“Ships”
Grand Dragon Boat is a unique vessel, about 13.3 meters high and 59.2 meters long, with a central palace, private apartment, east and west Hall of Private Audience in the upper story, and 120 rooms in the middle two stories, all decorated with treasures. The grand dragon boat is several stories high and cost many giant timbers in building its body. Since the timbers are limited in length, many small and short woods were required to be connected into one. Meanwhile, the connection between the framework and boards as well as the boat body and deck erection required demanding techniques, or else the boat would be unsubstantial. Therefore, the connection part is vital in forging the structural strength of dragon boat. The combination of rabbets and iron nails was adopted for connecting the dragon boats, which proved to be more stable and reliable than using wooden pegs or bamboo nails.
Nemi ship, essentially an elaborate floating palace, which contains quantities of marble, mosaic floors, heating and plumbing such as baths among its amenities. 73 meters (240 ft) in length and with a beam of 24 meters (79 ft), the superstructure appears to have been made with a main section amidships, a heavy building at the stern and a smaller one at the prow. The hull was divided into three "active" or main sections. The general shape of the hull is wider at the stern and narrower at the bow; in fact, the main section is not amidships but is displaced towards the stern. The superstructures have been made of two main blocks of two buildings each, connected by stairs and corridors, built on raised parts of the deck at either end.
Grain Ship – a vessel, 140-foot in length, fitted with one mast and one square sail. Crew is a captain, pilot, and some 270 soldiers, sailors, and prisoners - 276 persons, in all. Capacity in its water-proof hull is 3 tons of grain.
Penteconter – a versatile, long-range ship used for sea trade, piracy and warfare; capable of transporting freight or troops; rowed by 50 oarsmen, arranged in two rows of twenty-five on each side of the ship. A mid-ship mast with sail could also propel the ship under favorable wind. Penteconters were long and sharp-keeled ships, hence described as long vessels (makrai). They typically lacked a full deck, and thus were also called unfenced vessels (aphraktoi).
River Boats come in many popular sizes and configuration depending upon requirements.
Papyrus boats and Reed rafts were made of painted wood, while real boats were made of wood and a few were built of papyrus stalks; mainly used for hunting in the marshes with poles, nets, or boomerangs and for organized sports and competitions. Boats made of papyrus were connected with gods and royalty. They were used for either daily activities such as sailing for entertainment or for religious events such as transporting statues of the gods, pilgrimages, or ceremonies related to banishing evil spirits.
Longships are for trade, commerce, exploration, and warfare. The average speed of longship varies from ship to ship but lay in the range of 5–10 knots and the maximal speed of a longship under favorable conditions was around 15 knots. (knot is a unit of speed equal to one nautical mile (1.852 km) per hour, approximately 1.151 mph)
The longship is characterized as a graceful, long, narrow, light, wooden boat with a shallow draft hull designed for speed. The ship's shallow draft allowed navigation in waters only one metre deep and permitted beach landings, while its light weight enabled it to be carried over portages.
Longships are also double-ended, the symmetrical bow and stern allows the ship to reverse direction quickly without having to turn around; this trait proved particularly useful in northern latitudes where icebergs and sea ice posed hazards to navigation. Longships are fitted with oars along almost the entire length of the boat itself. Later versions sport a rectangular sail on a single mast which is used to replace or augment the effort of the rowers, particularly during long journeys.
Longships can be classified into a number of different types, depending on size, construction details, and prestige. The most common way to classify longships is by the number of rowing positions on board. Types range from the Karvi, with 13 rowing benches, to the Busse, one of which has an estimated 34 rowing positions.
Longships are highly valued possessions. They are often owned by coastal farmers and commissioned by the Amir in times of conflict, in order to build a powerful naval force. While longships are used in warfare, they were troop transports, not warships. These boats are sometimes tied together in battle to form a steady platform for infantry warfare. They are called dragonships by enemies because they have a dragon-shaped prow.
Biremes are oared warships with two decks of oars, typically about 80 feet (24 m) long with a maximum beam width of around 10 feet (3 m) and built for military purposes had relatively high speed, meticulous construction, and strength.
Trireme refers to a class of warships used by the civilizations of Sha’Lazar. The early type have three rows of oars on each side, manned with one man per oar. The trireme's staggered seating permits three benches per vertical section with an oarsman on each. The outrigger above the gunwale, projecting laterally beyond it, keeps the third row of oars on deck out of the way of the first two under deck. Hence all rowers are now protected under deck and battle was mainly fought by marines.
“Construction”
Dimensions: It was about 117 feet (36 meters) in length, and just 19.5 feet (6 meters) at it’s widest. The height of the sheds' interior was established as 13 feet (4.026 meters), leading to estimates that the height of the hull above the water surface was 7 feet (2.15 meters). Its draught was relatively shallow, about 3.25 feet (1 meter), which, in addition to the relatively flat keel, allowed it to be beached easily.
Propulsion: The ship’s primary propulsion came from the 170 oars. A steady speed of 4 knots could be maintained, with half the crew resting at a time. The ship also had two masts, a main (istos megas) and a small foremast (istos akateios), with square sails, while steering was provided by two paddles at the bow.
Depiction of the position and angle of the rowers in a trireme. The form of the parexeiresia, projecting from the deck, is clearly visible.
“Crew”
The total crew (plērōma) of the ship was about 200. They were divided as follows:ship’s captain[
command crew : (8)
helmsman - who was always an experienced seaman and often the actual commander of the vessel.
bow lookout - in charge of the foredeck
boatswain - in charge of a ship's anchors, cordage, colors, deck crew and rigging while the ship was in dock.
quartermaster - in charge of wages and the administrative duties of running a ship of war.
shipwright - shipbuilder or carpenter.
piper –flute or drummer, who gave the rowers' rhythm
Toicharchoi - in charge of the rowers on each side of the ship; superintended the two lines of rowers, one on each side; the discipline of the motive power of the vessel.
Sailors : (17) - seventeen experienced people handling the masts and the sails.
Rowers : (170-174) - selected from the poorer strata of society divided according to their positions into:
62 thranitai in the top row (thranos means "deck").
54-58 zygitai in the middle row, named after the beams (zygoi) on which they sat.
54 thalamitai] in the lowest row, (thalamos means "hold").
Extra : a varying number of 10-20 marines and/or 4 archers, for boarding actions.
“Tactics”
Naval combat relied on two methods: ramming and boarding.
Rams were fitted to the prows of warships, and were used to rupture the hull of the enemy ship. The preferred method of attack was to come in from astern and behind, with the aim not of creating a single hole, but of rupturing as big a length of the enemy vessel as possible. The minimum speed necessary for a successful impact was about 10 knots (11.5 mph). The Utican especially became masters in the art of ramming, using light, un-decked triremes.
Unlike later eras, boarding actions were not very frequent with the triremes. Their small size allowed for a limited number of marines to be carried aboard, emphasis was laid on maneuverability and speed, not on armor and firing power, although fleets less confident of their ability in ramming were prone to load more marines onto their ships. In any case, prior to engagement, the masts and railings of the ship were taken down, hindering any attempt at using grappling hooks
Another method was breaking; to brush alongside the enemy ship, with oars drawn in, in order to break the enemy's oars and render the ship immobile, to be finished off with ease.
Squadrons of triremes employed a variety of tactics. In all of these maneuvers, the ability to accelerate faster, row faster, and turn more sharply than one's enemy was very important.
Periplous - sailing around - involved outflanking or encircling the enemy so as to attack them in the vulnerable rear
Diekplous - sailing out through - involved a concentrated charge so as to break a hole in the enemy line, allowing galleys to break through and then wheel to attack the enemy line from behind.
Kyklos - circle - and the Mēnoeidēs Kyklos - half-circle - were defensive tactics to be employed against these maneuvers.
Moderators: Playerfiles Katia