Naval architecture involves designing and building ships using mechanical drawing and knowledge of seagoing vessels. It covers a range of vessel types and materials, including submarines, motorboats, and canoes. The field has evolved to include higher speeds, cheaper materials, and luxurious appointments. Naval architects must be proficient in architecture, drafting, and engineering. They learn two basic ways of building boats and consider safety and cost-effectiveness. Some specialize in a particular type of ship.
Naval architecture is an age-old engineering field concerned with designing and building better and more cost-effective ships. Architects focused on this field must be well versed in mechanical drawing and the intricate mechanics of various seagoing vessels. Since the early days of boat building at least 6,000 years ago, naval architecture has evolved to feature different types of vessels, each suited to a particular task.
The field of naval architecture focuses on a range of vessel types, just as building architecture focuses on a range of structure sizes and historic styles. Bachelor’s and master’s programs in this field will delve into the inner workings and appearance of larger and smaller vessels, as well as everything in between. Multilevel cargo and cruise ships are just the beginning of the training. Equally important is the evolution of the submarine, the motorboat, the cabin cruiser, the sailboat and even the canoe, which teachers can use to illustrate the characteristics common to all boats.
Over the centuries, the structure and materials used to build ships improved to allow for more buoyant hulls and greater storage capacity. When marine engines began replacing sails in the late 19th century, a new realm of possibility emerged. From tall ships and small tall ships to canoes and kayaks, the field of naval architecture expanded to include dozens of other types of boats. Much of the basic physics of naval architecture – the dynamics of buoyancy, speed, stability, wake, drag and gravity – didn’t change when the engine was added. It has only expanded to include higher speeds, cheaper and lighter materials, and more luxurious appointments for long sea voyages.
To be a successful naval architect, candidates must become proficient in a variety of fields, from general architecture and drafting to structural and mechanical engineering specific to all of the many maritime applications. Naval architecture students are quickly introduced to the two basic ways of building most boats. The shell method involves building the hull and then the support beams and decks inside. The younger method reverses this model, starting with the internal structure and fixing the hull in the final stages.
Other important considerations in naval architecture are the safety and cost-effectiveness of manufacturing and assembling the various parts needed to form an entire boat. To distinguish themselves, some naval architects focus their advanced studies on a particular type of ship. Some become experts in submarines, others in the various configurations of sailboats.
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