Decking
 
  As one of the most noticeable items on a ship is the deck planking, it is useful to consider some of the factors which governed the laying of the decks on wooden ships or iron composite ones.

  In a wooden ship the deck planking was a major item in contributing to the longitudinal strength to resist hogging etc., particularly the waterway and margin plank immediately adjacent to it. These two members therefore were kept large in section and continuous for the full length of the ship and of approximately constant width. A slight decrease in the width was permissible near the extremities but it was a gradual decrease.

  At approximately the width of the hatchways additional thick binding strakes were laid full fore and aft, without being pierced for pumps or any other items. The extra thickness of these strakes, possibly one or two each side, was accommodated by their being scored down over the beams until flush with the normal decking, thus locking into all the beams, or else laid flush over the beams at a slightly raised height. In the latter case the deck planking between the binding strakes, down the middle of the deck, would also be increased in thickness, allowing for camber, so that pools of water could not lie against the binding strakes.

  The binding strakes were laid in a slightly curved line which was approximately parallel to the deck line for the major length of the ship before the deck commenced to curve in towards the bow or stern. Between the binding strakes and the margin planks, the normal thickness of planking was also laid parallel to them, or in some instances slightly tapering towards the extremities so that the outermost strake ran as long a length as possible. This was in order to get the maximum strength out of long continuous strakes near the ship's side. The inside edge of the margin plank (which was frequently scored down over the beams) was left in a continuous unbroken curved line.

  At the extremities of each plank, to avoid running into along thin point which could not be efficiently caulked or fastened, the end was cut square, at such a width (approximately 2.5 in.) that a caulking iron could be used across it and a hole for a treenail drilled into it near its end without weakening the plank too much. This meant that the next adjacent plank inboard had to be notched around the square end of the previous plank and so on, until the plank ends met the curve at about 30o, which could be effectively caulked and fastened.
The planking down the middle of the deck was not so important, as it was in short lengths, being broken by hatches, scuttles, mast partners, etc.

  These openings were bounded by vertical coamings (hatch sides) and ledges (ends ofhatches). The coamings bolted onto the carling pieces between the beams at the level of the top of beams. The ledges bolted down into a bevelled score across the butt ends of the deck planks which ran to the actual opening in the deck. If the beams at each end of the hatch had  sufficient width, the hatch ledges would bed down onto them directly, as also the ends of the planks which would butt up against the ledges.