Everything about Sailing Ship totally explained
» For history of "sailing ship" see shipbuilding.
Sailing ship is now used to refer to any large,
wind-powered,
vessel. In technical terms, a
ship was a sailing vessel with a specific rig of at least three masts,
square rigged on all of them, making the
sailing adjective redundant. In popular usage ship became associated with all large sailing vessels and when steam power came along the adjective became necessary. See also
sailboat
Specifications
There are many different
types of sailing ship, but they all have certain basic things in common. Every sailing ship has a
hull,
rigging and at least one
mast to hold up the
sails that use the
wind to power the ship.
The
crew who sail a ship are called
sailors or
hands. They take turns to take the
watch, the active managers of the ship and her performance for a period. Watches are traditionally four hours long. Some sailing ships use traditional
ship's bells to tell the time and regulate the watch system, with the bell being rung once for every half hour into the watch and rung eight times at watch end (a four-hour watch).
Ocean journeys by sailing ship can take many months, and a common hazard is becoming becalmed because of lack of wind, or being blown off course by severe
storms or winds that don't allow progress in the desired direction. A severe storm could lead to
shipwreck, and the loss of all hands.
Sailing ships can only carry a certain quantity of supplies in their
hold, so they've to plan long
voyages carefully to include many stops to take on
provisions and, in the days before
watermakers, fresh
water.
Types of sailing vessel
A variety of names have been used, and many of them have changed in meaning over time:
hermaphrodite brig
junk
ketch - two masts, the mizzen mast forward of the rudder post
Koch (boat)
longship
lugger
luzzu
pram
schooner - fore-and-aft rigged sails, with two or more masts, the aftermost mast taller or equal to the height of the forward mast(s)
ship of the line - large warship, three masts (sometimes four) and a bowsprit
sloop
snow - two masts with trysail mast
xebec
yawl - two masts, the mizzen mast aft of the rudder post
catamaranFurther Information
Get more info on 'Sailing Ship'.
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