Orazio Curti European shipbuilding in the 17th - early 18th centuries. Classification of sailing ships

From the book “Building Model Ships. Encyclopedia of ship modeling"
(translation from Italian by A.A. Cheban. 3rd edition.
L., 1989. pp. 32–41: chapter “Brief history of shipbuilding”).
The author is the head of the department of transport technology at the National Museum of Science and Technology in Milan.

Armed like a large sailing ship of that time, the galleon had a relatively sharp hull, the length of which along the keel was equal to triple the width. It was on it that guns were first installed both above and below the main deck, which led to the appearance of battery decks; the guns stood on the sides and fired through the ports. As a result, the space for transporting goods was significantly reduced. The absence of high superstructures and a long hull allowed the galleon to sail faster and steeper to the wind than “round” ships. Displacement of the largest Spanish galleons 1580–1590 was 1000 tons, length - 50 m (37 m along the keel) and width - 12 m.

English Gallion [Francis Drake]
"Golden Hind", 1580

About shipbuilding in the 17th century. we have much more information, since manuscripts and books have been preserved, from which we can trace the development of courts in all details. The progress of science and technology has led to noticeable improvements in ship hull design and control technology. Galion, which reached its heyday at the end of the 17th century, is gradually giving way to more advanced ships. The forecastle and quarterdeck are reduced in height. Decorations, sculptures and ornaments that previously overloaded the high stern, sides and bow become simpler and more in harmony with the overall appearance of the vessel. The ships were armed with three masts with topsails, two of them had topsails, and the mizzen mast had a lateen mizzen; under the bowsprit there was a straight sail - a blind. Additional sails also appear: foils and underlisels.

In the 17th century By order of special trading companies, a new type of vessel was created, designed to transport goods from the east. The most famous was the East India Company, which is why the ships are sometimes called East Indian. Their average displacement was 600 tons. The ships carried three main masts and at the end of the bowsprit an additional small mast (the British called it a bowsprit foremast) - a blind topmast - with a straight sail. This mast was also used on military ships from the 16th to the mid-18th centuries.

"La Coronne", 1636

Although the ships of the East India Company were armed with 16–20 cannons, they could not successfully fight with warships. Therefore, soon merchant ships begin to be sent under military escort. The distinction between military and merchant ships became more distinct.

In its main features, the new type of vessel that replaced the galleon remained almost unchanged for more than a hundred years. Even in the 19th century, despite the technical and industrial revolution, as well as the emergence of new forms of hull and engine, sailing ships of this type remain the most common.

The ratio of the length of the hull to the width of the East Indian ships was even greater than that of the galleons. Flortimbers (the first lower parts of the frames) were installed on the keel, and the kilson was laid on them and on the keel. Curved parts of the frames - futoks were attached to the floortimbers, and toptimbers forming the sides of the vessel were attached to them. The frames were placed at a short distance from each other, especially in places of high loads, and in the area where the masts were installed, they were double. The set was supported by horizontal and vertical brackets. The body was made of oak, and during construction they tried to ensure that the shape of the tree corresponded to the shape of the part and, therefore, the bend of the fibers corresponded to its bend. The result was reduced wood waste and extremely durable parts. Oak sheathing boards were attached to the frames using wooden tenons: they tried not to use iron nails, as they quickly rusted, their diameter decreased and they fell out. The outer skin of the hull had a thickness of 10 - 15 cm, the inner - up to 10 cm, so the total thickness of the hull, including frames, was about 60 cm. The seams of the skin were caulked with tow soaked in shooting range and resin. To protect against woodworms that destroy wood in water, the underwater part of the hull, previously lubricated with shooting range, was covered with elm boards, 2 cm thick. The boards were fastened with iron nails placed so close to each other that their heads formed an almost continuous metal coating. This method of protection was widespread in the English fleet from the 16th century. In total, an average of about 2,000 well-dried oak trees were required to build the hull of a sailing warship. The deck along its entire length was free, and in the bow it was limited by a transverse bulkhead - a billet. From the bulkhead, a curved bow extremity - a latrine - a device, of course, adopted from the galleys, departed forward and upward. A latrine with a bow decoration - a latrine figure - was attached to a knyavdiged, from the sides of the latrine was limited by smoothly curved slats - regels. At the stern was a low quarterdeck with a gallery that housed the stern chambers and officers' quarters with wide windows.

