The Ship Model Forum

CHAPTER 02 BRIDGE
Step 04 - Rigging Aft Mid Bridge Wires

Here is the rest of the pictures

Kantana wrote:
In pic 06 you see that the 2 wirings are attached to the vertical bridge wall with a bottlescrew. The 2 bottlescrews are attached to a bracket. Please use your zoom.
From the bracket , you see the wirings going straight upwards , on the OUTside of the bridge wall, passing through a massive eyelet, aside the first window on the right and aside the second window on the left. Then both cables are going higher than the windows, through a similar solid steel eyelet where they bend over, inwards. From there , they go to the window edge were they disappear in the left and the right upper window corner.
Strange construction, you say ? I fully agree .
Maybe some expert can clarify , why the cables first make a loop UPwards before they disappear in the window corners ? I would have made the loop UNDER the windows , simply to prevent rain pouring from the cable –holes.
But I guess , for one or more obscure reasons, the cables should be placed like we all can see now .
OK. We know where the cables start . But where do they go ??

I am going to make a guess thinking that the 2 cables needed to be attached at that point to clear other structures around that area. They obviously were done as a retrofit to add additional equipment to the bridge, but it must have been too labor intensive to breach the wall to run cables through, so why not go through the corner of the window instead. Looping it over the windows prevents it from tearing away from the weight of the wire taking pressure off of the entry point. To me it looks jerry rigged (makeshifted), like running an extension cord up a wall and fasting it down in spots to keep it neat. I guess maybe they didn't have the right parts so someone was told to make it up as they go along, so that's just what they did! I notice maybe a little pipe was used to guide the wire in a specific direction to the window.

Jim

A couple more Ball Insulator photos........

thanks Jim.

Niiiiiiiiiiice pictures

Katana,

Any new update to your Rigging post coming up soon?

Thanks!

Jim

CHAPTER 02 BRIDGE
Step 05 - Rigging of the Signal Deck

Description :
The signal deck is located at the back on the base of the bridge. See pic 01 -02-03-04 for more detail.
This deck is the work station where the signal flags are attached to the 15 signal lines that can be raised and lowered depending the visual message they need to transmit to all vessels in the (visual) proximity of the ship.
For a total view of the deck and all lines, look at pic 05
I’m not going to explain you how the signal deck is functioning , nor am I going to tell you about the different signal flags , but here are some things that might help :
1) a link which tells something on Japanese Navy Signal Flags :

http://dreadnoughtproject.org/friends/d ... sion_2.pdf

2) Pic A and pic B show you how these flags look like.

The (white) signal flag lines:
There are 15 signal lines departing from the signal deck to the bridge yards : 7 lines go from the left signal deck to the left Main Bridge yard and 7 lines run from the right signal deck to the right Main Bridge Yard. See pic 06 -07-08 -09 for more detail on the main yards.
Beside the 7 lines on each Main Yard , 1 single line leads from the middle of the deck railing plate in the ladder access space towards the Mid Yard. See pic 10-11 and also pic 01. The ladder access space can be seen in the rear middle of the signal deck and is completely surrounded by vertical plating. It has a hole in the front plate and access doors on both sides. The ladder leads to a platform higher on the back side of the bridge tower.

The line attachments on the signal deck :
The rear side of the signal deck shows 2 signal flag cupboards, with a canvas cover on their top. Both canvas covers are inclined for quick evacuation of water. See pic 01 -02. Also in pic 02, you see the different flag lines attached to the attachment bar that is installed on the front of the cupboard. In pic 03 you can see the naked cupboards : the canvas covers are removed. Far from being an expert on signal flags , I suppose that pic 03 shows us the different stowage racks for the flags. I can not imagine that those signal flags were kept inside the ship when suddenly a very urgent message had to be transmitted to the surrounding ships during total radio silence ….
Back to our subject : the flag lines depart from the attachment bars on the front side of the cupboards , upwards to the 7 small pulleys that are installed at the underside of each main yard on the bridge. See pic 06 -07-08-09 for more detail on the pulleys under the main yards. Also visible in these pictures : the distances between all pulleys are not equal. They are closer or further from eachother , depending their location on the main yard underside.
The flag lines run trough the 7 pulleys on each main yard of the bridge and then they go back down to the signal deck.
But they don’t go all back in the same way !! Only the 3 most OUTER lines of each main yard go straight back to the attachment bar. The 4 INNER lines go also downwards , but before they reach the attachment bar, they run trough 4 lugs of 2 guiding rails.
The 2 guiding rails are installed above the left and above the right cupboard . Both guide rails are solid metal bars that are attached to the deck plating with 2 reinforcements. See pic 02 and 03. Four (4 ) lugs are welded to the front upper side of each metal bar. Those lugs are located somewhat above the attachment point of the 8 inner flag lines ( 4 on the left and 4 on the right side).
See pic 12 for more detail on those lugs.

The single line at the rear railing plate , in the middle of the signal deck edge :
This line departs from the middle of the deck railing plate towards the underside of the Mid Yard on the bridge top. On the underside of the Mid Yard tip a small pulley is attached . See pic 13-14 and also pic 06.
From that pulley the line goes back down to the deck railing plate in the ladder access space , where it started.
I have no pictures that shows the line attachment .

INSULATORS USED IN THIS RIGGING STEP :

In this rigging step , no insulators are used.

END OF STEP 05
NEXT STEP : CHAPTER 02 - BRIDGE
RIGGING OF THE CABLES AT THE UNDERSIDE OF THE BRIDGE MAIN YARDS

Gentlemen, have a nice day

05 Rigging of the Signal Deck

Here is the rest of the pictures

CHAPTER 02 - BRIDGE
Step 06- Rigging Cables on the underside of the Main Yards.
Description :
We are going to talk about the 2 cables that are hanging under the left and right Main Yards.
These 2 cables are placed on the underside of each Main Yard by means of 4 eyelets on top of 4 solid rods.
The rods are pointing downwards and they are not equally spaced between each other. See pic 01 for more detail.
The most INNER rods , right under the edge of the searchlight platform , have almost no length. It seems there is only an eyelet attached to the bottom of the searchlight platform without any rod.
I guess this is done to compensate the thickness of the searchlight platform versus the much thinner structure of the Main Yards at their end. See pic 01 , 02 & 03 for more detail.
The way the cables are hanging differs between the rods. Under each Main Yard , there are 4 attachment points and 3 fexions in this rigging step.
The first flex , between the most outer rod ( Nr1 ) and the next one( Nr 2) , is rather long and hangs at a certain distance from the Yard underside.
The second flex is between the 2nd rod and 3rd rod inwards , is shorter. The distance between the Yard underside and the cable is almost equal to the first flex.
But the third flex , between the 3rd and 4th rod , is different from the two previous ones : the cable shows almost NO flex : it looks like it is almost stretched between the 2 last eyelets. See pic 04 & 05 for more detail. Please note also that the distance between rod nr 3 and 4 seems to be longer than between rod nr 2 and 3.
Pic 06 gives you a clear view on the outer flex and in pic 07 and 08 you can see that the most outer rod is
installed OUTwards from the the first pulley that holds the flag line of the signal deck.
In fact , pic 01 is a total view : it shows:
a) The different distances between the rods
b) The different kind of fexions between the different rods
c) The position of the first rod (Nr 1) at the end of the Right Main Yard underside, left and next to the first pulley for the signal deck flag lines.

