Decks

Decks are the planked floors of a ship. In first-rate ships of the line in the days of wooden vessels there were three gun-decks running from stem to stern, these being known as upper or main, middle, and lower. Higher than the upper deck were the forecastle at the forward end, and the quarterdeck abaft the gangway. On these partial decks guns were also carried. The middle portion of the upper deck remained uncovered and was called the waist. Underneath the lower deck was the orlop deck, half below the water-line. The "half deck" is properly the space between the foremost bulkhead of the wardroom or cabin and the "break" of the quarterdeck. As the after-part of the quarterdeck became in course of the development of naval architecture raised above the rest, it obtained the name of "poop."