Page 54 - Nicolaes Witsen & Shipbuilding in the Dutch Golden Age

Chapter Two
(95 II 24) The measurements in feet as in inches which are handled here, all are from Amsterdam, w hich in size are one foot in forty smaller than the measure- ments of Enkhuizen, Zardam, Hoorn and Edam, and one inch smaller to each foot compared to the Maas foot.
. ..
ship would not cut through the water well enough: if one were to place it farther aft, the water aft will be oversailed, and steering will become di cult: this is why one third from the front is the right place for the ship to be widest. From observing beams in the water one can deduce that bodies which are thicker forward, make the best speed.
. ..
(265 I 17) The ship is wider forward than aft; and such because if wider aft, it would not heed the rudder , produce too much wake, preventing progress, and also pushing the water downward in such a way that almost none touch the rudder; w hich is why such vessels are prone to yaw.
. ..
(262 I 26) Most of the other parts of the ship I deduce from the stem: this represen ts the basis and the mea- sure of the same: for w hich however one could have chosen any other part. I ts thickness is derived from the length of the ship, taking in to account a lesson from experience: that the proportion laid down here should meet the requirement that the thickness should be neither too heavy, nor too light.
. ..
(262 II 28) It is also true, that experienced Ship- wrights do not derive such measuremen ts directly from the stem: through long experience they are able to determine the righ t measurements of an y major part of the ship without deducing them from the stem: yet in doing so they appl y, although unwittingly, the same rules.
(263 II 22) Ships of medium size are the best by far to sail the sea: ships w hich are too large all lie ill at sea and easil y run aground; and in case of acciden are badly damaged. Ships too small carry small loads only; are easily ushed by the sea and are ill suited for bad weather.
. ..
(273 I 5 1) Long and narrow ships are faster than short and wide ships, because they meet less resis- tance. They are also faster because their sails can be trimmed far better and stand farther apart, than on shorter ships. And particular ly because they cut two to three waves simultaneously, and do not get stuck in between the waves, as with the short ships, which have to rise against the waves in fron t, before they will be propelled by them. They turn less easily however than shortships,needingalargerradius,forw hichtheir increased speed is to blame.
. ..
(65 I 30) To de ne the proportions of the smallest tri esfortheshipwright,wouldbeuselessandmuch too laborious: because they follow automatically when the large parts meet their proportional requirements.
For a start only the length is given, from which the width and the depth are derived.
. ..
(71 II 31) The length of ships, is measured across the stems, which is on the outside, while the depth is mea- sured at one third from the front, that is, on the main frame, where the ship is at its lowest: the width is mea- sured at one third from the bow as well, at the bottom, at the top of the bilge planking and at the ribband set up at the height of maximum breadth, where the main deck is to be.
. ..
(265 I 26) Ships are at their widest at one third of the length measured from the fron t: it then narrows toward the stern, and th us makes good speed: if one were to place the widest section farther for ward, the
36
t
(65 II 25)
. ..
About the width derived from the length.
2 The length of the ship divided by four, the width is taken as a fourth part. For example, 100 feet length gives 25 feet for the width at the main frame. W hen a ship is less than 100 feet long, the width should be less than a quarter length: as the master feels righ t. Yet othersmaketheship3or4feetwider,thanthequarter length: in order not to be crank. And a merchan tman may well be 2 , 3, 4 or 5 feet slimmer , depending on the length. To ride easil y on the anchor cable: and to be steered ligh tly, with a small crew , ships are of- ten made less wide than would other wise be the case. Ships of 165 to 170 feet can be 6 feet less wide than a