van Yk. Two preliminary remarks are in order.
The first remark concerns terminology. Although Am- sterdam and Rotterdam are separated by a mere 100 kilo- meters on the map, the terminology for parts and timbers diverges quite s ignificantly in the two tre atises. A fl oor timber is a buikstuk for Witsen, but in Van Yk’s vocabu- lary it is a legger; Witsen’s kielgang (garboard strake) is a zandstrook for Van Yk; for Witsen a carling is karvielhout but klamaai for Van Yk; a keelson is called kolsem by one, zaathout by the other. The terminology gets really confus- ing when Van Yk uses the s ame words as Witsen but in reference to different parts—such as buikstuk, meaning not the floor timber, as in Witsen, but the curved futtock in the bilge—which in Witsen’s vocabulary is a zitter. I can- not explain this difference.
The second remark concerns the stocks. Practical as he is, Van Yk starts his shipbuilding stor y with the set up of the shipyard. It is striking that the stocks or keel blocks
Introduction
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