Re: Query: Ballast on 17th century ships

On Sat, 30 Jun 2007 17:05:19 +1200, Kerryn Offord
<kao16@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Could anybody point me to easily accessible references on ships ballast
for warships and transports.

Danish and French Navy... in the early 1600s

I know Vasa had stone ballast. Batavia had lead (220 tons..)..

But anything on what ships might have stored deep in the hold in this
line.. size and weight of stones etc would be interesting... Images also.

I have seen something someplace that indicated that rip rap used for a mole
had originally been ballast of ships coming in and loading cargo of some
kind for transport out. So at least there, ballast was something cheap
(like rocks) that could be picked up if a voyage had to be made without
cargo aboard.

This may not qualify, as it was written as fiction, but in O'Brian's
Aubrey/Maturin series, Aubrey uses _Surprise_'s carronades as ballast when
he is required by the Admiralty to carry long guns. As I remember, when he
takes her private, he reverses the situation, carrying the long guns as
ballast and using the carronades.
.