Shipbuilding facts for kids

Shipbuilding is all about building ships and other big floating vessels. It's like a giant construction project, but for the water! This work usually happens in a special place called a shipyard.

People who build ships are called shipbuilders or shipwrights. This job is super old, going back even before we started writing down history!

When people talk about building or fixing ships for both regular businesses and the military, they often call it "naval engineering". Building smaller boats is a similar activity, but it's usually just called boat building.

What is Shipbuilding?

Shipbuilding is the process of putting together huge structures that can float and travel across water. These can be anything from small fishing boats to massive cargo ships or even giant cruise liners. It's a very detailed job that needs lots of planning and skilled workers.

Where are Ships Built?

Ships are built in special places called shipyards. Think of a shipyard as a huge factory right next to the water. These yards have big cranes, dry docks (where ships can be built or repaired out of the water), and workshops where different parts of the ship are made.

Who Builds Ships?

The people who build ships are known as shipbuilders or shipwrights. They are skilled craftspeople and engineers who know how to design, construct, and assemble all the different parts of a ship. It's a job that requires a lot of teamwork and knowledge about materials, engineering, and how things float.

Different Kinds of Ship Building

Building ships for different purposes involves different skills.

• Commercial shipbuilding focuses on vessels like cargo ships, oil tankers, and passenger ferries that carry goods or people for businesses.
• Military shipbuilding creates warships like destroyers, submarines, and aircraft carriers for navies. This is part of what's called "naval engineering."
• Boat building is similar but focuses on smaller vessels like fishing boats, sailboats, and yachts.

Images for kids

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  Shipwrights building a brigantine in 1541.

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  A diagram showing how the ancient Austronesian balangay boats were built.

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  Building the Naga Pelangi in 2004 using old Austronesian techniques.

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  A Javanese Borobudur ship from around 778-850 AD, showing an old trading ship with special sails.

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  An illustration of a djong, a large Austronesian trading ship, used until the 17th century.

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  A model of a drua from Fiji, an example of an Austronesian ocean-going vessel.

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  A two-masted Chinese junk from 1637.

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  A model of one of Zheng He's huge Treasure Ships.

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  Different shipbuilding methods in England, 1858.

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  Babbitt's rotary engine.

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  The MS Oasis of the Seas, a very large passenger ship, being built in Turku.

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  A TI-class supertanker built in Okpo-dong, South Korea.

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  Building parts of HMS Dauntless at the Portsmouth Shipyard.

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  A river shipyard in Komárno, Slovakia.

See also

In Spanish: Construcción naval para niños