Flush deck

Innaval architecture,aflush deckis aship deckthat is continuous from stem tostern.

USSLangleywas a flush-deck aircraft carrier

History

Flush decks have been in use since the times of the ancient Egyptians. Greco-RomanTriremeoften had a flush deck but may have also had a fore and aft castle deck. Flush decks were also common on medieval and Renaissancegalleysbut some also featured fore and aft castle decks. The medievalBrigantineand laterBrigandSnowships also featured flush decks.

Greek shipOlympias (trireme)with a flush deck

Two different meanings of "flush"

"Flush deck" with "flush" in its generic meaning of "even or level; forming an unbroken plane", is sometimes applied to vessels, as in describing yachts lacking a raisedpilothousefor instance. "Flush deck aircraft carrier" uses "flush deck" in this generic sense.

"Flush deck" in its more specific maritime-architecture sense denotes (for instance) the flush deck destroyers described above: the flush decks are broken by masts, guns, funnels, and other structures and impediments, and are far from being unbroken planes. "Flush deck" in this sense only signifies that the main deck runs the length of the ship and does not end before the stem (with a separate raisedforecastledeck forward) or before the stern (with a separate raised or, as seen on many modern warships, loweredquarterdeckrearward).

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  In contrast, the flush-deckUSSSigourney(later HMSNewport) has no forecastle
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  USSBelknap,a later example of a non-flush-deck ship, with the main deck giving way to a lower quarterdeck towards the stern

Types

Flush deckaircraft carriersare those with no islandsuperstructure,so that the top deck of the vessel consists of only an unbrokenflight deck.

"Flush deckers" is a common nickname for a series of American destroyers built in large quantities during or shortly afterWorld War I– theCaldwell,Wickes,andClemsonclasses – so called because they lacked the raisedforecastleof preceding American destroyers, thus the main deck was a flush deck.