Spare Parts

[Jack Roberts]

I'm having a hard time finding info on spare "stuff" used for repairs. I've read that lead was used for patches and wooden pegs. We know that spare sails were around but where would this stuff be stored? Is there a book or website that references the ship stores? I'm kinda stuck....

[Mission]

I seem to recall reading that some of this stuff was stored in the spaces in front of the ship below decks that weren't very useful for anything else. (Although I don't remember where I read that, so it may be wrong.)

[callenish gunner]

From a lot of the research I've done it was part of the lower decks fo'c'sale/forecastle also called the cable tier where the anchor "cable"/line was coiled for stowage; in the bow of the ship. In the image below it would be the compartment below the galley/kitchen.

[Bright]

http://cf.hum.uva.nl/galle/topics/hullspace.html

[Jack Roberts]

Those are great! I don't think I phrased my question correctly. I'm looking for "what" would have been on board. (Most likely to have.) Would you be carrying around extra lumber? Lines and canvas? If so how much?

Perhaps that will help. Thanks again for the info posted, tis a grand thing to know were this stuff goes.

[Capt. Bo of the WTF co.]

As an HT (Hull maint. tech.) in the modern Navy, we were taught that any space below decks not visible to the officers on a regular basis that could hold shoring timbers, plywood, jacks, rope/line, canvas, all-thread, bolts, washers, or any other battle damage emergency material was to be utilized for that purpose, and had been that way since the beginning of the US Navy, therefore was most likely adapted from practices already in use. Those damage simulations were a real blast, but the real thing was an adrenaline rush maximum! When you've got twelve minutes to plug a hole to keep a six billion dollar piece of hardware off the bottom of the Atlantic, it gets intense! Wish I could tell the whole story.

Bo

[callenish gunner]

It would often depend on the captain or owner of the ship as to how much of "spares" were carried. So there was no hard and fast rule as to what or where any stock was loaded, but, I would agree with Bo's assessment "anywhere you could squeak out an extra square foot of stowage" ...I do know that extra planking was often lashed or racked overhead below decks. Old rope and tar was kept to use for caulking the decks and hulls so there would be stores of that often aboard. Very few spaces aboard would be sacrosanct against the stowage of materials often below decks it looked like a "Chinese Puzzle" with ships stores filling every nook and cranny.

[Fox]

Are you ready for this?

The first is a list of boatswain's stores for a sixth rate ship of the Royal Navy (chosen because it's probably closest to a 'typical' pirate vessel), taken from Edward Hayward, A Full and Perfect Account of the Sizes and Lengths of Rigging for all His Majesty's Ships and Frigats (London, 1666 [but written around 1654]):

4 X 8" cables

7.5" cable

3.5" cable

4" hawser

3.5" coil

3" coil

2.5" coil

2" coil

2 X 1.5" coil

2 X 1" coil

1 coil of lashing lines

12 fathoms of 'junk of fifteen inches'

6 tarred lines

8lb of tarred marline

4lb of white marline

6lb of white twine

2 deep sea-lines

4 white lines

3 cat-hooks

2 fish-hooks

3 boat-hooks

3 fids of iron

1 fid-hammer

6 marlinspikes

1 crow of iron

2 hatchets

2 dozen pair of gronmmets and staples

18 sail needles

1 pair of bilboes with seven shackles

2 tackle hooks

1 pair of can-hooks

2 puttock plates

2 hanging locks

200 port-nails for hammocks (four times the number of hammocks)

1 watch-bell of brass

1 longboat

2 dozen boat oars

4 sounding leads

2 deep sea-leads

6 compasses

6 running glasses

10 steel-shod shovels

3 scoops

2 bowls

6 wooden buckets

6 leather buckets

8 ballast baskets

1/2 barrel of tar

2 bolts of Ispwich canvas

50 hammocks

1 suit of wast-cloths of red cotton

18 spare blocks

6 deadman's eyes

2 canbuoyes iron bound

12 handspikes

2 spars for boat-hook staves

2 flags of 6 breadths

2 ensigns of 12 breadths

4 pendents

1 spritsail course

1 spritsail bonnet

1 spritsail topsail

2 fore courses

1 fore bonnet

2 fore topsails

1 fore topgallant sail

2 main courses

1 main bonnet

2 main topsails

1 main topgallant sail

1 mizzen course

1 mizzen bonnet

1 mizzen topsail

This second is from Francis Povey, The Sea Gunner's Companion (London, 1702), from which I removed all of the guns themselves and the stores of shot and powder, as well as all the gun tools, what remains is the rest of the gunner's stores list from a sixth rate RN vessel.

