Keelson
Structural member in a boat or ship
The keelson or kelson is a reinforcing structural member on top of the keel in the hull of a vessel. Originally used on wooden ships, in modern usage a keelson is any structural member used to strengthen the hull or to support any heavy weight.
Wooden vessels may feature both main keelsons and sister keelsons.
In part V of "Song of Myself", American poet Walt Whitman (1819-1892) uses the phrase: "And that a kelson of the creation is love" to imply that love is akin to a keelson, or backbone, that supports humanity.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Keelson”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Boat parts.jpg by Boatbuilder, CC BY-SA 3.0
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