How would the ships boats or anything else that was heavy be brought on board or lowered off? (Edited by admin)

[bluenose2]

Hello Les here. A question. In the time of sailing ships prior to davits. How would the ships boats or anything else that was heavy be brought on board or lowered off? Does anyone have references that show this or possibly pictures of rigged models showing this procedure.

[mtaylor]

Les,

 

There's been a few topics on that that some searching should get you to.  Basically, they used the main yards and the fore yards as booms with block and tackles.  Pretty labor intensive work.   

 

Minor edit:  Found one:  http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/2313-how-were-boats-launched-from-the-deck/?hl=%2Bship+%2Bboats+%2Blaunching#entry58384

[bluenose2]

Thnx mtaylor. I am considering making a diorama of a build of a ship in harbour loading up to set sail. Can you tell me if there is a link for a build on this? Thnx Les.

[mtaylor]

The only one I've ever seen pictures of is in Frolich's The Art of Ship Modeling.  It's of his scratchbuild of Belle Poule and he gives some good info on how he did it.  

 

There might be one here on MSW as I don't look at every log... just not enough hours in the day     

[allanyed]

Les,  Lavery gives a detailed description on page 233 in his book The Arming and Fitting of English Ships of War. 

 

From about 1625 onwards there was an increasing tendency to hoist all boats aboard and had probably become standard by the second haf of the seventeenth Century...................

....Because the largest boat were stowed between the mainmast and the foremast.............a complicated tackle was needed for hoisting them in and out................the first stage was to raise the boat from its position amidships.  Two pendants hung from the masts, one from under the top of the mainmast, the other from under the top of the foremast.  When in use these were joined together by another rope known as the triatic stay, which was the same length as the boat.  A tackle was hung from the lower end of each of the pendants, one to lift each end of the boat. Once the boat had been lifter, it had to be swung outboard.  the main and fore yards were angled inwards towards one another, and a tackle was extended from each yardarm to one end of the boat.  If the boat was heavy, the yards had to be supported with extra ropes in addition to their normal lifts. Other ropes led from the bows and stern of the boat to the deck and were used to control its motion.  The boat was swung outwards until the tackle from the yardarms took the weight,, and the it was lowered into the water.  The procedure was reversed for hoisting the boat in.

 

Hope this is of some help.

 

Allan