Cardinal changes in military shipbuilding of the XNUMXth century

31 May 2023 3

The XNUMXth century can be safely called a new stage in military shipbuilding. First of all, this was due to the fact that the previously prevailing concept, according to which the same ship could perform the function of a military and merchant ship, had become a thing of the past.

At the same time, after the aforementioned "specific division", priority was given to the construction of warships. In turn, in the second half of the XNUMXth century, mass construction of sailing ships of the line began in England. This type of vessel was intended to conquer maritime dominion and acted as the main force of the fleets of various countries over the next couple of hundred years.

In addition, the very concept of building warships has undergone significant changes. So, in view of the widespread use of artillery, ships gradually began to be turned into "floating batteries". In this regard, "smooth-deck" ships began to prevail with the absence or minimum number of various deck superstructures.

This design made it possible to place the maximum number of artillery pieces, and also made it possible to make the mizzen mast "full-fledged" by equipping it with large-area sails.

It is worth noting that the British went even further and began to build high-sided ships with several (up to three) decks on different tiers. This made it possible to place even more artillery.

The requirements for the construction of ships have also changed. In particular, for navigation in shallow water areas, it was decided to limit the draft of new vessels to 16 feet (4,87 m). In addition, it was considered ideal proportion if the length of the keel was equal to three times the maximum width of the hull.

Finally, in the second half of the XNUMXth century, the Englishman Anthony Dean was the first to develop a method for determining the waterline before the ship was launched. The latter was described in his treatise The Teaching on the Construction of Ships.