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The Royal Hajj
12-14-2011, 22:47
Being new my self to the age of sails, I have been finding it hard to remember the names of all the differet mast and sail locations. I find it much easier to come to grips with this stuff if I have a good diagram to see what is what and where it is. However, most of the images out there seem over loaded with info and I quickly get lost in it all.

So, In this thread I plan on giving examples of easy to follow diagrams going over the different parts of the ship.

The Royal Hajj
12-14-2011, 22:47
One of the biggest subjects that comes up on a sailing ship is of course, the sails. But, before you can have sails, you have to have both masts and yards.

http://sailsofglory.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=4465&d=1366991556

KEY TO DIAGRAM - MASTS (orange)
A - Main Mast
B - Main Topmast
C - Main Topgallant Mast
D - Fore Mast
E - Fore Topmast
F - Fore Topgallant Mast
G - Mizzen Mast
H - Mizzen Topmast
I - Mizzen Topgallant Mast
J - Bowsprit
K - Jib Boom
L - Spear

KEY TO DIAGRAM - YARDS (black)
1 - Main Yard
2 - Main Topsail Yard
3 - Main Topgallant Yard
4 - Main Royal Yard
5 - Fore Yard
6 - Fore Topsail Yard
7 - Fore Topgallant Yard
8 - Fore Royal Yard
9 - Mizzen Yard
10 - Mizzen Topsail Yard
11 - Mizzen Topgallant Yard
12 - Mizzen Royal Yard
13 - Gaff
14 - Driver Boom
15 - Spritsail Yard

The Royal Hajj
12-14-2011, 22:50
Now that we can clearly find what and where the mast and stuff are, it's time to have a look at those sails:

http://sailsofglory.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=4458&d=1366991197


KEY TO DIAGRAM- SQUARE SAILS (orange)
A - Main Course
B - Main Topsail
C - Main Topgallant Sail
D - Main Royal
E - Foremast Course
F - Foremast Topsail
G - Foremast Topgallant Sail
H - Foremast Royal
I - Mizzen Topsail
J - Mizzen Topgallant Sail
K - Mizzen Royal
L - Driver or Spanker

KEY TO DIAGRAM - JIBS & FORE STAY SAILS (blue)
M - Flying Jib
N - Fore Topmast Staysail
O - Fore Staysail

The Royal Hajj
12-14-2011, 22:51
Now that there is sails on our ship, we should learn how they were set and for what reasons.

http://sailsofglory.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=4461&d=1366991242

Studding Sail

Studdingsails (pronounced stunsails) are set from booms rigged out from both yardarms of the topsail and topgallant yards of the fore- and mainmasts to extend temporarily the area of the topsails and topgallants. 'gull wing' - common for its sailing efficiency as it allowed the quartering wind to reach the fore sails more effectively.

http://sailsofglory.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=4462&d=1366991242

Full Sail

Similar to All Plain Sail but with the inclusion of stay sails, the fore and aft sails rigged between the masts on a vessels stays.

http://sailsofglory.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=4463&d=1366991464

All Plain Sail

All the square sails set, courses, tops, topgallants and royals. With all plain sail set, the main-sail is generally considered the best sail to steer the ship by; with the main-sail up, the main top-gallant sail is then the best sail to steer by; and with top-gallant sails handed, the main-topsail.

http://sailsofglory.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=4464&d=1366991464

Fighting Sail or Easy Sail

The Easy Sails, where courses are furled, are sometimes referred to as Fighting Sail. This has tops and topgallants set, and would be used where possible in action to give Marine snipers in the fighting tops a clear shot at the enemy crew on the weather deck below. This was preferred because it got the lower sails out of the way. The sail set a vessel fought at was dictated by prevailing conditions.

The Royal Hajj
12-14-2011, 22:51
All those masts and sails will do us no good if they don't stay on the ship! That is where the rigging comes in. Before we can dive into the diagram for the rigging, we need to know a little more about it.

