Shipbuilding
Early Capital Ship II
Royal Navy 74. HMS Bellona and HMS Courageux arriving at Spithead by Geoff Hunt. Courageux was a heavy 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, launched in 1753. She was captured by the Royal Navy in 1761 and taken into service as HMS Courageux. HMS Bellona was a 74-gun Bellona-class third-rate ship of the line of the Royal…
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NAVAL WARFARE IN EUROPE, 1500-1600
A painting by Agostino Tassi or Buonamico (1565-1644) shows a ship under construction at the leading Tuscan port of Livomo. The painting illustrates the large quantities of wood required for shipbuilding, and the immensity of the task posed by the construction of large warships using largely unmechanized processes. The capital…
The royal galley of Juan de Austria
To mark the fourth centenary of the battle of Lepanto, a replica was built at the Museu MarĂtim de Barcelona of the royal galley of Juan de Austria. The vessel was the flagship of the fleet of the Holy League (comprising Spain, the Republic of Venice, the Papal States and…
OARS, SAILS AND GUNS: THE ENGLISH AND WAR AT SEA, c.1200âc.1500 Part II
A multi-deck Carrack had three masts with the different sails: to the foresail: and mainmasts (by the first and by the second) â straight lines, and on the last third mizzensail to mast there was the slanting Latin sail, which facilitated maneuvering. The patrolmen or pointers were located on the…
OARS, SAILS AND GUNS: THE ENGLISH AND WAR AT SEA, c.1200âc.1500 Part I
The warships in the North in 12th century obtained the second mast. On the mast, which stands nearer to the bow with the small inclination forward, was fastened the sail, which made possible for vessel to sail in the crosswind. On such vessels had a large enough deck they could…
SIZE AND TONNAGE
In assessing the capabilities of warships, the most basic parameter is size, usually given in tons. Unfortunately, pre-modern usage was inconsistent and modern authors all too frequently fail to specify which ton they are using and how. The ton has its origins in the English tun, a barrel with a…
Egyptian Papyrus Boat
Egyptian ship made of papyrus is one of the ancient in the world. Firstly it represented itself only a papyrus raft and to about 3500 year B.C. it became already a real ship. The ship was used only for navigation on the river Nile. Her bow and her stern were…