Insulators Used in this Rigging Step :
In this rigging step , no insulators are used.

This is the end of step 02.06. Rigging Cables on the underside of the Main Yards
Next rigging step: 02.07. Rigging Connecting Cables from Main Yard tips to Mid-Yard Lug Ring

Gentlemen,
have a nice day

Dear "Katana",
Your inputs about Yamato's rigging are very valuable as well as all the close-up pictures of Kure's 1/10th model.
Many thanks for this and kind regards,

Philippe

_________________
Labor improbus omnia vincit sed carpe diem.

You Sir, are doing the Lord's work.

CHAPTER 02.BRIDGE
02.07. Rigging 2 Connecting Cables from the Main Yards to the Mid Yard.

Gentlemen ,
today we will talk about the Connecting Cables from the Main Yard tips to the Mid Yard Lug Ring

Before that, let’s take a look at the pictures.
For convenience, the same colour code for arrows was used in all the pictures.
Blue arrows : Connecting Cable on Port side.
Green arrows : Connecting Cable on Starboard side.
Orange arrow : Connection of Port side Cable to Mid Yard Lug.
Pink arrow: Connection of Starboard side Cable to Mid Yard Lug.
Red arrow : Mid Yard Lug Ring.
White arrows : Main Yard Lugs, port & starboard side.
Black arrows : Main Cable Nr 1&4 Side Lugs.
Yellow ovals : Brown Ball Insulators on Connecting Cables.

Rigging Procedure: See all pictures
The port & starboard connecting cables depart from a Lug Ring at the base of the big lantern on the Main Yard tips. See Pic 003-004-005-006 and white arrows in Pic 001-002-003-004 -005-006 for detail.
Please note that none of these Lug -Rings make contact with the Main Cable 1&4 Lug Rings. The Main Cable Lug Rings are located at OUTER side of the Main Yard tips. See black arrows in Pic 001-002-003-004 -005-006 for detail. The black arrows were introduced to show that all Main Cable Lugs are maybe close near the Connecting Cable Lugs, but they do NOT connect. Main Cables and Connecting Cables have separate Lug Rings. See Pic 003-004-005-006.
The 2 connecting cables meet each other at the Mid Yard Lug,(Red arrow). Both cables are attached with their own loop (Orange and Pink arrow). See Pic 007-008 for detail.
In Pic 008 you can clearly see that the 2 connecting cables are attached with a loop to a small common ring. This small common ring is connected to the Mid Yard Lug Ring.( Red arrow)

The philosophy in this rigging step is :
Both connecting cables run from a Lug ring on the inner side of both Main Yards towards the Mid Yard Lug ring, to which both cable loops are connected with a smaller common ring.

Insulators count :
Each of the connecting cables contain 2 brown ball-insulators: one near the Mid-Yard tip (port and starboard side) and one near the Main Yard-tips (port and starboard side). See all pictures, yellow ovals.
But definitely check Pic 001: this is the only place on which you will find the 4 brown ball-insulators in 1 same picture.
All the other pictures lack at least 1 insulator in their view.
Total amount of insulators used in this rigging chapter : qty = 4 brown ball-insulators.

This is the end of step 02.07. Rigging of 2 Connecting Cables from the Main Yard tips to the Mid Yard Lug Ring.
This is also the end of CHAPTER 02 - BRIDGE
Next Main Chapter : CHAPTER 03 - MIDSHIP
Next rigging step : 03.01. Rigging of MC1&4 from Bridge Main Yard tips to Side Mast tips.

Gentlemen,
have a nice day.

CHAPTER 03. MIDSHIP
Step 03.01. Rigging of MC1&4 from Bridge Main Yard tips to Side Mast tips.

Gentlemen,
in this chapter we will treat the rigging in the area between the Bridge and the Mast on the Midship.
The main contributor and undeniably the red wire in this rigging chapter are the Main Cables 1 & 4 between the backside of the Bridge and their connection point at the tip of the Side Masts.
The second component in this publication would be the assembly of cables and *branches that are located between MC1&4 and all the different areas on deck where they are connected.
A *branch* is a cable split on MC1&4 that runs through one or more insulators and is converted into one or two separate cables that run downwards to the deck.

The third group of items that will play a role are the following:
- All 6 Search Light Platforms(SLPF’s): front – middle – aft.
- Mid Ship Aft Range Finder (port & starboard)
- Mid Ship Aft AAA Platforms (port & starboard)
- Platform Structure Supports(port & starboard)

And of course we should not forget the variety of brown ball - and white bar insulators that we will encounter in this rigging chapter.

Before we start a little word about the most important reference pictures we will use in this chapter. To get the ZOOM effect : click on the pictures!!
Pic 001 “Midship Rigging Scheme”, is in fact a schematic view that I made years ago. Although it is old, it may be useful and self-explanatory when you want to find out in a glance where a specific cable is attached and where it comes from.
It shows you where on MC1&4 a specific branch is made and how much insulators have been used before it splits into one or two cables running downwards to the deck.
It also specifies what cable goes to which bracket of the Search-light Platforms or to another structure location.
Pic 002 “ Cables and Branches” is in fact a real picture of the schematic view in Pic 001. It shows dimensions & proportions.
On MC1&4, you see all the branches (yellow) and the cables (blue) that descent to their destination on deck. Branches 1- 4-5 & 6 will convert into one single Cable going down, while Branches 2 & 3 will transform into 2 separate cables.
Hint: it is a good exercise to compare Pic 001 with Pic 002.
Beware of optic illusions when you trace a branch or a cable in this picture.
Pic 003 “All insulators” is similar to Pic 002 but here the different colored circles indicate per Nr the position and the quantity of insulators that are used in this rigging.
Pic 004 “ Departure and arrival MC 1&4” shows you with 4 red circles the trajectory that MC1&4 follow in this rigging chapter, from the Main Yards to the Mast tips.

1. Branches & Cables on & from MC1 & 4

As already mentioned, this chapter starts on the Bridge, at the 2 Main Yard tips.
See Pic 004 : the 2 red circles at the 2 Main Yards show where MC1&4 depart from the Bridge area.

See Pic 001& Pic 002 for general view and Pic 010 for detail : This is the starboard view of the front and middle part of MC4 at the starboard Main Yard tip.
The MC4 front part is : from the Flagstaff on the bow to the Bridge Main Yard tip and the middle part is : from the Bridge Main Yard tip to the Side Mast tip.
The front and middle part of MC4 are both connected to a cable-eye on the tip of the starboard Main Yard.
Both part-ends of MC4 are attached to that cable-eye with a bottle screw. Click on Pic 013 to see the detail.
Talking about symmetry: the same rigging process happens to MC1 at port side.

Let’s proceed. Now that we left the Bridge and Main Yards behind Us, we follow MC1&4 further, direction: the Mast tips.

Branch Nr 1 & Cable Nr1:
Pic 001: Branch Nr 1 & Cable Nr 1
Pic 002: Yellow 1 + Blue Nr 1
Pic 003: Green circle Nr 1
Branch Nr 1 is located right above the front side of the Front Searchlight Platforms.
Cable Nr 1 comes down from Branch Nr1 through one white bar-insulator and leads to the (only) rigging bracket on the Front
SL Platform. The bracket is located on the front (Bow) side of the platform wall.
See also Pic 005, 006 & 007 : yellow circles.

