timbers.

22 Rail. 11 Apron of the stem. 23 Knight-heads.     24 Cathead. D. The Timbers. 25 Fashion timbers. 1 Keelson. 26 Transoms. 2 Floor timbers. 27 Quarter pieces. 3 Naval timbers or ground futtocks.     4 Lower futtocks. B. The Inside of the Stern. 5 Middle futtocks. 1 Keelson. 6 Upper futtocks. 2 Pointers. 7 Top timbers. 3 Chock. 8 Half timbers, or half top-timbers. 4 Transoms.    

PLATE IV.
EXPLANATIONS.

Ship.—A ship is square-rigged throughout; that is, she has tops, and carries square sails on all three of her masts.

Bark.—A bark is square-rigged at her fore and main masts, and differs from a ship in having no top, and carrying only fore-and-aft sails at her mizzenmast.

Brig.—A full-rigged brig is square-rigged at both her masts.

Hermaphrodite Brig.—An hermaphrodite brig is square-rigged at her foremast; but has no top, and only fore-and-aft sails at her main mast.

Topsail Schooner.—A topsail schooner has no tops at her foremast, and is fore-and-aft rigged at her mainmast. She differs from an hermaphrodite brig in that she is not properly square-rigged at her foremast, having no top, and carrying a fore-and-aft foresail, in stead of a square foresail and a spencer.

Fore-and-aft Schooner.—A fore-and-aft schooner is fore-and-aft rigged throughout, differing from a topsail schooner in that the latter carries small square sails aloft at the fore.

Sloop.—A sloop has one mast, fore-and-aft rigged.

Hermaphrodite Brigs sometimes carry small square sails aloft at the main; in which case they are called Brigantines, and differ from a Full-rigged Brig in that they have no top at the mainmast, and carry a fore-and-aft mainsail instead of a square mainsail and trysail. Some Topsail Schooners carry small square sails aloft at the main as well as the fore; being in other respects fore-and-aft rigged. They are then called Main Topsail Schooners.

Ship	Bark
Full-rigged Brig	Hermaphrodite Brig
Top-sail Schooner	Fore & aft Schooner
Sloop

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PART I.

 

CHAPTER I.

GENERAL RULES AND OBSERVATIONS.

Construction of vessels. Tonnage and carriage of merchant vessels. Proportions of the spars. Placing the masts. Size of anchors and cables. Lead-lines. Log-line. Ballast and lading.

Construction of Vessels.—As merchant vessels of the larger class are now built in the United States, the extreme length of deck, from the after part of the stern-post to the fore part of the stem, is from four and a half to four and three fourths that of the beam, at its widest part. The Damascus, of 700 tons' measurement, built at Boston in 1839, and considered a fair specimen of our best freighting vessels, had 150 feet from stem to stern-post, and 32 feet 6 inches extreme breadth. The Rajah, of 530 tons, built at Boston in 1837, had 140 feet length, and 30 feet beam;—being each in length about four and six tenths their beam.

A great contrast to this proportion is exhibited in the most recent statistics (1841) of vessels of the same tonnage in the English navy; as the following table will show.

			Tons.	Deck.		Beam.				Proportion.
	{	Dido	734	120	ft.	37	ft.	6	in.	3.20
English Navy.	{	Pilot	492	105		33		6		3.13
	{	Alert	358	95		30		4		3.16
American	{	Damascus	694	150		32		6		4.60
Merchantmen.	{	Rajah	531	140		30		0		4.66

These may, perhaps, be considered the extremes of ship-building; and between these there is every grade of difference.

Tonnage and Carriage of Merchant Vessels.—The amount a vessel will carry in proportion to her tonnage, depends upon whether, and to what extent, she is full or sharp built. A sharp-built vessel of 300 tons' measurement, will carry just about her tonnage of measurement goods. A sharp-built vessel of 200 tons or under would probably carry less than her measurement; if over 400 tons, she would increase gradually to fifty per cent. above her measurement. A sharp-built vessel of 600 tons, is generally rated at 900 tons carriage. A full-built vessel of 300 tons, after the latest model of American freighting vessels, will carry 525 tons, or seventy-five per cent. above her measurement; and one of 500 tons would carry full double her measurement.

The following table may give a pretty fair average.

TONS OF MEASUREMENT GOODS.

Tonnage.	Full built.	Sharp built.
300	(.75) 525	(.00) 300
400	(.80) 725	(.40) 560
500	(1.00) 1000	(.50) 750
600	(1.33) 1400	(.50) 900

Proportions of Spars.—There is no particular rule for sparring merchant vessels; some being light, and others heavy sparred; and some having long