Now that we've seen what ships are moored around, let's get onboard one and take a closer look, to learn the names of her different parts.
Here's a simple sketch of a 17th-century 28-gun frigate like the ones in this story.
**Larboard: old and now-obsolete name of the left side of the ship. Nowadays they call it port.
More Parts of a Tall Ship
THE SAILS
Every little piece of tarp they hoisted on a sailing ship has its own name. Which is a necessary pain. Picture you're in the middle of the storm, or a battle. You can't go shouting, "Hey, strike the third sail from bottom up on the foremast!" You'd say, "Strike the fore topgallant!" Easier, right?
However, we on comfy dryland don't need to know them all. So I only use the general names.
But here you have them all, just for the kicks.
** The studding sails were auxiliary sails and jibs hoisted between the masts.
** The wings were auxiliary sails hoisted on booms spreading out from the yards. You can see them clearly in this picture:
THE DECKS
The decks were the "floors" of a ship, the roofed levels.
Small ships like pataches and brigantines had only one deck.
Warriors I picture with two decks, like frigates with up to thirty guns.
Frigates with more than thirty guns and galleons had at least three decks.
The bottom deck was the hold, with storages for supplies and magazines for ammunition and gunpowder.
On two-deck ships, the other deck was the main deck, meant for artillery and crew accommodation.
The weather deck was the one in the open, on top of the others.
This picture portrays a three-deck ship. To apply this to the story, just ignore the "berth deck".
CREW ACCOMMODATION
On ships with only two decks --the main deck and the hold-- sailors would hang their hammocks over the cannons. Here you can see a main deck during the day and at night.
On ships with three or more decks, the deck between the main deck and the hold was the berth deck, and was exclusive for crew accommodation. It included small cabins aft --at the stern-- for the officers to share.
Sailors on these ships slept on berths, not hammocks, and had also room for tables and benches.
Hammock vs. berth
Hammocks may not be all that comfortable, but they could be rolled up and kept out of the way. Plus, gravity made them sway to compensate the rocking of the ship.
Berths were more comfy, of course, but they were nailed to the floor. Meaning you couldn't move them, and if the sea got choppy, they would reflect every bob and sway of the ship.