[RdK]

Ahoy!

I managed to pull the wires through the frames and out of the keel, with the (-) ground leaving from the back and the four (+)-lines from the front keel (Pictures 1 & 2).

Then I continued with the underwater hull and the decks. The hull is constructed with the same method as the Mayflower with only one pizza-card layer. A little bit of sanding was unavoidable and I used an old, almost dry white glue as “filler, where needed (Pictures 2 to 6). Then I made a huge mistake by covering the hull with a fresh white glue for wood to smoothen it from the “furry” appearance after the sanding down – the glue soaked into the card and some of the panels between the frames collapsed, leaving a clearly visible “rib-effect”. I had to apply a lot of the “filler” to fix that problem.

Meanwhile I did some research on the sizes of galleons of that time. The Neptune galleon replica is not exactly historically accurate and was made wider for the camera team to have enough space to work on the decks. I wondered how much wider it is so I did some research about the Ordenanzas, or regulations, and collected some deck length to width ratios. The regulations were the result of the defeat of the Spanish fleet in the English channel in 1588 and the most famous ones are from 1607, 1613 and 1618, with modifications made in 1666 and 1679. These regulations were very strict rules but as the need for larger vessels arouse, the modifications were made and the last galleon build based on these Ordenanzas was the Nuestra Señora de la Concepción y las Ánimas, a 90-gun, three-decker, supervised by Antonio de Gaztañeta in 1688. Based on his experience as ship-builder and many years of navigation he proposed a new design for ship building, which meant the end of the era of the armada galleons and the birth of the eighteen century navíos, published in 1712 and 1720.

I. Medidas arregladas a la construcción de un bajel de guerra de sesenta codos de quilla, in a memorial of Bernardo Tinajero (1713) to the King: De lo que se ha de observar, y regla con que se ha de hacer la fábrica de diez bajeles y dos pataches que S.M. ha resuelto se construyan en el puerto de La Habana.

II. Proporciones de las medidas más esenciales para la fábrica de navíos y fragatas de guerra, que puedan montar desde 80 cañones hasta 100, con la explicación de la construcción de la barenga maestra, plano y perfil particular de un navío de 70 cañones, con los largos, gruesos y anchos de los materiales, escrito de orden del Rey, Madrid, en el año de 1720.

The ships were often build slim, with a length/beam ratio of about 3, give or take. And before the Ordenanza 1608 even close to 4. In comparison the Neptune has a ratio of 2.6. I found a galleon build close to the dimensions of the Neptune, with a deck length of almost 42 meters, a clean keel length of 30 meters, but a width of only almost 13 meters compared to the 16 meters of the Neptune. This converts to about 1.5cm wider on each side of the model (Pic. 7).
The calculated tonneladas are also similar, with the original one at 1186 tonneladas compared to the 1312 of the Neptune. However, the Spanish were not exactly famous for their mathematical skills and some researchers point that out in their research when comparing the capacities of the ships in tonnes and tonneladas.
The form of the ships back then was thus also more straight compared to my model, which resembles more the form of a smaller vessel, such as the Portuguese-built pepper-wreck Nossa Senhora dos Mártires, which sunk 1606 near Lissabon (pic. 8).

Because the ships were so slim, they had the tendency to be unstable, with the best example recorded in history being the tragedy of the Vasa, sunk in 1627 just after few hundreds of meters of her maiden voyage. A way around it was to test the ships after it has been loaded with its heavy artillery and then bring them back to repair them by means of "furring and girdling". This meant to thickening the frames and re-planking them in case of furring or adding some additional wales and planks when girdling, which was much cheaper than the first solution. This widened the ship at its water level, thus giving it more stability for the huge weight above the water level (pic 9).

After that little excursion into the 17th century ship building I noticed that I forgot two holes for the chasers in the front (pic 10) and drilled them by hand with a 9mm drill for wood. A real electric drill would have probably just shredded the whole construct.

Right now the planking of the decks is complete (pics 11 and 12) and I will continue with constructing the sides of the hull.

Rgds,
RdK



...Febrero anno domini 1669...

“Antonio Iturribálzaga Gaztañeta !!”
...shouted the shipwright Radék de la Sól de la Santa Cruz de Brazíl. “Where have you been? You smell like a pig! And you look like you haven’t been changing your clothes since the conquest of the Aztec by Hernan Cortez! Did you cracked Jenny’s Tea Cup in the early morning hours? I have a responsibility for you towards your father! Do not make me regret that I agreed to teach you the art of ship building.”

“I…I wish I could recall, but by that time I was three sheets to the wind…” admitted the young adolescent.

“Did you at least made your homework regarding the Ordenanzas and the deck width to beam ratios?”

“Yes, sir” said the slowly sobering Antonio, “ and the Ordenanza of 1607 recommends a bredth of 22 to the deck length of 75 and keel length of 32 royal cubits. (pics 13 and 14) But…the Neptune here seems to have a beam of 27-28 cubits.. Should we not follow…”

“Aaah, you have still a lot to learn, my young shipwright. The shipyards do not like to make it public, but many of their ships are too skinny and with all that heavy artillery that is required, they tend to be very unstable and have to go back for expensive repairs. Do you remember what happened to the Swedish Vasa? Hah ha har har!!! Such horrible ship designs by the Swedes and Dutch! We will do much better! We will not tinker and girdle or furr like the sneaky English or the abhorrent French scurvy dogs!
We will build the Neptune wide enough so she can carry all the heaviest cannons of the entire armada and be still able to sail fast and in shallow waters! To the dogs with the Ordenanzas!” Radék de la Sól took a last look at the Ordenanza with its modifications from 1666 (pic. 15 ) and tossed it in a wide throw down the cliff into the warm ocean towards the morning sunrise.
He did not know that the view of the flying old regulations towards the new rising sun would have a strong effect on the young boys mind, who, imagining a new dawn of Spanish supremacy, years later will propose an entirely new era of ship building designs, ending the era of the armada galleons, which he will publish with great success in 1712 and 1720.
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