Watertight bulkhead compartments
Mamparos estancos en el casco
- Date
- c. 700 · confidence medium
- Place
- Rugao, Nantong, Jiangsu, China
- Credited to
- Tang shipbuilders
- Field
- Movement
What it is
Transverse bulkheads dividing the hull into independent compartments, so that a leak does not sink the ship and the structure gains rigidity. The Tang-era Rugao ship already has nine.
Benjamin Franklin proposed adopting them in 1787, citing Chinese ships; they became widespread in the West in the 19th century.
What it led to
- large ocean-going junks of the Song and Ming
- safety in ocean-going navigation