Fig. 24. Bow of the cruise ship

The forward part of the bow, usually on the ship's centerline, is called the stem. Traditionally, the stem was an upright timber or metal bar into which side planks or plates were joined.

A "wet bow" results from seawater washing over the top of the hull. A raked stem can help to reduce the wetness of the bow. Aside from making the deck slippery, water can corrode the metal of the ship. If the temperature is low enough this water can also freeze on the deck, rails, turrets, and other exposed surfaces, increasing the topside weight.

Several types of bows exist. These include:

• Tumblehome
• Raised foredeck
• Reverse sheer
• Conventional clipper
• Low-cain spoon bow
• High-cain spoon bow

Fig. 25. Types of bows

III. Answer the following questions:

1. What is a bow?

2. How is the other end of the boat called?

3. What is the term bow derived from?

4. What is the bow designed for?

5. What is stern?

6. What is the result of seawater washing?

7. Traditionally, the stern was an upright timber or metal bar into which side planks or plates were joined, wasn’t it?

IV. Translate the text: “Figurehead”

A figurehead is a carved wooden decoration, often female or bestial, found at the prow of ships of the 16th to the 19th century. The practice was introduced with the galleons of the 16th century, as although earlier ships had often had some form of bow ornamentation, the figurehead as such could not come to be until ships had an actual head structure upon which to place it.

As with the stern ornamentation, the purpose of the figurehead was often to indicate the name of the ship in a non-literate society (albeit in a sometimes very convoluted manner); and always, in the case of naval ships, to demonstrate the wealth and might of the owner. At the height of the Baroque period, some ships of the line boasted gigantic figureheads, weighing several tons and sometimes twinned on both sides of the bowsprit.

A large figurehead, being carved from massive wood and perched on the very foremost tip of the hull, adversely affected the sailing qualities of the ship.

Figureheads as such died out with the sailing ship. Early steamships, however, did sometimes have gilt scroll-work and coats-of-arms at their bows. This practice lasted up until about World War I.

In Germany, Belgium, and Holland, it was once believed that spirits/faeries called Klaboutermannikins (water manikins) dwelt in the figureheads. The spirit guarded the ship from sickness, rocks, storms, and dangerous winds. If the ship sank, the Klaboutermannikin guided the sailors' souls to the Land of the Dead. To sink without a Klaboutermannikin condemned the sailor's soul to haunt the sea forever, so Dutch sailors believed.

V. Use the following words and word combinations in the sentences of your own:

A nautical term, forward part of the hull, to be underway, to come from old days, to be derived from, to provide the strength for smth, to reduce the resistance, to prevent water from smth, to maximize the volume of the ship, the ship’s centerline, to reduce the wetness of the bow.

VI. Ask as many questions as possible to the following sentences:

1. A "wet bow" results from seawater washing over the top of the hull.

2. The forward part of the bow, usually on the ship's centerline, is called the stem.

3. The term bow comes from the old days of timber boat building.

4. The term bow is derived from the use of the trunk and a bow (bough) or large limb of a tree.

5. The bow is designed to reduce the resistance of the hull cutting through water and should be tall enough to prevent water from easily washing over the top of it.

VII. Insert the missing word using the text:

1. The bow is a … … that refers to the forward part of … of a ship.

2. The term … comes from the old days of … … building.

3. The bow is designed to reduce … of the hull cutting through water.

4. … part of the …, usually on the ship’s centerline is called …

5. Aside from making … …, water can corrode the metal of the ship.

VIII. Retell the text “Bow.”

UNIT 23. ANCHOR

I. Read and translate the following text:

Fig. 26. A stocked ship's anchor.
a. Shank
b. Crown
c. Arm
d. Fluke
e. Point
f. & g. Eye and Ring
h. Stock
i. Fisherman's bend

An anchor is an object, often made out of metal that is used to attach a ship to the bottom of a body of water at a specific point. There are two primary classes of anchors—temporary and permanent. A permanent anchor is often called a mooring, and is rarely moved; it is quite possible the vessel cannot hoist it aboard but must hire a service to move or maintain it. A temporary anchor is usually carried by the vessel, and hoisted aboard whenever the vessel is in motion, hence the term "under weigh"; it is what most non-sailors mean when they refer to an anchor. A sea anchor is a related device used when the water depth makes using a mooring or temporary anchor impractical. The hole through which an anchor rope passes is known as a hawse pipe.

An anchor works by resisting the movement force of the vessel which is attached to it. There are two primary ways to do this — via sheer mass, and by "hooking" into the seabed. It may seem logical to think wind and currents are the largest forces an anchor must overcome, but actually the vertical movement of waves develops the largest loads, and modern anchors are designed to use a combination of technique and shape to resist all these forces.

The earliest anchors were probably rocks and many rock anchors have been found dating from at least the Bronze Age. Many modern moorings still rely on a large rock as the primary element of their design.

A simple anchor using a pair of wood arms under a rock mass is a primitive anchor which is still in use today. The wood arms are pointed to penetrate the bottom, and the mass will overcome normal movement forces. Together they comprise what may have been the first successful attempts to hook into the seabed and use the strength there to prevent a vessel from moving.

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