Mast - an integral and irreplaceable part of the ship, which belongs to the mast. Its direct function is to serve as a basis for fastening topmasts, yards (components of the spars), as well as to support sails. What else can be said about the ship's masts? You will learn a lot of useful and interesting information in the process of reading the article.
The height of the ship's masts, their number
Depending on the purpose of the ship, the masts come in different heights. Some reach 60 m with a base thickness of 1 m.
How many masts does a ship have? Their number directly depends on the size of the vessel. The length of the fore mast and mizzen mast directly depends on the height of the main mast. So, the first is 8/9 of its parts, and the second is 6/7. These proportions are not fundamental for all ships. They depended on the wishes of the designers and builders.
Once the calculation of the mainmast was made as follows. It was necessary to add the length of the lower deck and its greatest width, divide the resulting amount by two. This figure is the length of the ship's mast.
At the very beginning of developmentshipping and shipbuilding included only one mast and one sail. Over time, development has reached the point that up to seven of them are installed on ships.
The most common occurrence is the supply of a ship with three straight and one inclined mast.
Name of the masts of a sailing ship
The location of the mast on the ship determines its name. For example, if we consider a three-masted vessel, it becomes clear that the mast standing first from the bow is called the “foremast”.
The next mainmast is the largest. And the smallest is called the "mizzen mast". If there are only two, then the mainmast is considered to be the one closest to the stern.
The bowsprit mast at the bow of a ship is called a bowsprit. On old ships, the angle of inclination was 36⁰, now it is 20⁰. Its main purpose is to provide the greatest agility of the vessel. This is achieved due to the fact that special triangular sails are brought forward.
If there are more than three masts on the ship, then all following the foremast will be called the 1st mainsail, 2nd mainsail, etc.
Composition and construction materials
Most often, ship masts (you can see photos of some of their types in the article) are made from components that continue each other. Its base is called the mast, and its continuation is called the topmasts. The top of the mast is called "top".
Small ship equipped with a mast of one tree(odnoderevki), and larger vessels are equipped with three-piece components. They can be disassembled if necessary.
Material for their manufacture - wood or metal. Pipes are made of metal (steel or light metal), which later become a mast on a ship.
What wood are ship masts made of? This is:
- Spruce.
- Larch.
- Fir.
- Pinia.
- Resin Pine, etc.
Trees should be light and resinous.
Different classifications of masts
Previously, masts were distinguished by location on the ship:
- Nasal.
- Average.
- Back.
The purpose of the mast is based on its division into:
- Signal. This is a special mast for hoisting signs, flags, lights or for mounting antennas.
- Cargo. It is equipped with a special mechanism for attaching a cargo boom. But if necessary, it can perform the same functions as the signal mast.
- Special. These are masts made for a specific purpose.
According to the design of the ship's mast, they are divided into:
- Single. Waterproof mast, suitable for installation on small craft, as well as sailing and auxiliary ships. They come in two types, solid and composite.
- Three-legged. It consists of 3 steel pipes.
- Four-legged. The mast is sheathed with steel sheets on the frame.
- Tower-like. The constructed sites are arranged in tiers. They are intended for observation and posting.
Mast position on the ship and inclination
The spread of shipping gives builders a lot of food for thought. It is important to correctly position the masts on the ship. This is necessary in order for the ship to be easily controlled. Gradual development led to the emergence of certain rules.
The center of the lower ends of the masts is determined very strictly. Measurement starts on the lower deck, the first mast is set at 1/9 of its length, the second - at 5/9, the third - at 17/20. These measurements are not carried out during the construction of merchant ships. The fore-mast of the French ships was located on 1/10 of the ship, the calculation was carried out starting from the bow.
Mast inclination was also different, some ships sailed perfectly with the masts tilted forward, others back. Short but wide ships were built with masts located closer to the middle, strongly tilted back. And on long ones, on the contrary, vertical structures were installed, since it was believed that during navigation with significant wind resistance the mast could break.
Why are masts needed on a ship
Today the masts are installed:
- Antennas.
- Ship lights.
- Signals.
- Communication.
- Flags.
- Necessary fasteners (if the ship is a cargo ship).
But despite this, the most important purpose of masts is to provide support for a ship's sails. Everything else is relateditems.
Fixing masts on ships
How are masts fixed on ships? Single masts for fastening are passed into the hole on the upper deck and the spurs (the bottom of the mast) are welded to the flooring or the second bottom. The cable that connects the mast to the side is called the shroud. The forward part of the mast is supported by stays, and from the stern by back stays. The bowsprit is attached using special water-woolings made of durable cables. Now the cables are being replaced with chains.
The ship's mast is fixed on the deck or passed through it and attached to the keel. Basically, now it is fixed on special fortifications of the roofs of the cabins on the deck. This mounting method has positive aspects:
- The space inside the cabin is free, it does not impede movement.
- In the event of an accident, the mast, which is fixed on the deck, will not break the cabin cover, but simply fall overboard.
- Mounting on the deck gives one more plus - it is easy to remove it when dismantling. Whereas a keel-attached mast would require a crane for this action.
Warships
Masts for this category of ships are made of steel and are called "combat". Special platforms are attached to it, which are used for observation or special mounts for placing artillery equipment.
Previously, the masts of warships were made of solid wood, but when a projectile hit it, the ship remained without communication. Given all the shortcomings of that time, now they are being installedspecial three-legged or lattice (openwork) masts. They are more stable, do not fail from a direct hit.
Depending on the number of masts, they are divided into one-, two-, three-, four-mast ships.
Types of sailing ships
The number of masts on a ship determines its name. Five-masted, four-masted, barges with 2, 4 and 5 masts, barquentine (1 straight mast, 2 oblique), brig with 2 masts, as well as schooner, caravel brigantine, etc.
The number of masts available, their position and inclination are all distinguishing features.
Sailing ships are divided into three types depending on how many masts are installed on them:
- Single-masted sailing ships, these include yawl, cat, sloop, etc.
- Two-masted sailing ships are a brig, schooner, brigantine, etc.
- Three-masted sailing ships: frigate, caravel, barque, etc.
A bit of history
Now you know what a ship's mast is, how many of them there are, what they are for, etc. this thread.
Mankind learned to use sails for their own purposes 3,000 years ago. When people were just starting to use the wind for their own purposes. Then the sail was quite primitive and it was attached to a yardarm located on a small mast. Such a construction helped only with a fair wind. So sometimes it makes no sensehe was gone.
A little later, during the feudal system, shipbuilding reached a greater development. The ships were equipped with two masts, and the sails used were of a more perfect form. But development at that time, shipbuilding did not receive. In those days, the labor force was widely used. Therefore, no one began to develop this industry.
After the disappearance of free workers, the work of seafarers became difficult. The operation of ships, the movement of which was possible only with the participation of a large number of rowers, became impossible, since the spread and expansion of trade relations involved movement over longer distances.
The first ship that met the requirements of that time was called "nave". Initially, it had 1 or 2 masts. Its length was 40 m. And these ships could carry about 500 tons.
Karrakka is a three-masted ship. The first two masts were equipped with straight sails, the last had triangular ones. Then these two species were combined into one and became the prototype of modern ships and frigates.
Galeon - a Spanish ship with 4 masts and a bowsprit with straight sails.
Further development of shipbuilding led to the emergence of a clear classification of ships. A division into merchant and military vessels determined their armament.
