Hatch covers

[Rat-Fink-A-Booboo]

Hi Folks,

Can any one cast any light on this question please.

I am building Mantua's Lynx, Baltimore Privateer of 1812. The kit plans have the hatches on the deck covered with quarters.

In my ignorance, I kind of assumed that these hatches would have water-tight covers - perhaps to go over the quartering - does anyone have any knowledge of this please

 

Wishing you all fair winds and a following sea.

Don

[wefalck]

Not sure what 'quarters' are ...

 

Anyway, whenever the weather allowed hatches at this period would have been covered with gratings in order to provide fresh air and light. In heavier weather, the hatches would be covered with tarpaulins battened down tightly over them.

[JerseyCity Frankie]

On the list of ship features that have a lot of wiggle room for interpretation, hatch covers would be very high. You could leave them off altogether and this could be completely plausible since this is how cargo materials and equipment get into and out of the ship. You could cover them in canvas-the easiest modelbuilding solution. Modern reproduction and restoration traditional craft often have more elaborate doghouses and hybrid structures built into hatchcovers to make ascending and descending the ships ladders more civilized or to meet code requirements. These structures range anywhere from a small sliding panel up to impressive works of cabinetry incorporating skylights and little doors.

[Rat-Fink-A-Booboo]

Hi Wefalc

Many thanks, as I understand it 'quarters' are the gratings - quartered - of which you speak, so you answer my question precisely.

 

Frankie

Many thanks. This is precisely what I wanted to know

 

Best wishes

Don

[jud]

Good discussion can be found starting at post 3440 on NenadM's log for his scratch built Cutty Sark. Read it starting at post 3440 andn you will see some photos of what he did and there are also some photos of the hatches aboard the Cutty, one shows the clips, battens, cover but no wedges, worth a look. I have some photos of the hatch covers aboard a ship that brought us supply's and ammo frequently in RVN, if I can find them I will have a new post with attachments.

jud

[wefalck]

Actually, an interesting question to which I don't have the answer is, how the tarpaulin was tied down on men-of-war up to the early decades of the 19th century. From around the middle of the 19th century on, a system of metal or wooden clamps was used, behind which the tarpaulin was fixed with battens that were tightened with wedges. On transoceanic voyages on merchantment the battens were even nailed down. The coamings around the hatches on earlier men-of-war were to low for such a system.

Another way is to have a fitted tarpaulin that is shaped like a box cover and that has eyelets in the vertical parts that correspond with small eyebolts screwed into the coamings through which a line would be reeved. Somehow, I have feeling that this is rather Victorian and beyond naval and yachting practice.

[jud]

iYou can see the clips, cover and wedges piled up under the cover, can't see the battens, 'they were 3" wide +/- 1/4" flat iron placed outboard of the covers and then wedges driven between them and the clips, wedging the battens and cover in place'. Notice the  Beams and Hatch Boards, those hatch boards resemble all I have seen aboard ship in that the hand holds, which a hook can be fitted into, were flush with the board surface, most models have eye bolts with a ring on top of the hatch boards, question that, don't need lumps and wear points on top of the hatch boards. On long spans there are hold downs, today or on the old ships I rode there were flat iron hold downs on the top of the battened down hatch covers, they were hooked outboard on the hatch combing, separated in the center and held together with long bolts that were tightened. They held the canvas hatch cover down to the boards, stopping the covers from lifting when of wind and water crossed.

[wefalck]

... the original question concerned the 1812 practice

[jud]

Recognize that the photo was 1940's technology which had been in use for over a hundred years, it worked, some refinements and material differences being the major differences as time marched on. When using hatch boards or gratings covered with canvas as a water tight seal you have few choices on how to do it repeatedly, quickly and effectively, so although 1940's technology in the photo, other than the materials used, it would not have been considered unusual in the 1600's. Otherwise I would not have tossed it into the pot.

jud

 

[Gregory]

 

Except for refinements and materials, everything is pretty much the same as it was hundreds of years ago..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jud]

Yep; the Turtle probably had a seal on the hatch, a way to hold it closed until water pressure increased on the outside, pressurizing the hatch and seal, just like the new boats. Not a lot of detail in either rendering, of the hatches, but like cargo hatches there are only a few ways to get the job done, be it the Revolutionary War or the Cold one. You were just referring to the hatches, weren't you ? Did you notice the similarities of the Archimedes Screw used on both vessels for propulsion ?

jud