Location of add-ons
on the English ship Royal Charles, 1673

Depending on the dimensions of the vessel, its interior was divided into decks so that the resulting volumes could be used most appropriately.

The masts consisted of three parts: the lower mast, the topmast and the topmast. The sides of the mast and topmast were held by shrouds stuffed with special hoists attached to the hull: in these hoists, instead of blocks, dead eyes were used. In the longitudinal direction, the masts were supported by stays. The masts and bowsprit carried straight sails, the mizzen mast carried a lateen sail below, and also a straight sail above. In the middle of the 17th century. the sailing capacity of ships is increased due to the introduction of staysails.

To work with sails, they used numerous gear - running rigging, and to work with straight sails, special cables - perts - were pulled under the yards, on which the sailors rested their feet.

In the 17th century They mainly build ships with three masts, although there are ships with four masts. All of them, regardless of size and area of ​​construction, had almost the same rigging.

A number of devices are introduced on ships to facilitate work. Large weights on military ships were lifted with the help of vertical capstans, and on merchant ships - with horizontal winches. To lift the anchor, a special cat-beam is used. To pump out water, which relatively easily enters the vessel through the underwater part of the hull or through the deck, there were pumps on wooden ships. The galley was located below deck, directly below the forecastle. At the end of the 17th century. hanging berths - hammocks - are being introduced everywhere on ships. Life on board is regulated by striking the bell, which was introduced at the end of the Middle Ages. Initially, the ship's bell was located at the stern, and in the 17th century. they began to place it in the bow of the ship, on the deck near the forecastle. This tradition has been preserved to the present day.

An example of a warship of that time can be considered the ship "Sovereign of the Seas" with a displacement of 1530 tons. It was built by Peter Pett in 1637 in Woolwich. For the first time, three battery decks were created on it, located one above the other. There were about 100 guns on the decks.

Theoretical drawing of the vessel
"Sovereign of the Seas"
(maximum length - 71 m, maximum width - 14.60 m)

At this time in England there was an official requirement to build models of the ships being designed. Now fine examples of these models are in museums in England and arouse our admiration. The oldest of these is a model of the Prince, built by Phineas Pett in 1610. This sailing warship, which was smaller in size than the Sovereign of the Seas, is extremely accurately depicted on the model.

English military sailing ship
"Prince", 1610 [theoretical drawing]
(keel length - 39.80 m, greatest width - 13.70 m)

In the XVIII century. wooden ship structures have been significantly improved, as a result of which the construction of ships with a displacement of up to 2000 tons has become common. The largest ships were military, the displacement of merchant ships reached only 600 tons. In this century, bowline spruits disappeared - a tackle consisting of several ends and used to pull the windward edge of a straight line sails, since 1750 they have abandoned the topmast blind. Instead, a jib is installed on the bowsprit to set the middle jib, jib and boom jib. Note that jibs appeared on English ships in 1702.

French military sailing vessel
"Le Royal Louis", 1690

Since 1705, a steering wheel came into use, with which it was possible to control the steering wheel while on the quarterdeck.

Steering
with the help of a lever - calderstock
before the invention of the steering wheel

Let's say a few words about jewelry that appeared in ancient times. The Phoenicians, Romans and Greeks installed various sculptures and ornaments on the bow of the ship. This tradition has continued for centuries. In general, decorations were considered a symbol of wealth and strength, and state and royal ships were luxuriously decorated. In northern Europe until the 16th century. the sides of the ships were decorated with multi-colored geometric ornaments; for the same purpose, painted canvases with images of arcades were also used. The Mediterranean galleys were most luxuriously decorated; in their stern, numerous sculptures stood on the sides of the afterdeck. The courts of the 17th century were distinguished by the pomp of decoration. during the Baroque period.

Bow of an English ship
first half of the 18th century

Warships were decorated from stem to stern, including the ports, with gilded figures, caryatids, garlands, carved figures on the latrines, tents in the stern and huge artistically executed lanterns. Merchant ships looked simpler.

Stern of a military vessel:
left- French “La Coronne”, 1636;
on right- English “Sovereign of the Seas”, 1637

In subsequent years, due to the increase in the cost of building ships, changes in taste and fashion, and also in order to improve the management of the ship, decorations gradually disappear.

