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glivs
Admiral

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USA
836 Posts

Initially Posted - 07/14/2024 : 04:27:03

By chance I picked up a copy of a book by the Smithsonian National Maritime Museum on the evolution of boat/ship design for various purposes around the world. Quite interesting. Anyway I am puzzled by their use of the term "bows" as opposed to "bow" in describing the most foreward part of the hull. And the use has been consistent throughout. For example, in describing early schooners developed in the Chesapeake Bay region "The stern of a Baltimore clipper was flat and much deeper than its bows."

Is "bows" perhaps a now outdated usage?

Gerry Livingston, Malletts Bay, VT
"Great Escape" 1989 C-25 SR/WK #5972

Voyager
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
5320 Posts

Response Posted - 07/14/2024 : 07:38:13

Hi Gerry, Is it an antique book? what�s the title of the book, and publishing date?
A quick scan of the origin of the word comes from old English �bough�, and there were implications that a stick was bent in the shape of an archery bow. I did see a reference to a pair of wooden posts on the bow used to tie the boat, also called bows.

Bruce Ross
Passage ~ SR-FK ~ C25 #5032

Port Captain � Milford, CT

OLarryR
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3411 Posts

Response Posted - 07/14/2024 : 20:43:11

Searching the web, I found the following reference that provided definition/info regarding using the term "bows":

Oxford Companion To Ships and The Sea ,2006/2007:
bow

QUICK REFERENCE
"The foremost end of a ship, the opposite of stern. From bow to stern, the whole length of a ship. The word is frequently used in the plural, as �the bows of a ship�. It was also used at one time to give an approximate bearing of an object in relation to the fore-and-aft line of the ship, as e.g. �the buoy bears 15� on the port bow� or �two points on the starboard bow�, as the case may be. On the bow, within an arc of four points (45�) extending either side of the bow. It is the position in the ship where the hawseholes for the anchors are situated and where the jackstaff is stepped. "

Larry
'89 Robin's Nest#5820, Potomac River/Quantico, Va
http://catalina25.homestead.com/olarryr.html

Steve Milby
Past Commodore

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USA
5882 Posts

Response Posted - 07/15/2024 : 06:17:11

I've found a page on wikimedia commons that distinguishes between the front part of a ship facing left and the front part of a ship facing right. Thus, each side of the front of a ship is a bow, and a ship has two bows. Wikipedia provides the following etymology for the word Bow: "From Middle Dutch boech or Old Norse b�gr (shoulder). Thus it has the same origin as the English "bough" (from the Old English b�g, or b�h, (shoulder, the bough of a tree) but the nautical term is unrelated, being unknown in this sense in English before 1600.[5]" Since a ship has two "shoulders" at the front, the term "bows" is used. In modern parlance, most people use the singular version rather than plural. The underlined phrase is puzzling, because it seems to contradict the etymology wikipedia provided previously. Personally, I think the previous explanation is not only logical, but it's consistent with the wikimedia commons explanation.

Steve Milby J/24 "Captiva Wind"
previously C&C 35, Cal 25, C25 TR/FK, C22
Past Commodore

Stinkpotter
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
9047 Posts

Response Posted - 07/15/2024 : 21:36:06

quote:
Originally posted by glivs

Is "bows" perhaps a now outdated usage?

Maybe ahead of its time, anticipating the emergence of multi-hulls.

Dave Bristle
Association "Port Captain" for Mystic/Stonington CT
PO of 1985 C-25 SR/FK #5032 Passage, USCG "sixpack" (expired),
Now on Eastern 27 $+!nkp*+ Sarge

glivs
Admiral

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USA
836 Posts

Response Posted - 07/16/2024 : 04:10:16

Thanks all. That each side of a ship was considered separately is a suitable explanation for me for the plural use of bow. I just had not encountered it before.

I am surprised, however, that bow(s) was not encountered in the English language until the early 17th century given the importance of ships over the millennia. I quickly skimmed through the earlier sections of the Smithsonian book again to realize that the author referred to the "prow" of a boat and described the shape and construction of the stem post(s) but did not use the term bow(s).

And Bruce here is the formal reference:

Lavery, Brian, Smithsonian Ship, The Epic Story of Maritime Adventure, DK Publishing, Inc., 2004. ISBN-13: 978-0-7566-0496-7. It is a typical coffee table book...high percentage of illustrations to text.

Gerry Livingston, Malletts Bay, VT
"Great Escape" 1989 C-25 SR/WK #5972

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