Materials for Ship Construction

[Blockaderunner]

I am currently reading 'Men of Honour - Trafalgar and the making of the English Hero' by Adam Nicolson. Although the book concentrates on naval warfare in the Napoleonic era, the details of ship construction would apply to warships built up until the ironclads.
The 74 gun ship was the standard workhorse of all navies. To create such a ship required 100,000 cubic feet of timber for the hull, 168,000 pounds of hemp for the rigging, 33,750 pounds of copper to sheathe the hull, and 4,800 pounds of nails. About 3,400 trees, from 75 acres of woodland were needed for each ship. Ninety per cent of that was oak. A ship could take up to 10 years in construction. The length of time in construction, was offset somewhat by the length of time in service. For example the keel of HMS Victory was layed in 1765, some 40 years before the battle of Trafalgar.
Seen from bow or stern, a ship curved in steeply from the waterline. This was to allow the guns on the upper decks to be brought closer to the centreline of the ship, reducing roll. Two ships alongside each other could be touching at the waterline, but 40 feet apart at the quarterdeck. The heaviest guns, 32 pdr's, were on the lowest deck, those above getting increasingly lighter.
To illustrate how identically equipped the worlds navies were in the early nineteenth century, Trafalgar is a good example. The allied French-Spanish fleet contained two captured British ships. The British fleet contained a captured French ship. A large number of the Spanish ships were built by catholic Irish workers who had gained their experience in English shipyards. Several British ships had been actually been built as copies of French ships.

 

[Baggage Handler #2]

Half a dozen years ago I subscribed to Woodenboat.

I remember two articles in particular that seem relevant.
One was of a French naval historian who know huge amounts of minutia about all things nautical and French: how certain knots were made, which were used, the differences in the stitching between sails of various navies, and details of construction between French and English shipyards of the 1770's - 1850's.

The other was an article on the rotting hulks in the Falklands. A number of vessels which attempted the Tierra del Fuego turned back and were abandoned for salvage in Port Stanley. Some of the keels & more than a few hulls were still visible when the article was produced (2001?). The photography was excellent, and it was fascinating (at least to me).

At any rate, the magazine was a real joy. One of the few to which I've ever subscribed for more than one year. Might be the only one, exclusive of newsletters, now that I think about it. In looking at their site, the current issue appears to include an article on sailing from Dublin to Denmark on a Viking longboat replica. (sorry, slightly OT).

[Edit: We took the kids on a tour of the USS Constellation in Baltimore Harbor back in '05. This ship was built in 1854 and spent most of the Civil War in the Med. Worth a visit for anyone interested in construction. Maybe first watch "Master & Commander" though ]

 

[Blockaderunner]

Master and Commander was quite a decent effort. The first scene, where the French ship fires broadsides into the bows of the British frigate was an example of the second most ideal position to launch an attack. The British ship cannot return fire, while iron shot crash through the bows. The most ideal form of attack was a broadside through the stern. The stern contained unprotected windowed cabins. Shot would crash through the whole length of the gun decks, killing everyone in their path and possibly overturning guns. The other types of attack would be a slugging match where broadsides are exchanged, or a boarding party. Ships exchanging broadsides would often become locked together as masts and rigging entangled. At the waterline, a ship of the line usually had walls three feet thick, but this thinned out on the upper decks. A shot could pass through the hull and out of the other side. Cannister rounds were often fired through the enemy gun ports, but the usually load would be double shot with a cannister round. In major engagements, a ship could find itself locked together with an enemy ship on both sides. In this case, the ship on either side would use reduced charges to avoided the shot passing through and damaging the ship on the other side. Very few ships were sunk, unless they caught fire or the powder magazine exploded. Casualties were very heavy in major engagements, often running into hundreds on a single ship. A ship surrendered by the simple act of striking the colours.

 

[ole]

A kick for wooden-ship fans is anything by Patrick O'Brian -- the guy who wrote "Master and Commander." There was a whole series of nicely written novels following the career of Jack Aubrey,

Ole

 

[timewalker]

Also, of course, the Horatio Hornblower novels by C.S. Forrester. I have read all of them, as well as almost all of the Jack Aubry series.

I would highly recommend the A&E series on Horatio Hornblower (available on DVD which is how I saw it) which do an excellent job of bringing the novels to life. It is unfortunate that they stopped making them just about the time the series was really getting to the good stuff.

Also the film "Captain Horatio Hornblower" by Gregory Peck, also pretty entertaining.

 

[Baggage Handler #2]

Also, of course, the Horatio Hornblower novels by C.S. Forrester. I have read all of them, as well as almost all of the Jack Aubry series.
...

I'll never forget as a child watching Jimmy Carter refer to the distinguished gentleman from Minnesota as "Hubert Horatio Hornblower." You say enough stuff in public and a percentage is going to come out wrong.

I found a copy of the recent Woodenboat at a newstand. It's still good, and I think I'll resubscribe. Thanks for making me think of it!

