Sailing Ship Hull Timbers
A. The pieces which compose the keel, to be securely bolted
together, and clinched.
B. The stern-post, which is tenented into the keel, and connected to
it by a knee, G. It supports the rudder, and unites the sides of the
ship abaft.
C. The stem, which is composed of two pieces scarsed together: it is
an arching piece of timber, into which the ship's sides are united
forwards
D. The beams, which are used to support the decks, and confine the
sides to their proper distance.
E. The false post, which serves to augment the breadth of the stern-
post, being also tenented into the keel.
F. The knees, which connect the beams to the sides.
G. The knee of the stern-post, which unites it to the keel.
H. The apron, in two pieces: it is sayed on the inside of the stem,
to support the scarf thereof; for which reason, the Scarf of the
former must be at some distance from that of the latter.
I. The stemson, in two pieces, to reinforce the scarf of the apron.
K. The wing transom: it is sayed across the stern-post, and bolted
to the head of it, having its two ends let into the fashion-pieces.
L. The deck-transom, parallel to the wing-transom, and secured in
the same manner.
M. N. The lower transoms.
O. The fashion-piece on one side; the heel of it is connected with
the dead-wood, and the head is secured to the wing-transom.
P. The top-timbers, or upper parts of the fashion-pieces..
Q. The knees, which fashion the transoms to the ship's side.
R. The breast-hooks, in the hold; they are sayed across the stem, to
strengthen the fore-part of the ship.
S. The breast-hooks of the deck: they are placed immediately above
the former, and used for the same purposes.
T. The rudder, which is joined to the stern-post by hinges, and
serves to direct the ship's course.
U. The floor timbers; they are laid across the keel, to which they
are firmly bolted.
V. The lower futtocks, and
W. The top-timbers, which are all united to the floor-timbers,
forming a frame .that reaches from the keel to the top of the side.
X. The pieces which compose the kelson: they are scarsed together
like the keel pieces, and placed over the middle of the. floor-
timbers, upon each of which they are scored about an inch and a
half, as exhibited by the notches.
Y. The several pieces of the knee of the head; the lower part of
which is sayed to the stem; the heel being scarsed to the fore-foot.
Z. The cheeks of the head or knees, which connect the head to the
bows on each side.
&. The standard of the head which fastens it to the stem.
a. The catheads, one of which lies on each bow, projecting outwards
like the arm of a crane. They are used to draw the anchors up to the
top of the side without injuring the bow.
b. The bits, to which the cable is fastened when the ship rides at
anchor.
c. The false post, in two pieces, sayed to the fore part of the
stern-post.
d. The side-counter-timbers, which terminate the ship abaft within
the quarter-gallery.
e. Two pieces of dead wood, one afore, and another abaft, sayed on
the keel.
(http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/sail-hull-timbers.htm
)
See also http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/sail-masts.htm
Determining wood type is a bit more problematic and seems to depend
heavily on the location the ship was constructed in, not to mention
the time period and information tends to be a bit general.
I've found reference to white oak and yellow pine being used for
framing larger ships.
When looking at wood characteristics for common north American
timber for building purposes I noticed that weaker, softer woods
(looking @ bending stress @ prop. Limit) are used for walls, middle
strength woods are used for joists, and the stronger, harder woods
are used for flooring.
Wood is strongest when compressed parallel to its grain.
Bending stresses for the softest, weakest woods are below 5000 psi.
Woods suitable for joists come in around 10,000 psi and the hardest
woods I currently have info on are under 15,000 psi.
White oak and yellow pine are both listed as suitable for joists w/
strengths of around 9000 - 11,000 psi).
My guess would be that many wood types suitable for joists in
housing might be used in ship construction.
As far a dimensions.
http://www.craftsmanspace.com/free-books/handbook-of-ship-calculations-construction-and-operation.html
Wikipedia says the ten tallest species are;
Coast Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens)
Australian Mountain-ash (Eucalyptus regnans)
Coast Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii)
Sitka Spruce (Picea sitchensis)
Giant Sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum)
Tasmanian Blue Gum (Eucalyptus globulus)
Manna Gum (Eucalyptus viminalis)
Shorea faguetiana
Alpine Ash (Eucalyptus delegatensis)
Noble Fir (Abies procera)
Heights are between about 280 to 380 ft. for the record holders.
