Poop_deck

Look up poop deck in
Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Stern of the Grand Turk with poop deck above

Poop deck of the Soleil-Royal, as seen from the forecastle

In naval architecture, a poop deck is a deck that constitutes the roof of a cabin built in the aft (rear) part of the superstructure of a ship. The name originates from the French word (la poupe)This is itself derived from the Latin word puppis, the stern of the Argo Navis for stern. This makes the poop deck technically called a stern deck, which in sailing ships was usually elevated as the roof of the stern (or \'after\') cabin. In sailing ships, with the helmsman at the stern, an elevated position was ideal for both navigation and observation of the crew and sails.

The picture shows the stern of the ship. The deck out of view above the after cabin is the poop deck. On modern, motorized warships, the ship functions which were once carried out on the poop deck are moved to the superstructure in the center of the ship (or the island on the starboard side, in the case of aircraft carriers), and the aft area, which is clear and flush with the main deck, is referred to as the fantail.

Notes

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from Wikipedia