Ship Models: Famous Old Ships and their Features

Striking features of these vessels include the high overhanging forecastle and a heavy superstructure at the stern, which provided accommodation for the crew and afforded means of defense. The vessels usually carried from three to four pole masts; lateen sails were always used, but upper and lower square sails were hoisted on the fore and main masts in the later and larger examples. A rudder, hung at the centre line of the stern, had at this date superseded the steering oar; the ship’s boats were carried in the waist when they could not be towed.
A model of an English man-of-war, lent by Freke Field, Esq., exhibited in the Science Museum, London, and illustrated in Fig. 4, represents an English galleon of the Elizabethan period, a type of warship in use at the time of the Spanish Armada. She carried 20 pieces of ordnance on the main deck and was pierced for 6 small guns on the upper deck. Many lighter guns would be mounted on the bulwarks. Interesting details worthy of notice include two cressets or hollow vessels for carrying lights fitted on brackets at the stern; the flames were obtained from ropes smeared with pitch or resin. The whip staff, by which vessels of this period were steered, consists of a pivoted handle, the lower end of which engages with the end of the tiller while the upper end is moved from side to side by the helmsman, who was protected by a raised structure. Other noticeable features are the figure-head in the form of a lion, the carved cable molding running round the ship, and the basket-worked tops.
A great many Elizabethan and contemporaneous ships have been modeled from time to time with more or less regard for historical accuracy; without doubt, ship models of this period are extremely picturesque and attractive, and form admirable ornaments, and their construction in simple materials is fully described later.

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