No. 237 Maritime Archaeology in the People's Republic of China ...

Figure 55. Bulkhead from the Pattaya Site showing two waterways, the luting and the rebates on upper surface of bulkhead for the next
plank.
Figure 56. View of the Pattaya Site showing the ‘V’-shaped crosssection.
Figure 57.
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Pattaya Site showing half-frame lying across the keel.
Figure 58.
Pattaya Site mast step.
to have limbers. How then do these work, if cargo filled the
compartment? It now seems possible, from the evidence of
the Pattaya shipwreck, that in some cases there was a space in
the centre of the compartment, about 600 mm wide which was
kept clear. Presumably there was some form of longitudinal
partition to confine the cargo space. This would then provide
a narrow, but clear access to the limbers at the bottom of the
bulkheads and thus explain the anomaly of the watertight
luting of the internal seams of the bulkhead and the presence
of limbers, which in all wreck sites have never been found
blocked up with bungs. The possibility is, therefore, that in the
event of the vessel springing a serious leak, the crew would
gain access to the limbers and block them so that the leak could
be confined to the hold affected. In normal circumstances,
the limbers were free to allow the movement of bilge water
to the lowest point where it could be bailed or pumped out.
If there were no limbers then the bilge water would collect in
each compartment, necessitating a bilge pump to be located
or used in each compartment.