Changing the shape of the latrine from the 16th to the 18th centuries.
1 - Dutch ship, 1600;
2 - English ship, 1640;
3 - Dutch ship, 1660;
4 - English ship, 1670;
5 - 1706

At the end of the 18th century. The sides of the ships, except for the stern, which continues to be decorated, are painted black and yellow: black stripes along the battery decks, yellow stripes between them. This coloration was introduced by Admiral Nelson. Later, the yellow stripes are replaced with white ones. The interiors have been painted ocher-yellow, and the insides of cannon ports have been painted red since the time of galleys.

The main purpose of painting is to prevent wood from rotting. Until the end of the 18th century. Due to the use of ship's ointment, the underwater part of the hull had a dirty white color. The ship's ointment was a mixture of sulfur, lard, lead white or red lead, vegetable shooting range, fish oil, etc.; white was considered the best ointment. Later, this part of the body is coated with mineral shooting ranges, so it turns black. In the 19th century varnishes are beginning to be used on ships.

In the 17th century the basis of military fleets becomes line ships. Temin "battleship" appeared in connection with the emergence of a new tactic of naval combat. In battle, the ships tried to line up in a row or line so that during their volley they were turned sideways to the enemy, and during his volley - stern. The fact is that the greatest damage to enemy ships was caused by a simultaneous salvo of onboard guns.

Linear ships in different fleets differed in the number of battery decks. In the middle of the 17th century. In England, ships are divided into eight ranks. The 1st rank ship had a displacement of 5000 tons and three decks with 110 guns; 2nd rank - 3500 tons, two decks with 80 guns; 3rd rank - 1000 tons, one deck with 40-50 guns, etc. A similar division with slight deviations was adopted in other countries, but there were no general principles for classifying ships.

In the meantime, let's quickly and briefly "run" to the 15th century, and there we will already reveal the issue in more detail. So let's begin:

The first sailing ships appeared in Egypt around 3000 BC. e. This is evidenced by the paintings decorating ancient Egyptian vases. However, the birthplace of the boats depicted on the vases is apparently not the Nile Valley, but the nearby Persian Gulf. This is confirmed by a model of a similar boat found in the Obeid tomb, in the city of Eridu, which stood on the shores of the Persian Gulf.

In 1969, the Norwegian scientist Thor Heyerdahl made an interesting attempt to test the assumption that a ship equipped with a sail, made from papyrus reeds, could sail not only along the Nile, but also on the open sea. This vessel, essentially a raft, 15 m long, 5 m wide and 1.5 m high, with a 10 m high mast and a single square sail, was steered by a steering oar.

Before the use of wind, floating craft either moved with oars or were pulled by people or animals walking along the banks of rivers and canals. The ships made it possible to transport heavy and bulky cargo, which was much more productive than transporting animals by teams on land. Bulk cargo was also transported primarily by water.

Papyrus vessel

The large naval expedition of the Egyptian ruler Hatshepsut, undertaken in the first half of the 15th century, is historically attested. BC e. This expedition, which historians also consider a trading expedition, traveled across the Red Sea to the ancient country of Punt on the east coast of Africa (roughly modern Somalia). The ships returned heavily laden with various goods and slaves.

When sailing short distances, the Phoenicians used mainly light merchant ships that had oars and a straight rack sail. Vessels intended for long-distance navigation and warships looked much more impressive. Phenicia, unlike Egypt, had very favorable natural conditions for the construction of a fleet: near the coast, on the slopes of the Lebanese mountains, forests grew, dominated by the famous Lebanese cedar and oak, as well as other valuable tree species.

In addition to the improvement of sea vessels, the Phoenicians left another remarkable legacy - the word "galley", which probably entered all European languages. Phoenician ships set sail from the large port cities of Sidon, Ugarit, Arvada, Gebala, etc., where there were also large shipyards.

Historical materials also speak of the voyage of the Phoenicians in a southerly direction across the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean. The Phoenicians are credited with the honor of the first voyage around Africa at the end of the 7th century. BC e., i.e. almost 2000 years before Vasco da Gama.

The Greeks already in the 9th century. BC e. they learned from the Phoenicians to build ships that were remarkable for that time and early began the colonization of the surrounding territories. In the VIII-VI centuries. BC e. the area of ​​their penetration covered the western shores of the Mediterranean Sea, the entire Pont Euxine (Black Sea) and the Aegean coast of Asia Minor.

Not a single wooden antique ship or part of it has survived, and this does not allow us to clarify the idea of ​​​​the main types of galleys, which has developed on the basis of written and other historical materials. Divers and scuba divers continue to explore the seabed at the sites of ancient naval battles in which hundreds of ships were lost. Their shape and internal structure can be judged by indirect evidence - for example, by accurate sketches of the location of clay vessels and metal objects preserved where the ship lay. And yet, in the absence of wooden parts of the hull, one cannot do without the help of painstaking analysis and imagination.

The vessel was kept on course by means of a steering oar, which had at least two advantages over the later rudder: it made it possible to turn a stationary vessel and easily replace a damaged or broken steering oar. Merchant ships were wide and had ample hold space to accommodate cargo.

The ship is a Greek war galley, approximately 5th century. BC e., the so-called bireme. With rows of oars located on the sides in two tiers, she naturally had greater speed than a ship of the same size with half the number of oars. In the same century, triremes, warships with three “floors” of rowers, also became widespread. A similar arrangement of galleys is the contribution of ancient Greek craftsmen to the design of sea vessels. Military kinkerems were not “long ships”; they had a deck, internal quarters for soldiers and a particularly powerful ram, bound with copper sheets, located in front at water level, which was used to break through the sides of enemy ships during naval battles. The Greeks adopted a similar combat device from the Phoenicians, who used it in the 8th century. BC e.

Although the Greeks were capable, well-trained navigators, sea travel at that time was dangerous. Not every ship reached its destination as a result of either a shipwreck or a pirate attack.
The galleys of ancient Greece plied almost the entire Mediterranean and Black Seas; there is evidence of their penetration through Gibraltar to the north. Here they reached Britain, and possibly Scandinavia. Their voyage routes are shown on the map.

At their first big clash with Carthage (in the First Punic War), the Romans realized that they could not hope to win without a strong navy. With the help of Greek specialists, they quickly built 120 large galleys and transferred to the sea their method of combat, which they used on land - individual combat of warrior against warrior with personal weapons. The Romans used the so-called "crows" - boarding bridges. Along these bridges, which were pierced with a sharp hook into the deck of the enemy ship, depriving it of the ability to maneuver, the Roman legionaries burst onto the enemy deck and started a battle in their characteristic manner.

The Roman fleet, like its contemporary Greek fleet, consisted of two main types of ships: “rounded” merchant ships and slender war galleys

Certain improvements can be noted in sailing equipment. On the main mast (mainmast) a large quadrangular straight sail is retained, which is sometimes supplemented by two small triangular upper sails. A smaller quadrangular sail appears on the forward inclined mast - the bowsprit. Increasing the total area of ​​the sails increased the force used to propel the ship. However, the sails continue to be an additional propulsion device; the main one remains the oars, not shown in the figure.
The importance of the sail, however, undoubtedly increased, especially on long voyages, which took place as far as India. In this case, the discovery of the Greek navigator Hippalus helped: the August southwest and January northeast monsoons contributed to the maximum use of sails and at the same time reliably indicated the direction, much like a compass much later. The road from Italy to India and the return journey, with an intermediate crossing by caravans and ships along the Nile from Alexandria to the Red Sea, lasted about a year. Previously, the rowing journey along the shores of the Arabian Sea was much longer.

During their trading voyages, the Romans used numerous Mediterranean ports. Some of them have already been mentioned, but one of the first places should be Alexandria, located in the Nile Delta, whose importance as a transit point increased as Rome’s trade turnover with India and the Far East grew.

For more than half a millennium, the Viking knights of the high seas kept Europe in fear. They owe their mobility and omnipresence to drakars - true masterpieces of shipbuilding art

On these ships, the Vikings made distant sea voyages. They discovered Iceland, the southern coast of Greenland, and long before Columbus they visited North America. The inhabitants of the Baltic, Mediterranean and Byzantium saw the snake heads on the stems of their ships. Together with the squads of the Slavs, they settled in the great trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks.

The main propulsion device of the drakar was a rack sail with an area of ​​70 m2 or more, sewn from separate vertical panels, richly decorated with gold braid, drawings of the coats of arms of leaders or various signs and symbols. Ray rose with the sail. The high mast was supported by stays running from it to the sides and to the ends of the ship. The sides were protected by richly painted shields of warriors. The silhouette of the Scandinavian ship is one of a kind. It has many aesthetic merits. The basis for recreating this vessel was a drawing of the famous carpet from Baye, telling about the landing of William the Conqueror in England in 1066.

At the beginning of the 15th century, they began to build two-masted coggs. The further development of world shipbuilding was marked by the transition to three-masted ships in the mid-15th century. For the first time this type of vessel appeared in the north of Europe in 1475. Its foremast and mizzen masts were borrowed from Mediterranean Venetian ships.