Branch Nr 2 & Cables Nr 2 & 3 :
Pic 001: Branch Nr 2 & Cables Nr 2 & 3
Pic 002 : Yellow 2 + Blue Nr 2 & 3
Pic 003: Blue circle Nr 2
Branch Nr 2 is located right above the center of the Middle Searchlight Platforms.
Branch 2 comes down through 2 white bar-insulators in line, and splits hereafter into Cables Nr 2 & 3 before heading towards the rigging brackets on both sides of the Middle Searchlight Platform Wall.
See also Pic 005, 006 & 008 : yellow circles.

Branch Nr 3 & Cables Nr 4 & 5 :
Pic 001: Branch Nr 3 & Cables Nr 4 & 5
Pic 002:Yellow 3 + Blue Nr 4 & 5
Pic 003: Blue circle Nr 3
Branch Nr 3 is located right above the center of the Aft Search-light Platforms.
Branch Nr 3 comes down through 2 white bar-insulators in line, and splits hereafter into Cables Nr 4 & 5 before heading towards the rigging brackets on both sides of the Aft Searchlight Platform Wall.
See also Pic 005, 006 & 009 : yellow circles.

Branch Nr 4 & Cable Nr 6 :
Pic 001: Branch Nr 4 & Cable Nr 6
Pic 002: Yellow 4 + Blue Nr 6
Pic 003: Blue circle Nr 4 + Red Circle Nr 4A
Branch Nr 4 is located right above the center of the Mid Ship Aft Range Finder.
Cable Nr 6 comes down from Branch Nr 4 through 2 white bar-insulators in line, and leads via a 3rd white bar-insulator to a single cable-eye at the bottom of the Mid Ship Aft Range Finder wall.
See Pic 005: yellow circle on Mid Ship Aft Range Finder
Pic 011 : yellow circle = Mid Ship Aft Range Finder
Blue circle = attachment for Cable Nr 6
Exactly “where” on Cable 6 is this “3rd white bar insulator “ installed ?? Take a look at Pic 014:
The yellow circle shows the 2 white bar-insulators in line near Branch Nr 4 and in the green circle we see the 3rd white bar-insulator.
The light- blue circle is the attachment point for cable Nr 6.
With this picture you have a slight idea about dimensions and proportions of the insulators location on Cable Nr 6.

Branch Nr 5 & Cable Nr 7 :
Pic 001: Branch Nr 5 & Cable Nr 7
Pic 002: Yellow 5 + Blue Nr 7
Pic 003: Blue circle Nr 5
Branch Nr 5 is located right above the front side of the Mid Ship
Aft AAA Platform.
Cable Nr 7 comes down from Branch Nr 5 through 2 white bar-insulators in line and goes to a cable eye at the Front (Bow-side) edge of the AAA Platform Wall.
See Pic 012 : the yellow circle is the Mid Ship Aft AAA Plat-form and the blue circle is the attachment for cable Nr 7.

Branch Nr 6 & Cable Nr 8 :
Pic 001: Branch Nr 6 & Cable Nr 8
Pic 002: Yellow 6 + Blue Nr 8
Pic 003: Green circle Nr 6
Branch Nr 6 is located right above the Aft side (Stern side) of the Aft AAA Platform Structure Support.
Cable Nr 8 comes down from Branch Nr 6 through 1white bar-insulator and leads to a cable-eye that is installed on top of the aft edge of the Support wall.
See Pic 013 : the yellow circle is the Aft AAA Platform Structure Support, the red circle is the attachment for cable Nr 8.

After Branch 6 we proceed with MC1&4, and little before we arrive at the big lanterns on top of each Side-Mast, we encounter qty = 2 brown ball insulators. After the insulators, MC1&4 are attached to the cable-eyes at the front side of the Side Mast tips.

See Pic 001 & Pic 004: Red circles at mast
See also Pic 015: green circles: this is the place where MC1&4 reach the cable-eyes on the front of the Mast tips and blue circles show the location of the 2 brown ball insulators.
So far, we talked about the rigging of MC1&4 between the Bridge Main Yards and the Side Mast Arm tips.
After this, we looked at the Branches and Cable connections.
Now we will have a look at the “ hardware on deck” which is involved by this rigging chapter.

We will continue this rigging with the following subjects :
- Search Light Platforms (SLPF’s): front – middle – aft.
- Mid Ship Aft Range Finders (port & starboard)
- Mid Ship Aft AAA Platforms + Support Structure.
- Insulators quantities & locations

2. Searchlight Platforms & their typical rigging brackets
See pic 005 – 006 – 007 – 008 – 009 - 011.
Searchlight platforms are major contributors when talking about Rigging of MC1&4 above the Mid Ship.
At both sides of the enormous Funnel there are 3, 150cm Search-light Platforms.
Each SL platform is surrounded by a metal wall with a very specific shape. On the outside of the metal wall we find one - or two brackets that are the end-station for the different Cables that come from the Branches on MC1&4. All Searchlight platforms get their names from their relative position on the ship’s front or aft side.
Front = Facing the BOW direction of the ship.
Aft = facing the STERN position of the ship.
Middle = between Front & Aft SLPF ’s.

2.1. FRONT Searchlicht Platforms
See pic 005 - 006 - 008
Both Front Searchlight Platforms are located aside & at the front of the Funnel base and their floor is 1 level LOWER than the other Searchlight Platforms and also 1 level lower than the Funnel walkway…See Pic 005 -006
Detail: Both Front SLPF’s have only ONE rigging bracket. see pic 005 - 006 – 007 : yellow circles
The bracket is a triangular shaped rod, with 1 support rod in the middle, welded to the outer front (bow) side of the Platform Wall.
Via Branch Nr 1, Cable Nr 1 is attached to this bracket.
See pic 001

MIRROR VIEW effect when talking about rigging .
On starboard side, the bracket is located at the Right side of the SL platform.
On the Port side, this bracket is located at the Left side of the SL platform.
But nevertheless that obvious difference : both times the bracket is located at the Bow-side of the platform wall.
THAT is what I call : the mirror-effect.
See pic 005-006-007

2.2. MIDDLE Searchlicht Platforms
See pic 005 - 006 - 008
Like the word says, the Middle SLPF’s are located between the Front and Aft SL platforms, somewhere near the middle of the Funnel.
The middle SLPF is mounted at the same height level as the Funnel Walkway and the Aft SLPF floor level.
Detail: Both Middle SLPF’s have rigging brackets at both sides of the platform Wall. In both cases, it’s a triangular shaped rod, with 1 support rod in the middle, welded on the outer edge of the wall.
See detail in pic 008, yellow circles.
Via Branch Nr 2, Cables Nr 2& 3 are attached to the brackets of the Middle SLPF. See pic 001

2.3. AFT Searchlicht Platforms
See pic 005 – 006 - 009
These 2 SL platforms (port and starboard side) are installed, between the Midship fire control tower and the direction finder.
The Aft SLPF’s are installed at the same height level as the Middle SLPF’s. See pic 005 - 006.
Just like the Middle SLPF’s, the Aft SLPF’s have also 2 rigging brackets. But here we see a structural difference between the front and aft brackets.
The front bracket (bow side) has the same triangular shape as the Front & Middle SLPF brackets, but the rear bracket (stern side) is a big massive metal rod with flat surfaces, slightly tapered and with a cable-eye on it. See Pic 009. It extends far more from the platform wall than the triangular shaped brackets do. See pic 005 – 006
Pic 009 : Yellow circle = triangular shaped bracket and Blue circle = solid flat rod bracket
Via Branch Nr 3, Cables Nr 4& 5 are attached to the brackets of each AFT SLPF (port & starboard).
Cable Nr 5 is attached to the rear (stern side) solid bracket while Cable Nr 4 is attached to the triangular front (bow side) bracket. See pic 001& Pic 005-006-009

