In 17th century Great Ships like HMS Sovereign of the Seas, Wasa, and La Couronne, why is the sheer of the interior decks so great? Wouldn't the cannons and furniture be at strange and awkward angles at extreme ends of the ship?
Maybe we missed this question and post,I will keep it hotAnyone ?
looking down the deck of the WASA you can see the overall sheer of the deck, But I think it is small enough over the full length of the ship that you would not notice it where you are standing or sitting
Thanks Dave! I'm a marine engineer by the way, with years of experience sailing modern cargo ships, so the terminology isn't lost on me. Steel ships just aren't built the way wooden ones are. Thanks for explaining the sheer's effect on bow/stern buoyancy. It makes sense if you think about how the hull could plunge into the trough and be slowed. If I could only show you how much bending I've seen in a supertanker I once sailed, you'd be astounded at how much racking, hogging and sagging bent the hull. Quite flexible.The sheer is a measure of longitudinal main deck curvature, in naval architecture. The sheer forward is usually twice that of sheer aft. Increases in the rise of the sheer forward and aft build volume into the hull, and in turn increase its buoyancy forward and aft, thereby keeping the ends from diving into an oncoming wave and slowing the ship. In the early days of sail, one discussed a hull's sheer in terms of how much "Hang" it had.
A ships hull will "hog" that is droop at the bow and stern sheer to the deck adds more space in the hull at the ends thus better buoyancy to help prevent the hull from sagging.
William Sutherland's The Ship-builders Assistant