Information 4: Shipbuilding in Europe around the 15th century
Around the 15th century, it was an important period for the integration of sailing ships in the northern and southern seas of Europe. The countries along the Mediterranean coast in southern Europe have a long history of shipbuilding and advanced shipbuilding technology. They have long adopted the construction technology of flat jointing of hull plates. Due to its long-term influence on East Asia and
Influenced by the Arabian dhow, it has been customary to use single-masted or two-masted dhows since the 9th century AD. The North Sea and Baltic Sea area in northern Europe became the domain of the Normans after the 9th century AD. Scandinavia
Dense forests contain various excellent shipbuilding materials, which are consistent with the rough and bold character of the northern people. Local people do not use saws to build ships, but use big axes, so they can only be cut into certain plank shapes, and the outer edges of the planks are relatively rough.
They cannot be connected flat to each other, so the connection between the wooden boards must be in the form of overlapping. In order to adapt to the strong winds and waves in the local sea area, northern sailing ships often use square sails to travel with the wind, and the overlapping hulls have an anti-wave effect, which is conducive to improving navigation.
The ship vibrates in the wind, so the northern sailing ship is very fast when sailing downwind. It was also the northern sailing ship that was the first to use a stern post rudder in Europe.
Since the 14th century, northern cities have formed the Hanseatic Commercial Alliance, with many city-states participating. The main tool for maritime trade is ships. The typical cargo ship used by the alliance city-states at that time was the Kirk round ship, which was convenient for loading multiple goods. Its length-to-width ratio
Generally, it is 3:1. Because it often transports wine, it is also called a wine ship. In order to conduct trade activities with the prosperous commercial cities in southern Europe, the Kirk ship often sailed to the Mediterranean. It was discovered that Mediterranean sailing ships had two major characteristics: namely
The hull plates are connected flat, and the surface of the ship is smooth (water resistance is small); the use of triangular sails facilitates
Sailing against the wind. There are large fish farms in the north, and its extremely extensive trade space is also favored by the southern city-states. Therefore, Mediterranean sailing ships often leave the Mediterranean and go north along the Atlantic coast to northern ports such as London. It is found that northern sailing ships also have two major characteristics.
: That is, using square sails and sternpost rudders. Later, as the sailing areas of the two types of sailing ships expanded into the same sailing area, how to integrate the important features of the two types of sailing ships that sailed in different sailing areas in the past to create a more suitable
A new type of sailing ship for ocean sailing, which can go further on the sea, was immediately put on the agenda. Northern sailboats can only use the butt joint construction method. Learn how to use a saw to saw the two ends of each flat joint hull plate flat, so that the plates can be leveled.
Only by connecting, can we overcome the shortcomings of the overlapping ship structure that is not strong enough (its ultimate displacement is about 500 tons), and the ship can be built larger, carry more cargo, and adapt to the needs of ocean transportation; Southern sailing ships can only use rudders and longitudinal and transverse sails.
Mixed sail rigging can adapt to the changing meteorological characteristics of sea wind directions. When sailing downwind, the horizontal sail is particularly effective, but when going upwind, the combined control of the stern jib and rudder must be used to keep the ship moving forward. By the 15th century,
With the expansion of the sailing sea area, a three-masted full-sail sailing ship with a unified European format was finally created. This type of ship actually continued to be used until the end of the sailing era in the 19th century, with only partial improvements in sailing. Its basic
The form has remained unchanged.[8]
In the 15th century, there were two standard types of ships in Europe. One was the large ship, and the other was the clipper ship. The large ship was collectively called the Carrack. At the beginning, the Genoese created the Genoese Kirk after seeing the advantages of the Kirk ship.
After the overlapping structure of the Kirk ship was changed to a flat structure, its volume became larger. In 1302, this type of ship was named Coche. In 1350, it was called Coche in English.
At that time, this type of single-masted carrack began to add a mizzen mast, and this type of two-masted carrack continued to be used for 75 years. In 1416, a French hired Genoese carrack captured by the British was also a double-masted carrack.
In 1416, the British built a Carrack-type 3-masted ship "Grace Dieu", which was already a 3-masted full-sail ship. The ship was 55 meters long and had a displacement of 1,400 tons.
In 1505, the "Great Michae" was built in Scotland for James IV. The ship was 73 meters long, 30 meters longer than the average large ship at that time. Many people questioned this length.
However, the Karak was undoubtedly the largest ship at that time.[9]
At first, the carrack was used as a cargo ship, which was much larger than the previous Kirk ship. Starting from the 15th century, the Mediterranean experienced a prosperous period of large-tonnage ships. At that time, sea ships traveled across the entire Mediterranean, and then reached London and London.
Rouge. The furthest voyages generally start from Genoa, which puts Genoa's large-tonnage ships in a leading position in the competition. Especially because Genoa is almost exclusively engaged in heavy cargo transportation, especially the Phocia Alum in Asia Minor and the Levant region.
Wine and other goods from the island need to be transported directly to Bruges and England by sea.
In China, the Genoese large-tonnage sailing ship with a carrying capacity of more than 1,000 tons has long been an effective tool to solve this problem. In the 16th century, Genoa, Venice and even France were able to build large carracks with a carrying capacity of about 2,000 tons. This large tonnage
It lasted until the 18th century with almost no breakthroughs. [10] By the 16th century, this type of ship was also used as a warship, and the forecastle was raised to facilitate throwing cold weapons at enemy ships. In 1490, Henry V of England built
Two large Karak warships, one named "Regent" (Regent), has 225 small guns. The other type of fast ship is also called the Caravel ship (Car**el). This type of ship originated in the 13th century.
An Iberian fishing boat from the middle period, it was also the dhow Car**o later used by Moslin on the coasts of Iberia and North Africa.
In the 14th century, it disappeared, but in the early 15th century, it began to appear again. Prince Henry of Portugal chose it as the main ship type for sailing expeditions. The ship developed from a single mast to 2 masts and 3 masts, with a small low
Poop, no forecastle, hanging triangular sail, length-to-width ratio 5:1~4:1, narrow length, fast speed. Its total length is generally 15 meters to 18 meters. This type of triangular sailing ship is suitable for sailing against the wind, and is used in Africa
When returning from the west coast and encountering a northerly wind, it can move forward against the wind. The ship also comes from the word carvel-built, which is the most fundamental difference between it and the northern carvel-built ship. In 1450, the Carvel ship also appeared in
In the Northern Sea Route, it was at the end of the lap joint method of shipbuilding in Britain. Soon, the flat joint method was also used in shipbuilding in the north. It can be seen that Iberia is a bridge between the Mediterranean and the northern shipbuilding technology traditions. This type of ship was once due to its speed
It quickly became a type of destroyer used for patrol and protection. In the middle and late 15th century, due to the economic recession in Europe and insufficient loading capacity, large ships were rarely used, so this type of ship became a common style of cargo ships.
By the 16th century, this type of ship was replaced by larger ships due to its limited capacity, but its important role in Atlantic navigation exploration was indispensable.