by admin on Saturday, March 13, 2010 17:32 under Interesting Facts.
Read full story
- For much of history ships were built and designed by shipwrights.
- Shipwrights worked from experience and rarely drew plans. But in the 17th and 18th centuries, they often made models.
- Nowadays ships arc designed by ‘naval architects’ and built by shipbuilders.
- Wooden ships were built on a building berth. Timbers and planks were cut and shaped around, then fitted together on, the berth to form the hull.
- First the long spine or keel of the boat was laid down. Thick wooden ribs were added to make a strong frame.
- In the Middle Ages in the Mediterranean, wooden ships were carvel-built, meaning the planks were fitted together edge to edge onto the ribs of the structure.
- A futtock is one of the big bent timber ribs of a boat near the stern.
- In the Middle Ages in northern Europe, wooden ships were clinker-built. This means the planks overlapped, as in Viking ships.
- Ships are launched down a slope called a slipway.
- After launching, a ship has just the bare bones of a hull and main structures. It is finished in a fitting-out basin.