1 funnel of tin

30 snaphanses

4 musketoons

8 pairs of pistols

10 collars of bandoliers

30 cartouch boxes

12 musket rods

1000 flints

18 short pikes

4 bills

12 hatchets

15 swords

15 hangers

30 aprons of lead

30 crows of iron

15 pr tackle hooks

20 pr ladle hooks

10 pr linch pins

30 port hooks

100 spikes

40 pr forelock keys

1 sledge

1 great melting ladle

1 small ditto

200 20d nails

300 10d nails

300 6d nails

500 3d nails

1000 2d nails

100 copper nails

35 beds

70 coynes

4 budge barrels

18 sheepskins

12 baskets

1 spare hoop

50 ells of canvas

2 1/2 reams of paper-royal

8 quarts of fine paper

3 gallons of oil

1/2 cwt tallow

5 lb starch

5 dozen needles

5 lb thread

3 ordinary lanterns

1 ditto, extraordinary of tin

1 dark lantern

2 muscovia lights

3 wad hooks

40 hand-crow leaves

20 lb marline

3 lb twine

3 lb wire

1/2 coil of 4" tarred rope

1/2 coil of 3" tarred rope

1/2 coil of 2 1/2" tarred rope

1/2 coil of 2" tarred rope

30 breeching [sic]

60 tackles

1 lb putty and emory

4 doz. files of sorts

[Mission]

Wow! That is awesome; thanks Foxe!

[Bos'n Cross]

i love you foxe...take that in the best way possible...........

[Jack Roberts]

Thanks it gives me a good idea of what we could be carrying aboard ship.

[Bos'n Cross]

To mr. foxe, you might be able to help me on something similar(or anyone else for that matter) Im looking for what the ships carpenter would have carried with him,or had on board, I know most of the hand tools(and am buying them) but what other items might he need, for instance would a ships carpenter have a shave horse on board, would he need a woodworking bench ..etc. I have a fair amount about land based carpentry of our period, but cannot find as much about their watery cousins.........

[MarkG]

Are you ready for this?

The first is a list of boatswain's stores for a sixth rate ship of the Royal Navy (chosen because it's probably closest to a 'typical' pirate vessel), taken from Edward Hayward, A Full and Perfect Account of the Sizes and Lengths of Rigging for all His Majesty's Ships and Frigats (London, 1666 [but written around 1654]):

4 X 8" cables

7.5" cable

3.5" cable

4" hawser

3.5" coil

3" coil

2.5" coil

2" coil

2 X 1.5" coil

2 X 1" coil

1 coil of lashing lines

12 fathoms of 'junk of fifteen inches'

6 tarred lines

8lb of tarred marline

4lb of white marline

6lb of white twine

2 deep sea-lines

4 white lines

3 cat-hooks

2 fish-hooks

3 boat-hooks

3 fids of iron

1 fid-hammer

6 marlinspikes

1 crow of iron

2 hatchets

2 dozen pair of gronmmets and staples

18 sail needles

1 pair of bilboes with seven shackles

2 tackle hooks

1 pair of can-hooks

2 puttock plates

2 hanging locks

200 port-nails for hammocks (four times the number of hammocks)

1 watch-bell of brass

1 longboat

2 dozen boat oars

4 sounding leads

2 deep sea-leads

6 compasses

6 running glasses

10 steel-shod shovels

3 scoops

2 bowls

6 wooden buckets

6 leather buckets

8 ballast baskets

1/2 barrel of tar

2 bolts of Ispwich canvas

50 hammocks

1 suit of wast-cloths of red cotton

18 spare blocks

6 deadman's eyes

2 canbuoyes iron bound

12 handspikes

2 spars for boat-hook staves

2 flags of 6 breadths

2 ensigns of 12 breadths

4 pendents

1 spritsail course

1 spritsail bonnet

1 spritsail topsail

2 fore courses

1 fore bonnet

2 fore topsails

1 fore topgallant sail

2 main courses

1 main bonnet

2 main topsails

1 main topgallant sail

1 mizzen course

1 mizzen bonnet

1 mizzen topsail

This second is from Francis Povey, The Sea Gunner's Companion (London, 1702), from which I removed all of the guns themselves and the stores of shot and powder, as well as all the gun tools, what remains is the rest of the gunner's stores list from a sixth rate RN vessel.

