An Old Whaler Hove Down For Repairs, Near New Bedford, a wood engraving drawn by F. S. Cozzens and published in Harper's Weekly, December 1882

Careening (also known as "heaving down") is a method of gaining access to the hull of a sailing vessel without the use of a dry dock. It is used for cleaning or repairing the hull. Before ship's hulls were protected from marine growth by fastening copper sheets over the surface of the hull, fouling by this growth would seriously affect the sailing qualities of a ship, causing a large amount of drag.[1]: 164 

Practice

The ship was grounded broadside on a steep beach, or in dockyards, moored a permanent facility for careening known as a careening wharf.[2] A beach favoured for careening was called a careenage.

The vessel was then pulled over with tackles from the mastheads to strong-points on the shore; a careening wharf would have been equipped with the capstans and rope tackle necessary for this. Once side of the ship would be raised out of the water and accessible for maintenance. When work was complete, the ship would be floated off and the process repeated on the other side.[3]

A diagram of careening, from the Lärobok i sjömanskap (Textbook of Seamanship) by Wilhelm Linder (1896)

Careening a ship was a laborious task.[4] In 1843, HMS Formidable was careened at Malta to carry out repairs after the ship had grounded. An account of the work done notes that every movable item on the ship had to be taken off. Additional reinforcements had to be installed in the hull and all the masts and rigging removed except for the lowest parts. Also the lower gun ports were sealed and made water-tight.[5] Careening also placed the hull under a considerable strain and even a strongly-built ship could be weakened or damaged by the procedure. Using a dry-dock was preferred if one was available.[4]

In the 18th century, careening wharves existed at overseas Royal Navy dockyards such as Port Mahon and Halifax, which were less well-equipped than dockyards in the United Kingdom, which would have had dry docks.[2]

A related practice was a Parliamentary heel, in which the vessel was heeled over in deep water, by shifting weight, such as ballast or guns, to one side. In this way the upper sides could be cleaned or repaired with minimal delay. Famously, HMS Royal George was lost at Spithead off Portsmouth while undergoing a Parliamentary heel in 1782.[3]

Pirates would often careen their ships because they had no access to drydocks. A secluded bay would suffice for necessary repairs or hull cleaning, and such little "safe havens" could be found throughout the islands in the Caribbean and nearly around the world. One group of islands, Las Tres Marías in Panama, became popular after Francis Drake had sailed there in 1579, and they quickly became a popular place for piracy.[6]

Today, only small vessels are careened, while large vessels are placed in dry dock.[3]

See also

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Careening.
  1. ^ Smyth, W. H. (2005). The sailor's word-book : the classic source for over 14,000 nautical & naval terms, including some more especially military and scientific, but useful to seamen ; as well as archaisms of early voyages, etc. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-972-7.
  2. ^ a b MacDougall, Philip (1989). Royal Dockyards. Shire. pp. 17–20. ISBN 9780747800330.
  3. ^ a b c Kemp, Peter, ed. (1976). The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea. Oxford University Press. p. 140.
  4. ^ a b Rodger, Nicholas (2014). The Command of the Ocean. Allen Lane. p. 301. ISBN 0713994118.
  5. ^ "The Nautical Magazine: A Journal of Papers on Subjects Connected with Maritime Affairs". 14. Brown, Son and Ferguson. 1845: 80–84. ((cite journal)): Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  6. ^ Gerhard, Peter (August 1958). "The Tres Marias Pirates". The Pacific Historical Review. Vol. 27, no. 3. pp. 239–44.
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