Age-of-sail warships retained much of their own repair capacity. Slower operations and larger crews let a warship interrupt routine work and redirect hands to damage control or maintenance. Store ships replenished consumables and bulky materials, while the fighting ship retained much of the labor and skill needed to use them. Specialist support ships became more important once machinery, speed, and technical complexity changed the problem.
Chapter · 14:22-16:02
Age-of-sail store ships and self-repair
Store ships carried food, water, sailcloth, spars, and other essentials, but sailing warships also had enough crew, time, and hull space to perform much of their own repair work.