1 funnel of tin

30 snaphanses

4 musketoons

8 pairs of pistols

10 collars of bandoliers

30 cartouch boxes

12 musket rods

1000 flints

18 short pikes

4 bills

12 hatchets

15 swords

15 hangers

30 aprons of lead

30 crows of iron

15 pr tackle hooks

20 pr ladle hooks

10 pr linch pins

30 port hooks

100 spikes

40 pr forelock keys

1 sledge

1 great melting ladle

1 small ditto

200 20d nails

300 10d nails

300 6d nails

500 3d nails

1000 2d nails

100 copper nails

35 beds

70 coynes

4 budge barrels

18 sheepskins

12 baskets

1 spare hoop

50 ells of canvas

2 1/2 reams of paper-royal

8 quarts of fine paper

3 gallons of oil

1/2 cwt tallow

5 lb starch

5 dozen needles

5 lb thread

3 ordinary lanterns

1 ditto, extraordinary of tin

1 dark lantern

2 muscovia lights

3 wad hooks

40 hand-crow leaves

20 lb marline

3 lb twine

3 lb wire

1/2 coil of 4" tarred rope

1/2 coil of 3" tarred rope

1/2 coil of 2 1/2" tarred rope

1/2 coil of 2" tarred rope

30 breeching [sic]

60 tackles

1 lb putty and emory

4 doz. files of sorts

A pirate ship would also carry a good supply of tar for caulking. Regular ships could put in at port to be careened (scraping growths off the hull and sealing leaky seams) but pirate ships had to do it themselves and often in order to catch other ships.

Mark

[Fox]

Bear in mind that those lists only refer to boatswain's and gunner's stores. Tar for caulking would come under the carpenter's care - as would his work benches. I don't have a list of carpenter's stores to hand, but I'm sure one exists and I'll see what I can find.

[Jack Roberts]

Thanks Foxe. This will help me with my Quartermaster impression.

[Bos'n Cross]

Thanks master foxe......i hope to be able to come across something my self......interestingly, iv found a couple of newspaper articles complaining about ships carpenters running away.....i really find that sorta strange.........

[jollyjacktar]

For Cross;

The Carolina was a two hundred tunn frigate that left Portsmouth in 1669 on a voyage to the colony that would soon become South Carolina, Carpenter’s Stores are as follows

List is taken from “The Shaftesbury Papers” I left the spelling and formatting of the original list

Carpenter’s Stores

three new Augers

one cross cut saw ould

ten pounds of thrums

one pitch Ladle one Iron Loggerhead to heat pitch

Eight hinges nine Ring boults

foure port hinges three puttack plates

Six iron bound dead eyes two eye bolts three chaine plates

two double Hookes three Reaming Bolts two Iron Wedges

fiue port Hookes one boom Iron for ye boate

Two iron Clamps foure bolts three Iron hoops

Two port hinges one Iron Saucer for Capstan

two pump hookes foure pump bolts.

one Iron Driuer one hoock for ship side.

one boome Clasp six bower pump boxes.

eleun upper boxes thre chaine boxes.

one foot and halfe square of pumpe leather

seuen paire of hinges and oaches

three paire of Cross Gametts & one paire small hinges

one halfe bag of sheating nailes about 40^li w^t.

one halfe ditto of twenty penny ditto.

two thousand five hundred of ten peny nailes.

two thousand of six penny ditto

fouer^m of pump nailes of sorts

fouer^m of Lead ditto of ditto

fouer^m of foure peny nailes

two thousand of scupper nailes

three hundred and forty peny ditto

three hundred of thirty peny ditto

foure hundred of twenty foure peny ditto

[Bos'n Cross]

I thank you heartily sir! This is of much help to me!

[Bos'n Cross]

double post

Edited January 25, 2010 by Cross