Why a horseshoe?

[Pathfinder65]

I noticed on a lot of wooden ship drawings there is a horseshoe at the bottom of the stem. Curiosity got the best of me and I had to find out why a “(Good Luck)” charm was included as part of the ships built. Another sailor superstition?

Found the explanation in this document under “H”

Illustrated Glossary of Ship and Boat Terms

"Illustrated Glossary of Ship and Boat Terms" published on by Oxford University Press.

www.oxfordhandbooks.com

Jan

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

the brace looks like this



like you posted it was there as a brace to keep the seam of the stem and keel from separating. However the horseshoe shape was not always used. sometimes it was just a long strap bolted to the side of the stem or a strap along the edge. In this case it is both.
In the later years of wooden hulls more and more iron was used as strapping and knees and braces for joinery.

 

[Pathfinder65]

Great information, always learning something new following all the Forum builds.

Jan

 

[Le Capitaine]

Pathfinder, that is a great reference site! I saved a PDF version. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Snowy]

Great find
I do enjoy readings into this history of ships no matter how small
Cheers snowy