Ship specifications

[RobbieZ]

Can someone please tell me:

1) what is the typical size of a European hull plank during the 17th century?

2) the same for the deck planking.

 

thank you

[Gregory]

Take a look at some of the build logs for 17th century ships.

[wefalck]

... and typically they used what was available. So, one would need to specify, where the ship in question was built.

 

Say, in the Netherland, particularly the Zaanstrek, they had easy access to semi-industrial sawn planks due to the large number of wind-driven saw-mills. In other parts of Europe, there may have been planks sawn in water-driven saw-mills, while in many parts of Europe planks had to be sawn by hand, making them expensive.

 

In general, planks could be rather wide, due to the still relative abundance of large trees, which rapidly declined in the following century.

[chevmoed]

For a seventeenth-century European ship, the hull edges were often between 20 and 30 cm wide. The deck planks were thinner, usually around 15 to 20 cm depending on the type of ship.

[Lieste]

The contemporary definition for these things is instructive.

Thickstuff comes from the full depth of the tree, and is sawn to thicknesses of 4.5-12" Width is cut to suit when used.
Plank is over 11" wide, and over 1.5" thick (but less than 4")
Deal is around 9" wide and 1.5-4" thick
Batten is 6-7" wide, 2.5" or under.
Board is under 1.5"

Deal lengths are typically 12ft, but these dimensions can all vary with the source of the material.
(Ends are short lengths under 8', rather than the full length of a standard load.)
A load is 50cu ft of finished timber, 40cu ft of rough timber.

When worked the finished weight of a hull is about half of the timber used in her construction. Roughly.
Finished loaded displacements hover near the rough weight of the timber expended in their construction (depending on hull form being comparable to a full bodied frigate or ship of the line.) - a mix of masting, rigging, anchors, guns and ordnance stores, crew and stores, and whatever cargo/passengers are substituted for some of that.

[Morgan]

You should see if you can find dimensions for the Vasa, she is an extant example of an early 17th Century ship. 
 

https://www.vasamuseet.se/en

 

Gary

[amateur]

When you tead Witsen or Van Eijk, they seemed to have been obsessed by the size and woodtype of the structural components. Planking is mentioned but hardly at a specific level. Also in building conyracts it is wuality that is required, not size as such or any regularity in planking. Look at Vasa: deck planking looks as if they used what was bailable. No regularity, nothing sawn ‘to specification’. 

 

Wood was expensive, so why discard a 10 inch board, or saw a 25 inch to 20? 
 

Jan

[Wawona59]

You might get what you are looking for by contacting Dr. Kroum Batchvarov.  He has answered many questions for me through his YouTube channel.  He also happens to be married to Model Ship World member Olha Batchvarov.  Dr. Batchvarov will be able help you.

 

Kroum Batchvarov | Department of Anthropology

Dr. Batchvarov’s main research focus is in maritime archaeology of 17th-century seafaring. He specializes in English and Dutch ship construction. …

• Email: kroum.batchvarov@uconn.edu

Edited 17 hours ago by Wawona59
fix typos