Swinging davits

Don

You don't indicate where the "bars" are located (high or low) on the davits. I'm guessing that they are strongbacks, used to act as a fender to keep the ships small boats off the hull during lowering or recovery. The davits I used to man were the old "crank them out together" five turns would move the davit an inch, after one drill  they made for a good nights sleep and kept you at 135 lbs....

My impression of the davits you mention are of the "fish" davit one side would be turned out after the boat gripes were taken off and then the other handled in a similar manner. The falls would be taken to the crucifix, the command to" lower away together" given and gravity would take the small boat to the waters surface. The motor would be started up immediatly  and the stern block would detach first then  the bow block second. This ship's evolution was the most dangerous event on a ship so many things could go wrong, real fast. I was dropped over board while in the surf boat, the bow man let go the releasing gear while we were at the rail, almost met St. Peter that day....

The bars are at the very top, just above where the blocks for the  tackle are.

In another group I asked this off, one response suggested they are removable, in place only when the boats are stowed.  This would make sense, allowing the davits to be swung individually rather than in a fixed phase,

waynec

i have seen straps looped under the boats too and this could be where they are attached. congrats on your container ship in latest fsm.

Thanks for the mention of that.

I am rigging the boats now.  The Olympia is just big enough I decided to rig the boat tackles.  I have created a little jig to make eyes for each end of the boats (none is provided).  I drove a pin into a little block of wood, cut the head off, and drilled a small hole, about #70, about an eighth of an inch from the pin.  I bend a little right angle bend in the thin wire I am using, stick that end in the hole, hold the end down with my fingernail and draw the rest of the wire around the pin one turn.  This creates a loop with an ID of the diameter of the pin. I cut the excess off with good shears, cut off the "hook" at the bend point, and have an eye with a 1/8 inch shank. I pull that loop with a pair of smallnose pliers so I can get the loop tight around the pin.

I did the first boats- the ones stowed inboard- with dark gray wire, but for the boats hung outboard, I found some very fine brass wire I got from Michaels, and the brass eyes sure look nice.  Hope no one  notices a third of the boats have brass eyes and the rest dull gray ones :-)

I'm old, if not old enough for Oly <G>; the oldest Bluejacket's Manual I have dates to 1919, a good long time after Oly.  But, redial davits have to spin. 

As you surmise, you spin them out one at a time.  You lift the boat out of its chocks, rotate both davits aft or forward as far as you can, until one end or the other clears.  Then you reverse one, which sets the boat at a diagonal between the davits, and keep rotating until the whole boat is over the side.

Just bashed through some online photo references, which show all sorts of spars on either the fore or after davits (and both).  None of those look long enough to be a strongback to gripe any of the boats to the davits in a 'swung out' sort of way.

So, I'll guess that what is represented on the davit tops are stowed awning poles--which would be un-bent and stowed before using the davits.  If they are not awning poles, then they are "gin poles" used for getting inboard & nested boats moved to where they could be hoist out.

I'd wager that boat tackle was only rigged on the davits 'to need."   Probably only a light line passed through to control the davits, and keep them from swinging in the wind.