Rudder Design and Other Design Considerations

Ships are normally designed to comply with and, if possible, exceed accepted manoeuvring standards and guidelines, some of which have been described in Chap. 14 . Most ships use ruddersRudder to manoeuvre. Propellers in ships also affect their manoeuvring performance, as explained in Chap. 6 . A propeller also affects the behaviour of a rudder placed behind it and this has been described in Chap. 13 . The propulsion machinery of the ship affects some features of its manoeuvring performance. The hull form of the ship has an important effect on its manoeuvrability and so does the superstructure. Therefore, while considering manoeuvring and ship design, it is necessary to regard the rudderRudder, the propeller, the propulsion plant and the hull together as a system. There are also some other features in the design of a ship that affect its manoeuvrability. However, since the rudder is the most important element on which manoeuvrability depends, rudder design is given great importance.