The ships had a freeboard of forward, amidships, and aft. The design called for a freeboard of forward, amidships and aft. This increase and the resultant reduction in freeboard decreased the vessel's critical reserve buoyancy. Despite these inherent risks, the very high freeboard raises the seaworthiness of these vessels. The deeper "Forrestal" hull allowed the ships more freeboard and better seakeeping. This is in part due to the low freeboard on the hull. This also permitted a higher freeboard, which also improved seakeeping. Her freeboard (height of deck above sea level) was just . The design includes a high freeboard and a deep cockpit. This markedly reduced their freeboard and stability. They displayed prominent "surface-ship" characteristics, notably high freeboard and an expansive deck structure. A beaver dam has a certain amount of freeboard above the water level. All waka are characterized by very low freeboard. The image above shows a "waka taua" with unusually high freeboard. They displaced and had a relatively low freeboard.