Can someone decipher this ship plan legend?

[Jolly Mon]

This is the legend for a ship's plans from the AI circa 1695. I am mainly interested in the ship's total length and beam. The scale has me stumped. I know pulgadas is Spanish for inches, but I don't understand how inches relate to the diagram. Any help would be appreciated.

 

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[huntsman53]

I can't seem to find a reference to the overall length of the ship but Codos stands for Cubits and I believe the Keel is 34 Cubits (51 feet)! Now, did they use standard Cubits of around 18 inches or long Cubits of around 21 inches, who knows??!! However, the Scale on the left center seems to be saying that the scale of measurement is 22 inches to a Codos or Cubit.

You might want to compare the measurements for this ship to the measurements of built ships at the following link:
http://3decks.pbworks.com/f/David_Goodman_SP_ships_1615-68.pdf


Frank

 

[cuzcosquirrel]

You might want to just measure the length of a swivel gun and use them for your measurement units across the hull. Looks like around 38 feet maybe to me, some kind of trading sloop.

 

[Mackaydon]

I thought as 'cuzcosquirrel' suggested. I estimated each gun at 40 inches; and each measured 10 cm (in the diagram). The length of the vessel (without the bowsprit and rudder assembly) is 160 cm (in the diagram). All that equates to a vessel of about 53 feet in length. If the guns are larger than 40 inches, the vessel is then shorter proportionately.
Don..

 

[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

Gentlemen: a codo is approx. 1/2 a meter, my reproduction isn't too clear, but it seems to refer to a model makers ship, not the actual ship itself ?

Don Jose deLa Mancha

 

[Jolly Mon]

Thanks for all the input !!!

The title of the plan in the Indes Archives is: "Plano de una galeota construída para guardacostas de Cuba".

I believe this is more or less a typical small Spanish Guarda Costa vessel...sometimes used to chase pirates/ privateers, sometimes used by the Spanish themselves as a piratical/ privateering vessel. It is the latter use that interests me, as several of these were used on an illegal raid into English territory in the late 17th century under the direction of the Governor of Florida and one was lost in a storm and unable to return to St. Augustine and Havana.

I think Frank and Don Jose are on the right track, as there are 39.37 inches to a modern meter. I think the "22 pulgadas" mentioned on the legend must mean a "codos" of 22 inches or thereabouts...I am not looking for exactness, just ballpark figures for the length, beam and draught of the vessel. I will reproduce Frank's link to some historical ship measurements (one can clearly see codos used as, apparently, a standard unit of length):



Quilla, definitely translates to "keel" so I am going to go with the following approximate dimensions for a "typical" Spanish Guarda Costa galeota:

LOA: 62'
Beam: 15'
Draught: 11'

The advantages of a vessel such as this as a privateer are obvious: she could probably make 10 knots or better with favorable winds, she could be moved smartly by sweeps in calm weather and she could creep into shallow water larger ships would not dare enter.
They must have been fairly sea-worthy as well, as they routinely made the trek from Havana to St. Augustine and points farther north.