I have redwood and spruce listed as weak (6000 to 7000 psi) and
Douglas-fir listed as strong (9000 - 11,000 psi).
North American ash species range from fair to very strong so I don't
know what to think of the eucalyptus.
http://www.scielo.cl/pdf/maderas/v11n1/art06.pdf
When raising trees to be harvested on a 10 year cycle they are
spaced about 12 feet apart (~3 Melee hexes) and produce about 300
trees per acre.
Virgin forest would have significantly fewer trees per acre.
To get the solid content of a log 12 ft in length multiply the
square of the diameter by 0.7854.
Take 4/5ths of the solid content to allow for the slab when sawing
inch boards with 19th century saws.
Lots of hemp for rope and canvas with some flax able to make sail
canvas.
Because of this, species like the scots pine can serve double duty
by producing framing timber and using the waste for tar that pretty
much covered the ship and rigging. Weathering rates of rope, canvas,
and wood will be important for maintenance purposes, both Downtime
and storm-type.
The second Victory (still in service) is a bit late from the mid
eighteenth century but Wikipedia says;
"Once the frame had been constructed, it was normal to cover the
ship up and leave it for several months to season. However, the end
of the Seven Years' War meant that she remained in this condition
for nearly three years, which helped her subsequent longevity. Work
restarted in autumn 1763 and she was finally launched on 7 May 1765,
having cost #63,176 and 3 shillings[2] (present day #7.06 million)
[3] and used around 6000 trees, 90% of which were oak and the
remainder elm, pine and fir, as well as a small quantity of Lignum
Vitae."
Hee hee hee., I know Lignum Vitae from my work putting a more
medieval environment back on 'a Riding or two' of north east England.
6000 trees is about 20 acres by farmed measure or 1/32 of a square
mile clear-cut harvested at minimum which is 1/1152 of a Township in
the Section, Township, Range survey system for legal description of
land as property.
Then I found this looking for plank discriptions.
http://www.morsko-prase.hr/2006/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=8665&Itemid=196
"The normal list of supplies required to build a ship of the line
would consist of almost a hundred acres of oak forest, well over
5000 carefully selected mature oak trees which were mostly obtained
from the weald forest of Kent and Sussex and the remainder of the
timber required was elm, pine and fir which once stored would have
been left seasoning for several years. Many of these massive oak
timbers particular for the outboard planks were bent to the correct
shape by being placed over a pit with fire underneath, water was
then poured over the timber and heavy weights placed along the
sections of the timber until it reached the correct curvature. The
thickness of the hull at the waterline on the Victory is
approximately 2 feet (0.6m) thick.
Seven large elm trunks were used for the keel and around 3000 feet
of fir and spruce were required for the decks, masts & yard arms as
this type of timber was light and very supple. The bottom section
(lower masts) were made from 5 to 7 trees which were bound together
with iron hoops. The masts used 27 miles of rigging and carried four
acres of canvas for the sails and 2 tons of iron and copper nails
and bolts. These bolts which were passed right through the carefully
shaped beams and sophisticated joints had the ends clenched over
washers, all this basically held the whole ship together."
So it takes 5 times the area of less managed forest to provide the
timber for a first rate ship of the line and this gets interesting
because apart from the seven large elms required for a ship this
size there are some other special trees that were needed.
"Certain sections of a ship framework the size of the Victory had to
be made from a single piece of oak, therefore oak trees with massive
dimensions were very much sort after. The oak tree required for the
30 feet high 'stern post' which took some of the greatest stresses
of the ship were just one such tree, as stern posts made from joined
up timbers would soon fail.
Other prized oak trees were those with 'compass timbers' which had
grown over the years with stout curved branches which enabled the
knees and clamps to also be made from one piece. One of the most
difficult of these trees to find was the timber to be used for the
wing transom, this had to be made from an uncommonly widely forked
stem mature oak tree."
