Yamato and Musashi had these huge wooden weather decks.
In the photos, the deck looks so smooth and perfect.
Does anyone have any idea what kind of wood they used?
And then how would they possibly have maintained such a huge wooden deck?
Did they oil it with 55 gallon drums of linseed oil?
Or hand scrub it with abrasive stone polishing blocks?
Yamato weather deck - what kind of wood?
Re: Yamato weather deck - what kind of wood?
Okay I goofed. 
Someone already answered this for me a little earlier, and I got so buried in data I forgot about it.
Here's their reply to a different post I made before;
Are you talking about the weather deck or the actual main deck, which was several levels down in the hull? If the weather deck, much of it was planked over with japanese cypress with caulking between the planks. This would have given a fairly smooth, even surface, such as you find on traditional sailing vessels. Other areas such as forward where the anchor chains and ground tackle ran across the decks from the windless', and the aft area around the aircraft recovery crane, the steel deck plating was given an anti slip cross hatch pattern. I seem to recall that there were work areas around the aircraft catapults and the aircraft trackways that were asphalt laid upon the steel decking. Finally there were some areas along each side near the safety rails that had linoleum fastened with bronze clips, if memory serves me correctly. These were light coloured so as to give bridge officers a sense of the outline of the ship at night when navigating.
Someone already answered this for me a little earlier, and I got so buried in data I forgot about it.
Here's their reply to a different post I made before;
Are you talking about the weather deck or the actual main deck, which was several levels down in the hull? If the weather deck, much of it was planked over with japanese cypress with caulking between the planks. This would have given a fairly smooth, even surface, such as you find on traditional sailing vessels. Other areas such as forward where the anchor chains and ground tackle ran across the decks from the windless', and the aft area around the aircraft recovery crane, the steel deck plating was given an anti slip cross hatch pattern. I seem to recall that there were work areas around the aircraft catapults and the aircraft trackways that were asphalt laid upon the steel decking. Finally there were some areas along each side near the safety rails that had linoleum fastened with bronze clips, if memory serves me correctly. These were light coloured so as to give bridge officers a sense of the outline of the ship at night when navigating.
Re: Yamato weather deck - what kind of wood?
Japanese cypress is a lot like teak in its weathering properties. Normally the wood does not need to be oiled or sealed--in fact it does better without oiling or sealing. In a marine envioronment which will tend to keep the wood wet, preservation is not a problem, and in dry spells, hosing it down with salt water daily will do the trick quite well. It is sometimes part of the routine to holystone the decks--a sort of make-work for the crew who use slabs of sandstone to polish the wood.And then how would they possibly have maintained such a huge wooden deck?
Did they oil it with 55 gallon drums of linseed oil?
Or hand scrub it with abrasive stone polishing blocks?
Their shoulders held the sky suspended;
They stood and Earth's foundations stay;
What God abandoned these defended;
And saved the sum of things for pay.
Re: Yamato weather deck - what kind of wood?
This is a close-up of Wisconsin's decking which is made of teak and has caulking between planks.
I'm told Yamato would have used Japanese Hinoki Cypress.
In reference to the above picture, why have a gap between the planks?
Why not just close them up and have a solid wooden flooring surface?
Re: Yamato weather deck - what kind of wood?
Please excuse me, yes, it was you who told me about the Japanese Hinoki Cypress.
Re: Yamato weather deck - what kind of wood?
There is no way that the plank seams and joints will remain tightly together, even if wedged together tightly when first applied. The wood "breathes" with changes in temperature, humidity, and stress. The ship bends quite a bit, nothing is perfectly stable on the decks, and the caulking ensures that at least a reasonable amount of flooding resistance and insulative properties (the latter is the primary reason for the wood overlaying the steel) remain, as the planks move and change in size.synthesim wrote:... why have a gap between the planks?
Why not just close them up and have a solid wooden flooring surface?
Over its service life, a planked deck will require periodic refreshing and repair in places, especially over large areas.
