HEAD of the Ship

Thus fig. 10. plate IV. represents one side of the fore-part, or head of a seventy-four gun ship, together with part of the bow, keel, and gunnel. The names of the several pieces, exhibited therein, are as follow:

Plate IV

A A Fore part of the keel, with a a the two false keels beneath it.

A C the stem.

a a The cat-head.

b b The supporter of the cat-head, (sous-barbe, Fr.)

c c The knight-head, or bollard-timber, of which there is one on each side, to secure the inner-end of the bowsprit.

d d The hawse-holes.

e e The navel-hoods, i.e. thick pieces of plank laid upon the bow to strengthen the edges of the hawse-holes.

f The davit-chock, by which the davit is firmly wedged while employed to fish the anchor.

g The bulk-head, which terminates the forecastle on the fore-side, being called the beak-head bulk-head by ship-wrights.

H The gun-ports of the lower deck.

h The gun-ports of the upper deck and forecastie.

I, I, The channels, with their dead-eyes and chain-plates.

i The gripe, or fore-foot, which unites the keel with the Item, forming a part of either.

k k These dotted lines represent the thickness and descent of the different decks from the fore-part of the ship towards the middle. The lowest of the three dotted lines l expresses the convexity of the beams, or the difference between the heighth of the deck in the middle of it's breadth, and at the ship's side. This is also exhibited more clearly in the midship-frame, where the real curve of the beam is delineated.

N. B. These lines must be always parallel to the lines which terminate the gun-ports above and below.

m m The timbers of the head, and part of the bowsprit.

X The rails of the head which lie across the timbers.

Q Z Fore-part of the main-wale.

R X Fore-part of the channel-wale.

U C The load water-line.

See also the continuation of a ship throughout her whole length, upon a smaller scale, plate I. ELEVATION.

Plate I

Fig. ii. represents a head-view of a ship, with the projection of her principal timbers, and all her planks laid on one side. This figure corresponds to that of the elevation, plate I. and the stem-view, fig. 2. plate X.

Plate X

It is evident that the fore-part of a ship is called it's head, from the affinity of motion and position it bears to a fish, and in general to the horizontal situation of all animals whilst swimming.

Reference Works