Foremast Jack

Part II: Unrated Men-of-War from pre- and post-Napoleonic era. Welcome back to the Captain of the Capstan tutorial. Today we'll be looking at the most prominently used type of capstans on unrated men-of-war from the mid 18th century to end of the age of sail. (Those types of vessels being: Corvettes, Gun-brigs, Sloops-of-War, Spanish Xebecs, Ketches, Schooners, etc.) note: larger ships in this class may have used the style of capstan covered in part one of this tutorial. When designing a ship, unless it's an historical one, use your best judgment to decide which style is most appropriate. Here we have the larboard-quarter of a brig. Viewing the exterior of the ship there's not much difference from the larger ships covered in part one. On the inside there's quite more going on though, so let's move there. Looking at the deck we get a look at the various names for the different parts. One should notice that a lot of the parts carry the same names, but have a slightly different orientation. Operation of this of capstan is very similar to the larger ones previously covered. The advantage here being, that fewer men can operate it. However, it takes MUCH longer to complete the task (3-4 hours compared with 30-45 minutes). Men would work both the starboard and larboard sides of the capstan assembly simultaneously. In the pictured position the larboard side would remove their capstan bar and re-insert it when the starboard side had hauled theirs to the deck. Although it is enclosed in this picture, betwixt the drumheads is the pawl assembly. This is a ratchet mechanism which keeps the anchor cable from feeding back out whilst it's being weighed. Again if there are any questions, comments or concerns please do not hesitate to present them.

np. that's what we're here for.

It is a LEGO set As to if it's worth bidding on... don't think I could really say. edit: meant to note that it's a Junior's set. Keep that in mind if you're wanting to use the pieces for other builds.

You're very much welcome. Yes they can be. Although I will say that this is about as complicated as it gets. It may have made more sense to start off in a chronological order, but as I said: this stage of the capstan's evolution is the most appropriate one for the audience here.

