what was a Platform ?

[eborac]

hi all,
read the other day about a party of men returning to their ship in the 1830's. it mentions the men as getting onto the platform. does anyone have any details regarding such a platform ? i.e. construction etc. would it have been especially for getting on board ? tried to google & wiki but no luck.
thanks
HH

 

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[mad4wrecks]

This reference is earlier than the timeframe you mention but I hope it helps:

The big, heavy caracks were unstable in battle and hard to maneuver. Consequently, they soon gave way to the galleon. Galleons retained the high aftercastles of the caracks but the forecastle was greatly reduced in size and would eventually disappear altogether. The forecastle was replaced by pointed bows that extended beyond the stem from the hull. This feature of ship construction was called the beak-head and it was frequently decorated with a carved animal head. In the early seventeenth century beak-heads served as boarding platforms in close combat. Later as ship construction and sea warfare technology progressed the beak-head’s role as a boarding platform diminished and it became an important base for decorative wooden sculptures. Decoration elsewhere on galleons consisted largely of painted geometric patterns on the sides of the aftercastle and beak-head.

http://www.titanic-nautical.com/Ships-Architecture-Chronology-Boats.html

Splash! Tom