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I read The Wager earlier this year and it’s implied that every active wooden ship eventually is a ship of Theseus, for a trip from England to the passage around
by stevenwoo 3y ago
I read The Wager earlier this year and it’s implied that every active wooden ship eventually is a ship of Theseus, for a trip from England to the passage around South America at that time many of the ships had to be repaired along the way, though they didn’t start with all new ships.
- maxbond 3y agoAre they repairing every board though or is it mostly the same boards in vulnerable areas getting replaced?
- ClassyJacket 3y agoDefine "the same board"...
- maxbond 3y agoI think what I was imagining there being a schematic which called for a board to be hammered into place at a particular location, and some of these being more exposed to wear than others (as well as being of different strengths because of the dimensions of the board, and if I'm not mistaken different parts of a ship are constructed with different kinds of wood). If we're feeling inclined to Greek philosophy, perhaps this is the Platonic form of the boards being replaced.
- stevenwoo 3y agoIIRC all the wood was vulnerable to either ship worms or rot eventually, they had to replace masts and rudders and scavenge from the least seaworthy ships (and scuttle if necessary) and opportunistically get wood from any island they could make landfall on to make the journey described in the book.
- Ekaros 3y agoI somewhere heard that smaller ships were expected to pay themselves back in couple of years. As they really rotted or other ways did not last very long. And actually maintaining and keeping one operational is massive undertaking, even if you do not actively use it too much.