Remark
People with sense for detail among you might have noticed something odd when looking at the stern side bracket in Pic 009.
Indeed, the stern side brackets of the Aft SL platforms have a special feature: not only they receive cable Nr 5 (from MC1&4) but at the right side of the picture you can also see another cable that DEPARTS from this bracket.
And here is a second hint: See Pic 001 on the left side.
You will see Cable Nr 9 that starts at the stern bracket of the Aft SLPF. From there it goes upwards to a cable-eye at the upper side of the 2 Side Mast Arms. So why is cable Nr 9 not discussed in this rigging chapter ?
Cable Nr 9 will not be mentioned for one simple reason: it is a connection from a Searchlight Platform to the Side Masts. All the cables we discussed in this chapter are coming from Branches.
And because this cable is a connection to the Side-Mast arms, it will be treated in a separate rigging chapter named : Rigging of Cable Nr 9 to the Side Mast Lugs.

This terminates the Rigging of the 6 Searchlight Platforms.

3. Midship Aft Range Finders

The Midship Aft Range Finder is located between the Aft Searchlight Platforms and the Mid Ship Aft AAA Platforms.
At the bottom of their outer wall there is a cable-eye installed.
See Pic 001: Via Branch Nr 4, Cable Nr 6 is attached to this cable-eye.
See also Pic 011. Yellow circle = the Range Finder itself and blue circle is the cable-eye where Cable Nr 6 is attached.

4. Midship Aft AAA Platforms
Right next to the aft side of the Midship Aft Range Finders (stern side), we see a triple 23mm AAA Platform surrounded by its protection wall. At the front side (bow-side) of the wall there is a cable-eye installed just under the upper wall edge.
See Pic 001 : Via Branch Nr 5, Cable Nr 7 is attached to this cable-eye.
See also Pic 012. Yellow circle = the Aft AAA Platform and the
blue circle is the cable-eye where Cable Nr 7 is attached.

5. Midship Aft AAA Platform Structure Support
The Mid Ship Aft AAA Platform Support is in fact a part of the Aft Ship and although it is really a metal structure with 3 windows, it literally supports the stern side of the Aft AAA Platform. Hence the name : Structure Support.
See Pic 001 : Via Branch Nr 6 , Cable Nr 8 is attached to the cable-eye of the AAA-platform support.
See also Pic 013. The yellow circle is the platform support structure and the red circle is the cable-eye at the stern side of the structure.

Insulator Count

See Pic 001” Midship Rigging Scheme” and Pic 003 “ All Insulators”.
- Starting from the Main Yards at the bridge, qty= 4 brown ball-insulators are used on MC1 and MC4 together. Pic 003: yellow circles near the bridge.
- On branch 1, cable 1, qty = 2 White Bar-insulators are used on MC1&4 together.. Pic 003 : green circles Nr 1. Pic 001 : Cable Nr 1
- On branch 2, cable 2&3, qty = 4 White Bar-insulators are used on MC1&4 together.. Pic 003 : blue circles Nr 2. Pic 001 : Cable Nr 2 & 3
- On branch 3, cable 4&5 qty = 4 White Bar-insulators are used on MC1&4 together.. Pic 003 : blue circles Nr 3. Pic 001: Cable Nr 4 & 5
- On branch 4, cable 6, qty = 6 White Bar-insulators are used on MC1&4 together.. Pic 003 : blue circles Nr 4. Pic 001: Cable Nr 6
- On branch 5, cable 7, qty = 4 White Bar-insulators are used on MC1&4 together..Pic 003 : blue circles Nr 5. Pic 001: Cable Nr 7
- On branch 6, cable 8, qty = 2 White Bar-insulators are used on MC1&4 together.. Pic 003 : green circles near the Side Mast Arm tips. Pic 001: Cable Nr 8.
- On the Mast Side Arm Tips where MC1&4 arrive, qty= 4 brown ball-insulators are used on MC1 and MC4 together..Pic 003 : yellow circles near the Side Mast Arm tips.

Total amount of Insulators used in this rigging step : qty = 8 Brown Ball Insulators & 22 White Bar-insulators.

This is the end of step 03.01.Rigging of MC1&4 from Bridge Main Yard tips to Side Mast tips.
Next rigging step: 03.02. Rigging of Cable Nr 9 to the Side Mast Lugs.

Gentlemen,
have a nice day

CHAPTER 03. MIDSHIP
3.01. Rigging of MC1&4 from Main Yards to Side Mast tips.

Gentlemen,
Here is the rest of the pictures of this rigging chapter.
See you in the next one :
3.02. Rigging of Cable Nr 9 to the Side Mast Lugs.

Thank you for these. That is one deep dive.

CHAPTER 03. MIDSHIP
3.02. Cable N° 9 Rigging from Aft Searchlight Platforms to Lower Side Mast Lugs

Gentlemen,
in todays chapter we’ll take a look at Cable N° 9 that starts at the (port & starboard) Aft Search Light Platforms and leads to the Lower Side Mast Lugs.
The AFT searchlight platforms are located near the AFT side of the Funnel. See also my previous article: 3.01. Rigging of MC1&4 from Main Yards to Side Mast tips.
Cable N° 9 is the only cable that makes a connection between a searchlight platform and the Lower Side Mast Lugs.
For that particular reason, cable N° 9 rigging gets a chapter of its own.

Let’s start at the starboard Aft Searchlight Platform.
See Pic 001 ”Cable Nr 9 Overview”. The picture’s name tells the story. You can see the complete trajectory that cable Nr 9 follows on starboard side, from the rear bracket (stern side) up to the Lower Side Mast Lug.
Needless to say that the same process also applies to the Port-side SLPF and its Lower Side Mast Lug.
From the Aft-bracket (stern side) on the Aft searchlight platform, cable N°9 leads upwards to a lug-rings on the Side-mast arm.
In Pic 001, the following color code applies :
Light Blue arrow + circle shows the place where Cable Nr 9 departs from the bracket on the Aft Searchlight Platform. Yellow arrows indicate the trajectory that cable Nr 9 follows to the Lower Side Mast Lug. The 2 red arrows & circles indicate the presence of qty=2 brown ball insulators on the cable.
Dark blue arrows show the end-station of Cable Nr 9 where it is attached to the starboard Lower Side Mast Lug.
Pic 002 “Departure at Aft SLPF”: (light blue circle) shows you in detail where Cable Nr 9 is attached to the Aft (stern side) bracket and the yellow arrows show the trajectory Cable Nr 9 will follow upwards.
Pic 003 “ Arrival Side Mast Lug & Insulators” is a detailed view that shows you with blue arrows the trajectory of Cable Nr 9.
The red arrows and circles show the location of the 2 brown ball insulators on the cable.
The big blue arrow & circle shows you that famous “ Lower Side Mast Lug Ring” on the where Cable Nr 9 is attached to.
A word more about the Lower Side Mast Lug Ring.
Each Lower Side Mast Lug on the Side Masts is a small double circular ring that has the shape of the digit “ 8”.
Take a look at Pic 003. The Quality of the pic does not allow to give you a good view but when you push your zoom, you’ll see in the blue circle the “thin “ outlined Lug ring.
Please note that cable Nr 9 is connected to the lower ring of the 8-shaped lug while the upper lug ring is attached to the Side Mast.
For the die-hards : if you look close between Cable Nr 9 and the Mast , you can see ANOTHER cable arriving in the same lug which holds ALSO 2 brown ball insulators. But that cable is not concerned by this rigging chapter and will be treated later.