[pid][/pid] Tutorial - The Captain of the Capstan This tutorial is complete Updated with clearer, more succinct illustrations Hello all! In the spirit of Horry's recent tutorials based around making more historically accurate nautical vessels I've decided to help him spread the wealth of knowledge that is to be had. I plan to update this thread every so often with a new capstan design for all the different ships that are of interest to the great patrons of these forums. Seeing how it seems most applicable I first present the capstan assembly for rated men-of-war from the late 17th century till the end of the age of sail.(Those being frigates and ships-of-the-line.) Part I: Rated Men-of-War from pre- and post-Napoleonic era. "'All hands unmoor ship,' said Jack, raising his voice to the pitch of an order, though every man had been at his station these ten minutes past, angrily willing the pilot to stop his prating, to stash it, to pipe down; and instantly the bosun sprung his call. 'See,' cried Stephen, 'the carpenter and his crew put the bars in the capstan - they ship them, pin them and swift them.' 'They bring the messenger to the capstan: the gunner ties its rounded ends together. What are they called, Maturin?' 'Let us not be too pedantic, for all love. The whole point is, the messenger is now endless: it is a serpent that has swallowed its own tail.' 'I cannot see it,' said Standish, leaning far out over the rail. 'Where is this messenger?' 'Why,' said Martin, 'it is that rope they are putting over the rollers just beneath us in the waist, a vast loop that goes from the capstan to two other stout vertical rollers by the hawse-holes and so back.' 'I do not understand. I see the capstan, but there is no rope round it at all.' 'What you see is the upper capstan,' said Stephen with some complacency. 'The messenger is twined about the lower part, under the quarterdeck. But both the lower and the upper part are equipped with bars: both turn: both heave, as we say. See, they undo the deck-stoppers, or dog-stoppers as some superficial observers call them - they loosen the starboard cable, the cable on the right-hand side - they throw off the turn about the riding-bitts! What force and dexterity!' 'They bring the messenger to the cable - they bind it to the cable with nippers.' 'Where? Where? I cannot see.' 'Of course not. They are right forward, by the hawse-holes, where the cable comes into the ship, under the forecastle.' 'But presently,' said Stephen in a comforting tone, 'you will perceive the cable come creeping aft, led by the messenger.' John Foley, the Shelmerston fiddler, skipped on to the capstan-head; at his first notes the men at the bars stepped out, and after the first turns that brought on the strain, three deep voices and one clear tenor sang Yeo heave ho, round the capstan go, Heave men with a will Tramp and tramp it still The anchor must be weighed, the anchor must be weighed joined by all in a roaring Yeo heave ho Yeo heave ho five times repeated before the three struck in again Yeo heave ho, raise her from below Heave men with a will Tramp and tramp it still The anchor's off the ground, the anchor's off the ground 'There is your cable,' said Martin in a very much louder voice, after the first few lines. 'So it is,' said Standish; and having stared at it coming in like a great wet serpent he went on, 'But it is not going to the capstan at all.' 'Certainly not,' said Stephen in a screech above the full chorus. 'It is far too thick to bend round the capstan; furthermore, it is loaded with the vile mud of Tagus.' 'They undo the flippers and let the cable down the main hatchway and so to the orlop, where they coil it on the cable-tiers,' said Martin. 'And they hurry back with the flippers to bind fresh cable to the messenger as it travels round.' 'How active they are,' observed Stephen. 'See how diligently they answer Captain Pullings' request to light along the messenger, that is to say pull along the slack on that side which is not heaving in -' 'And how they run with the flippers: Davies has knocked Plaice flat.' 'What are those men doing with the other cable?' asked Standish. 'They are veering it out,' answered Martin quickly. 'You are to understand that we are moored,' said Stephen. 'In other words we are held by two anchors, widely separated; when we approach the one, therefore, by pulling on its cable, the cable belonging to the other must necessarily be let out, and this is done by the veering cable-men. But their task is almost over, for if I do not mistake we are short stay apeak. I say we are short stay apeak.' But before he could insist upon this term, better than any Martin could produce, and reasonably accurate, a voice from the forecastle called 'Heave and a-weigh, sir,' whereupon Jack cried 'Heave and rally' with great force. All the veerers ran to the bars, the fiddler fiddled extremely fast, and with a violent, grunting yeo heave ho they broke the anchor from its bed and ran it up to the bows. The subsequent operations, the hooking of the cat to the anchor-ring, the running of the anchor up to the cat.head, the fishing of the anchor, the shifting of the messenger for the other cable (which of course required a contrary turn), and many more, were too rapid and perhaps too obscure to be explained before Jack gave the order 'Up anchor' and the music started again; but this time they sang We'll heave him up from down below Way oh Criana That is where the cocks do crow We're all bound over the mountain to the sound of a shrill sweet fife. The ship moved easily, steadily over the water - the tide was making fast - and presently West, on the forecastle, called 'Up and down, sir.' 'He means that we are directly over the anchor,' said Stephen. 'Now you will see something.' 'Loose topsails,' said Jack in little more than a conversational voice, and at once the shrouds were dark with men racing aloft. He gave no more orders. The Surprises lay out, let fall, sheeted home, hoisted and braced the topsails with perfect unity, as though they had all served together throughout a long commission. The frigate gathered way, plucked the anchor from its bed and moved smoothly up the Tagus." - excerpt from The Thirteen-Gun Salute by Patrick O'Brian The capstan assembly is the device used to raise and lower the ship's anchor(s). The capstan is a vertical-axled machine passing through at least two decks depending on the size of the vessel. It is operated by up to 100 men, again depending on the size of ship. Here we see an exterior view of the bow of a 2 decker ship-of-the-line. The cable anchor passes through the hawse holes. It does not connect directly to the capstan (as we'll see). At this time in history the anchor was so large that it would break the capstan was it to wrap directly around it. It also took several men to handle the cable. Okay. So here we can see all the inner workings. The way it all works is this: the messenger cable is wound around the trundlehead. (It would have been wound much more than once as pictured, but can't do it in LDD with those tubes.) The messenger cable then ran around the rollers and rode on the bits to keep it off the deck. (Also when the ship is "at anchor" the anchor cable is wove around the bits. This is how it keeps the ship in place. Otherwise the end of the anchor cable would just slide out the hawse hole and someone would have to handle another rope's end. ) The anchor cable was lashed to the messenger cable with bits of rope called nippers. (The nipper lashings would have extended from the hawse holes down the length of cable all the way to the hatch, not just the two I have pictured.) As a nipper reached the cable hatch a small boy (called a Nipper) would untie the lashing and run up to the forward bulkhead to tie it onto the cable that was just coming through the hawse hole. Down in the orlop were several strong and hearty lads who man-handled the anchor cable to lay and stack it neatly. (Though not displayed here, since the pre-fab hull pieces cut off some depth, the area of deck the cable was laid on had several planks missing so that air could circulate about the cable to dry it. A note on the deck location for different sized men-of-war. As previously stated the displayed ship would be a 2nd, 3rd, or 4th rate "two decker." Were this a 1st or 2nd rate three-decker the trundlehead would extend up one more deck and there would be a second drumhead there. On a frigate: the deck where the trundlehead is shown would be the single gun-deck and the drumhead would be on the main deck (aka weatherdeck). With most frigates the capstan was light enough that when not in use it was bodily lowered into the gun deck to clear the main deck and a ship's launch was stored there. A note on capstan location within the ship: Whilst pictured here just abaft the foremast the location of the capstan (trundlehead and drumhead) could be as far aft as just fore the mainmast. I think that's about it. I'll probably do un-rated napoleonic ships next. Questions, comments, concerns, critiques and criticisms are all welcome. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Nice. I'm glad you got a response. The book I pulled it from is: ISBN: 0-8050-6615-2 But that diagram is based on a plate from this book.