Rigging Nomenclature


standing rigging does not change position. Usually it braces the masts.
running rigging is used to adjust sails and anchors.
line - a rope.
stay - a rope that doesn't move, part of the standing rigging, usually located in the fore-aft plane of the vessel.
shroud - similar to a stay, but is located in the athwartship plane of the vessel. Thus, shrouds come down to the sides of the boat and are attached to chainplates.
vang - a rope used to pull something around or down.
sheet - a rope used to adjust the position of a sail so that it catches the wind properly.
block - the nautical name for a pulley. It may be fixed to some part of the vessel or spars, or even tied to the end of a rope. The sheave is the wheel. A fiddle block has two or more sheaves in one block.
snatch-block can be closed around a line, to grab the line, rather than threading the end of the line through the block.
shackle - a piece of metal to attach two ropes, or a block to a rope, or a sail to a rope. Customarily, a shackle has a screw-in pin which often is so tight that a shackle-key must be used to unscrew it. A snap-shackle doesn't screw, and can be released by hand, but it's usually less strong or more expensive than a regular shackle.
halyards - the ropes on which one pulls to hoist something. E.g. the main-top-gallant-halyard would be the rope on which one pulls to hoist (unfurl) the main-top-gallant-sail.
running lines are made fast (unmoving) by belaying them to (wrapping them around) a cleat or a belaying-pin located in a pin-rail.


Standing Rigging

http://sailsofglory.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=4459&d=1366991197


http://sailsofglory.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=4460&d=1366991197


Running Rigging

The whole body of ropes by which the yards, booms and sails are manipulated constitute the running rigging, since they are in constant use, to trim yards, and make or shorten sail. The running rigging by which all spars and sails are hoisted, or lowered and spread or taken in, may be divided into those which lift and lower the lifts, jeers, halliards (haulyards), and those which hold down the lower corners of the sails, the tacks and sheets.
Running rigging is the term for the rigging of a sailing vessel that is used for raising, lowering and controlling the sails - as opposed to the standing rigging, which supports the mast and other spars. The running rigging includes halyards and sheets.
Some types of running rigging include:


halyards, which are the ropes or tackles usually employed to hoist or lower any sail upon it's respective masts or stays.
downhauls, which lower a sail or a yard, and can be used to adjust the tension on the luff of a sail, are a rope passing up along a stay through the rings of the stay-sail, and tied to the upper-corner of the sail, to pull it down, when they are shortening sail.
Cunninghams, which tighten the luff of a sail
Guys, which control spinnakers, are a rope used to keep steady any weighty body whilst it is hoisting or lowering, particularly when the ship is shaken by a tempestuous sea. Guy is likewise a large slack rope, extending from the head of the main-mast to the head of the fore-mast, and having two or three large blocks fastened to the middle of it. This is chiefly employed to sustain the tackle used to hoist in and out the cargo of a merchant ship, and is accordingly removed from the mast-heads as soon as the vessel is laden or delivered.
Topping lifts, which hold up booms or yards, are a large and strong tackle, employed to suspend or top the outer end of a gaff, or of the boom of a main-sail and fore-sail; such as are used in brigs, sloops, or schooners. A topping lift supports the end of a boom to keep the weight of the boom from affecting the set of the sail. In ships that use cantilevered jib booms, the jib topping lift is very important, as it alleviates the mechanical load transmitted by the jib boom.
Barber hauls, which adjust the sheeting angle of a foresail (jib)

The Royal Hajj
12-14-2011, 22:51
The next biggest part of the ship we will most likely be concerned with is the different decks:

http://sailsofglory.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=538&d=1323933084

http://sailsofglory.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=537&d=1323933082


Weather Decks are upper decks having no overhead protection from the weather, but sheltering the deck below.

Poop deck, the deck forming the roof of a poop or poop cabin, built on the upper deck and extending from the mizzenmast aft. An exposed partial deck on the stern superstructure of a ship. an exposed partial weather deck on the stern superstructure of a ship. Guns were rarely carried on this deck. It was mainly used as a viewpoint and signalling platform. The poop deck also gave protection to the men at the wheel and provided a roof for the captain's cabin. The ropes controlling the yards (spars) and sails of the main and mizzen masts were operated from the poop deck. The memory of the aftercastle, later to become the quarterdeck, is recorded only in abbreviations of the parts of ship, FX and AX "X" in this instance representing castle. In the course of time the aftercastle became the poop; the development of this word, like many things, is conjectural.

Quarter-deck, the part of the upper deck abaft the mainmast, including the poop deck when there is one. A deck which runs unbroken from forward-aft is of course a whole deck; and one which goes approximately half the ship's length, like the forecastle deck of a destroyer, is a half deck. Consequently a quarterdeck was roughly a quarter of the ship's length; it was a small deck forward of and just below the poop, between poop and mainmast. When the aftercastle disappeared the quarterdeck came into its own. Quarter-deck, the sanctum of the captain and superior officers. The quarterdeck was the nerve center of the ship. In a gun-decked ship, it is the deck below the spar-deck, extending from the mainmast to the cabin bulk-heads.

