To make the hull watertight, shipwrights hammered "oakum" (old, tar-soaked rope fibers) into the seams between planks.
These lighter woods were reserved for masts and yards, as their flexibility allowed them to bend under high winds without snapping. The Skeleton: Ribs and Keel Wooden Warship Construction: A History in Ship ...
Construction began in the forest, not the dockyard. The choice of wood was a strategic decision: To make the hull watertight, shipwrights hammered "oakum"
As ships grew larger, they faced the problem of "hogging"—the tendency for the heavy bow and stern to sag while the middle of the ship rose. In the early 1800s, British naval architect revolutionized construction by introducing diagonal bracing. This turned the ship’s hull into a rigid girder, allowing wooden ships to reach lengths previously thought impossible. The Twilight of Wood To make the hull watertight