I love your tutorials Horry! Whilst I doubt it is anything other than the limitations of LDD, from my understanding the inboard end of the table was secured to the overhead with rope (not chain) and the outboard end secured to the inner bulkhead by iron rings. Let me know if you've seen otherwise. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Found a couple pictures showing what I mean: From the HMS Victory From the HMS Surprise

Thanks for the welcome! Images resized. Okay, where to start? Well since Horry has given his blessing allowing us to continue our discussion here, I think I'll do just that. ;) That part of the ship we've been discussing does have a name singling it out from the rest of the Main Deck, but I've never heard it referred to as the well or well-deck. The well is down in the bilges. It's the absolutely lowest part of the ship from which the ship's carpenter takes the "well sounding" to determine how much water the ship has taken on from high seas, battle, normal seepage, etc. Now like I was saying before one possible translation of kuil is waist, and I have heard that part of the ship called the waist. However, that area (when covered with grating betwixt the gangways) is never called the waist-deck (or well-deck). I don't want to go so far as to say the references you're consulting are incorrect. Perhaps it's more a problem of mistranslation on someone's part somewhere. I'm including a scan showing the "waist" of a early 19th century man o' war.

I totally forgot I had this. Realized it might be helpful. Based on these blueprints Bart's original labeling of the decks would be correct. (apart from the well-deck; that's still being debating). However, keep in mind that the Main deck (whilst overcrowded with guns) is not a gun deck. So, there it is.

As far as "kuildek" is concerned, from my VERY limited understanding of Dutch, "kuil" can mean waist. I should think then that the term is meant to express that the deck is in the waist (e.g. the middle) of the ship. That makes sense to me, but regardless the English rendering of "well deck" I do not think is right for the time period we are talking. As to the lower gun-deck being submerged, I would agree that in the diagram it's a bit too low to serve that purpose. However, keep in mind that the big three-deckers of the time had their lowest gun-decks so close to the water-line that in times of heavy sea they had to keep those gun-ports close. Essentially making them a two-decker. You are probably right about us moving these latter posts to a different thread. But I think we've come as far as we can. At this point I think Sebeus has all the information he needs. He has to simply take it all and translate it into something that is buildable and maintains the feel of the movie.

Okay so I looked over your diagram some more. I knocked up a rough picture of what I think your intentions are: posted image Based on that she'd be a 52 gun 4th rate ship-of-the-line. Let me know if that looks right to you.