Stem

The stem is the upright timber at the very front of a wooden ship, rising from the forward end of the keel to form the bow. The hull planks were fastened into a groove called the rabbet along its sides, so the stem held the whole bow together and took the shock of every wave the ship drove into.

The stem is the curved timber that rises from the forward end of the keel to make the bow of a wooden ship. Shipwrights cut a groove, the rabbet, along each side of it, and the front ends of the hull planks, the hood ends, were fitted into that groove and fastened. Behind the stem, an inner timber called the apron (and above it the stemson) strengthened the joint with the keel.

In front, a false stem or cutwater carried the beak and figurehead. Because the bow struck every wave first, the stem had to be one of the strongest timbers in the ship, usually oak, built of two or three pieces joined with long overlapping scarf joints.

Parts & Labels

Note
Upright curved timber at the front of the keel.
Title
Stem
Note
Groove along the stem that receives the plank ends.
Title
Rabbet
Note
Lowest part of the stem, where it joins the keel.
Title
Forefoot
Note
Inner timbers that back up the stem.
Title
Apron and stemson
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Outer timber that parts the water and supports the head.
Title
Cutwater

Historical Overview

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Building a ship began by laying the keel, then raising the stem at the front and the sternpost at the back. Together they formed the ship's backbone before any frames were set up.
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From keel to bow
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Shipwrights looked for oak trees whose trunks and branches already grew in the right curve, so the grain ran along the bend and the timber would not split.
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Grown timber
Note
The phrase means the whole length of a ship, from the stem at the front to the sternpost at the back.
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Stem to stern

Timeline

1711William Sutherland's The Ship-builders AssistantA practical English guide to framing a ship.

1769Falconer's Universal Dictionary of the MarineDefines the stem, rabbet and apron.

1805David Steel's Elements and Practice of Naval ArchitectureDetailed plates of the stem and its joints.

Comparison Panel

Note
The stem is curved and carries the bow; the sternpost is nearly straight and carries the rudder.
Title
Stem and sternpost
Note
The keel runs along the bottom; the stem turns that line upward at the front.
Title
Stem and keel

Interesting Facts

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A long stem was made of pieces whose ends overlap in a sloping joint and are bolted together, much stronger than a butt joint.
Title
Scarf joints
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Numbers cut into the stem and sternpost showed how deep the ship sat in the water.
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Draft marks
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A strong stem let a ship survive collisions with ice, wreckage or other ships.
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Ramming

Sources

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Building sequence of a wooden ship.
Title
William Sutherland, The Ship-builders Assistant (London, 1711)
Note
Period definitions of ship parts, watches and the log.
Title
William Falconer, An Universal Dictionary of the Marine (London, 1769)
Note
Plates and descriptions of the stem.
Title
David Steel, The Elements and Practice of Naval Architecture (London, 1805)
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Hull remains of Blackbeard's flagship, found in 1996.
Title
Queen Anne's Revenge Project, North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources