What was in the Forecastle?

[AThompson]

On a 74, or thereabouts, ship of the line, what was actually in the forecastle?

I know that you could walk through this to get to the Heads, and indeed, I assume that inside the forecastle was simply a continuation of the upper gundeck, but were there any cabins or stores etc in there? What was its main purpose?

[marcelo_malara]

On a 74, or thereabouts, ship of the line, what was actually in the forecastle?

I know that you could walk through this to get to the Heads, and indeed, I assume that inside the forecastle was simply a continuation of the upper gundeck, but were there any cabins or stores etc in there? What was its main purpose?

Hi. The forecastle came from the old days of boarding, when the castles were raised platforms from which the crew would repel boarders accessing the upper deck, boarding the raised forecastle deck was more difficult. In the XVIII and XIX centuries the interior of the forecastle contained the ship´s galley, and the forecastle deck had belaying pins and ropes to manage the sails of the foremast and bowsprit. Additionally the cat head, a protruding timber in each side of the forecastle deck, used to hoist the anchor with blocks an tackle once it cleared the sea surface, was worked from the forecastle deck.

Not that the forecastle was universally used in every ship, frigates did not have them.

[OpanaPointer]

noun Nautical. a superstructure at or immediately aft of the bow of a vessel, used as a shelter for stores, machinery, etc., or as quarters for sailors. any sailors' quarters located in the forward part of a vessel, as a deckhouse.

[AThompson]

Thanks, all.

Thank you for advising, I was half-aware about its history as a raised "castle" for missile men and for boarding actions, but with regards to 18th Century I was wondering to its purpose. The upper gundeck runs under the forecastle, or I guess is part of it - I get so confused trying to describe all these decks, as I kinda know what I want to say, but getting it out it flippin' hard.

With this link, you can see a photo of a 64-gun ship and the fourth is a good picture of the forecastle doors. Here you can see that the upper gundeck runs into the forecastle (unless we treat the forecastle as literally just the deck above where the catshead and bits are)

In the photo it looks like there's cabins and the like.

https://www.rmg.co.uk/collections/objec ... ject-66373

[marcelo_malara]

Thanks, all.

Thank you for advising, I was half-aware about its history as a raised "castle" for missile men and for boarding actions, but with regards to 18th Century I was wondering to its purpose. The upper gundeck runs under the forecastle, or I guess is part of it - I get so confused trying to describe all these decks, as I kinda know what I want to say, but getting it out it flippin' hard.

With this link, you can see a photo of a 64-gun ship and the fourth is a good picture of the forecastle doors. Here you can see that the upper gundeck runs into the forecastle (unless we treat the forecastle as literally just the deck above where the catshead and bits are)

In the photo it looks like there's cabins and the like.

https://www.rmg.co.uk/collections/objec ... ject-66373

You should drop the term "upper gun deck", it is confusing, it is just the upper deck. The forecastle is the structure located in the bow of the ship, when you are inside it you are actually standing on the upper deck. If you climb on top of it you are on the forecastle deck. Confusing at first, not no so much.

I forgot there were some guns too in the forecastle. In this photo of the model you can see also the chimney of the galley, it is the structure forward of the bell.