Afterdeck

In naval architecture, an afterdeck or after deck, or sometimes the aftdeck, aft deck or a-deck is the open deck area toward the stern or aft back part of a ship or boat.

In place of the afterdeck, a ship may be built with a poop deck, that is a deck that forms the roof of a cabin built in the rear, or "aft", part of the superstructure of a ship; a poop deck is usually higher up than an afterdeck.

A ship may have its superstructure or aftercastle located in the stern and thus not have an afterdeck.

A taffrail is the handrail around the open afterdeck or poop deck.

On wooden sailing ships like man-of-war or East Indiaman the taffrail is usually a hand carved wood rail and often highly decorated.