Ship

We explain what a boat is, its characteristics and what parts it consists of. In addition, we tell you how its origin and its history were.

What is a boat?

A ship, vessel or vessel It is a vehicle designed to float and move on water through different propulsion mechanisms, usually concave in shape and equipped with operating autonomy. Ships are used for transportation (cargo and passenger), sporting, military or any other purpose.

The invention of ships is very old and has always represented an important technology for humanity. allowing the population to overcome geographical obstacles such as rivers and lagoons fishing for food and trading with distant populations. In fact, international and global trade depends primarily on merchant ships, which transport passengers and merchandise from one port to another.

The words “boat” and “boat,” similarly, have a very ancient history dating back to Latin. boat (“boat”), loan from Greek and in turn from Egyptian bariswhich is what the Egyptians called their canoes or feluccas to sail the Nile. It is a word that serves as a source for many other derived words, such as “boat”, “boatman”, “embark”, “boat”, “ landing”, among others.

Boats play a fundamental role in society and are often a source of inspiration for artists and thinkers. There have even been famous ships, such as the famous cruise ship RMS Titanic, sunk on its maiden voyage in 1912; or the battleship Bismarck of the German fleet during World War II.

See also: Water transport

Origin and history of ships

The origin of the ships is very ancient. The first types of boats date back to around 10,000 years ago and consisted of carved tree trunks like a raft or canoe, and they propelled themselves with a long pole that touched the bottom. These types of vehicles made it possible to cross shallow rivers or lakes, and were the precursors of the first boats themselves.

Ancient cultures located on the coast of seas and oceans were, surely, the inventors of the boat. They were civilizations that became sedentary taking advantage of the abundance of food they could obtain from the sea, and that carved their first boats out of wood. To propel oneself, the oar was for many centuries the main propulsion mechanism which sometimes required strong oarsmen, who were often selected from slaves.

The first great advance in nautical matters had to do with the incorporation of the wind, through the development of sails: large pieces of fabric tied to the mast of the ship that propelled it forward easily and freely, although not constantly.

Sailing, rowing and the compass were the foundations of naval technology until practically the 19th century, when the first steam ships appeared. This did not prevent a wide variety of large vessels from being developed, some for commercial purposes (galleons, brigantines, clippers, among others) and military purposes (frigate, schooner, corvette, among others).

With the Industrial Revolution and the invention of the combustion engine, ships greatly increased their speed and its comforts, which gave rise to the diversity of modern vessels that today travel through the ports of the world and engage in war conflicts. For this, the submarine, aircraft carriers and other specialized military vessel models have also been invented, some of which even have nuclear energy capacity and long-range weapons.

Boat characteristics

From a general perspective, the main characteristics of the boats are:

• They are vehicles variable size almost always concave and fusiform, rigid, resistant and stable.
• They are equipped with buoyancy capacity (since they move on the surface of the water), load capacity and some means (or several) of propulsion.
• They are used with different purposes: commercial, recreational, sporting, military or exploration.
• Depending on its type and model, can reach high speeds transport large amounts of cargo or perform other specialized functions, such as aircraft carriers that serve as a take-off and landing strip for warplanes.
• are the main means of transporting goods and people in the world

Parts of a ship

Although ships can be very different from each other, depending on their purpose, in general they comprise the same set of parts, which are:

• Bow. It is the front or front part of the boat, much narrower and wedged than the stern, whose role is to cut the waves and facilitate the progress of the boat.
• Stern. It is the rear or rear part of the boat, where the propulsion mechanisms (such as the propeller) and driving mechanisms (such as the rudder) are installed.
• Port. It is the left side of the boat, looking from the stern to the bow.
• Starboard. It is the right side of the boat, looking from the stern to the bow.
• Sides. It is the name given to each of the halves of the ship, if it is divided longitudinally: the port side (left) and the starboard side (right).
• Helmet. It is the waterproof portion of the boat that separates the frame from the waters, that is, what keeps the boat afloat and gives it stability.
• Deck. It is the part of the boat that closes the habitable structure and makes up the upper portion of the hull.
• Living work. It is the portion of the hull that is submerged under water, that is, below the waterline.
• dead work. It is the portion of the hull that emerges above the water, that is, above the waterline.
• Bilge. It is the intermediate portion between the deck and the hull, where the ship's sewage, oils and other waste go, which are eventually expelled to the outside.
• Keel. It is a lower fin-shaped protuberance that extends from the hull into the water and provides stability to the boat.
• Mast. It is a stick perpendicular to the keel where the topmasts (horizontal) are fixed to hold the sails of a boat.
• Rudder. It is the ship's maneuvering device, equivalent to the steering wheel of automobiles.
• Cuaderna or Garbo. It is each of the “ribs” of the boat's frame, usually made of wood or metal.

In addition to the parts of the boat, it is important to know the measurements used to talk about it:

• Length. It is equivalent to the length of the boat and is usually measured in feet (approx. 30 cm).
• Sleeve. It is equivalent to the width of the boat, and distinguishes between maximum beam and minimum beam depending on its location on the boat.
• Strut. It is equivalent to the height of the boat from the underside of the hull.
• Freeboard. It is equivalent to the distance between the waterline and the highest deck, so it represents the highest limit to which water can rise: above it there is a risk of sinking the boat.
• Draft. It is equivalent to the height of the submerged portion of the boat, from the keel to the waterline.

Boat types

Boats can be of very different types, depending on their purposes (commercial, military, recreational, sports boats, among others), and within each category it is possible to distinguish different specialized subtypes. However, another form of general classification of ships distinguishes them based on two fundamental criteria:

According to your size. A distinction is made between smaller and larger ships, as follows:

• Smaller ships. Those that have a length of less than 24 meters and less than 50 meters of internal volume.
• Older ships. Those that have a length and internal volume greater than 24 and 50 meters respectively.

Depending on your propulsion method. There are three types of boats:

• Human powered boats. Those in which propulsion depends on the effort of one or more crew members, as is the case of kayaks, canoes, feluccas, among others.
• Wind powered boats. Those in which propulsion depends on the use of the wind, as is the case of sailing boats, rotor boats, among others.
• Mechanically powered boats. Those in which propulsion depends on different energy transformation devices, such as motor ships, turbine ships, steam ships, among others.

How are ships built?

Building a boat is an ancient art, which has developed enormously since the ancient times of wooden boats, to adapt to new techniques, materials and needs. Currently Large ships are manufactured with steel and other resistant materials, using industrial machines and implements, in ship factories or shipyards.

The construction of a boat begins with the hull made from a single piece if it is a small boat, and from several pieces joined together by cranes, if it is a large modern ship. Then the cover is adhered and the necessary reinforcements are introduced to give consistency and solidity to the frame.

So the interiors of the hull and deck are assembled and then the so-called isolation phase takes place, in which engines, computerized systems and other functional additions are added. This phase occurs in the dry when it comes to small boats and directly afloat, that is, in the water, when it comes to large ships and cargo ships.

Then the aesthetic details, paint, finishes and identifications are incorporated into the boat and in the case of small and medium-sized boats, they are launched, that is, they are thrown into the water. Once at sea, the necessary tests are carried out to verify the correct operation of the systems, before terminating the ship.

Continue with: Maritime transport

References

• “Boat” in Wikipedia.
• “Boat” in the Language Dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy.
• “Etymology of Boat” in the Online Spanish Etymological Dictionary.
• “Parts of a ship” (video) at the Faculty of Distance Studies of the Nueva Granada Military University (Colombia).
• “The ships” in the National Ports Administration of Uruguay.