A sheer hulk (or shear hulk), in the days of sailing ships, was used in shipbuilding and repair as a floating crane, primarily to place the lower masts of a ship under construction or repair. The masts of the hulk (known as sheers) would be at an angle, and the ends could be effectively raised or lowered by rotating the hulk's hull, either by pulling on ropes attached to the hull, or by shifting the ballast within the hull. The lower masts were the largest and most massive single timbers aboard a ship, and erecting these masts was extremely difficult without the assistance of either a sheer hulk or land-based masting sheer.
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