How a 16th Century Explorer's Sailing Ship Works

I'm Jake O'Neill, creator of Animagraphs, and this is how a 16th century sailing ship works. My model is patterned after the European tradition, specifically English shipbuilding techniques of the period. I used the famed Golden Hind ship as my closest example, while also taking research from the Mary Rose, Mayflower, the Dutch ship Vasa, and Spanish galleons of the time to craft a thoroughly researched but generalized model. The Golden Hind is interesting not only because it was one of the earlier ships to sail around the world, but also because parts of its expedition were unofficially sanctioned piracy of Spanish galleons, at which it was wildly successful, bringing back the largest Spanish treasure captured to that date. These exploits happened between 1577 and 1580. This is the early age of sail, when ships began to cross the globe instead of merely following coastlines or crossing large internal bodies of water. I made another video about HMS Victory from 1765, which is closer to the other end of the age of sail. Laid side by side, you can start to appreciate how sailing ships changed as time progressed. To give you a basic idea of her size, I've placed a modern light pickup truck on deck. Average English males were 5'6 inches tall in this time period, so I've sized our human model to suit. Now let's get into the details, starting, as all ships do, with the laying of the keel, which is the thick beam at the very bottom of the vessel that runs from the front or stem to the back or stern. Much of the structure is made of oak and some elm wood. To form long beams, shorter length timbers can be joined together, which we'll see in a moment. Cross pieces called floors are fastened in place across the keel and sandwiched on top by another beam called the keelson. The stem posts at the front and the stern post at the back are attached to the structure. To show some examples of how all these pieces are joined, I've dissected the stem post into its individual timbers. Special diagonally shaped cuts called scarf joints are made at the ends for a very strong bond. Iron spikes or nails fasten these pieces tightly together. Timbers are either carved from trees of the desired shape or can be bent with various steam techniques. With this, the first planks can be added. Plank boards are about 4 inches thick in the range of 9 to 18 inches wide and anywhere from 5 to 30 feet long. Iron nails are driven in at each end. Wooden spikes called tree nails are driven in at each frame in between. Now the frame is extended with upward curving timbers called the first futtocks. Interior planks enclose the frame. Curved riders further strengthen the structure with special planks called thick stuff at the bottom. Breast hooks fortify the bow. Ship construction continues upwards from here. Decks have a dense network of supporting timbers, all named. Heavy brackets called knees are visible at the sides. Standing knees point upwards, hanging knees point down, and lodging knees lay sideways. Masts are supported at each deck and attach at the bottom through large blocks called mast steps. The main mast is over 100 feet tall. We'll look closer at the masts, sails, and so on later. Exterior planks are also built up with the frame and similar methods are used to attach them to the structure. Gaps are sealed or caulked by jamming frayed bits of old rope in between the planks, then covering it with hot melted pitch or tar made from tree sap to keep it from rotting. The watertight exterior of the ship is called the hull. There's some debate about hull coatings to guard the vulnerable underwater portion of the ship. Paintings do exist from this era showing white coating called white stuff, which is made from whale or fish oil, pine pitch, and sulfur. The hull was under constant attack from shipworm, a tube-shaped wood-eating sea creature, also barnacles, and other marine growth. The general cross-section of these ships is called a tumblehome hull, where the shape curves inwards and gets narrower as it goes up. Now, having seen the frame and general structure of our ship, let's head back inside, starting with the lowermost compartment called the hold. To keep the ship balanced upright, weight has to be added to offset the above water weight. This is called ballast. Our model has over 100 tons of ballast in the form of coastal rock material sourced from near her build site. Starting towards the front or bow, there's the ship's galley. Later ships put their cooking ovens higher up for easier heat dissipation and smoke venting. Some ships of this era show the oven in the forecastle. The oven is enclosed with brick, as fire was a constant concern. A large copper cauldron covers the top. In rough seas, there was no cooked food, and sailors had to make do with dry food like bread or biscuits. Smoke flows into the wooden hood above for smoking meats. Apart from cooking, the hold is the main storage area for the ship. Food supplies include bread, biscuit, salt beef, cheese, butter, and beer. Beer, for example, was issued at one gallon per man per day. At a crew size of 80 sailors, that's about one of these barrels per day. For a long journey, every part of the ship would be packed with storage. At the center of the hold, there's framing for a well where water collects in the bottom of the ship to be pumped out. This so-called bilge water was often smelly, rotten stuff, but sailors were said to distrust sweet-smelling bilge water because that might indicate a leaking hull. There's a locker here which holds shot for onboard cannons and other armaments. The idea is to keep such heavy items as low in the ship as possible. The hold is a dank, dark, claustrophobic place. A ship's lantern provides some light. Lanterns hold tallow candles, which is a kind of cooked down animal fat. Translucent material at the sides is made from thin pounded animal horn or parchment. Moving upwards, we enter the orlop deck, which overlaps the waterline. Here at the back of the boat, we see special bread rooms at the sides. Bread is stored away from the hold in these dry rooms. Bread rooms further protect and insulate the central powder room where gunpowder for onboard armaments is kept. Fire-producing items like lantern storage and the galley stove are at the other side of the ship for the same reason. Moving to the front of the orlop deck, we see the anchor cables laid in coils for proper drying. There's storage here for sails and many other items needed to keep the ship running, like spare wood, carpentry tools, rope, and more. Now let's head back up the ladder to the main deck, which is the first deck fully above the waterline. At the front, we see the very sturdy built bits which hold the thick anchor cables in place when the anchor is deployed. Framing for the bits extends through decks below. The cables run the length of the deck to the capstan, and from here through central grates down into the hold. Just behind the main mast, there's an elm pump for pumping out bilge water. A hollowed-out elm trunk forms the outer pipe. Elm is preferred for its rot-resistant qualities. The pump brake or handle has a long metal rod with a leather valve set up at its other end. At the bottom of the pump, there's a leather stopper that only lets water flow in, but not out again. Foul water empties into troughs beneath deck planks and out through blocks in the framing with holes that open to the sea. There are 14 large cannons, more appropriately called guns, lined out at the sides. These are the Saker model. The barrel is 9.5 feet long with a three and a quarter inch shot diameter or caliber. They weigh nearly 2,000 pounds each. The Saker can fire a five and a quarter pound shot approximately 2,400 yards or nearly 1.4 miles using four pounds of black powder. The smaller ropes or lines are for positioning and hauling the gun in to reload and back out for firing. The much thicker line around the barrel is the breech line to absorb the cannon's incredible recoil. There's a wooden wedge for vertical angle control. At the stern or back, there are two smaller Falcon model guns. These are four feet long with a two inch caliber and weigh between two to four hundred pounds. They can fire a one pound shot around 1,667 yards or nearly a mile using a half a pound of gunpowder. From here we follow the stairs called a ladder or companion way up to the weather deck which is exposed to the open air at the waist of the ship. There are two more Falcon guns at the sides. The second capstan here is actually connected to the capstan below and they rotate together when in use. Moving aft we arrive at the helm where the ship is steered. Instead of the classic ship's wheel you might expect, which came into use more than a century later, this is the whipstaff. The helmsman stands on a platform with a small sheltered cabin that opens into the deck above allowing views of the sails and rigging and the outside. A cabinet called the binnacle is secured in front with a gimbaled compass at one side behind a pane of glass and a lantern at the other side. There's a small chimney to let off lantern smoke. The whipstaff itself is a long pole that extends through a wooden bearing in the deck which allows the pole to rotate. The pole is attached to a long wooden arm that runs through the main deck below with an arched beam for support. It's attached to the ship's rudder. If even more steering angle is needed the pole can move up or down for added reach. The rudder itself is attached to the ship's keel and the hull with iron hinges called a gudgeon and pintle. The pintle has a pin and the gudgeon a hole with straps that make use of all available space for proper attachment. Moving back to the weather deck we continue aft into the great cabin which is a congregating space for the captain and upper ranking crew members. There's a balcony at the back called an open quarter gallery that wraps around the back and sides. Heading now towards the front of the ship along the weather deck there's removable grating for ventilation, partial protection and for hauling items above and below decks. The ship's rests here. A network of pulleys and ropes can be set up from the ship's overhead rigging for moving the boat and other heavy items in and out of the ship or between decks. We travel through doors at the front into the forecastle. It didn't acquire its shortened voxel name until later. The chamber would be filled with gear and possibly additional cannons. Forward of this room we arrive at the beakhead. There are outside toilets here called heads. Let's continue upwards to other exposed decks above. The forecastle deck has two swivel guns which are loaded with a removable chamber that's then jammed into place with an iron pin and fired with a lighted wick through a small hole at the side. There's a rail here for belaying or tying off rigging ropes. Heading aft we arrive at the quarter deck. There are two more swivel guns here. The helm viewport opens to this deck. There are ladders on the aft wall to the poop deck above which is the rear most exposed deck. Below the poop deck we see the captain's cabin with a personal bed, desk and storage areas. While we're on the subject of beds the golden hind set out with a crew of 80 people. Hammocks didn't come into common use aboard sailing ships until the early next century so crew would have slept on mats wherever they could find deck space. With a solid understanding of the ship's body let's have a look at what makes her go. The masts, rigging and sails. The ship has three masts. The foremast at the front, the main mast in the middle and the mizzen mast at the rear. There's also the bowsprit at the front which extends from the main deck framing through the beak head. The two forward masts and components are the main propulsion for the ship and the mizzen for balancing and steering. The fore and main masts have two separate sections for added height. A wooden block called the mast cap provides some structure as well as the beams which support the mast top or fighting top as they may be called where sailors could post up to defend the ship. These huge masts with associated heavy equipment slung high in the air need incredibly strong supports. The standing rigging holds masts in place with shrouds behind the mast and stays in front. The shrouds are much more built up since sails generally pull at the front of the mast even when sailing in a zigzag pattern into a headwind. A set of dead eyes at each shroud provides rigging that can be adjusted or tightened down. Metal components and a short section of chain links attach the lower dead eye to the hull. Sturdy chain wales or chain plates extend from the ship's sides to support the dead eyes. Some of the darker colored lines or cables are what's called served lines to guard against wear and tear. Smaller rope called worming is wound into the spiral gap. Then it's wrapped in tarred canvas parceling and finally tightly bound with tarred line at the exterior. Shrouds extend up and around the mast top. Sections of rope called rat lines are tied to shrouds so sailors can climb up to work the sails. A second set of dead eyes and shrouds attach to a wooden bar here to secure the top mast which also has its own stay. It runs through a pulley or block at the foremast before belaying at the forecastle. The four top mast stay has supporting rigging at the bowsprit as it winds down to the beakhead. The sails themselves are supported by heavy timbers called yards. They ride, generally speaking, perpendicular to the mast making this what's called a square rigged ship. This is where we get into the running rigging or rigging that's intended to move or adjust while underway. Foot ropes seen on later ships don't appear to be in common use at this time so sailors either had to straddle the yard or the yard could be raised and lowered to work on the rigging. Yards are far too heavy to be hoisted up by a single pulley and rope. Ties at the yard extend through fixed pulleys called sheaves in the mast and down to a moving pulley or block. In this case a block with multiple pulleys to make a block and tackle setup with the knight below and its corresponding pulleys. Here's how it looks in action. The line for hauling up the yard is called a halyard. When not in use the halyard is tied off or belayed to the knight. There's an extra sheave in the knight for a top rope which helps hoist the top mast section up into place. Many of these components are removable for instance to ride out a heavy storm. Back to the yard to keep the heavy timber in check when hauling up or down it's tied to a set of wooden rolling beads that wrap around the mast. This is called a peril. There are ropes at the sides called lifts. The ties at the center bring up the yard and secure it in place and lifts keep it steady side to side. Also at each side there are braces to control vertical yard rotation around the mast for positioning the sail. Before we move on here's a zoomed out view of all the yards and matching components for each. The mizzen yard's braces look a little different but still perform the same relative function. Lifts, braces, ties and halyards for the upper sails called top sails might run through blocks attached to stays before making it down to deck level. The spirit sail yard at the front attached to the bowsprit looks a little different as well. Having seen the running rigging for yard control let's look at the sails. Using the fore main sail as our example it has a lower fabric extension called a bonnet. The sail is tied or bent to the yard and unfurled when in use. If you can imagine how much force is placed on these sails and how heavy the ship is it's clear why each part of the sail must be skillfully controlled while underway. The lines at a single sail do get a bit intricate so I've kept with the bold coloring scheme to make each part easy to take in at a glance. Clue lines at the corners and bunt lines in the middle let the bottom of the sail down. The sheet line at the back and the tack line at the front position the sail's bottom corner. Web-like lines called martinets keep sides in check with bow lines extending forwards. These particular side lines have a simpler setup in later ship designs. Still it's important that the sail keep its ideal shape when filling with wind and doesn't flap excessively. By moving all these lines in well orchestrated procedures the sail can be positioned around the mast to maneuver the ship. Zooming out here are those same lines at all the other sails. Notice how some lines from top sails run through blocks at lower sails on their way to the deck. And that's it. All of the rigging for the ship demystified. As you can imagine the decks of these