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Research Notes

Here are some Research Notes, in no apparent order unless otherwise specified. These are small snippets of research performed by various individuals; they are sharing these here to ease the research of others who may be seeking the same information.

These notes have sections labeled:

General
Planking
Armament
Painting
Coppering
Rigging
Wood
Vasa/Wasa
Warm and Fuzzy...
Miscellaneous
Book Reviews

General

"It Depends!" - Mike Graff
Sea Devil - John H Harland
Privateers; Letters of Marque & of Reprisal Wayne Drusch, Roger Marsh
Brunel's ships - Mike Taylor
Waste clothes and top armings - John O. Kopf, David A Antscherl, John H Harland, & Lars Bruzelius
Felix Fabri On Galleys, 1483 - Dan Pariser
Tholes/Etymology - John H Harland
Nautical mile. British, Canadian and American inches - John H Harland
Cathead - John H Harland
Definition of Galleon - Ståle Sannerud
Figurehead of HMS FISGARD - John H Harland
Gold Leaf. - {From 1875}
Larboard/Port - John H Harland
Anchor Stowage - John H Harland
Log line construction - Daburb, David Huff & Karel
On Dimensions - Reconciling dimensions with plans - David Antscher
Leeboards - John Harland
Corel Kit HMS Unicorn: History - James Goddard
What exactly is a sloop? - Ed A
Black powder Casks
Painting - Douglas Simpkin
Dutch vs. English Ships - Kroum Nikolaev Batchvarov
HMS Surprise - James Goddard
Anti-Fouling Paint - Brian Taylor
Scarf Joints - Mike Graff et al
Visit to National Maritime Museum (England) - Brian Taylor
Mechanical Windlasses - John Harland
Running Lights - Bob Hill
Venetian Gondola - John Harland
Hull Strapping - Dave Stevens
Cross-Cultural Historic Units of Measurement - Chuck Meide
Catharpings - John Harland
Rope walks, once again (S- and Z-twist) - John Harland
Plans and drawings - Don Stauffer
Colonial Schooner SULTANA Magazine/Journal Articles - Paul R. Mitchell
Nautical Phrases: POSH - John Harland
Research using the British National Archives - Brian Taylor
Ballahou Schooners - John Harland
Istanbul Galleys - Fred Hocker
Whipstaff - John Harland
Chain (or Yard) Pumps - Bruce Nielsen
Measuring Ship Tonnage - 1844 - Mike Graff
The Rabbet - Joel B. Sanborn

Planking

Trunnel - "Wordsmith"
Wale width, planking width/Evolution of Wales - John H Harland
Deck Planking - Mike Tavella, John O. Kopf
Garboards (the semi-definitive answer) - Dan Pariser, Dave M. & J B Sanborn
Garboard Strakes - Dan Pariser
Dutch Bottom-first Construction - Kroum Nikolaev Batchvarov
Clinker Vs. Carvel Hull Construction - Fred Hocker
Stealer Planks - Bob Giles

Armament

Stowage of ready-use ammunition - John H Harland
Modeling the Carronade - Mark N. Lardas
Cannon Diameters - Ståle Sannerud
Rams in the Battle of Lissa (1866) - Mark Lardas
Ramming as a Tactic - John Harland
Blackening Cannon - Art Herrick
Pivot Gun Mounts - Dan Pariser
Drakes and Cutts - Fred Hocker
Lewis & Clark Keelboat Plans - David Purdy
Protective Coating-18th-Century Cannon - Ruth Brown

Painting

Revenue Cutter Colors - Frank Donahue
How was Constitution painted? - Ray Morton
Battleship Turret Markings at Pearl Harbor - "tomcervo"

Coppering

The Copper Plating Question - Dana Wegner
Victory Copper Plates - Richard Wright - Technical Manager, JoTiKa Ltd
Copper-based fasteners on ship building - Alexandre Monteiro
Coppering a Ship Model - Dan Pariser

Rigging

Burton Pendents - John H Harland
Jackstays: rope, iron wire, wire rod/reefing and bending jackstays - Phil Krol, Dan Pariser, & John H Harland
Downhauls on square sails - John H Harland
Right-hand/Left handed Shrouds? - John H Harland
Turning in Deadeyes - John Harland
Origin of Term - "Cro'jackYard" - John Harland
Stern Ladder [Jacob's ladder] - Art Herrick (comments by John Harland)
Spritsails and Water-holes - John Harland
Serving and Seizing - Mike Graff
Runner Pendants - Neb Kehoe
Sail Confusion - Mark Lardas
Topgallant Shrouds - John Harland
Topgallant Rigging - John Harland
Reef Points - John Kopf
Actual appearance of Blocks and Deadeyes - Fred Hocker
Belaying to Cleats and Bitts - J B Sanborn
Jackstay Dates - John H Harland

Wood

Box Elder - Dave Stevens
Boxwood - David Stevens
Cherry - Dave Stevens
Ebony - Dave Stevens
Madrone - Dave Stevens
Manzanita - Dave Stevens
Sapeli [Sapelia] - Terence Lynock & Dave Stevens
Tanganyika - Kari Räisänen
Walnut - John O. Kopf, Dave Stevens
Lumbering Trees - David Stevens
Woods used for Shipmodeling - Dave Stevens
Milling Wood - Dave Stevens
Live Oak - Fred Hocker
Hawthorne Wood - John H Harland
Maple and Sycamore - Brian Taylor

Vasa/Wasa

Fred Hocker is the Projektledare Vasaforskning/Director of Vasa Research at the Statens Maritima Museer/National Maritime Museums in Stockholm, Sweden. As such, he often responds to questions from Vasa Modelers (he can easily grab a tape measure and walk to the ship to take direct measurements!) Here are a collecton of such responses, specific to the Vasa (but generaly useful as well!):

Tips for getting research help from museums - Fred Hocker
Wasa Colors - Fred Hocker
Vasa Gun Carriages - Fred Hocker
Cannons-- Bronze Vs. Iron - Fred Hocker
Gunports And Wales - Fred Hocker
Vasa's Construction - Fred Hocker

Warm and Fuzzy...

Backing and Filling - From: Textbook of Seamanship, 1891 (Sail wasn't the easiest form of power...)
Personal Reflections On Patterns - Phyllis Miele (Charming!)
Perspective of a neophyte - Geoff Warnock

Miscellaneous

An assemblage of notes I've recorded, but have no record of their source.

Book Reviews

Report on the Ship-building Industry of the US - ca 1880 - Mike Graff
HMS Bounty Bibliography - John Weliver

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