hello! thank you very much for your answer about bosun and gamming chairs, it was helpful and informative! i was not aware there was an entrance for officers to climb into from the hull. did this “doorway” have a name? were stairs often built into the side of large ships for entry, or were rope ladders sometimes used as well? i hope my questions are not too silly, but i really enjoy these very small details. thank you so very much!!
Your questions are silly. You know there are no silly questions, only silly answers.
The entry area was called the entry port and was actually one door on the ships of the line. Underneath or next to it there were always the wooden slats that served as stairs.
These Model of a 1675, 90-gun ship shows it very well – the golden framed entry port
Smaller ships did not have a door but only the wooden steps. Rope ladders are more likely to be found at boarding.
These fifth rate, 32- gun frigate of 1757 has only the stairs
