Keel

Sailing yacht with a fin keel

In boats and ships, keel can refer to either of two parts: a structural element, or a hydrodynamic element. These parts overlap. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in construction of a ship, in British and American shipbuilding traditions the construction is dated from this event. Only the ship's launching is considered more significant in its creation.

Structural keels

Keel laid for the USS United States in drydock

A structural keel is a large beam around which the hull of a ship is built. The keel runs in the middle of the ship, from the bow to the stern, and serves as the foundation or spine of the structure, providing the major source of structural strength of the hull. The keel is generally the first part of a ship's hull to be constructed, and laying the keel, or placing the keel in the cradle in which the ship will be built, is often a momentous event in a ship's construction — so much so that the event is often marked with a ceremony, and the term lay the keel has entered the language as a phrase meaning the beginning of any significant undertaking. Modern ships are now largely built in a series of pre-fabricated, complete hull sections rather than being built around a single keel, so the start of the shipbuilding process is now considered to be when the first sheet of steel is cut.

The keel converts sideways force into a forward force.

The keel contributes substantially to the longitudinal strength and effectively local loading caused when docking the ship. The most common type of keel is the "flat plate keel", and this is fitted in the majority of ocean-going ships and other vessels. A form of keel found on smaller vessels is the "bar keel", which may be fitted in trawlers, tugs, and smaller ferries. Where grounding is possible, this type of keel is suitable with its massive scantlings, but there is always a problem of the increased draft with no additional cargo capacity. If a double bottom is fitted, the keel is almost inevitably of the flat plate type, bar keels often being associated with open floors, where the plate keel may also be fitted.

Duct keels are provided in the bottom of some vessels. These run from the forward engine room bulkhead to the collision bulkhead and are utilized to carry the double bottom piping. The piping is then accessible when cargo is loaded.

If a ship suffers severe structural stress — classically during a shipwreck when running aground in a heavy sea — it is possible for the keel to break or be strained to the extent that it loses structural integrity. In this case the ship is commonly said to have "broken its back". Such a failure means that the entire structure of the ship and its machinery has been compromised and repairing such damage would require virtually re-building the ship from the ground up. A ship that has broken its back is almost certainly unsalvagable and subsequently written off by its insurers.

Hydrodynamic keels

Keels provide extra stability by providing a weight low enough to significantly lower the centre of gravity.

Non-sailing keels

The keel surface on the bottom of the hull gives the ship greater directional control and stability. In non-sailing hulls, the keel helps the hull to move forward, rather than slipping to the side. In traditional boat building, this is provided by the structural keel, which projects from the bottom of the hull along most or all of its length. In modern construction the bar keel or flat-plate keel performs the same function. There are many types of fixed keels, including full keels, long keels, fin keels, winged keels, bulb keels, and bilge keels among other designs. Deep draft ships will typically have a flat bottom and employ only bilge keels, both to aid directional control and to damp rolling motions

Sailboat keels

In sailboats, keels use the forward motion of the boat to generate lift to counter act the leeward force of the wind. The rudimentary purpose of the keel is to convert the sideways motion of the wind when it is abeam into forward motion. A secondary purpose of the keel is to provide ballast.

Capsizing effect of a sailing keel

Keels are different from centreboards and other types of foils in that keels are made of heavy materials to provide ballast to stabilize the boat. Keels may be fixed, or non-movable, or they may retract to allow sailing in shallower waters. Retracting keels may pivot (a swing keel) or slide upwards to retract, and are usually retracted with a winch due to the weight of the ballast. Since the keel provides far more stability when lowered than when retracted (due to the greater moment arm involved), the amount of sail carried is generally reduced when sailing with the keel retracted.

Types of non-fixed keels include swing keels and canting keels. Canting keels can be found on racing yachts, such as those competing in the Volvo Ocean Race. They provide considerably more righting moment as the keel moves out to the windward-side of the boat while using less weight. The horizontal distance from the weight to the pivot is increased, which generates a larger righting moment.

Etymology

The word "keel" comes from Old English cēol, Old Norse kjóll, = "ship" or "keel". It has the distinction of being regarded by some scholars as the very first word in the English language recorded in writing, having been recorded by Gildas in his 6th century Latin work De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae, under the spelling cyulae (he was referring to the three ships that the Saxons first arrived in).^[1][2]

Carina is the Latin word for "keel" and is the origin of the term careen (to clean a keel and the hull in general, often by rolling the ship on its side). An example of this use is Careening Cove, a suburb of Sydney, Australia, where careening was carried out in early colonial days.

See also

• Leeboard
• Bilgeboard
• Daggerboard
• Bruce foil
• Kelson
• False keel
• Keelhauling — a type of sailor's punishment
• Bulbous bow — the bulb that protrudes under the water line in large modern ships

Notes

Bibliography

• Rousmaniere, John, The Annapolis Book of Seamanship, Simon & Shuster, 1999
• Chapman Book of Piloting (various contributors), Hearst Corporation, 1999
• Herreshoff, Halsey (consulting editor), The Sailor’s Handbook, Little Brown and Company
• Seidman, David, The Complete Sailor, International Marine, 1995
• Jobson, Gary, Sailing Fundamentals, Simon & Shuster, 1987