The first three-masted ship to enter the Baltic Sea was the French ship La Rochelle. The plating of this ship, which had a length of 43 m and a width of 12 m, was not laid face to face, like tiles on the roof of a house, as was done before, but smoothly: one board close to the other. And although this method of plating was known before, nevertheless, the merit of its invention is attributed to a shipbuilder from Brittany named Julian, who called this method “carvel” or “craveel”. The name of the plating later passed into the name of the type of ships - "caravel". Caravels were more elegant than coggs and had better sailing equipment, so it was no coincidence that medieval discoverers chose these durable, fast-moving and capacious ships for overseas campaigns. Characteristic features of caravels are high sides, deep sheer decks in the middle part of the ship and mixed sailing equipment. Only the foremast carried a square straight sail. The lateen sails on the slanting yards of the main and mizzen masts allowed the ships to sail steeply to the wind.

In the first half of the 15th century, the largest cargo ship (possibly up to 2000 tons) was a three-masted, double-decker carrack, probably of Portuguese origin. In the 15th-16th centuries, composite masts appeared on sailing ships, which carried several sails at once. The area of ​​the topsails and cruises (upper sails) was increased, making it easier to control and maneuver the vessel. The ratio of body length to width ranged from 2:1 to 2.5:1. As a result, the seaworthiness of these so-called “round” ships improved, which made it possible to make safer long-distance voyages to America and India and even around the world. There was no clear distinction between sailing merchant ships and military ships at that time; For a number of centuries, the typical military vessel was only a rowing galley. The galleys were built with one or two masts and carried lateen sails.

"Vasa" Swedish warship

At the beginning of the 17th century. Sweden has significantly strengthened its position in Europe. The founder of the new royal dynasty, Gustav I Vasa, did a lot to bring the country out of medieval backwardness. He freed Sweden from Danish rule and carried out a reformation, subordinating the previously all-powerful church to the state.
There was a Thirty Years' War of 1618-1648. Sweden, which claimed to be one of the leading countries in Europe, sought to finally consolidate its dominant position in the Baltic.

Sweden's main rival in the western part of the Baltic Sea was Denmark, which owned both banks of the Sound and the most important islands of the Baltic Sea. But it was a very strong opponent. Then the Swedes focused all their attention on the eastern shores of the sea and, after long wars, captured the cities of Yam, Koporye, Karela, Oreshek and Ivan-gorod, which had long belonged to Russia, thus depriving the Russian state of access to the Baltic Sea.
However, Gustav II Adolf, the new king of the Vasa dynasty (1611-1632), wanted to achieve complete Swedish domination in the eastern part of the Baltic Sea and began to create a strong navy.

In 1625, the Stockholm Royal Shipyard received a large order for the simultaneous construction of four large ships. The king showed the greatest interest in the construction of a new flagship. This ship was named "Vasa" - in honor of the Swedish royal Vasa dynasty, to which Gustav II Adolf belonged.

The best shipbuilders, artists, sculptors, and woodcarvers were involved in the construction of Vasa. The Dutch master Hendrik Hibertson, a well-known shipbuilder in Europe, was invited as the main builder. Two years later, the ship was safely launched and towed to the outfitting pier, located just under the windows of the royal palace.

Galion "Golden Hind" ("Golden Hind")

The ship was built in the 60s of the 16th century in England and was originally called "Pelican". On it, the English navigator Francis Drake, in 1577-1580, as part of a squadron of five ships, undertook a pirate expedition to the West Indies and made his second circumnavigation of the world after Magellan. In honor of the excellent seaworthiness of his ship, Drake renamed it the "Golden Hind" and installed a figurine of a doe made of pure gold in the bow of the ship. The length of the galleon is 18.3 m, width 5.8 m, draft 2.45 m. This is one of the smallest galleons.

