Hold (compartment)

View of the hold of a container ship

Aship's holdorcargo holdis a space for carryingcargoin the ship'scompartment.

Description

Cargo in holds may be either packaged in crates, bales, etc., or unpackaged (bulk cargo). Access to holds is by a large hatch at the top. Ships have had holds for centuries; an alternative way to carry cargo is in standardizedshipping containers,which may be loaded into appropriate holds or carried on deck.

Holds in oldershipswere below theorlop deck,the lower part of the interior of a ship'shull,especially when considered as storage space, as for cargo. In later merchant vessels it extended up through the decks to the underside of the weather deck.

Some ships have built incranesand can load and unload their own cargo. Other ships must havedockside cranes organtry cranesto load and unload.

Cargo hatch

Six large cargo hatch covers on acapesizebulk carriership as she approaches theEgyptian-Japanese Friendship Bridge

Acargo hatchordeck hatchorhatchwayis type ofdoorused on ships and boats to cover the opening to the cargo hold or other lower part of the ship. To make the cargo hold waterproof, most cargo holds have cargo hatch. This can be a waterproof door, like atrap doorwith hinges or a cover that is places on top of the cargo hold opening, covered and held down with atarpor a latching system. Cargo hatch can also be flexible and roll up on to a pole. A small cargo hatch to a small storage locker is called aLazarette.Should a cargo hatch fail in a storm, the ship is at risk of sinking, such that has happened onbulk carrier hatches.Some ships that sank due to cargo hatch failure:MV Derbyshire,MV Christinaki,Bark Marques,SS Henry Steinbrenner,SS El Faro,SS Marine Electric,and theSS Edmund Fitzgerald.Most cargo hatches have acoaming,a raised edge around the hatch, to help keep out water. The termbatten down the hatchesis used prepare the ship for bad weather. This may included securing cargo hatch covers with woodenbattens,to prevent water from entering from any angle. The term cargo hatch can also be a used for any deck opening leading to the cargo holds.Aircraftandspacecraftmay also used the term for its cargo doors.

Basic types:

• Lifting (up to remove)
• Rolling (rolls up on to a pole, trap type)
• Folding (fold up like paper or anaccordion
• Sliding (slides on to the deck or over the side of ship)
• Roll stowing (roll up on to a pole, plates)

Gallery

• 
  A weathered cargo hatch cover on theSSStevens
• 
  Cargo hatch coaming (bottom right) on abugeye
• 
  Cargo hatch of the shipPort of Nagoya
• 
  A sliding Cargo hatch cover on the OBO-carrierMaya
• 
  The cargo holds of a container ship
• 
  Deck hatch of theOmega,the lastsquare-riggedsailing cargo ship
• 
  USSHenderson(AP-1)at Panama Canal in 1933. With two open cargo hatches forward of the bridge.
• 
  Layout from above of the five cargo holds of aLiberty shipand aVictory shipfromPort Chicago disaster.
• 
  Holds ofU.S. Army Engineer Port Repair ship
• 
  The cargo hold ofUSSRankin(AKA-103)forcombat loading
• 
  Wood cargo hold on theSSCharles W. MorganatMystic Seaport
• 
  Loading scrap iron in to a cargo hold with sliding covers
• 
  Positioning wool bales in a hold in 1933 into theMagdalene Vinnen(1921)
• 
  The sliding hatch covers ofZaira.
• 
  Bulk carrier hold midship cross section view
• 
  Sabrina Iwith five large holds
• 
  Cargo hold
• 
  Alazarettewith a white cargo hatch cover

See also

• Plug door
• Cargo aircraft
• Edward Edgar Foden

Ships with holds:

• Container shipnewer mode
• Liberty ship
• Thames sailing barge
• Type C1 ship
• Type C2 ship
• Type C3 ship
• Victory ship

References

General and cited sources

• Sawyer, L. A. and W. H. Mitchell.Victory ships and tankers: The history of the 'Victory' type cargo ships and of the tankers built in the United States of America during World War II,Cornell Maritime Press, 1974, 0-87033-182-5.
• Victory Ships built by the U.S. Maritime Commission during World War II—United States Maritime Commission
• Oregon Shipyards Record Breakers Page 2: Victory Cargo ShipsArchived2005-09-22 at theWayback Machine—World War II U.S. Navy Armed Guard and World War II U.S. Merchant Marine

External links

• SSJeremiah O'Brien,Liberty museum ship moored at Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco, California
• Liberty Ships built by the United States Maritime Commission in World War II
• Liberty Ships and Victory Ships, America's Lifeline in WarArchived2007-06-11 at theWayback MachineA lesson on Liberty ships and Victory ships from the National Park Service's Teaching with Historic Places.