Design Of Scuppers On Spanish Galleons.

[CumbrianLad]

Hi. I have the 'Artesania Latina' model of the 16th century Spanish galleon 'San Francisco II'.

The kit is nice but some details are missing. I'm getting to planking the hull now and want to add 'scuppers' (ports to drain the weather decks and the highest of the below decks). Thanks to the Spanish book 'Los galeones españoles del siglo XVII - Tomo I' referenced for me by a member of the forum, I know that they angled down through the hull from the decksat around 45 degrees. I have no other details, though.

Does anyone know more about this?

On another forum, I saw external details on the hull that showed a pipe protruding from the hull with a canvas open-ended 'sock' attached to it. This makes a great deal of sense since the flexible material would act like a check valve allowing water to drain out but not allow it to flow inboard. Water could not flow onto the deck through the scupper if a wave struck the hull, or it was heeled over far enough to submerge the lowest scuppers. I doubt that such a device would have been needed on the highest scuppers.

If nobody knows more, I'm not totally 'scuppered' (bad pun). I'm an engineer, so I'll go with a design that would work, such as the pipe and sock.

 

[Uwek]

As I know, the scuppers were ending in most cases directly at the ourside planking
I really do not know, if there was in general a sock, like you described and which I also saw already at one or two models.

Several contemporary models and drawings are shown in the NMM

but they are from end of the 18th century and I guess much too modern

Collection Results | Royal Museums Greenwich

Find objects, archive records and library items relating to your search, and use the filters to narrow down your results.

www.rmg.co.uk

additional problematic for me to give a hint is, that you are looking for a very old ship of the 16th century ...... When I have this correct in mind, already the Mary Rose had scuppers

http://www.oxbowbooks.com/pdfs/books/prelims_Noblest%20Shippe.pdf

Maybe interesting read:

1632.org | Official Compendium for Eric Flint's 1632 Universe

grantvillegazette.com

 

[CumbrianLad]

That's good stuff, Uwek.

I have no details of how they would be on the San Francisco II but it is from a similar age to Marie Rose. Adding 'leather' flaps over the pipe ends could be as realistic as the idea I picked up. I have some brass tubing to bore out and blacken for the pipes. Doing it this way, I can drill and install the pipes and add the flaps. Lifting them up will reveal the scupper pipes. Should look good.

That reference was interesting.

There is a sectional model for San Francisco II by Artesania Latina that just has slots on the weather deck. That could be correct, but the section that I have seen of ships of this period show pipe type scuppers on the weather deck and first below deck, so I'll go with that. I may even use a mix of the sock and flap design, using the flaps on the higher scuppers and the socks (that are harder to make!) on the lowest scuppers.