Sovereign of the Seas 1637 by Cpt_Haddock - Sergal - 1:72 - modified

[Cpt_Haddock]

Keep struggling with the stern post transoms and above. Started with the rudder construction.

 

Did see these amazing animations by Animagraffs on YouTube of the ships anatomy. Highly Recommended!

 

 

 

[Cpt_Haddock]

Found the Brian Lavery book (in the library)  Arming and fitting of English war ships 1600-1815 and found out my rudder is a bit off for a early 1600 type of rudder. I was planning having the tiller not passing the hull but to be enclosed and have the rudder passing the hull vertically. I have now cut off a bit off the stern post and try making the rudder like the picture in his book.

Made the "hinges" for the rudder of copper sheet. Put them in vinegar bath to age them a bit.

 

 

 

[Kenchington]

Best way to understand the rudderhead of Sovereign is to take a look at the Swedish model available at:

 

https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/three-decker-c-1660-b584d0bf6edd433193f2651b6c71a3c8

 

That's probably a rather later ship but she (or at least the model) had the exaggerated counter that was fashionable in the mid-17th Century and which is shown in the Museum of Fine Arts illustration of Sovereign. The rudderhead had to curve aft sharply to be clear of the counter when the helm was hard over.

 

Being in Sweden, maybe you could have a look at the model directly but the above link will take you to an image that can be rotated, zoomed and displayed full-screen, so you can get a good idea of how things were arranged. Probably a better understanding than looking at the model inside a glass case!

 

Trevor

[Cpt_Haddock]

Hi Trevor, the old model has been in my mind. I have not seen it in Stockholm though, only the Wasa ship.

  I have curved the top of the rudder now. I have not decided were to place tiller and length. I read about the use of whip-staff or not on big ships and Wasa as not being used for very long as it sank (maybe it is not such a great representative), I read that Lavery in this latest book I read was open for alternative ways (as McKay). I find it somehow crazy to have a single person without watching the sails only depending on shouts from above during a battle or bad weather. In Wasa the helmsman could see out through the upper part of the deck and Lavery writes about companions as can be seen in the animated video link in previous post. 

 

I am sort of done with the structure or the stern and finally working my way forward with making new frames.

 

Things I am thinking about: Bonaventure mast or not, elongated quarter deck (main mast not on mid deck), protection over upper deck or not. Tiller length. 

 

  

Edited Wednesday at 09:07 AM by Cpt_Haddock

[Kenchington]

3 hours ago, Cpt_Haddock said:

I have not decided were to place tiller and length. I read about the use of whip-staff or not on big ships

My guess, and it really is not much more than a guess, is that Sovereign's halfdeck (if I can call it that: The first step up above the waist) did not extend aft beyond the portion exposed to the sky. The next step up (to what might be called the quarterdeck) was not man-high (as is clearly shown in the Morgan drawing and the Payne engraving), so there was no space for anyone standing on a covered portion of the halfdeck beneath the quarterdeck.

 

If I am right, then the space under the quarterdeck was extra high, from upper deck to the quarterdeck beams. When she lay in the Thames for King Charles to visit, that extra-high space would have provided a dramatic lobby, likely with a staircase leading to the upper stateroom and doors opening directly to the lower stateroom. At sea, the same high space would have provided for working the whip-staff, with its rowle set in the upper deck. Lifting off one of the quarterdeck gratings would then have given the helmsman a direct view of the weather leeches of the main tops'l and t'ga'n's'l (if that was set) -- which is what he needed to fix his eye on when steering by the wind.

 

Contrary to some recent claims by people who should know better, it is sure that the tiller port was just under the upper deck beams. Combining Heywood's account of the decorations he had designed for the ship with the view of her stern in the Peter Pett portrait leaves no doubt of that whatever. And a tiller under the upper-deck beams means that the rowle had to be set in the upper deck.

 

 

Trevor