The Era Of Sailing Ships

By Jemma and Amber

Contents

• The Different Types of Sailing Ships and Their Functions• The Way Sailing Ships Operated• Sailing Methods and Navigation • The Day to Day life on Board the

Vessel• Weapons and Sea Warfare

The Different Types of Sailing Ships and Their Functions

• There were many types of ships available to seamen during the era of sailing ships.• Some of them were:• Argosy• Balener • Knorr• Triereme

Argosy

• Argosy:These ships were large trading vessels commonly built in the Ragusea regions of Dalmatia and Venice during the late 17th century.Argosy is derived from a corruption of the word Ragusea, most likely from the foreign sailors mispronouncing the word.

This ship had a substantial cargo capacity. Due in large part to their bulky dimensions and poor navagational controls, the vessels were very difficult to control in bad weather.

In result to this, their use was typically limited to traveling the coastline of Europe

Balener

• Balener:This ship was a very common whaling ship. This ship is also known as: Baleinier & Ballenero. This ship was equipped with square rigged sails and although there was bit of variation depending on the individual vessels, this ship was typically in the 150 to 200 ton range.

But in the later years when sailing became less popular many of these ships took measure to make private trade.The picture to your right might be hard to see but it fake cannon holes, painted on the side to make it look like an armed vessel.

Knorr

• Knorr:This was the most common type of long ship. This ship was the workhose of Viking cargo ships, the mainstay of the Icelandic traders. A Knorr could carry up to 20 tons of cargo. This ship relied mostly upon it;s sails, having only 4-7 pairs of oars and a crew of 15-20 men.

All long ships used a single square rigged sails, made of vathmal secured with ropes made from seal or walrus skin. While they could upstep the mast, it was fixed and could not be removed.This posed some danger in strom conditions and lost alot of cargo each year.

If cared for properly, it can be kept in good condition for 30-40 years

Triereme

• Triereme:The early type of this ship had three rows of ores on each side, and 1 man per oar. They are best known from the fleets of Ancient Greece. The early Triereme was a development of the Pentekonter    ( an ancient warship with a single row of 25 ores on each side. )There is an outrigger above the gunwale, shooting beyond it, kept the third row of ores on deck out of the way of the first two under deck

The Way Sailing Ships Operated

• The Ropes, Sails and Rigging• Steering at sea and docking at

busy harbours• Parts of a ship

Steering at sea and docking at busy harbours

• Like other hazards on the water, rough weather can generally be avoided by obtaining a weather forecast prior to setting out.• A sudden unpredicted squall,

however, can catch even the most careful boater, so you should always prepare and plan for the worst and keep a good lookout for telltale clouds and white cap waves.

Parts of a ship(Some because I can’t fit a lot)

Parts of ships

• Abaft - Behind

• Abeam - Area on either side of a ship near the mid section.

• About - Direction of travel opposite to that being traveled. "Come About" is to change course 180°.

• Aero-Beacon - A modern type of light presently used in many lighthouses to produce a characteristic. Also used in many airport beacons.

• Aft - Toward the stern or back area of a vessel.

• Ahead - In front of or forward of

Sailing Methods and Navigation

• Some navigational tools that were used by sailors were:• Sextant• Compass• Quadrant

Sextant

• Towards the end of the 1600s and into the 1700s the sextant became the navigator’s essential tool.• It was invented by two people at

the same time. John Hadley in England and Thomas Godfrey in 1731.

Compass

• By the late 16th century the mariner’s compass had evolved into a compass with obvious similarities to today’s compass.• The stone that was used to

magnetise the compass was called a lodestone.

Lodestone

Quadrant

• It is called a quadrant due it looking like a quarter of a circle.• It was originally used by

astrologers.• It was used to determine

latitude

The day to day life on board an pirate ship

• The life of a pirate is often portrayed in movies as a life of luxury. But was it really like that…?

Roles of The Crew

• The roles of the crew included:• Ship’s captain• Quarter master• Sailing master• Boatswain• carpenter & surgeon

Ship’s captain

• Their authority was supreme at all times• Captains were voted out for not

being aggressive enough• Others were abandoned for

being to bloodthirsty and brutal• Expected to be bold and decisive

in battle• Had to be skilled in navigation

Quarter Master

• They had unusual amounts of authority• Elected by the crew• Had the authority to punish

minor offenses

Sailing Master

• In charge of navigation and sailing• Directed the course using maps• Due to inaccurate maps, his job

was a difficult one

Boatswain

• Supervised the maintenance of the ship• In charge of supply stores• In charge of all deck activities

Carpenter/Surgeon

• Responsible for maintenance and repair of the wooden hull• Duties included checking the hull

regularly• More often than not the

carpenter would normally serve as the surgeon as he had the tools and the skills

Weapons and Sea Warfare

• Sailors and pirates had to protect themselves so they carried weapons. Some of them were carried on board, others were edged with sharp blades.

Weapons that were on board the ship• A marlinspike was originally a

tool used to maintain the ship.• It ended up being used as a

weapons for stabbing and bashing the enemy as it had a sharp end and was very heavy

Edged Weapons

• One edged weapons was a buckler• It was a shield type device with

sharp edges

Bibliography

http://www.thepirateking.com/ships/ship_types.htm

http://www.maritime.nsw.gov.au/sbh/safety_on_the_water/specialareas.html

http://www.macmillandictionary.com/thesaurus-category/british/Parts-of-boats-and-ships