Characteristics

[twentytortures]

What are the characteristics of ships of the game era? What exactly makes these ships different than other ships?

[keline]

They're made of wood?

[KrisWood]

1: The lack of top royals (sails and masts above the top gallants)

2: The existence of a squared beakhead bulkhead (though there were some round bowed ships in this era, mostly smaller vessels), and thus a beakhead as well, this disappeared on progressively larger ships toward the end of the century.

3: A relatively high stern compared to later vessels (and a relatively low one compared to earlier vessels)

4: An open waist (though flush single-decked frigates do appear to have originated in this time period)

5: Considerably more decoration than any other era in shipbuilding (though the decades prior to the 1660 cutoff did have equal decoration, the 17th century was undoubtedly the most elaborate in general). During the PotBS time period, warships and trading vessels were equal parts display of wealth and display of power. During the reign of Queen Anne however, warships began to become less heavily decorated, and by the time of the reforms of the mid 18th century, most decoration had been reduced to a few touches a gilding except on royal yachts.

6: This era saw a steady progression of standardization over earlier eras as european navies began to see the merit of draughts and regulated design and construction (though the dutch continued to persist in more freeform methods until much later than the rest )

7: Lack of turreted and short barreled guns. The second half of the century saw the invention of not only carronades and similar weaponry, but the invention of turret carriage mounts so that guns could be swivelled. Both of these lead to further inventions in the next century that would ultimately culminate in the favoring of a small compliment of large pivoting guns rather than a large compliment of cannons arranged along broadsides.

There were other details as well, such as primarily circular cutwaters which became straighter and eventually even concave in the next century (for example the sharp bows of clipper ships) which perhaps not-so-coincidentally happened at the same rate as the disappearance of the beakhead (go figure ). Channels were gradually raised, hulls got larger, ordinance got heavier, increasingly more metal parts until entire hulls were made of metal. During the PotBS period even the nails holding he hulls together were often made of wood.

I think the list goes on for quite some time.

[twentytortures]

Originally Posted by KrisWood 4: An open waist (though flush single-decked frigates do appear to have originated in this time period)

I'm not sure what this means exactly...

A bit thanks for your reply! The reason I asked was because I was thinking about trying to draw some ships .

[Michael O'Dwyer]

On a three masted ship the waist is the space between the foremast and the main mast. In small ships like the Postillionen there is no room along the sides for any useful decks, but as ships become larger they tended to add walkways (see the Capricieux) as time passed these temporary walkways became permanent and later still completely covered over the gundeck. The Raa is the exception to this since she is a very early frigate with a complete deck covering the gundeck.

[twentytortures]

What's the average ratio between length, width, and height?

[Jabberdau]

Originally Posted by Michael O'Dwyer The Raa is the exception to this since she is a very early frigate with a complete deck covering the gundeck.

And that is not entirely confirmed either. The model seems to indicate that there where either gangplanks or a full deck, while the plans show a full deck. Or at least that was the conclusion, and might only have been there because of it beeing used exclusively in the baltic sea he he.

The ratio was about 1:3 between lenght and beam, but how to measure those varies. Later (after the Potbs period) it became 1:4.