vessels were literally covered in coils of rope and learning the ropes as they say was something sailors took years to master. Before our model can set sail we need to raise the anchor. Ships carried various anchors. The example shown here is 12 and a half feet long and seven feet between its points weighing in at around 2,800 pounds about as much as a small modern car. To haul the anchor back in ships sail towards the anchor which is marked with a floating anchor buoy that's stowed on deck once retrieved. As the ship sails towards the anchor sailors turn the capstan possibly from the deck above to avoid having to step over the heavy anchor cables as the capstan turns. The removable capstan bars could accommodate many sailors on multiple decks if needed. Wooden bars or rods at the base can rotate to lock the capstan in place. Once the anchor stock showed above the water cables were lowered from a beam called the cat head and hooked on to the anchor ring. This cat head tackle brings the anchor up out of the water. A second portable tackle was laid over the side to fish the hanging end of the anchor up so it could be secured at the ship's side. Crane-like beams of this kind are called davits aboard sailing vessels and this is the fish davit. With the anchor stowed and the ship preparing to set sail let's have a look at how navigation worked during this time period. In 1577 many ships had already crossed the Atlantic and some had sailed around the world. This map or chart is from 1543 for example. It's a port-o-land style chart with straight lines between various ports and destinations to help navigators plan their route. The red blotches indicate rocks or other dangerous obstacles. Because of the way the earth spins determining north to south position or latitude is possible by tracking the position of celestial bodies in the sky like the sun or certain stars. These objects trace reliable paths across the globe from our perspective at the surface. Navigators used various devices to track celestial objects. I've shown the astrolabe here. If you use the ocean horizon as the baseline, which never changes, you can measure how high in the sky objects should be at a known point and compare the difference where you are to get north to south location. It took two people to operate. The observer ensures that the straight bar through the center of the device is aligned to the horizon while the person holding the astrolabe rotates the dial or sighting vein until the chosen celestial object appears framed in the small hole as it peaks over the front sight piece. The observer takes the indicated angle from the dial. By modern standards these readings aren't very accurate. The ship may be heaving to and fro and since clocks or watches of the period didn't work well at sea, time of day was judged by sight. Many ships were lost and navigators often had to go by visual reference points when approaching land. To complicate things even more, in this time period east to west position or longitude could not be found at sea in the same way. The earth only rotates on one axis so there's no way to get a reference point for external objects traveling east to west. Instead navigators used a technique called dead or deduced reckoning which means a calculated guess. If you know how fast you're going and in what direction using a compass you can use the dividers with the distance scale on the map to walk along your travel path. Of course even though your intended bearing would be a straight line overall your actual heading at any moment might look like a zigzag to make use of changing wind directions. Let's see the tools for getting speed and direction. For speed sailors throw a three-pointed log chip off the back so shaped to float and hopefully hold its position in the sea while knots at pre-tied intervals are counted as they slip over the edge. Another sailor turns a one-minute sandglass at the same time. The number of passing knots in a minute indicates the current speed. For direction a gimbaled compass with a weight ensures the compass remains level and accurate despite the rolling ship movements. The compass card has a thin iron or steel piece beneath that's re-magnetized by contact with a bit of natural magnetic iron ore. The assembly rides on a sharp pin extending from the bottom of the case. The 24-hour day is divided into six four-hour watches. There are half-hour and four-hour sandglasses which are meticulously tended to. Bells or whistles sound every half-hour and between four-hour watches. To keep track of time direction and speed navigators used a traverse board. At every half-hour on a four-hour watch a pin is inserted into the corresponding compass reading with eight pinholes in a line and 32 compass degrees. Speed is tracked on the hour using the four rows at the bottom with speed extending left to right. At the end of the watch this data is recorded into the ship's log. Ocean depth is also a critical measurement. A sounding or lead line is lowered to the seabed which has bits of leather tied at intervals and a lead weight at the end. Using all of these techniques sailors navigated their way around the world despite the limitations of the time. And with that here's a zoomed out view of the whole vessel. I'm well aware of the sordid history of many explorers and the brutal world they lived in and perpetuated. However sailing technology was not invented by these people but rather progressed over millennia with many cultures and civilizations contributing incredible discoveries that made these beautiful sailing works of art possible. you