Berthier
12-14-2011, 21:48
Tumblehome was common on wooden warships for centuries.
In the era of oared combat ships it was quite common, placing the oar ports as far abeam as possible. This also made it more difficult to board by force, as the ships would come to contact at their widest points, with the decks some distance apart. The narrowing of the deck above this point made the boat more stable by lowering the weight above the waterline, which is one of the reasons it remained common during the age of cannon-armed ships. In addition, the sloping sides of a tumblehome ship increased the effective thickness of the hull versus flat horizontal trajectory gunfire (a straight line through faced more material to penetrate) and also increased the likelihood of a shell striking the hull being deflected- much the same reasons that later tank armor was sloped. (From W)
http://www.cityofart.net/bship/tumble_dia.jpg
In the era of oared combat ships it was quite common, placing the oar ports as far abeam as possible. This also made it more difficult to board by force, as the ships would come to contact at their widest points, with the decks some distance apart. The narrowing of the deck above this point made the boat more stable by lowering the weight above the waterline, which is one of the reasons it remained common during the age of cannon-armed ships. In addition, the sloping sides of a tumblehome ship increased the effective thickness of the hull versus flat horizontal trajectory gunfire (a straight line through faced more material to penetrate) and also increased the likelihood of a shell striking the hull being deflected- much the same reasons that later tank armor was sloped. (From W)
http://www.cityofart.net/bship/tumble_dia.jpg