Below is a frigate model from around 1741. Looking at it, it v would appear the ship's wheel is on the quarterdeck, but the binnacle is just forward of the capstan one deck below.
What reason would there be for this?
20230418_131346.jpg (103.79 KiB) Viewed 2378 times
I will ask all the questions on all things floaty.
I looked at the book Armament and fitting of the English Man of War. The binnacle should be in front of the steering wheel, no other site is mentioned. I would agree with Steve, but it is a model in what I would think a respectable book by a respectable author, he would have said something about this rarity in the model.
Based on the shape, I would guess this represents a pump rather than a binnacle. Two handles would be inserted from the sides and the pumped water would flood out over the deck and into the scuppers. The helmsman must be able to see the compass if he is going steer a course.
All the best
wadinga
"There seems to be something wrong with our bloody ships today!"
I vaguely remember a secondary helm in the deck below the weather deck on some ships. I never found out if they had a compass repeater in that compartment.
OpanaPointer wrote: ↑Sat Apr 29, 2023 2:46 pmI vaguely remember a secondary helm in the deck below the weather deck on some ships. I never found out if they had a compass repeater in that compartment.
I doubt it. These rudders were moved by a tiller, in turn the tiller was moved side to side by tackle and rope, the rope would end wrapped around a drum, which was on the same axis that the helm. A second helming position would need to be disconnected from all this system, and the rope passed by its drum to make in functional. As an emergency measure the tiller could still be moved directly with the tackle from below decks. May be Byron can tell if this was ever used.
marcelo_malara wrote: ↑Mon May 01, 2023 9:15 pm
I doubt it. These rudders were moved by a tiller, in turn the tiller was moved side to side by tackle and rope, the rope would end wrapped around a drum, which was on the same axis that the helm. A second helming position would need to be disconnected from all this system, and the rope passed by its drum to make in functional. As an emergency measure the tiller could still be moved directly with the tackle from below decks. May be Byron can tell if this was ever used.
>>>>> I went through my HMS Bellona book and my USS Constitution book and Harland's "Seamanship in the Age of Sail" book. I could only find single steering positions on the spar deck (wheel + compass + binnacle). No evidence of any secondary steering position below deck. Based upon Harland's commentary, proper steering was very much a fine art and required the helmsman to be able to personally observe and react to subtle changes in wind and sea states on a more or less real time basis.