Half-deck, that portion of the deck next below the spar deck which is between the mainmast and the cabin. The Half-Deck, (corps de garde, Fr.) is a space under the quarter-deck of a ship of war, that contained between the foremost bulk-head of the steerage, and the fore-part of the quarter-deck. The Half-deck is the sanctum of the second mate, carpenters, coopers, boatswain, and all secondary officers.

Great cabin at at the stern provides the most comfortable living space on the ship. It was divided into 3 areas on the largest ships, consisting of the day and dining cabins plus the bed space. These were partitioned from the rest of the deck by wooden panels that could be removed during a battle. This would allow the great cabin to be turned into part of the upper gun deck

The waist is that part of the upper deck between the quarter-deck and forecastle. Waisters. Green hands, or broken-down seamen, are placed in the waist of a man-of-war.

Spar deck is either the upper deck, or sometimes a light deck fitted over the upper deck.

Flush deck, any continuous, unbroken deck from stem to stern.

Upper deck, the highest deck of the hull, extending from stem to stern.

Gun Decks, see below.

Berth deck, a deck next below the gun deck, where the hammocks of the crew are swung.

Orlop deck, the deck or part of a deck where the cables are stowed, usually below the water line. The deck above the holds in the old ships, what would now be called the platform deck, was known as the orlop deck, a contraction of 'overlap', a word of Dutch origin meaning 'that which runs over the hold'.

http://sailsofglory.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=539&d=1323933825

Gun deck, a deck below the spar deck, on which the ship's guns are carried. The central part of the upper gun deck may be uncovered and open to the air. This would give the crew a work area that had plenty of light and was well ventilated. During daylight hours and under the supervision of skilled craftsmen the crew would carry out tasks such as patching sails and repairing ropes.

Upper gun deck is the highest gun deck if there are three gun decks.

main deck is the upper if there are two gun decks.

middle gun deck is the middle gun deck if there are three gun decks.

lower gun deck is the lowest of the gun decks.

The lightest guns occupy the highest of the 3 decks, while the heaviest can be found on the lowest deck. This was done to aid the ship's stability while at sea. By placing the heaviest guns on the lowest deck the ship is less likely to capsize in rough weather.

The Royal Hajj
12-14-2011, 23:05
Reserved for future post 6

The Royal Hajj
12-14-2011, 23:05
Reserved for future post 7

The Royal Hajj
12-14-2011, 23:05
Reserved for future post 8

The Royal Hajj
12-14-2011, 23:05
Reserved for future post 9

The Royal Hajj
12-14-2011, 23:05
Reserved for future post 10

Berthier
12-15-2011, 04:59
Someone has been busy!!

The Royal Hajj
12-15-2011, 06:02
Haha, yeah. I recently started reading the Master and Commander series (well the first book at any rate) and trying to visualize all the ship parts as I read it was driving me nuts.

The Cowman
12-15-2011, 09:10
Awesome Keith. I am going to have a small "Guide to combat sailing" book printed out and bound by the time you and Steve finish filling my head with all this stuff!

Attila57
12-15-2011, 13:07
Haha, yeah. I recently started reading the Master and Commander series (well the first book at any rate) and trying to visualize all the ship parts as I read it was driving me nuts.

Great! Well done, Keith!

The detailed descriptions in those books are impressive. A mine of terms.

Attilio

Tommy Z
12-15-2011, 15:49
Great Post! Thank You from a sailing novice!

Old Salt
12-16-2011, 07:27
Great info. Will be very usefull for rigging

Anav
12-16-2011, 12:14
Test on Monday!

Capt P
12-16-2011, 16:09
Excellent post. Most informative. Have to print it as a cheat sheet if there is a test. And these people were illerate?

Capn Duff
12-17-2011, 03:19
Extremely informative, although my Dad was a matelot, he could never tell me all the names of a sailing ship, suppose the dissadvantage of being a submariner.
Anyway where is the ward room ?

csadn
12-17-2011, 19:55
Excellent post. Most informative. Have to print it as a cheat sheet if there is a test. And these people were illerate?

Some of them -- but one didn't have to be able to read; one learned where a particular rope/sail/whatever was, and what it did, and that was enough.

Blackrose
12-25-2011, 06:09
Excellent post. Most informative. Have to print it as a cheat sheet if there is a test. And these people were illerate?

