A
junk under repair in dry dock in Hong Kong. Four or five transverse
bulkheads can be seen inside the ship. In addition, five ribs
or frames are visible. The habit of building hulls like this
meant that watertight compartments were possible. If a leak
occurred in one section, it could be sealed off from the rest
and the ship remained afloat. Chinese ships had watertight compartments
from at least the second century AD, but the idea only caught
on in the West at the end of the eighteenth century. (Waters
Collection, National Maritime Museum, London.)
From
The Genius of China by Robert Temple
