THE AMERICAN FRIGATE CONSTITUTION
This ship set a new style in frigates, for she was the largest and most heavily armed frigate of her time when she was launched. She is still to be seen at Boston, and seems but a little thing in contrast with ships of to-day.
At the stern there were several steps in the deck elevating it gradually above the midship deck. Here the officer in command was stationed near the helmsman, who was second in command, and who steered the ship by a cleverly arranged pair of oars—one on each side, connected and operated by ropes and pulleys.
The bow was decorated by an erection sometimes shaped like a swan’s neck which was a continuation of the stem. The stern also had a highly raised timber running up and curving forward over the helmsman. These ships usually carried two masts, each spreading a single square sail, but sail was not carried in action. Often, as a matter of fact, the sails and the heavier spars were left ashore if a battle was imminent.
These galleys, for many centuries, were light craft, meant for speed, but as more strength was demanded in order to make possible hulls that could withstand the shock of ramming, the ships became heavier and heavier, which, in turn, demanded more oarsmen, which, again, brought larger ships into being, until, when Rome became the mistress of the sea, five-banked ships had become the standard, and the three-banked ships were relegated to a second place.
A STEAM FRIGATE—THE U. S. S. HARTFORD
Which was used in the American Civil War by Admiral Farragut.
Then Rome invented the “corvus” or great hinged gangplank with its heavy barbed end. This gangplank was swung at the forward end of the ship and was loosely hinged to the deck, being kept upright by a tackle holding it to the mast. When an enemy’s ship was approached the Romans did not attempt to ram, but ran alongside, let go the tackle, and the heavy corvus fell to the enemy’s deck, where its metal barb fastened itself in the deck planks. Thereupon, the soldiers, with whom the Romans crowded the decks of their ships, rushed across and the sea battle became a mêlée.