As mentioned not all. Also illiterate didn't mean stupid. the ability to memorize things was very useful, and could be nurtured, like reading. Something to think about in this google-age.
Karl

Berthier
12-25-2011, 19:09
There wasn't much else to do on board besides "learn the ropes" and maintain the ship!

Comte de Brueys
12-27-2011, 06:14
Thanks for the information, Sealord.

Bligh
12-27-2011, 13:30
That is a very comprehensive introduction to the subject thank you First Sea lord. I will go away and try to memorise it for my midshipman's examination.
Bligh.

frpat
12-27-2011, 17:05
A good, brief outline - many thanks.

Gunner
01-01-2012, 10:49
I don't know how I missed this post until now, but thanks.
The next time I read one of Patrick O'Brian's books I'll do it next to the computer and this post.

David Manley
01-01-2012, 14:10
I did once print out a sail plan and had it to hand when I started reading AoS novels many years ago. It certainly helped :)
Just as now I have a printed map of Westeros when I'm reading the "Game of Thrones" novels so I can keep track of where everything is!!

crashx
01-01-2012, 20:05
Thanks for the good info!!!

The Royal Hajj
01-02-2012, 09:25
Just as now I have a printed map of Westeros when I'm reading the "Game of Thrones" novels so I can keep track of where everything is!!

Now you are talking my novels! I'm a diehard GoT fan!

Killick
01-11-2012, 03:32
A great guide now to see how accurate Master and Commander was!

frpat
01-12-2012, 21:24
Pretty accurate, my dear Killick - they kept a copy of Lavery (amongst others) around for constant reference.

SeaRoyal20
07-30-2012, 07:45
What a great summary! Thanks. But the real test is how many of us can say all of these names fast with a British accent!
SeaRoyal20

Jack Aubrey
01-27-2013, 05:40
Thank you, very interesting and helpfull :D

7eat51
01-28-2013, 22:54
Great set of posts. Very informative and easy to follow. Thanks.

Gunner
01-29-2013, 11:12
Fighting Sail or Easy Sail[/B]

The Easy Sails, where courses are furled, are sometimes referred to as Fighting Sail. This has tops and topgallants set, and would be used where possible in action to give Marine snipers in the fighting tops a clear shot at the enemy crew on the weather deck below. This was preferred because it got the lower sails out of the way. The sail set a vessel fought at was dictated by prevailing conditions.

Also, I always thought the main reason for "fighting sails" was to keep the main and formast courses from catching on fire from the blast and burning powder spray of their own cannons.

Volunteer
02-02-2013, 06:42
Great guides! Something everyone who models these ships needs to keep on their bench.

The Royal Hajj
02-02-2013, 08:24
Well, I was (am) a complete landsman when it comes to things that float, so I thought it would be a handy reference for me as well!

Bligh
02-02-2013, 09:37
I can feel a nasty touch of having to invest in some serious books on matters Naval as well your Lordship.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9VaDlbpAeI

Bligh.

Lugburz
03-10-2013, 06:46
Haha, yeah. I recently started reading the Master and Commander series (well the first book at any rate) and trying to visualize all the ship parts as I read it was driving me nuts.

I can easily see this game sucking me into reading all 20 Patrick O'Brian novels. My father owns them all, and as an ex-navy man living on the Chesapeake Bay, he will be THRILLED when I show him Sails of Glory!

Sea Gull
03-10-2013, 08:26
I still think "the front sticky up thing and the middle sticky up thing" is easier to remember. :o Maybe only historically accurate for the landlubbers waking up on their first morning post being press ganged.

A lovely bit of research though. Thanks.

The Royal Hajj
03-10-2013, 08:59
I just finished book 15 last night :D

OmegaLazarus
03-12-2013, 10:51
I find it much easier to come to grips with this stuff if I have a good diagram to see what is what and where it is. However, most of the images out there seem over loaded with info and I quickly get lost in it all.

I am the same way and this is a great resource for all levels. Another thing that might help some to know is that there is a shortening in speech for many of these mouthful terms (as you might expect in any military endeavor). At least they didn't use acronyms as heavily back then.



Here are a few ways to give your gums a break when speaking these names.