Now sending a party of combat guys to protect the.
Talent; SHIPBUILDER (2). Ability (given time) to construct any type
of water-going vessel, Prerequisite: SEAMANSHIP.
dude into the Huldre Forest past Landmaster Hall to find just the
right oak for the wing transom in his latest design is an
interesting adventure and works on a few levels at once.
A party of adventurers are getting a more traditional PoV type
scenario.
A builder is getting a key component for a project.
A commander is getting a piece of equipment to add to their force.
And the economy is being furthered because all of this material
moving about and being processed comes out of the projects budget
including the pay for the players little adventure.
Rules of thumb to determine the deck scantlings:
The thickness of the decking affects how strong the hull is, and is
directly related to how thick the skin of the hull itself is, which
is of course related to how large the vessel is, the kind of work it
is expected to do, and the kind of weather it may reasonably be
expected to endure. While a Naval Engineer or Architect may have
precise methods of determining what the scantlings should be,
traditional builders used previous experiences and simpler rules-of-
thumb to determine how thick the deck should be built.
The numbers derived by these forumlae gives a rough number for
determining the average thickness of materials based on some crude
hull measurements. Below the waterline the thickness should be
approximately 115% of the result, while upper topsides and decks
might be reduced to 85% of the result.
In wood - For plank thickness in inches, LOA (Length OverAll) and
Beam are measured in feet. For plank thickness in mm, LOA and Beam
are measured in meters.
Plank thickness in inches = <math>{\sqrt{LOA}+Beam \over 16}<math>
Plank thickness in mm = <math>[\sqrt{LOA*3.28}+(Beam*3.28)*1.58]<math>
http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Deck_(ship)
About 1 inch planks for Victory?
Conan the ST 30 Barbarian would likely have an easier time punching
out of a wood framed house that he would punching through the hull
of the Victory, even in dry dock.
If I'm seeing this right it'd be two >1 inch thick planks separated
by about 22" at the waterline for Victory's hull, or about half a
Melee hex thick.
Also of note;
Wood is also going to be under demand for housing in areas where
it's common and upping the population to up the number of loggers
doesn't necessarily create more wood for ships.
Of course, in milder climates planking for housing can be sawn
thinner than that needed for a ship of the line but the slab limits
how thin a cut that can be achieved, (and paper walls can be better
than no walls when considering privacy).
Of course, round isn't the only kindda shot that can be packed into
a cannon or similar gun piece.
Actually, in the same way that the farmer with the pretty daughter
could have been shooting rock salt so too could the merchant boat
carrying barrels of nails.
Ship hulls are efficient but not necessary.
Timber barons up here in the pacific northwest actually made giant
rafts of logs and floated them out to sea and down to the Los Angles
area to supply the housing down there for the first decade or two.
I suppose one would have to board one of these to take it.
That modeler had this to say;
"All the time, expense and difficulties involved with trying to
build a ship the size of the victory was one of the reasons in times
of war it made more sense to try and take the enemies ships with
boarding parties and keep them as prizes, rather than sinking them."
A fantasy wood that has a number of desirous properties is likely to
go the way of the Dodo.
If the wood in elf trees is soooo much better in every measure than
anything else then unless elf wood trees are by far the most common
trees in the world the elves better be VERY protective of their
groves.
Kindda like, when there are potions out there that require
components from human bodies the human graveyard keeper better be
very tough the elves will pretty much need a fixed perimeter and
that requires a large population for a large area.
You can't get Burma teak for shipbuilding anymore.
Ughhh, it's almost 2:30 in the p.m.
I know better than to check my e-mail when I'm busy lol.
That ought to be enough to build a ship that won't get big holes
punched in it conceptually at least.
All this wood is fine, and it does help put floors in the Keep, but
a perch is 16.5 ft by 1.5 ft by 1 ft making 24.75 cubic feet of
stone so a wall 16" thick, 7' high and 84' long has about 31 and two
thirds perches of stone, or 784 cubic feet...
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