Rudders

  The type of rudder in general use by the time of the first tea cli ppers was known as 'gunstock'. The axis of the pintles in this type is in the same line as the centre of the rudder stock, so that when the rudder swings from side to side the stock revolves about its own axis and consequently can be fitted inside a tube of wood or iron slightly greater in diameter. Before the introduction of this type of rudder early in the 19th century, the front edge of the rudder was in a straight line from the tiller to the heel, so that when the rudder swung over the upper post or stock also swung over  necessitating a large hole under the counter and a large trunk inside the hull to give freedom of movement.

  The hole under the counter for the gunstock rudder was made smaller than the trunk above it by having a light wooden ring nailed around it just clear of the rudder stock. To ship the rudder into place or remove it later, it had to be canted slightly for the gudgeons to clear each other, and therefore the opening under the counter had to be large enough to permit this, being afterwards enclosed by the wooden ring. A large ring bolt or a hole for it was fitted on the top edge of the rudder for lifting tackle, and often used for relieving tackle, led to eyebolts each side of the lower counter. The tackle was usually in the form of a chain pendant hanging in a loop each side of the rudder. Its purpose was to prevent the rudder being lost entirely if lifted off its pintles in heavy seas. It could also have rope tackles added to the chain to act as steering gear if the above deck steering gear became damaged. The later tea clippers omitted the relieving tackle from the rudder, although it was always kept aboard to rig in an emergency.

  The mainpiece of the gunstock rudder formed the upper stock and was then cranked at an angle to become the middle of the rudder with additional pieces bolted to the fore and aft sides to form the body of the rudder, all held together by long bolts and tie braces. As the name implies, the complete unit resembled the stock of a rifle and its barrel, standing on end.

  The rudder stock was of the same diameter as the top of the rudder and from there to the heel there was a slight tapering down to about two-thirds or half the stock diameter, which was also paralleled on the sternpost.   The rudder blade also tapered slightly from its front to its aft edge.

  The hinge apparatus consisted of braces and gudgeons on both the rudder and the sternpost with pintles linking the two, the pintles usually being removable pins. On small craft or those of earlier centuries, the pintles and rudder gudgeons were in one piece and were called rudder pintles and straps, those on the sternpost with the hole for the pin being called gudgeons. With the separate pintle, however, both parts were called gudgeons.

  Because of the interaction of ferrous metal with copper sheathing and  fastenings, the gudgeons and pintles from the waterline down were made of bronze with the copper fitted neatly around them. Above the waterline the metalwork was frequently made of forged or wrought iron.