Counter Stern

 

I decided to quit while I was ahead on this one. It was quickly becoming a hot-mess. Well. All I can say is that I was never destined to be a naval architect. I was recently reading about tramp steamers in Christopher Lee's fascinating memoir "Eight Bells and Topmasts" and did some poking around on the web. I was struck by the hull design of the tramp steamer, especially the distinctive counter stern which makes it appear as if the ship is high in the water. Quite by accident I was looking for WWI naval vessels and stumbled across this photo. I thought, "That looks just like a tramp steamer!" and sure enough, it turns out that these troop ships were converted tramp freighters. Here's a great shot of the counter-stern.