Michala Woodruff

A sailor salutation to y’all! Hope everyone’s doing fantastic. I looked at the date of my last post, . . . and the day’s date. A month?! Yes, it’s been about a month since our last tour. (Sorry about that). I soon give an update, but for now . . .

Without further delay, let’s dive into our last tour of a ship-of-the-line 1700s ship! Inside the ship at the head (front) is the sickbay. Hammocks surround us. It’s so crowded that the surgeon barely has any room to perform surgeries. So, according to the USS Constitution Museum, the surgeon takes the wounded sailor with the help of the surgeon’s mate down to the dark orlop deck. And . . . performs the surgery there.     

Below all this, is the hold. And it’s almost like a maze! Different storage spots for different items, such as food, gunpower, and more. For example, sailors would collect cannonballs to bring up to the gun decks during battle. However, according to the “How an 18^th Century Sailing Battleship Works” by Jacob O Neil and Wesley O Neal, the floor gradings made items easier to pass up to the decks above (4:08).  

These sailors were not the only ones in the belly of the ship during battles. According to the USS Constitution Museum, the carpenter was stationed below the waterline to fix any leaks. Would you like a job like this on an old warship? Before you answer this, you probably want to know how well the ship is built.

According to “How an 18^th Century Sailing Battleship Works” by Jacob O Neil and Wesley O Neal, the frame is made from wooden blocks with slanted ends to make the shape of the ribs (0:43-54). Once finished with the layers of wood on the frame, the wall of the ship (hull) is about two feet wide at the waterline (1:19)! Also, “How an 18^th Century Sailing Battleship Works” mentions the ballast at the bottom of the ship—rocks and iron blocks to weigh the ship down for stability (2:19-37).

I learned a lot in this video. So, I wanted to add one more cool fact about the hold. There are wooden vents for better air (2:39-44). Cool, right? I haven’t really thought about the air down there until now.

The easiest way to figure out how deep we are underwater (draft) is to look on the outside of the ship’s painted numbers. For a ship-of-the-line, it really depends on multiple things such as waves and loads and even the shape of the ship. However, to give you an idea, you’re definitely 23+ feet deep underwater.

So, here we have it. A 1700s ship-of-the-line. Thank you for joining me on this series! I hope you enjoyed it. If you have any other ideas for another blog series, I’d love to hear them. Also, if you have any questions at any time, you’re always welcome to the “Leave a Reply” box below or the “Contact” through email above.

There’s always something more to learn about these ships. And it’s a blast! Here’s my resources:

• https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=mcafee&ei=UTF-8&p=how+did+they+build+a+ship-of-the-line+in+the+1700s&type=E211US714G0#id=1&vid=0b4171b7103c73e1d1247787b4d89e30&action=click
• https://ussconstitutionmuseum.org/discover-learn/history/ships-crew/ranks-and-rates/
• https://ussconstitutionmuseum.org/discover-learn/history/ships-crew/ranks-and-rates/

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