Learning the by Dr

Learning the by Dr. Louis A. Norton n the Age of Sail, a large sailing ship safe and rapid splicing might be costly and difficult to obtain. Coir rope, was rigged with miles and miles of required. Sailors are notoriously su- also known as grass-line, was rough in tex- rope. Before the introduction of steam perstitious, thus perhaps they avoided the ture and weak in performance, about one engines aboard ships, wind provided Sinister (left twist) and universally chose quarter the strength of hemp rope of equal their only means of propulsion, pow- the Dexter (right-hand twist) for the open- diameter, but it could float and was used ering sails controlled by a complicated web ing turn. to control heavier lines. Inexpensive jute Iof lines. Whether scrambling outboard Prior to the mid-twentieth century, was weak but ideal for twines, whipping along footropes aloft or manning the deck rope was made from plant fibers such as material, and matting. under straining canvas and rigging, sea- hemp, sisal, manila, coir (fibers surround- strand men’s lives depended on quality rope and ing the coconut palm seed), and jute. Each developing skills in how to manipulate it fiber imparted specific characteristics to a yarn with knots and splices to turn it into a rope. Hemp is hard and smooth; it was the working rig. With time on their hands during long fiber seagoing voyages, sailors before the mast— veritable experts in marlinespike seaman- ship—made good use of the available materials aboard ship by fashioning their own tools, gear, clothing, and even art—un- material of choice for running rigging but The most favored ropemaking mate- knowingly creating a rich and lasting folk easily deteriorated by overuse, chafe, and rial during the Age of Sail was hemp. The art tradition much recognized and valued rot. Therefore, it was often tarred by dip- plant was cultivated thousands of years ago today. Some was practical, some decora- ping strands into vats of boiling pitch. in China for making rope, clothing, and tive—many were both. The most recogniz- Sisal, similar to hemp, was not as strong paper. Its value was so great that it was used able and perhaps abundant form of sailors’ per weight and diameter as hemp, and its as tribute to rulers. During the Middle art was decorative knotwork, developed unruly fibers did not run smoothly through Ages, this same plant became popular for from the regular knots, bends, hitches, and blocks. Strong and springy manila was making rope and cord across Europe. In splices they used in their everyday work in the operation of their ships. Constituents Though it is so ubiquitous aboard ship that it can seem like a simple common shipboard tool, rope is a carefully thought-out and constructed product. It begins as plant fibers spun into yarn and, in turn, twisted into strands. In most examples, fibers are twisted to the right, yarns to the left, and strands back to the right. Individual strands are then wound into a right-handed spiral to form a given circumference, then turned together into a left-handed or clockwise “lay,” ultimately forming a length of fin- ished rope. Thus, when a line is pulled apart or begins to unravel, the next layer twists more tightly. How the direction of the twist and lay became standardized is unknown, but its consistency proved beneficial to sailors. Regardless of what ship they were jones collection lesley commonwealth, digital on and where its rope had come from, they Dipping rope yarns in pitch helped the final product last longer in a saltwater and sea air could depend on the direction of the lay in environment. These rope yarns are being pulled through a tar trough at the Charlestown fibers, yarns, and strands without having Navy Yard ropewalk in Boston. The quarter-mile-long granite building is the last ropewalk to study individual lines and cordage, es- of its kind in existence in the United States. Between 1838 and 1970, most of the cordage pecially important in emergencies, when for the Navy was produced here. 24 SEA HISTORY 161, WINTER 2017–18 national park service park national jones collection lesley commonwealth, digital Rope up to a quarter of a mile long could be manufactured inside the 1,325 x 45-foot ropewalk at the Charlestown Navy Yard in Boston. (left) Interior photo of a ropemaker laying up four-strand rope. (right) The exterior of the building as it looked in 1930. Production at the ropewalk was terminated in 1971. The building has been vacant since then and is being considered for redevelopment by its owner, the Boston Redevelopment Authority, within the protocols of the National Park Service and the Massachusetts Historical Commission guidelines. America, hemp was cultivated in Salem, of plant fibers and natural materials that Europe was unpredictable, and settlers were Massachusetts, in 1640. Like the Chinese, were braided or twisted by hand. Ancient