The framework of the ship is made up of double frames, with narrow frame spacing. These frames consist of a floortimber, extended by two futtocks facing the midship frame, and of two half-floortimbers, or short-floors, facing either the stem or the stern-post, followed by futtocks and top-timbers. The half-floortimbers do not extend all the way to the keel. In this way, a space is created beneath the keelson that is filled in by large oak chocks inserted between keel and keelson. In contrast to the floortimbers, which are attached to the keel and keelson by iron bolts, the chocks are not fastened to the hull.
The discovery, in the fore part of the wreck, of wooden chocks and baked clay bricks inserted on some frames is clearly an indication of the lack of timber of a certain size. These filler pieces could also be used to accommodate the difference in scantling between one timber and the next.