Carvel planking

Utility

Carvel planking is widely used in all larger ships that are supposed to cross the Stormsea as well as other large bodies of water that may have difficult weather.

Manufacturing

The process begins by building a strong frame either in a dry dock or with rollers to roll the hull into the sea once completed. The frame provides the strength needed to withstand the forces of the sea.

Then the outer planking is added, this becomes the main hull. The planks are fastened with large nails to the frame.

Finally you need to make sure that no water can enter the small gaps in between the planks. This is done by adding some form of fibrous material soaked in a thick binding material.

Finally any internal structures, like a mast, are added before the ship is launched.

by Willhig

Access & Availability

Since this technology is more a kind of concept it has spread widely, especially in areas where large transport vessels are used for crossing waters with difficult weather, like the Stormsea. Naturally the quality of the planking varies across the many shipyards, but the best ones are indisputably build in the city of Jingzhou.

Complexity

Due to the requirement to first build a skeleton to but planking on it is more time consuming and more expensive to build a ship with carvel planking instead of clinker. The significant increase in ship size and therefore the increased amount of cargo capacity that can be achieved usually outweighs the upfront cost in the long run.

Discovery

The process of discovery come from a desire to increase the ship size for crossing the Stormsea, which had a tendency to tear large clinker built ships apart. Adding a strong internal frame was the first invention that worked, but it also added a lot of weight, so in order to reduce that, people tried to reduce the amount of wood in the outer planking. This was achieved by thinning the planking and then to put the planks end to end and use something to put between the small gaps between the planks to prevent it from sinking once in the water.