Earlier lead sheathing could react with iron fastenings and damage a wooden hull. Copper offered protection against marine growth, although it still needed maintenance. Keeping the hull clean avoided some of the need for careening, which involved bringing a ship onto a beach to work on its bottom. A ship could fall over and break its structure during that operation, leaving it beyond repair. Coppering therefore reduced exposure to a hazardous maintenance task while preserving a cleaner hull.
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Copper sheathing as an operational advantage
Copper protected wooden hulls from fouling while reducing the need for hazardous careening and repeated hull cleaning.