Hatch Grating Operations

[icebiker3]

Whilst cogitating in my corner of the spectrum, I have become fixated on a question about the lower deck hatch gratings. To wit: how the heck do they work?

Instructions on my cutaway USS Constitution and photos of the ship belowdecks show the ladders resting on the gratings. Just how does one proceed to the next level down? If you remove the ladder to remove the grating to access the lower ladder, then you need to replace all to go back topside. It would make more sense to me to slide the grating out lengthwise, tip on the long edge, and slide it back in to stand between the ladders, where it would be accessible and safe from motion. But if the ladder rests on the grating, there are too many parts and too much effort to simply get down to stores. In the Hornblower series (I know, films aren't accurate) there are no gratings.

Does someone know?

 

[Namabiiru]

Your logic seems sound to me. Can you share a photo of the relevant part of the instructions?

 

[icebiker3]

Your logic seems sound to me. Can you share a photo of the relevant part of the instructions?

As usual, too much thinking and not enough research leads to panic. I copied out the picture of the Constitution, and blowing it up until it blurred out, I noticed iron L-clips on the ladders, bolting the ladder to the coaming, just short of the actual grating. Then I found another pic in the instruction sheet that confirmed the location. It seems that the ladders overhang the gratings a bit, and are fixed to the coaming, so the grating can be slid out from under the ladder. I had also assembled the ladders wrong. What a mess, but all good now. Thank you for your answering. The instructions do not show that the sharp point on the bottom of the ladders is cut off a little bit. makes more sense (physics).
I gave up on loading the picture. (Way too frustrating now.)

Thanks again.