Question : Where exactly are those “lugs” located to the Mast?
Look at the Pic 004 -005: “Cable N° 9 Rear view & Side view”.
Both pictures show you a schematic view from the aft side and right side of the mast that enable you to easy find the location of the Lower lugs. Just compare Pic 004-005 with Pic 003.
Note: The lugs in Pic 004 & 005 are shown oversized and out of proportion for 1 reason: to show the exact location.
The Lug Ring is located on the Side Arms at the same height where the lower reinforcement beams of the mast are attached.
Also note that the Lower Reinforcement beam of the Mast is installed in-line and with the same angle as the Side-Masts.
That’s why you see the Reinforcement beam in the Rear-view of Pic 004 but you can NOT see it in Pic 005(Side view).
A very good reference for the Cable-Lug’s location is Pic 001( Cable Nr 9 Overview). In the blue circle on top of the picture you’ll notice that the Lower Reinforcement beam is installed on the INNER side of the Mast, at the same height where the Lug-Ring is attached to the OUTER side of the Mast.

About the Lower Reinforcement beam on the Mast: this subject will be treated in another, separate chapter.
Recommendation : Use your zoom to discover the details and the real shape and proportion of the lug rings.

Insulator Count :
In this Rigging Chapter, we find a total of 4 brown ball insulators attached on Cable Nr 9, on Port & Starboard Side together.
Total amount of insulators used in this rigging step : qty = 4 brown ball insulators

This is the end of step 03.02. Cable N° 9 Rigging from the Aft Searchlight Platforms to Lower Side Mast Lugs.
Normally the next rigging step should be: 03.03. Rigging MC2& 3 from the Main Yards 60cm SL Platforms to Main Mast Arm.
But an unexpected event made me prepare another article that will be presented before the 03.03.

Gentlemen,
have a nice day .

Hello Karih,
thanks for your message.

Whenever you like, feel free to gather all the available data that I published on the YAMATO Rigging Guide.
I have no objections at all you do so. Just for your info : my first article was published on march 11, 2017 , I guess on page 139 of this forum.

Have a nice day,

Katana

CHAPTER 03. MIDSHIP

Gentlemen,
I never had any intention to make a separate rigging step for the Mast Assembly on its own.
But after publishing 2 articles on the Midship-Rigging , (step 03.01.Rigging of MC1&4 between Bridge Main Yards and Side Mast arms & step 03.02. Cable Nr 9 rigging from Aft SLPF to Side Mast Lower Lugs), I started to get more and more the idea that many of the future articles on Yamato’s Rigging I’m going to share with you, are quite deeply involved by the Mast Assembly.
So today I changed my mind because I don’t want to speak in riddles in my next Rigging publications. I’m convinced that it’s only a matter of good old common sense to explore the subject “Mast Assembly” in depth.
Normally this step should have been the first article to be published in the Chapter 03. MIDSHIP. But so far, things have turned out differently. You already received the first 2 publications on the Midship.
To be in-line with the numbering lay-out I always use, I gave this step the reference Nr “ 3.00.“


03.00. Mast Assembly Part1.

When studying the rigging of a ship, and tracking all the cables and Cords on the mast, the subject enters a new dimension. If there is one place on a ship were rigging comes into its own, it is the ships Mast Assembly.
Talking about Rigging, it is recommended to understand how Yamato’s mast is built, and how this gigantic unit contains a plethora of cables, pulleys, lug rings, steel beams, ladders, supports, reinforcements and even a searchlight.
All these things we can find on the Yamato’s Mast Assembly.
Remark : the Mast Assembly (Assy) is the “entire construction” of all the 3 Masts you can see on Yamato, behind the Funnel.
When I talk about a “Mast”(in short), I will refer to it as the Main Mast or to 1 of the 2 Side Mast Arms.
Before we can understand WHY some components are installed on their specific locations, we need to understand how Yamato’s mast is built and why it has this particular shape.
The Mast Assembly on Yamato is built out of 3 big sub-assemblies.
The first one is the Mast-Base Support, then we have the Unison Sleeve, and finally, we see the 3 Mast arms that are sticking out above the Unison Sleeve.
Beside these 3 important structure-components, we also notice two big triangular reinforcements and 2 Junction Beams. All will be explained in next article.

Let’s start.

1. Mast Base Support : See Pic 001: Mast Assy Overview
The Mast Base is a tripod. The triangular shape formed by this tripod is located behind the Funnel. The FLAT side of the triangle is facing the bow side of the ship while the triangle-tip is facing the AFT ship (stern side).
All 3 big support beams (420 mm diameter) are connected to the ships deck with 3 gigantic braces. See Pic 002: yellow circle

The rear base support beam is not inclined and goes vertically up to the unison sleeve. The 2 front support beams are tilted backwards and come together with the rear support under the unison sleeve. These 3 big beams together form the base support of the Mast Assembly.

2. The Unison Sleeve :
The 3 support beams come together at a height of +/- 7,00m and disappear under a triangular steel casing: the unison sleeve. See Pic 004: yellow circle
The contact area between the 3 supports is not visible because it is hidden under the unison sleeve outer skin.
The sleeve is a construction of metal sheet that surrounds completely the upper part of the 3 support legs and the Underside of the 3 Mast Arms.
It has 3 flat sides with 3 round corners, perfectly surrounding the structural shape of the round base tubes and it is closed at the top and at the bottom.

3. The 3 Mast Units “above” the unison sleeve.
ABOVE the unison sleeve, the Main Mast and the 2 Side Mast Arms rise upwards, forming (again) a tripod shape: the Main Mast at the front and the 2 Side Mast Arms to the aft sides.
One may think that the 3 upper masts will follow the same angle and centerline as the 3 base support legs underneath, but: No ! It’s not the case. Look at Pic 005: Rear view, Pic 006: Upper view & Pic 007: Side view.
In the side view, you see that the (front) Main Mast above the unison sleeve has the same angle (and centerline) as the 2 Front legs of the Base Support Unit under the sleeve.
But the 2 Side Mast Arms above the unison sleeve are tilted slightly backwards to an angle that has not the same centerline of the lower support legs. See pic 007 : The inclination of the the 2 Side Mast Arms above the sleeve is bigger than the angle of the 2 lower front beams, installed on the deck.
All 3 Mast-Units above the unison sleeve have a tapered shape towards their end. At the unison sleeve, the Main Mast beam has a diameter of 360mm and at the end it is only 210mm.
From the Main mast tip to the deck, it is 27meters long, (inclined position) from which 20 meters extend ABOVE the sleeve.
Both Side Mast Arms have a diameter of 220mm near the unison sleeve and at their tip they have a diameter of 160mm.