 

[rebelatsea]

I find Patrick O'Brian virtually unreadable. The Bolitho series by Alexander Kent, is far superior and gives an accurate picture of what it was like to work your way to the top in the Napoleonic Royal Navy.

 

[redbob]

In the Patrick O'Brian books wasn't the enemy-the American Navy?

 

[AndyHall]

I find Patrick O'Brian virtually unreadable.

You might try a good audiobook version. I never got through a single one of the novels -- I threw one in disgust one time across the airport terminal waiting area at one point, in fact -- but the language really is beautiful in some spots, and VERY funny. The audiobook of Master & Commander was very worthwhile in that respect.

 

[Carronade]

Most of Aubrey and Maturin's adventures were against the French and their allies, but they did get involved in the War of 1812 in a couple of books. After a few misadventures they managed to be on both Java for the losing battle against Constitution and Shannon for the victory over Chesapeake. And of course the novel The Far Side of the World is loosely based on the pursuit of USS Essex, represented as the fictional USS Norfolk. The "climax" of that novel was a total disappointment, not at all like the film.

 

[redbob]

Most of Aubrey and Maturin's adventures were against the French and their allies, but they did get involved in the War of 1812 in a couple of books. After a few misadventures they managed to be on both Java for the losing battle against Constitution and Shannon for the victory over Chesapeake. And of course the novel The Far Side of the World is loosely based on the pursuit of USS Essex, represented as the fictional USS Norfolk. The "climax" of that novel was a total disappointment, not at all like the film.

Thank you for clearing that up for me.

 

[Mark F. Jenkins]

I read some of the Aubrey/Maturin books while I was over in Zagreb, Croatia (they shipped a buncha books in for the troops). They were okay. My primary allegiance is to Captain Hornblower and Mr. Bush, however.

BTW, David Drake's Leary/Mundy "RCN" series drew the inspiration for the two main characters from Aubrey and Maturin, although Drake has spun it his own way. (First installment: With the Lightnings. Great book, and the best logic for calling a force of spacecraft a "navy" in all of sci-fi....) (One thing I love about Drake is that he bases all the plots in the series on actual historical events, although the outcome is not always the same as in the story, and he calls out what historical events he's alluding to in his introductions.)

 

[rebelatsea]

Mark,
I read some sci-fi, I got hooked on Turtledoves world war series, the quality of his research is superb.
David Drake's Leary/Mundy "RCN" series is new to me. I will look it up. Thanks.

 

[Mark F. Jenkins]

Really good military sci-fi. The RCN is the "Republic of Cinnabar Navy;" Cinnabar is a sort of analogue to the Roman Republic, and a lot of their differences with the Alliance of Free Worlds (a substantial misnomer) are patterned after the Punic Wars (though not exclusively).

 

[Mark F. Jenkins]

(Just was notified by Amazon that the latest in the RCN Leary/Mundy series by David Drake (The Sea Without a Shore) is about to ship... can't wait!)

 

[vikingbear]

Hi all,
Started reading the Hornblower books first and still feel it is the best. Struggled through several "Capt Jack & HMS Suprise before giving up on the book. That was several years ago and still havn't picked it up again. Liked the movie though, even thought felt they should have down graded the french frigate to a 32 with 12's on her main deck. After all the Suprise was one of those ex French ships that was equal to a RM post ship (which was despised) say 120 feet on deck with 22-24 main deck guns of 9 pounders, plus a few on the QD and maybe a couple of bowchacers ( 6 pounders?) on the FC. Now the RN has won some lopsided ship to ship battles, but come on make it more realistic. If the Fr. ship was based on the 44 frigate class, she would be 173 feet on deck (US measurements ) and in USN service carried 51 to 56 cannon. They call her old ironsides because the hull sides were so thick that during the war of 1812 Br 18 pound cannon balls bounced off her sides. The french frigate would then have 30 main deck 18's. In Roosevelt's War of 1812 book. he reports that the Fr pound and the Br pounds were of different sizes, so a 18 pound Br WT would be 22+ Fr wt. Also the ship was designed to carry 16 long 12's on the upper deck( 14 pounds Br) Both the long 18's and 12.s would be able to pass through one side of the hull and out the other.
Back in the 70's the 1st time visiting the Constitution, the HMS Rose was visiting Boston.( She is now known as HMS Suprise) and is the right size of the orginal. Maybe this is why this bugs me as I saw them together, The constitution was some 53 feet longer, her decks were higher and it did not appear that the Rose's main mast reached halfway up the Constitution's. Still would like to know what happened to all those pictutes.

GRIZZ

 

[Mark F. Jenkins]

The basic plan for the U.S. "super-frigates" was to take what was basically a ship-of-the-line, sharpen its lines, and don't add the top deck-- sort of a built-to-be-a-razee, if you will. The resulting vessel had the resisting power of a ship of the line and the speed of a frigate-- sort of an armored cruiser, as it were-- what it couldn't outgun, it could outrun. Quite a sensible choice for a navy that didn't want to build a battlefleet at the time, really.