Existing comment:
Ships' Draughts:
Contemporary dockyard models and the ships they represent were built according to drawings known as draughts (pronounced drafts") or plans. Drawn to scale (often 1:48), they show the hull from at least three perspectives: from above, from the broadside, and end-on. The earliest surviving English draughts are those of Matthew Baker from the 1580s. A century later, William Keltridge produced a series of much more sophisticated plans of Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Rates. The collection of draughts at Britain's National Maritime Museum begins in earnest in about the year 1700. |