4. The Upper & Lower Mast Reinforcement Triangles
The mast shape and its strength (above the unison sleeve) is assured by the installation of 2 triangular reinforcements.
But these reinforcements are not really perfect triangles.
Let me explain :
In reality they are reinforcements, installed in a triangular form, but with the 3 triangle-tips missing.
The triangle beam-ends are (independently of each other) welded to the Main Mast and Side Mast beams at a small distance from each other. They give you the impression they are a perfect triangle, but no : the tips are missing.
Nevertheless, to simplify communication we will use the name “triangles”.
On the Mast Assy , there is an Upper and a Lower triangle.
The Upper Triangle,( the biggest one), is located on top, while the (smaller) Lower Triangle is installed lower on the Mast Assembly.
See pic 009: Red Lines show the Upper Triangle while the Green Lines show the Lower Triangle.
A= Main Mast B= Porst Side Mast & C= Starboard Side Mast.
The triangle structure beams have a much smaller diameter than the base-support beams (140mm versus 360mm), and just like the base-support beams under the unison sleeve, they have a cylindrical shape.
Remark : the Main Mast and 2 Side Masts above the unison sleeve are NOT cylindrical but tapered towards their end-tips.

4.A. Upper Triangle
At 4,25m from the Side Mast Arm Tips, we see the Upper Triangle that connects the 3 main Masts with each other : the Upper Triangle. See pic 009 & 010 : Red Lines.
The Aft beam of the Upper Triangle is installed between the port & starboard Side Mast Arms.( B-C).
The 2 Front beams of the triangle lead both to the Main Mast (B-A) & (C-A).
So far, it remains quite simple. One can say that the Upper triangle is installed in an almost HORIZONTAL position. See Pic 013: blue line: Upper Triangle installation angle.


4.B. Lower Triangle
At +/- 8 meters above the unison sleeve, the Rear beam of the Lower Triangle is installed between the 2 Side Mast Arms.
See Pic 009 & 010 : Green Lines
First thing we notice: the Lower Triangle is NOT installed in the same horizontal position like the Upper Triangle.
Seen from the side, the Lower Triangle has a very specific upwards position at the front tip where it connects to the Main Mast Arm. Pic 013: yellow line : installation angle.
The yellow circles in Pic 014 are the 3 Lower Triangle beams that are welded to the Main Mast & 2 Side Mast Arms.
Special feature: in Pic 014 you can see that the Aft beam of the Lower Triangle has a strange kind of vertical railing : see red line.
I compared the size of this “railing“ with the ship railing on the deck and this one is much smaller than the real deck railing. To my humble opinion, this construction is not suitable to be a full-fledged railing for the Yamato crew.
If someone feels called : I invite you kindly to comment this finding and explain Us what is the purpose of this particular construction. The more we discover, the better it is …

5.A. The Upper Triangle “Connection Plates”.
As mentioned earlier: each triangle beam is attached to the 3 Mast beams with a weld seam. So in total we have 6 welded beam ends.
To reinforce this connection, EACH of these 6 contact area’s is equipped with 2 Connection Plates: 1 on the top side and a second on the bottom side of each triangle beam.
See pic 010
Red Lines: Upper triangle. Red Circles : upper & lower connection plates at Main Mast and Side Mast on Starboard side.
Green Lines : Lower triangle, Green circles: upper & lower connection plates at Main Mast on Port & Starboard side.

Time to make a little inventory:
There are 3 Masts : 1 Main Mast and 2 Side Masts.
We have 2 Reinforcement Triangles : 1 Upper and 1 Lower.
Each triangle contains 3 steel beams. Each beam has 2 end-tips.
Each beam end-tip has 2 connection plates : one at the top and one at the bottom of the triangle beams, which makes 2 connection plates per end-tip.
For the Upper triangle we have then: 3 x 2 x 2 = 12 connection plates that are welded with one flat side on the Main Mast or Side Masts and one welded with the other flat side on the Triangle beams.
If Yamato would have been built with (closed) triangles ( with a tip) and without connection plates, it would only have 3 contact area’s with weld-seams. Instead, the Upper Triangle beams are attached with 6 weld-seams plus an additional 12 weld-seams between the masts and triangle beams via their connection plates.

5.B. The Lower Triangle” Connection Plates”.
The yellow circles in Pic 014 show the very distinctive shape of the triangular connection plates that connect the Lower triangle to the Main Mast and 2 Side Mast arms.
Just like the Upper Triangle, the Lower one is connected to the Main Mast & Side Mast Arms with 12 Connection Plates :
4 plates on the Main Mast and 8 plates for the 2 Side Masts.
See also pic 10: green circles. The Connection Plates on the Lower Triangle are smaller than those on the Upper Triangle.

6. Upper Triangle Reinforcement Beams
Pic 011.
Red stripes = AFT beam of the Upper Triangle.
Yellow circles : Connection Plates on the Aft triangle beam.
Yellow stripes = trajectory of the beams, from the Side Masts towards the contact area’s (upper and lower side) on the Upper Triangle Aft beam.
Blue circles = contact area between reinforcement beams and side mast arms with smaller triangular connection plates.
Pic 012.
Blue lines : trajectory of reinforcement beams
Blue circles : contact area’s between reinforcement beams and Aft Upper Triangle Beam via multi-shaped connection plates. Yellow circles : smaller triangular connection plates welded on reinforcement beams and on Side Mast Arms. Zoom for detail!
Pic 008 : Location of the Upper Triangle Reinforcement Beams.
Yellow lines : trajectory of the Upper & Lower reinforcement beams that connect to the Upper Triangle AFT beam.
Yellow Circles : Typical shape of the Connection Plates that are welded on the AFT Upper Triangle beam to connect the reinforce-ment beams.
Blue line : Upper Triangle Aft Beam.

Although the Upper Triangle is already a quite rigid reinforcement for the 3 masts, it also contains additional reinforcements.
On the AFT Upper Triangle Beam, (Pic 011: red stripe) at the 2 Side Mast Arms, you see 4 smaller beams (Pic 011& 008 : yellow stripes). Each beam is welded to a multi-shaped metal plate (Pic 011: small Yellow circles)( Pic 012 : blue circles)
(Pic 008 : yellow circles) that is welded on the upper and lower side of the Upper Triangle Aft Beam.
These 4 Triangle Reinforcement Beams lead towards the Side Mast Arms where they connect via a smaller triangular connection plate.
Pic 011 : blue circles.
Pic 012 : yellow circles.
Remark 1 :
Triangle Reinforcement Beams are aligned with the 2 Side Mast Arms, having the same angle backwards.
That’s the reason why you can NOT see them in the Side View of Pic 007. But in the Pic 005 Rear view and Pic 006 Upper view, you can see clearly their specific shape & location.
Remark 2:
Triangle Reinforcement Beams ONLY appear on the Upper Triangle.
The Front beams of the Upper Triangle, have NO Reinforcement Beams at all.
Remark 3:
On the Lower Reinforcement Triangle you will find NO Triangle Reinforcement Beams like on the Upper Triangle.



7. Lower Triangle Angle & Tip “Location “.
So where exactly do the 2 Front Beams of the Lower Triangle connect to the Front Main Mast ? Answer : At a distance of 16,3m measured from the deck on the front of the main mast.
See Pic 013 : Blue line = installation angle Upper Triangle
Yellow line = installation angle Lower Triangle
A= Lower triangle beam between the 2 Side Mast Arms.
B=Arrival point of Lower Triangle Beams on the Main Mast Aft side
Reference : New Anatomy of the ship - Yamato & Musashi, fig D1/1 on page 200.

