"New to Napoleonic Naval & have a query on terminology" Topic

I'm considering purchasing some ships & during some research on the colours nations painted their ships.

I came across the term "Fighting top arming".

Found half way down this web page.
link

What part of the ship is this?

Regards,

Grant

A fighting top is a platform partway up a mast where musket shooting at a nearby ship is possible.

This is how Nelson copped it!

link

Yes, marines were stationed "in the tops" (on the mast trees, or the platform that is built where the sections of the masts are joined together – there could be one or more than one per mast, depending). From there they could fire at the opposing ships officers and gun crews (and marines). If the range was close enough, they could also heave grenades. Not sure when the grenade thing started and ended, but that could really wreck your day.

Named as they were where the mast gave way to the topmast, as noted above.

Supposedly, a grenade hurled from the maintop of
Bon Homme Richard in her fight with HMS Serapis is
what really decided that battle.

It supposedly exploded among some ready-to-hand
cartridges for Serapis' weather deck guns.

On large ships, the lower fighting tops mounted
swivel guns, firing canister.

In the Dutch East Indies spice & opium smugglers had flush decks and a company of sepoys with grenades in the fighting tops to clear boarders if negotiations with suppliers turned nasty.