KETCH

KETCHES are principally used as yachts, or as bomb-vessels, the former of which are employed to convey princes of the blood, ambassadors,or other great personages from one part to another; and the latter are used to bombard citadels, or towns, or other fortresses.

The bomb-ketches are therefore furnished with all the apparatus necessary for a vigorous bombardment. They are built remarkably strong, as being fitted with a greater number of riders than any other vessel of war; see fig. 5. plate VII. and indeed this reinforcement is absolutely necessary to sustain the violent shock produced by the discharge of their mortars, which would otherwise, in a very short time, shatter them to pieces. See MORTAR and SHELL.

Plate VII

Reference Works