1 When sail is attached to another word (ex. topsail), you can make it the unstessed syllable and basically say 'sul' as in sullen. So it might phonetically look like TOP-sul

I'll give a few of the common ones -
2 Topgallant again cuts out 'top' into 'ta' as in Beretta. SO ta-GALLant. You can see the pattern.
3 Again topmast cuts mast a bit to get TOPmst -OR- you leave it off and say "Main Top" when talking about the mast with the implication that you would mention the sail if you were talking about it "Main topsul"


If all these terms are bad, just remember that they were still working with Larboard and starboard instead of Port and starboard. What a headache.

Green flash
03-23-2013, 12:12
Excellent info,:salute: thank you Sir

Naharaht
04-16-2013, 17:02
The pictures in posts 2,3,4 and 5 are not showing on my computer, Keith.

The Royal Hajj
04-18-2013, 12:25
Are you viewing from work or a public computer?

Avi
04-19-2013, 03:24
Thanks for the intro - is there an easy way to print the posts?

pward
04-19-2013, 14:05
Awesome diagrams, will come in very handing when it comes to some lite rigging attempts.

Gunner
04-19-2013, 15:43
Awesome diagrams, will come in very handing when it comes to some lite rigging attempts.


That's why I bought so many.

The Royal Hajj
04-19-2013, 20:34
Thanks for the intro - is there an easy way to print the posts?

Sorry, not really. You can right click the images and save those and then print them out.

Cmmdre
04-20-2013, 07:44
Very helpful and concise. Thank you for the valuable information you have posted sir. :medal:

CHolgren
04-22-2013, 18:00
Not sure why, but I'm not able to see the rigging gif/jpg. I anyone else having that problem? Thank you for the material.

I agree Keith, growing up in the rockies made it difficult to be anything but a landsman.

JAG
04-23-2013, 07:54
Hi..great job! For some reason the first several photos are not showing for me either..is the link broken on them? I am on my home computer and I have tried it with a couple different browsers with the same result.

Thanks...

Avi
04-23-2013, 08:26
All clear here - could it be just timing out on the pictures?

JAG
04-23-2013, 09:33
Ok..well it's working now so not sure what was going on before..thanks

CHolgren
04-26-2013, 09:32
I've tried three different machines and still can't see the rigging. Any idea where the figures came from or alternate sites with this information? Thanks for any help.

The Royal Hajj
04-26-2013, 10:04
Check them again now please.

CHolgren
04-26-2013, 10:13
Check them again now please.

Keith they were there the very first time I glanced at them, but then they disappeared for me. Sorry about the hassle, but they are back, thank you.

BillyRuffin
08-26-2013, 18:19
Found this very informative. About to start (attempt!!) rigging some ships that I completed from Langtons, so fingers crossed and thank you.:happy:

VonTed
01-29-2014, 05:04
Nice! Need this is a PDF :)

KeithS
01-29-2014, 05:28
Do you have anything similar on ship types? I've been trying to read up on them but the information seems a bit contradictory. I'm OK on rated ships but the classifications of smaller ships (sloops, brigs, brigantines, cutters, etc.) is a little confusing I've seen classifications based on mast number, square or fore & aft sails, and rank of the captain.

The Royal Hajj
01-29-2014, 09:40
Sorry, no. I don't even have a firm grasp on ship types and classes.

David Manley
01-29-2014, 10:59
Here's a start. I'm sure I have seen a better one too

8761

Obviously some of these are rather more modern than we are considering in SGN. And there are myriad types not covered here (no Snows or Prams for starters :happy: )

Coog
01-29-2014, 11:15
The term sloop can be confusing. This link has some of the information you want and some links for more descriptions that may help you understand the type of sloops referred to on this site:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sloop-of-war

Here are some other links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brig

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brigantine

KeithS
01-29-2014, 11:26
Thanks, these are helpful.

Nightbomber
01-29-2014, 12:02
Thanks Chief for posting all the info. As a man of the air, not sea, this is VERY helpful, especially as far as English terms are concerned :happy:

Пилот
01-30-2014, 06:50
For some reason I never visited this topic before - and the topic is a must! Thanks, Keith, for sharing it!

Zedzeke
03-06-2014, 10:23
Caramba, great work, i will try to rig up my first ships, ok, lets go, thanks for the nice plan ;-)

Haggisblower
03-19-2014, 09:52
Thinking I've got some homework to do. An excellent start, thanks for posting

Mahan
03-24-2014, 04:53
Thanks for this information!

I know the names in Swedish but not in English due these sailor terms was not really in the lectures of my English classes back in school. Wonder why? But this will really help me out in future reading and writing about sailing ships.