8. Upper & Lower Junction Beams
See Pic 015 Upper & Lower Junction Beams.
Blue line : Upper Junction Beam
Red line : Lower Junction Beam
Red Circle : the strange “ladder’with the Cylindrical Rod
Red arrows : ladder on Upper Junction Beam
Green line : white cord for Japanese Navy Ensign & Samurai Banner.
Green circle : Pulley for white Ensign & Banner cord.

Beside the 3 big Masts and the 2 Reinforcement Triangles we see on Yamato’s Mast Assy, 2 additional structure-components :
The Upper Junction beam (Blue line) connects the Upper Triangle tip at the Main Mast (A) with the front center of the Upper Triangle AFT Beam (B) via a big connection plate.
Remark: the 3 beams of the Upper triangle & the Upper Junction Beam are installed in the same horizontal plane.
See also pic 013(Blue line)
The Lower (inclined) junction beam connects the Lower Triangle tip at the Main Mast (C )with the Underside of the reinforcement plate(not visible in this picture), in the center of the Upper triangle AFT beam. (B )
What is also special on the lower junction beam : on its upper side there is a ladder installed. See Red arrows : ladder trajectory.
And on the location where the lower junction beam is attached to the Underside of the Upper Triangle aft beam(B ), the shape of the junction beam changes into a small diameter rod which extends in the same line as the lower the junction beam. See Red Circle.
Around the small diameter rod you see a sort of “ screen”. That screen is what I call : the “strange” ladder.
For God’s sake, why do they need a ladder, in THAT location ?
Very simple : at the end of the rod ( Pic 015: green circle ) you can see a small pulley hanging straight down, above the Aft Rangefinder. From the Aft Rangefinder platform, a white cord is coming up, running through the pulley and going back down.
And the white cord in that pully, is the line that carries the Imperial Japanese Navy Ensign & Samurai Banner.
See Pic 016:
Red circle : ladder
Red line : Lower Junction Beam
Blue circle : Pulley for white cord
Yellow line : white Ensign & Banner cord , hanging down to the Aft Range Finder Front Side ( stern side ship)
See also Pic 017 : schematic view with white cord holding the Japanese Navy Ensign & Samurai Banner.



This is the end of chapter 03.00. Mast Assembly PART 1.
PART 2 will be published right after this one.

CHAPTER 03. MIDSHIP

Gentlemen,

Here are the remaining pictures for chapter 03.00. Mast Assembly Part1.

CHAPTER 03. MIDSHIP

03.00. Mast Assembly Part 2.

Gentlemen,
this is the second part of our Rigging Chapter on the Mast Assembly.

9. Lugs & Pulleys on the Mast Assy
In this subchapter, we will talk about components that you usually don’t notice on the Mast Assy. Proportionally they are small. Very small. We will talk about LUGS & PULLEYS.

A lug is a single or double metallic ring – or bracket, fastened to a cable-eye or directly installed on the Mast Assy and it has only 1 purpose: to receive, guide and hold a cable or a (white) Flag-cord.
Lugs can be found on many locations : on the Main Mast, the Side Masts and even on the Upper & Lower Reinforcement Triangles.
A pulley is a hollowed-out wheel running in a U-shaped body. The hollowed-out wheel is perfectly shaped to guide ropes and cables. There are a few pulleys on Yamato’s Mast Assy.
Now, where do come all those cables from that finally follow their way to the Lugs & Pulleys on the Mast Assy ?
The origin of those cables will be discussed in several Future Rigging chapters.
In this Chapter, we’re going to focus only on Lugs & Pulleys on the Mast Assy : how they look like, how many they are and where they are installed …

Here is a list of them, let’s start with the highest one :

9.A. Main Mast

1.Main Mast Pulley for Vice Admirals Flag Cord.
See Pic 018 :
White arrow at mast tip (A): White Cord pulley at Mast tip.
White arrow at Searchlight Platform (B) : White Cord pulley attached to the Searchlight Platform Railing ( stern side).
Blue arrows : trajectory of White Flag Cord.
See Pic 019 :
Yellow arrow at mast tip (A) & Yellow circle : White Cord pulley at Mast tip.
Blue arrows : trajectory of White Flag Cord.
See Pic 020 :
Blue arrows : trajectory of White Flag Cord.
Big White arrow : Pulley at front railing of searchlight platform.
Green arrow : Pulley bracket at front railing of searchlight platform.
The Vice-Admirals White Flag Cord is a double white cord. It runs through a pulley on the back of the Main Mast -tip ( Pic 019 yellow circle) at the bottom of the Lower lantern on the aft side of the mast, downwards to the Searchlight Platform Railing. See Pic 020.
At the searchlight platform, The White Cord is contained in a pulley (Pic 020 white arrow) that is attached with a bracket to the SLPF railing (Pic 020 green arrow).

2.Main Mast Upper Lug
See Pic 021 :
Yellow arrows : trajectory of 2 Cables coming from Bridge Main Yards.
White arrow & circle : Location at Main Mast Upper Lug where the 2 cables from the Bridge Main Yards are joined & attached.
See Pic 022 :
Yellow arrow : Main Mast Upper Lug location on Main Mast : Side view
There is only 1 Upper Lug and it is located on the front side (bow side) of the Main Mast.
In this lug , the 2 cables (MC3&4) coming from the Bridge Main Yards are joined together. See Pic 022 for dimensional proportion and location.

3. Main Mast Lower Lug(s)
The 2 Main Mast Lower Lugs are located :
- On the port & starboard side of the Main Mast
- At the connection point where the Front Lower Triangle-tip is attached to the Aft Side of the Main Mast Arm.

See Pic 023: Yellow circle: general view of the port side Lower Lug’s specific location.
See Pic 024: Yellow Arrows : Port Side Lower Lug in detail: you ‘ll see that the Lower Lug secures 3 different cables : Two cables from below (B) and 1 cable from above (A).
The Main Mast Lower Lug is not a “ common “ ring. It has a special shape. The cables from above and below do not connect right next to each other. There is a certain distance between them.
See Pic 025 : Starboard Side Lower Lug DETAIL: Yellow Arrows : What we see here, is that the Main Mast Lower Lug is a half-round double flanged bracket with an attachment ring at both ends.
The 3 different cables are connected to a cable-eye at the upper (A) and lower (B) part of that bracket. They do NOT touch each other. My humble opinion : the Lower Lug has been conceived this way to avoid interference between cable-ends and the Main Mast beam

9.B. Side Mast Arms.

1. port & starboard Side Mast-tip Lugs
See Pic 026 : General View
Yellow circles : the 2 side Mast tips where a bunch of cables arrive at different Lugs.

See Pic 027 : Starboard Side Mast tip : Yellow numbers show all the cables that arrive from different locations to the Side Mast tip-Lug.
1 : One Cable from front arrives on the Front of the tip-Lug.
2 & 3: Two Cables from outer side arrive on the Outer Side of the tip-Lug.
4-5-6 : Three Cables arrive from behind on the Aft side of the tip Lug.
7 : One Cable from the other Side Mast Arm-tip arrives at the Inner Side of the tip-Lug.
Counting the amount of cables that arrive from all different locations we can conclude that on each Side Mast Arm -tip, we see 4 Lugs : 1 Front Lug, 1 Outer Lug, 1 Aft Lug & 1 Inner Lug.

