Humber Keel
The Humber Keel (German: Humber river ship) is a small type of cargo sailing ship.
history
The widespread type of ship was used on the Humber , Trent and Ouse Rivers and on the canals between these rivers. Its heyday was around the middle of the 19th century. Today only about a handful of historical vehicles that are operated as traditional ships or leisure vehicles are preserved.
Construction
The more than 20 meters long and five meters wide wooden cargo sailors with square sails are round and blunt fore and aft. The load-bearing capacity of the ships, which were initially built with an unusually heavy clinker construction method , but later increasingly built with crawler planking , is around 90 to 100 tons. The largest part of the deck is occupied by the single large hatch, in the middle of which there is the only foldable mast for the passage of bridges. The ships have two centrally arranged large leeboards . The sails consist of one or two square sails that can be operated by one man using a winch. The reason for the more complex to operate sails was the greater maneuverability compared to the gaff rigging. Later, however, numerous units of this type were converted to gaff sails. The crew usually consisted of two men who lived in the separate cabin aft.
literature
- Bathe, BW: Ship Models, 3: British Small Craft . Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London 1965.