Loki 13
02-09-2015, 19:26
That's a lot to remember, thanks.

Jason
02-10-2015, 00:23
Wow. Having all this in one place is a blessing, although English terms are are pretty logical and meaningful. Learning them in Polish when I started sailing was a nightmare, because as for sailing dictionary we have a mix of polonized English, Dutch an German words with no logic behind it whatsoever. Now the problem is that I read AOS books sometimes in Polish and sometimes in English and it all gets confusing. :)

Bligh
02-10-2015, 01:45
Very useful information thanks.
Rob.

7eat51
02-12-2015, 12:21
Just moved to The Chippy Shop. It is a sticky, so it can be found easily by looking at the top of the forum.

Mycenius
02-21-2015, 11:55
Also, I always thought the main reason for "fighting sails" was to keep the main and formast courses from catching on fire from the blast and burning powder spray of their own cannons.

Yep! :thumbsup:

garchilajr
06-16-2015, 00:07
Thank you! Where did you find these references, if you don't mind my asking?

Bligh
06-16-2015, 02:20
Having had recourse to this thread yet again, I felt that it was high time Keith got some Kudos for putting it together.:hatsoff:
Bligh.

The Royal Hajj
06-16-2015, 04:35
Thank you! Where did you find these references, if you don't mind my asking?

Honestly, I don't remember. It was someplace off the internet though via Google search.



Having had recourse to this thread yet again, I felt that it was high time Keith got some Kudos for putting it together.:hatsoff:
Bligh.

Thanks Rob!

capncarp
09-09-2015, 10:15
Too...much...information.
Brain...bursting.
Surgeon, get the trephine, we'll make a vent-hole!
Most excellent, very well done. :salute:
That could make a salt out of a lubber in no time.:thanks:

BTW, I have found two books to be eminently helpful in understanding the age of sail in both the historical and the functional senses.
Ships and Seamen of the American Revolution, by Jack Coggins
Pirates and Patriots of the Revolution by C. Keith Wilbur
Both fully hand-illustrated, crammed with details of the function, structure, and backstory of how sailing ships were built, operated, and fought. Lots of juicy tid-bits of lore thrown in, to boot.:thumbsup:

KDz
03-03-2016, 08:00
Very good post, a lot of valuable information :hatsoff:

Tomrcast
04-25-2017, 19:49
In plain or battle sail are the stays and jib normally taken down? The graphic seems to suggest it. The models always have them.

Dobbs
04-25-2017, 20:12
In plain or battle sail are the stays and jib normally taken down? The graphic seems to suggest it. The models always have them.

The headsails played an important roll in turning through the wind. Same with the spanker. However, most of the models have spritsails, and by this period it was a sail that was rarely used. Most period illustrations show the spritsail spar bare. To that end, I have removed the spritsails from my models and replaced them with a tiny bit of carbon fiber rod ( and added rod on the frigates that didn't have any and the British 1st rates).

Tomrcast
04-25-2017, 20:24
So forgive my ignorance but the head sails are the jib and stay sails in the diagram? And they should remain up in fighting sail?

Dobbs
04-26-2017, 05:20
So forgive my ignorance but the head sails are the jib and stay sails in the diagram? And they should remain up in fighting sail?

Yes, those are the headsails. It is my understanding that the typical fighting sail configuration was topsails, maybe t'gallants, and headsails and spanker. The idea was maximum maneuverability with minimum crew handling.

Nelson went for all sail (I think including stuns'ls) at Trafalgar to break the combined fleet's line as fast as possible in light air.

Killick
07-21-2017, 01:47
I have read Patrick O'Brian's books twice and I have only just learnt what "Broached" means.

Killick
07-21-2017, 01:50
Thanks Keith for your thread very helpful

Bligh
07-21-2017, 02:15
I have read Patrick O'Brian's books twice and I have only just learnt what "Broached" means.

You can't have drunk many casks of Old Jamaica rum in your time then Alistair.:cheezy:
Bligh.

Killick
07-22-2017, 00:24
I was stationed Belize an old British colony and could not drink rum the way the locals did "white local rum and condensed milk" :erk:

ArkansasChuck
02-22-2018, 06:21
This is a fantastic guide! A ton of information I needed! I love the diagrams. So simple my kids will be able to learn about the ship sections and correct names!

Thank you all for sharing this. Excellent info.

Mr_Zorro
11-26-2019, 15:49
Extraordinary job! keep up the good work