2.(White Cord) Triangles
See Pic 028 : Yellow circles : Location of the ( White Cord) Triangles at both Side Mast Arms.
See Pic 029 : Yellow circle : Detail of ( White Cord) Triangle at port side. Yellow lines: Upper Triangle Beams
See Pic 030 : Yellow circle : Port Side Triangle with White Cord running through Pulley on a Bracket. Yellow lines: Upper Triangle Beams
The 2 (White Cord) Triangles are very fine constructions that are located at the Outsides of the Side Mast Arms, a fraction higher than the contact point where the Aft Upper Triangle Reinforcement beam is welded on both Side Mast Arms. See blue circle in Pic 030 and yellow circles in Pic 028.
Their only task is to lead the white cord that departs from the left Rear Range Finder Brackets and follows a trajectory upwards via the left (white cord) triangle and further downwards to the Aft side of the Lower Triangle beam, then up to the starboard (white cord) triangle on the starboard Side Mast and then again downwards further to the starboard Rear Range Finder Brackets.
Remark : the(White Cord) Triangles are not as heavy or sturdy as other brackets or devices on the Mast Assembly because they "only" guide White Flag Cord.
White Flag Cord is less thick and much lighter than the (black) cables that are used on Yamato's Mast Assembly.

3.Side Mast Upper Lugs
See Pic 031 : Pink circle & arrow : location of the Upper Lug on the starboard Side Mast. Blue arrows : trajectory of Cable.
Yellow circle and pink arrow : arrival of cable on RRF Bracket.
The Side Mast Upper Lugs are located on both Side Masts, slightly under the (white cord) triangles and also little under the connection of the Side Mast Arm with the Upper Reinforcement Triangle. See Pic 031 Pink circle.
As you can see in the picture, the Upper Lug is a simple ring attached to the Side Masts with easy access for cables.

4.Side Mast Lower Lugs
See Pic 032 : Pink circle & arrow : location of the Lower Lug on the starboard Side Mast. Light & Dark Blue arrows : trajectory of the 2 different Cables coming from the Lower Lug.
The Side Mast Lower Lug is located on both Side Masts, at about the same location where the lower beam of the Upper Triangle Reinforcement connects to the Side Mast Arm.
The Lower Lug has the shape of the digit " 8" and is attached to the Side Mast Arm with the upper ring of the digit "8". Cables are attached to the lower ring of the digit"8".
See also : chapter 03.02. Cable Nr 9 Rigging from Aft SLPF to Lower Side Mast Lugs.


9.C. Upper Triangle Aft Beam Lugs & Pulleys.
See Pic 033 : on Upper Triangle Aft Beam, stern side.
Yellow circles : Lugs for cables with a White Bar Insulator, coming from locations on the Lower Deck.
Blue circle : 1 Pulleys on bracket with a double White Cord, coming from the RRF.
Red circle : CAUTION !!! This Pulley is NOT attached to the Aft Triangle Beam: this is an optical illusion in Pic 033. You’re looking at the pulley which hangs on the ladder-extension of the Lower Junction Beam that was discussed in Part 1 of this Chapter in step 8 : "Upper & Lower Junction Beams" : this pulley contains the line that carries the Imperial Japanese Navy Ensign & Samurai Banner and is no part of this rigging step.
On the Aft side of the Upper Triangle Aft Beam we see :
Qty =2 Lugs (yellow circles) that are attached on the Aft Triangle beam at the inner part of the Triangle Connection Plates.
Each Lug contains a cable that runs through a White Bar Insulator and heads downwards to the deck.
Qty = 1 Pulley on a bracket (Blue circle), also attached on the Aft Triangle beam approximately in the left half of the beam width. The Pulley contains a double White Cord with 3 odd-shaped Insulators and leads to the Right hand bracket Nr 4 on the RRF. See Pic 033 for exact location.

9.D. Lower Triangle Aft Beam Lugs.
See Pic 034 : Lower Triangle Aft Beam.
Yellow circles : Lugs for White Cord, coming from both Triangles on the Side Mast Arms.
The White Cord, coming from the RRF Brackets and going up to the Side Mast Arms Triangles, comes down to the point were the Lower Triangle Aft Beam is connected to the Side Mast Arms. Then it follows a vertical trajectory down from the Side Mast Arms Triangles and when it arrives at the Lower Triangle Aft beam, it makes a horizontal turn of 90° and follows its way all over the back side of the Lower Triangle Aft Beam to the other Side Mast where it makes another turn of 90° upwards to the starboard Side Mast Triangle.
See Pic 035 : Blue arrows : Lugs for the White Cord on Aft Triangle beam ( only 3 are visible in this picture). Yellow line : Aft Lower Triangle Beam.
Remark : The reason why the White Cord can make a turn of 90° is because it passes through 2 Lugs : 1 Lug is installed on the Side Mast Arm while the other one is installed on the Aft Lower Triangle Beam with the Lug-holes 90° inclined from each other. The same procedure applies to the equivalent Lugs on the starboard side of the Side Mast Arm.

10. Ladders on the Mast Assy
On Yamato’s Mast Assy we see quite a few (long) ladders.
See Pic 036 :
Blue Lines : ladders on 2 Side Mast Arms
Pink Line : ladder on Upper Connection Beam
Yellow line : ladder on Main Mast Arm
Above described ladders go from the Searchlight Platform all the way up to the lanterns in the Main Mast and 2 Side Masts.
The pink line shows the ladder on the Lower Connection Beam, from the tip, all the way up to the end of the beam, at the pulley for the White Cord of the Vice-Admirals Flag.
See Pic 037 : Mast Base & Unison Sleeve
Yellow Lines : ladders from the SLPF to the Left Front Support Mast Beam on the ships deck.
Please note that once above the unison sleeve, the ladder is bowed to follow the trajectory of the Mast to the SLPF.

11. Searchlight Platform & Antenna’s in the mast
See Pic 038 :
Blue circle shows exact location of the SLPF in the Mast Assy.
See Pic 039 : Blue circle shows location of the SLPF above the Unison Sleeve.
See Pic 040: Pic shows detail of the SLPF, including railing.

The (60 cm) Searchlight Platform is located a little above the Unison Sleeve of the Mast Assy (see pic 039) and equally spaced between the Main Mast and the 2 Side Mast Arms (see pic 038).
Beside the main function of its searchlight, it is also the place where the White Cord of the Vice-Admiral’s Flag is operated.
See previous step “ 9.A. Main Mast” in this same article.
The White Cord with the Vice-Admiral’s Flag is secured at the Front railing (stern side ship) of the SLPF (see pic 040).
This is the only Searchlight, installed in the Mast Assembly.

Next to the SLPF in Pic 040, you see also 2 antenna’s, installed at the Front of the Main Mast at both sides of the SLPF in such a way that crew members climbing on the Mast Ladders will not be hindered by the presence of these 2 big constructions. (see pic 038-039-040).
These antenna’s were renewed after Dec 1944. See “ New Anatomy of the ship” page 204.

Insulators Count
In this chapter there will be NO insulator count, for the simple reason that all insulators will already be discussed in the different future steps I will share with you.

This is the end of step 03.00. Mast Assembly PART 2.

Next rigging step : because the 2 first MIDSHIP rigging steps (03.01 & 03.02.) have already been published, the next step in our Rigging Guide will be : 03.03. Rigging Main
Cable 2&3 from Bridge Main Yards to Main Mast Arm

Gentlemen,
have a nice day.

CHAPTER 03. MIDSHIP

Gentlemen,

this is part 2 of 3 with pictures of : 03.00. Mast Assembly Part 2.