keen on making their own rope, along with American colonial tax collectors would Egyptians tied the ends of papyrus to fixed other commodities for day-to-day living. accept quantities of hemp as payment. objects and then twisted a stick to provide In 1641, John Harrison, a ropemaker from Hemp fibers are strong, smooth, and resis- torsion. The resulting strands were com- Salisbury, England, built a ropewalk in tant to stiffening when wet and later dried, bined into a three-twisted aggregate and Boston, using both Salem-grown and im- a constant situation aboard ships at sea. then twisted together in a counter direction. ported hemp as raw materials. Harrison Over the eighteenth century, Kentucky, The length of rope was limited by the controlled Boston’s ropemaking business North Carolina, and Missouri became ma- length of the area in which it was being for years, as evidenced by a 1663 order from jor American hemp producers. Foreign constructed. Outdoors, racks and stands local authorities demanding that a fellow varieties from Russia and the Baltics were could be built at just about any distance “twine twister,” John Heyman, stop mak- popular, but many ship outfitters consid- apart, but this practice was, of course, ing rope and promptly leave town. When ered the Italian strains the best. weather dependent. By the end of the Harrison died, his quasi-monopolistic ad- Color is an indication of age in buying twelfth century, Europeans were making vantage died with him, and the number of rope. “New is like spun gold, but as time rope indoors in long narrow buildings ropewalks rose dramatically. runs on this fades to a dull yellow, and with called “ropewalks” that allowed specially In 1792, British entrepreneur and in- age eventually it loses all color and turns a trained workers to construct ropes up to ventor Edmund Cartwright modified his dull lifeless grey.”1 Pristine rope was so 300 yards long. These purpose-built com- power loom invention to mechanically valuable that some navies wove colored jute plexes enabled yarns to be stretched in a assist making rope.2 This apparatus en- threads into the yarns to identify the com- long unbroken line between rotating hooks. abled ropemakers to produce multiple position of materials. It also discouraged As the hooks rotated, the yarns would be twists of the ropes with each turn of the theft; selling stolen navy property to mer- entwined together. Longer rope could be complex tool. The mechanism was based chant captains was made unfeasible by this made by splicing lengths together. Splices, upon an oversized wheel that linked small- practice. however, typically doubled the diameter of er wheels via leather or rope belts. For each the rope at the join, thus making it useless revolution of the center wheel, smaller Production for passing through blocks or fairleads of wheels would turn from as few as four, to Historically, ropemaking evolved through running rigging. as many as ten, revolutions simultane- four major stages: twisting or braiding; Shortly after the first Europeans ar- ously, allowing the ropemaker to twist manipulating components by way of simple rived in North America, they began mak- strands faster and tighter. Cartwright’s mechanical tools; using compound ma- ing hemp cordage. Rope was used to rig machine included a clutch mechanism, chine-like tools; and employing powered their vessels, but also for myriad uses ashore. which could be used to reverse direction machinery. The earliest ropes were made The frequency of supplies arriving from for right or left-hand turnings. As the 1 Hervey G. Smith, The Marlinespike Sailor, (New York, NY: The Rudder Publishing Company, 1952). 2 The device was called the “Cordelier” after the knotted cord that girded the Franciscan friars’ habit. SEA HISTORY 161, WINTER 2017–18 25 Industrial Revolution progressed, wooden wheels and pulleys were replaced with metal-geared machines that rarely slipped, were less prone to breaking, and required only minor adjustments during the manu- facturing process. Once the operation had been moved indoors, the maximum length rope that could be made in one piece was determined by the length of the ropewalk building. The only intact American ropewalk still in existence is at the Charlestown Navy Yard in Boston, near where USS Constitution is docked. The quarter-mile-long granite and brick building produced most of the rope for the US Navy between 1837 and 1971, when the ropewalk was officially closed. The Charlestown Navy Yard’s ropewalk has survived all these years, in part because of its stone construction, which has survived fires, which destroyed many a ropewalk from that era. The majority of commercial courtesy mystic seaport museum mystic seaport courtesy ropewalks were not made of stone, nor were Ropemaking machinery at the Plymouth Cordage Company ropewalk, now on display at they as long.

Load more