Seat of Ease and Pissdales

Uwek

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Starting this topic in order to collect information about this detail

Pissdales

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A very good example here on Willis model - hope it is ok to use your photo here to explain

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and a pissdale made out of wood on the contemporary model

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Warship; Third rate; 60 guns​

Scale: 1:48. A contemporary full hull model of 60-gun two-decker third rate ship of the line (circa 1706), built plank on frame in the Navy Board style. The model is decked, equipped and mounted on a modern wooden support. A noticeable feature is the rather austere carved decoration brought about by the order of 1703, with the rounded and plainer gunport decoration on the quarterdeck in evidence. The stern galleries are surmounted by a very detailed taffrail, under which is thought to be the royal monogram ‘AR’, of Queen Anne, and is placed centrally on a shield.

At this scale the model depicts a ship measuring 144 feet along the gun deck by 37 feet in the beam with an approximate tonnage of 910 burden. Its dimensions are very similar to the third rates built to the Establishment of 1706 although the beam is slightly too narrow. The 60-gun third rates lasted well into the late 18th century playing a part in the line of battle.

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Everybody who has other examples or additional information, please post here
 
H.M.S. PALLAS: HISTORICAL RECONSTRUCTION OF AN 18 th-CENTURY ROYAL NAVY FRIGATE

Pissdales

One of the more interesting topics relating to shipboard health and hygiene was thesanitary arrangements aboard ship. Privacy was of little consequence and there were a number of ways a seaman could answer the call of nature. The easiest and most time-honored methods wereto go to the channels on the lee side of the ship and urinate off the side or, grabbing hold of theshrouds, to hang out over the water and defecate. The wind and heel of the ship would ensurethat the waste was carried well clear of the sides. By the middle of the 17 th century, roundenclosures were added to the channels of larger ships. By the 1620s, the beakhead also becameuniversally accepted as a place for men to relieve themselves and by the 1680s purpose-built ‘seats of easement’ began to appear on ships. These were simple boxes with a round or key-shaped hole in the top and a conduit to direct the waste clear of the ship. By the late 18th century,three rows of multiple seats became common on larger ships; however there was usually less thanone seat for every one hundred crewmen on board. Another sanitary arrangement that began toappear in the late 17 th century was the piss-dale—a urinal-like fixture mounted on the bulwarksnear the waist of the ship with the waste being carried out in a manner similar to scuppers. By themiddle of the 17 th century, officers were usually afforded the privilege of enclosed private headslocated in the quarter galleries

 
also interesting


A simple metal urinal, the piss-dale was such an integral part of sailors' lives that Edward Ward chose to include it on the very first page of his description of common sailors in the satirical The Wooden World Dissected:

He crawls upon the deck, to the piss-dale, where, while he manages his whip-staff with one hand, he scratches his poop with the other.[12]
The piss-dale was located near the ladder to the quarterdeck, as illustrated in the widely reproduced 1728 engraving 'A Ship of War of the Third Rate'[13]:

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Pissdale (12A07)​

This pissdale was found off Rame Head, a pissdale was a urinal that was fitted to the side of a ship. The pissdale is made from lead sheet 4mm thick on the backplate and 6mm thick for the trough, leading to a lead waste pipe 36mm in diameter. The trough is formed from a sheet of lead with a rolled top and is neatly welded to the backplate. The pipe was more roughly attached at a later date using more weld material than necessary, overlying the original neat side welds. The backplate was secured to the side of the ship using 9 countersunk screws 6mm in diameter.


Images​

12A07 Pissdale

12A07 Pissdale

 
another topic here in our forum, discussing the seat of ease with some photos of real ships (and seats)

 
A little off topic but I'm looking at the little picture that shows the location of the pissdale. There is an anchor hanging on the side of the ship. Isn't that a strange spot for an anchor?
Oh, thanks for this post. I was thinking of putting pissdales on the Discovery and was thinking they would be copper. Now I know.
 
An interesting book on the subject is Those Vulgar Tubes by Joe J. Simmons III.
Many Thanks for the hint!

This publication sounds realy interesting if you want to go much more into detail

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Those Vulgar Tubes:​

External Sanitary Accommodations aboard European Ships of the Fifteenth through Seventeenth Centuries​

(Studies in Nautical Archaeology)​

by Joe J. Simmons III (Author)

Synopsis:
The disposal of human waste is critical, especially where humans are in close quarters. As Joe J. Simmons III shows in this redesigned volume, information about this vital function on ships of the great era of sail is amazingly scarce. In Those Vulgar Tubes, Simmons has collected and interpreted the available archaeological and iconographical evidence, providing historians and anthropologists with a rich view of a historically censored subject.

In his introduction, Simmons discusses evidence of what methods early sailors used for relief. Subsequent chapters focus on each century of pre-modern exploration and the developments of ship design at bow and stern where sailors were accommodated. Officers had the luxury of enclosed, closetlike facilities; the book's title comes from a poem in which the ship's chaplain begs to be allowed to use the officers' luxurious facilities rather than the "vulgar tubes"—the downward-projecting trunking through which effluvia was directed into the sea.

With clear illustrations and a timeline that graphs the development of sanitary facilities, Those Vulgar Tubes fills a longstanding void in the history of maritime travel.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Joe J. Simmons III earned his M.A. in nautical archaeology from Texas A&M. From 1975 to 1994 he served in numerous capacities on nautical archaelogy projects. He is currently a student at the Baylor College of Dentistry in Dallas.
 
I found a (for me) "new" bow section model with interesting paintings, and also seat of ease / heads

two officers heads and four seamen heads

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Royal George (1756); Warship; 1st rate; 100 guns​

Scale: 1:24. A model of the bow of the Royal George (1756) showing the figurehead and decoration made entirely in wood and painted in realistic colours. The hull is painted cream below the waterline with black whale above and yellow ochre above the waterline. There are two hawse holes on the port and starboard sides, their inner faces painted red. The figurehead carving has been painted on a blue ground and depicts Saint George on horseback slaying a dragon. Fittings include a pair of catheads with supporting knees, decorative trail boards, two officer's heads and four seaman's heads. The officer's heads and forecastle bulkhead are elaborately painted. The model is displayed on a shield-shaped backboard painted cream.

 
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Proposed heads and urinals for the bow of a 46 gun Frigate​

Scale: 1:24. Plan showing an elevation, plan, and section of part of the port bow for a 46 gun Fouth Rate Frigate, illustrating the configuration of the heads, urinals and wash trunk, as proposed by Sir Pulteney Malcolm, KCB [Vice-Admiral of the Blue, died 1838 as Admiral of the Blue].

Signed James Nolloth [Master Shipwright, Portsmouth Dockyard, 1823-1835].

Date made:20 January 1832

 
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