Crow's Nest

[Feathermerchant]

I am restoring a 1914 steel Dutch built passenger freighter. The foremast contains shrouds and ratlines to access the crow's nest and the lights higher up on the mast. My question is: How did the seaman enter and exit the crow's nest? Did they climb in and out over the edge or was there a ladder inside or a hatch at the back of the crow's nest? The circular walls of the crow's nest would reach a little below the seaman's arm pits. Thanks. 

[pompey2]

Featermerchant - not sure of your shroud setup but traditionally Seamen would climb up the shrouds then on up the futtock shrouds around the outside of the top (crowsnest) which meant hanging upside down whilst climbing the futtock shrouds.

 

This was a matter of some honour, you could choose to go through the hole in the top and not have to hang, but that is the Lubbers hole (as in land lubber) so was seen as for the faint hearted or newbies.

 

Nick

[Stockholm tar]

Nick,

 

I don't think you are talking about the same thing as featuremerchant. I believe you are referring to the ordinary sailing ship 'top', whereas I think he means the actual structure, known as a crow's nest, which was provided for the lookout. I believe they were originally used on whalers and arctic exploration ships, as a means of protection from the elements, and often made from a barrel. These came rather later than the traditional top and, as his vessel is dated 1914, I would think this is rather what he means. By that date the structure had probably evolved from the simple barrel.

 

In passing, the term 'crow's nest' somehow seems to have become the accepted one for any position where the lookout was stationed. This is not strictly true, as it was an actual enclosed structure. I don't think many ship-of-the line had crow's nests, the lookout probably being situated in the foretop or at the crosstrees.

 

Featuremerchant, I don't really know the answer to your question. I would imagine with the early ones, the lookout merely climbed over the edge from above, and dropped down into it. The later ones might very well have had a door on the aft side, as you mention.

[Feathermerchant]

Stockholm tar, interesting moniker. My dad was born in Stockholm in 1902 and emigrated to the U.S. in 1926 on the S.S. Gripsholm.

 

I think your response to my question is correct. I have a pictures of the "Insulinde" at sea and you can see the shrouds and ratlines going above the crow's nest. There is also shown a single set of ratlines on the starboard side of both masts that is fastened above the lights near the cap of the masts. The folk art model was built in Jakarta by a local craftsman based on what he saw on the ship. Since the shrouds and ratlines go above the crow's nest it would appear that the lookout either a door at the rear of the crow's nest or some way the climb out of the lookout post to access the ratlines which pass close behind the crow's nest. Lacking any hard evidence one way or the other, I will go with the "jump down, climb up" access to and from the crow's nest. Thanks....................bill

[Stockholm tar]

Bill,

 

Only to happy to 'stick my oar in', as it were!

 

I chose the name due to the fact that I have lived in Stockholm for twenty one years now (formerly from the UK) and have done a fair bit of sailing in my younger years – also a play on the term for the sticky stuff used on ships, said to have originated in Stockholm. There is actually a place, near the old shipyards, that is the home of Stockholm tar! (It says so on a board!)

 

I believe quite a few Swedes, and others, emigrated to the US about that time – so much so that I gather the places they settled they are almost like Sweden abroad!

 

All the best.

Edited October 16, 2014 by Stockholm tar

[amateur]

I think it differed quite a lot.

Many ships were not build with a crows-nest, and were fitted out with one during WWI, to spot for U-boats.

I guess all versions were used. I also saw pictures of a metal crowsnest with a hath in the bottom (and a ladder fixed to the foremast) -ofcourse: google will not reprocduce my search-results...

 

Jan

[Louie da fly]

I came across this term in a book about sailing ships in the 19th century (may have been Two Years Before the Mast) applied to whaling ships, where unlike other ships, whalers have "crows nests", and that's one of the things that distinguishes them from other ships.

 

Unfortunately, the term seems to have been so widely understood that the author doesn't bother to explain what it was about a crows nest that made it different from a normal ship's top.

[Per]

I found this - Ogden's 1927 whaling cigarette cards:

http://www.coolantarctica.com/Antarctica%20fact%20file/wildlife/whales/whaling_cards.htm

Kester's bad weather barrel as well as a more minimalistic southern type.

 

Per

[Feathermerchant]

I think I have figured out how the lookout accessed the "crowsnest". I have a picture of the ship, underway, taken sometime between 1914 and 1933 when she was renamed "Banfora". The shrouds on the foremast and aft mast are rigged so that the first (forward) shroud is attached to the mast by a bolt and then each of the next three shrouds are attached to the mast in progression, one-above-the-other. Thus the shrouds and ratlines twist so that the seaman, as he climbed, would start facing thwart ship but end facing the stern. There is a second set of shrouds (2) that are attached to the lower set and continue up the mast to access the mast light.

I have two conclusions: One-the seaman could not access the crowsnest from the shrouds unless he climbed up to where the shrouds are bolted to the mast, accessed the mast and then slide down the mast to the crowsnest. Don't think that happened. Second-The shrouds are to support the mast. The ratlines were added only for the seaman to access the upper part of the mast for sail handling. (Yes, she could be rigged with fore-&-aft sails (The builders plans show the sails rigged)). Here is the interesting part, the lower shrouds are rigged with ratlines both port and starboard, but the upper set of shrouds, also rigged with ratlines are only rigged on the starboard side.

It now appears the there had to be either a ladder attached to the exterior of the mast or the ladder was inside the mast and there is a hatch at the bottom of the mast and one aft of the crowsnest. Neither can be seen on the photo or the plans that I received from the builder.

[Per]

I also found this British wartime propaganda poster. It clearly shows a ladder bolted to the mast and, once you got that far, rungs bolted to the outside of the barrel.

 

Per