Model of the Construction of a Timber Ship

Entry

Construction model of the cross-section of a ship amidships, with three decks. One side is planked, as is half the upper deck. The other side only shows the timbers and beams. The hull has a completely square shape, the bottom is made out of two layers of straight floor timbers, supported by two keels. The floor timbers are planked and protrude beyond the side, which results in a rim running along the bottom. The sides are made of vertical timbers, planked on one side. At one end the model has two knees with ten brass pins sticking out, but these knees are not repeated elsewhere in the construction. The decks are indicated with beams and carlings and are supported by three rows of stanchions, which protrude above the upper deck. Stanchions and deck beams are fixed into the sides and bottom with straight half-joints.

The timber ship or timber raft Columbus¹ was built by Charles Wood at Anse du Fort, Isle of Orleans, four miles from Quebec, in 1824. The ship was 301 feet long on the gun deck. Timber rafts were large rafts made out of masts and lumber, rudimentarily shaped into hulls and rigged, to be broken up at arrival and sold for their timber. They also carried a cargo of timber. The prime motivation was to lower the freight costs, but the rafts also provided a means to avoid the taxes levied on imported timber. Columbus successfully sailed to London, where it was relieved of its timber cargo. The undertaking proved such a financial success that instead of breaking the ship up, the owners decided to send it back across the Atlantic for another timber cargo, ignoring Wood’s advice. Sadly he was proved right: this second voyage proved to be a fatal one.