How were warships hulls made thicker to take more punishment?

[Destraex]

The devs mention that planking was made thicker on warships. Does this mean planking was cut thicker, doubled up to make things thicker?

What exactly made a warship "armoured" so to speak.

 

Am I to expect at long range that smaller calibre weapons would not penetrate a 1st rate at all?

[admin]

Some warships could have up to 100 centimeters of planking at the waterline. 

[Destraex]

Thanks Admin. But was it because of thick wood chosen especially. Or two bits of wood layered one behind the other.

How many layers of wood planking was layered one behind the other?

How was this different from merchant shipping thickness? Was there any difference?

 

P.S. I PMed you about something.

[maturin]

It's not thick planking, it's the 'ribs' made of curved beams.

[Crankey]

Some warships could have up to 100 centimeters of planking at the waterline. 

Victory was 600mm planking thickness at waterline http://www.contemporarysculptor.com/hms-victory.htm

 

These were HUGE ships, and yes unless a light ship put a shot through a gunport, or window, it was unlikely to tickle a first rate.

 

Ribs were obviously huge for such a large ship, and added tremendous strength both against the elements, incoming fire, and recoil of its own guns.

[Crankey]

Thanks Admin. But was it because of thick wood chosen especially. Or two bits of wood layered one behind the other.

How many layers of wood planking was layered one behind the other?

How was this different from merchant shipping thickness? Was there any difference?

 

P.S. I PMed you about something.

 

Merchnat ships werre generally made robust enough to sail, no additional thought to its ability to withstand fire. Its all about profit.

 

Warships were generally more robust and in case of SOL very robustly built. 

[Destraex]

So it is the ribs and the thickness of those ribs that is the armour rather than the planking and it's resistance to holes that let water in or expose the crew. Interesting.

So in essence we do not have effects yet that expose gaping holes like Empire Total War.

[Alex Connor]

So it is the ribs and the thickness of those ribs that is the armour rather than the planking and it's resistance to holes that let water in or expose the crew. Interesting.

So in essence we do not have effects yet that expose gaping holes like Empire Total War.

That level of destruction is almost impossible to achieve in normal fighting. The ribs of the hull can be 24 inches x 24 inches of solid oak, to destroy one would be an impressive feat, if you can destroy enough to produce large holes in the hull then the target will have lost structural integrity and be sinking.

 

In the fight between Bonhomme Richard and Serapis, the two ships were tied up alongside other for over an hour. Serapis silenced Bonhomme Richard's guns early in the fight (made easier by a couple of them blowing up on their own), rapidly dismounting guns, killing and wounding gun crews, then firing almost continuously and unopposed for the rest of the battle. By the end Seraphis's guns were firing clean through her opponents hull, whole sections missing, Bonhomme Richard suffering catastrophic structural damage and on the verge of sinking.

 

But this took almost an hour of firing from a powerfully armed ship against a converted merchantman of weaker construction, and the two ships being tied together so that guns could repeatedly shoot the same areas. Simply could not happen in a normal fight, you would kill enough crew to force surrender or hole the enemy below the waterline enough to sink them long before this.

 

Also, the damage in Empire Total looks very unrealistic, its like the ships are built with a light structural frame and most of the hull is just wooden panels, not even planking. 

[thomas aagaard]

Back side of a copy of 50cm thick "ship side" (based on the hull of the danish steam frigate Jylland)

It was hit by 3 30pound cast iron roundshots. They where fired at a range of 90m from a 30pound smoothbore gun from the frigate.
 

 

 

movie clip about the test... in danish, but you Iam sure you get the point. Got some nice slowmotion clips of the roundballs hitting.

http://youtu.be/sXVQAnPjshw

[Tagera]

Basically ships like that have multiple layers of thick cured planking. The very first thing that was placed was the keel, ribs, masts. The main frame of the ship to get the shape and form down. Then they built the inner hull, a layer or more armor plating which was more wooden planking or even plywood. And then the final outer hull was put on along with the sails and other bits. All of it was waterproofed with cotton, hemp or other types  of fiber robes soaked in tar, asphalt or creosote at each point. All of this was of course held together with tar or strong glues and heavy iron riveting or nails. Of course the thickest planking was built along the upper waterline based on how low the ship might sit and downward to warp around the bottom to the keel. Long, hard, strenuous process to build a warship like that. HMS Victory took them about six years or so before it was even launched and placed into service. Waterproofing was one of the more painful tasks since they had to mess around in tar and other goop and twist up lots of rope to cram between plank edges.