Sailor1234567890

10 shot per gun sounds like a small number of rounds but I suppose one would normally use solid shot and not bar chain grape etc. My french is good but not perfect so a few of the more technical comments probably went over my head. I'll have look at my copy of Boudriot's 74 gun ship. I have all 4 at my other house and will look it up in english when I next go check on it. Your progress is stupendous Gaetan.My apologies for so much thread drift but I am genuinely curious about these little details that come to light. Cheers, Daniel.

Another question of shot and shot lockers has come to mind as I read Patrick O'brian's Ionian Mission. As Worcester 74 glides into a bay to deal with a french force, Captain Aubrey orders bar and chain shot. I'm quite familiar with what it is and what it does but what arrangements were made in the ship to store bar and chain shot? I can't imagine they would mix it all in together in one locker. Or did they?

I suppose the style answer might be the best we ever see. Makes sense. I was thinking that in the back of my mind by my mariner instincts told me nobody would cut extra holes in their vessel that weren't absolutely needed.

Mystery solved. Nets. Makes sense. Thanks.

But why two doors to the same cabin? surely an unnecessary intrusion point for water?

I agree, there needs to be a way to get them out. I'm just wondering if the rungs were not perhaps more beefy than what a typical ladder might be? Or perhaps they are recessed into the side? The plans don't seem to show that, they show rungs as you have them but I suspect they would be subject to damage from falling shot as it were if they were not beefy enough. And maybe they are beefy enough. Would 32 lb balls dropped from that height break off the rungs? I think it might but maybe it wouldn't. On this note, were different caliber of balls stored in different shot lockers or were they divided to accept balls of a variety of sizes? The lower deck guns were normally larger than the middle and upper deck guns so it makes sense that in a line of battle ship, there would be several shot lockers, at least one for each size of shot. A two decker might have two different sized guns on her upper and lower gun decks but then there are carronades, chasers, upper deck guns (long nines perhaps) and each of those might be a different caliber again. How many shot lockers are there in a ship this size? There's a lot of weight of shot. A single broadside from a 74 given 28 guns on the lower gun deck of 24 lbs and 28 on the upper gun deck of 18 lbs would weigh 1176 lbs. A conservative estimate of 4 shot (likely more) next to each gun as ready use in the shot garlands amounts to 4 704 lbs of shot spread about the ship. And that's just the broadside guns. Doesn't count the carronades, chasers, AX/FX guns, chasers etc. Having shot for a number of engagements means literally tons of shot in the garlands plus much more in the lockers. It's a lot of weight to contend with. It's a lot of calibers to contend with. I recall studying battle ship evolution and the history of the dreadnoughts (I'm a naval officer so it's professional curiosity of course) and a big problem they had at first was with spotting fall of shot. Smaller guns can be worked faster so the spotter had to be careful about what shot he was spotting. There tended to be significant confusion about what guns were being spotted and that brought in the era of the "all big gun" ships so they didn't have smaller guns and larger guns shot falling in the same places and confusing the spotters.

Those two outboard doors go to the quarter galleries but what spaces are through doors 2 and 3?

I wonder how those ladder rungs would have been in the shot locker. One would think they simply tossed the balls in but I suspect they were placed for the first while at least. Eventually, they'd be throwing them in I suspect. Especially if they were in a hurry. They'd have to be careful not to break the ladder rungs with an ill placed ball..... Beautiful work. I love watching this build progress.

Have you started an Enterprise class frigate?

Is it just me or do those guns look to be terribly inconveniently placed for the helmsman? Anybody working those guns will be in his way.

Very nicely done. Feel better soon. What's next?

It echoes to a launch slipway with crossed timber below the hull. Neat work you've done there.

That is one heck of a deep main royal isn't it? Your progress is great to follow.

I love cherry. I find if the boards aren't clear straight grained, it can give you tear out issues. If it's smooth straight grain though, the result is beautiful.

Looks great. Dolphin 38.

A beautiful ship, well executed. I have a question about her rig. Rather, the lead of her lines. There's a row of pins above the windlass. Seems to me if the lines lead there, (jib downhauls etc.) are made fast in that location, they'd get in the way of the windlass. Is that one of the issues with the quality of the kit or is that actually where those lines were belayed?

Looking good.

So.... What now? We're all waiting anxiously to see what you'll pull out of your hat next.

Which of those two cabins is the head and which is the locker?

I hope I haven't sent you down a rabbit hole. Sorry if I did. I think you're making the right call though. I've seen the mix of them as you mention, Cutty Sark for one has her lowers below the yard and her tops irons above. In the image of GR above, you can see her lowers are tried up to access the sail beneath it. Looking great so far. Looking forward to your proper return to work. Cheers,

The French built such pretty ships in those days didn't they?

Plenty had them above but as you alluded to, it places the booms right where the sail wants to be when furled. Trice up the booms before you can furl the sail. Added labour. Ships like Cutty Sark placed the booms below the yard to alleviate this. Placing it behind the yard and above doesn't solve the problem because you still have to lean over the booms to get at the sail to furl it. It doesn't seem to be a solution to the problem in my mind. But maybe it is and I'm not seeing why. I haven't sailed in any ships with stuns'ls so I don't know for sure.

Should the boom irons not angle forward? I've never seen boom irons angled aft like that. Booms forward and above the yard and below the yard but above and abaft the yard is new to me. Was she rigged like that? I know there are some oddly rigged ships sometimes as masters tried out their ideas so maybe she was rigged that way.

A ship today is required to carry a bell or other device that will reproduce the sound of a bell. This is listed in the international regulations for the prevention of collisions at sea or simply "the Colregs". I am fairly confident the requirement was there historically as well. The bell was central to much of the daily routine in the ship, I can't imagine there was a ship that put to sea without one.