Editing Sailing ship (section)

=== Masts ===
[[File:Running_Rigging-Square-rigged_ship--Biddlecombe.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|Diagram of rigging on a square-rigged ship.<ref name="Biddlecombe"/>]]
Until the mid-19th century all vessels' masts were made of wood formed from a single or several pieces of timber which typically consisted of the trunk of a [[conifer]] tree. From the 16th century, vessels were often built of a size requiring masts taller and thicker than could be made from single tree trunks. On these larger vessels, to achieve the required height, the masts were built from up to four sections (also called masts), known in order of rising height above the decks as the lower, top, topgallant and royal masts.<ref name="poa2">{{cite book|title=The Price of Admiralty|last=Keegan|first=John|date=1989|publisher=Viking|isbn=0-670-81416-4|location=New York|pages=[https://archive.org/details/priceofadmiralty00keeg/page/n309 278]|author-link=John Keegan|url=https://archive.org/details/priceofadmiralty00keeg|url-access=registration}}</ref> Giving the lower sections sufficient thickness necessitated building them up from separate pieces of wood. Such a section was known as a ''made mast'', as opposed to sections formed from single pieces of timber, which were known as ''pole masts''.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t2mm7qxBeCMC&pg=PR14|title=A Treatise on Masting Ships and Mast Making: Explaining Their Principles and Practical Operations, the Mode of Forming and Combining Made-masts, Etc.|last=Fincham|first=John|date=1843|publisher=Whittaker|location=London|pages=216–30|language=en|access-date=2019-06-22|archive-date=2023-10-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231027233147/https://books.google.com/books?id=t2mm7qxBeCMC&pg=PR14#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> Starting in the second half of the 19th century, masts were made of iron or steel.<ref name=":0" />

For ships with square sails the principal masts, given their standard names in [[Bow (ship)|bow]] to [[stern]] (front to back) order, are:

* ''Fore-mast'' – the mast nearest the bow, or the mast forward of the main-mast with sections: fore-mast lower, fore topmast, and fore topgallant mast<ref name="poa2" />
* ''Main-mast'' – the tallest mast, usually located near the center of the ship with sections: main-mast lower, main topmast, main topgallant mast, royal mast (sometimes)<ref name="poa2" />
* ''Mizzen-mast'' – the aft-most mast. Typically shorter than the fore-mast with sections: mizzen-mast lower, mizzen topmast, and mizzen topgallant mast.<ref>Harland, John. ''Seamanship in the Age of Sail,'' pp. 15, 19–22, 36–37, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland, 1992. {{ISBN|0-87021-955-3}}.</ref>