Galleasses were much larger ships than galleys: they had three masts with lateen sails, two large steering oars in the stern, two decks (the lower one for oarsmen, the upper one for soldiers and cannons), and a surface ram in the bow. These warships turned out to be durable: even in the 18th century, almost all maritime powers continued to replenish their fleets with galleys and galleasses. During the 16th century, the appearance of the sailing ship as a whole was formed and preserved until the mid-19th century. Ships increased significantly in size; if in the 15th century ships over 200 tons were rare, then by the end of the 16th century single giants appeared reaching 2000 tons, and ships with a displacement of 700-800 tons ceased to be rare. From the beginning of the 16th century, oblique sails began to be used more and more often in European shipbuilding, at first in their pure form, as was done in Asia, but by the end of the century mixed sailing equipment had spread. Artillery was improved - the bombards of the 15th and the culverins of the early 16th centuries were still unsuitable for arming ships, but by the end of the 16th century the problems associated with casting were largely resolved and a naval cannon of the usual type appeared. Around 1500, cannon ports were invented; it became possible to place cannons in several tiers, and the upper deck was freed from them, which had a positive effect on the stability of the ship. The sides of the ship began to roll inward, so the guns on the upper tiers were closer to the axis of symmetry of the ship. Finally, in the 16th century, regular navies appeared in many European countries. All these innovations gravitate towards the beginning of the 16th century, but, given the time required for implementation, they spread only towards the end. Again, the shipbuilders also needed to gain experience, because at first ships of the new type had the annoying habit of capsizing immediately upon leaving the slipway.

During the 16th century, the appearance of the sailing ship as a whole was formed and preserved until the mid-19th century. Ships increased significantly in size; if in the 15th century ships over 200 tons were rare, then by the end of the 16th century single giants appeared reaching 2000 tons, and ships with a displacement of 700-800 tons ceased to be rare. From the beginning of the 16th century, oblique sails began to be used more and more often in European shipbuilding, at first in their pure form, as was done in Asia, but by the end of the century mixed sailing equipment had spread. Artillery was improved - the bombards of the 15th and the culverins of the early 16th centuries were still unsuitable for arming ships, but by the end of the 16th century the problems associated with casting were largely resolved and a naval cannon of the usual type appeared. Around 1500, cannon ports were invented; it became possible to place cannons in several tiers, and the upper deck was freed from them, which had a positive effect on the stability of the ship. The sides of the ship began to roll inward, so the guns on the upper tiers were closer to the axis of symmetry of the ship. Finally, in the 16th century, regular navies appeared in many European countries. All these innovations gravitate towards the beginning of the 16th century, but, given the time required for implementation, they spread only towards the end. Again, the shipbuilders also needed to gain experience, because at first ships of the new type had the annoying habit of capsizing immediately upon leaving the slipway.

In the first half of the 16th century, a ship appeared with fundamentally new properties and a completely different purpose than the ships that existed before. This ship was intended to fight for supremacy at sea by destroying enemy warships on the high seas with artillery fire and combined significant autonomy at that time with powerful weapons. The rowing ships that existed up to this point could only dominate over a narrow strait, and even then if they were based in a port on the shore of this strait, in addition, their power was determined by the number of troops on board, and artillery ships could act independently of infantry. The new type of ships began to be called linear - that is, main (like "linear infantry", "linear tanks", the name "battleship" has nothing to do with lining up in a line - if they were built, it was in a column).

The first battleships that appeared on the northern seas, and later on the Mediterranean Sea, were small - 500-800 tons, which approximately corresponded to the displacement of large transports of that period. Not even the biggest ones. But the largest transports were built for themselves by wealthy merchant companies, and battleships were ordered by states that were not rich at that time. These ships were armed with 50 - 90 guns, but these were not very strong guns - mostly 12-pounders, with a small admixture of 24-pounders and a very large admixture of small-caliber guns and culverins. Seaworthiness did not stand up to any criticism - even in the 18th century, ships were still built without drawings (they were replaced by a layout), and the number of guns was calculated based on the width of the ship measured in steps - that is, it varied depending on the length of the legs of the chief engineer of the shipyard. But this was in the 18th, and in the 16th, the correlation between the width of the vessel and the weight of the guns was not known (especially since it does not exist). Simply put, ships were built without a theoretical basis, only on the basis of experience, which was almost non-existent in the 16th and early 17th centuries. But the main trend was clearly visible - guns in such a quantity could no longer be considered as auxiliary weapons, and a purely sail design indicated a desire to get an ocean-going ship. Even then, battleships were characterized by armament at the level of 1.5 pounds per ton of displacement.

The faster the ship was, the fewer guns it could have in relation to the displacement, since the more the engine weighed - the masts. Not only did the masts themselves with a mass of ropes and sails weigh a fair amount, they also shifted the center of gravity upwards, therefore they had to be balanced by laying more cast-iron ballast in the hold.

The battleships of the 16th century still had inadequate sailing equipment for sailing in the Mediterranean Sea (especially in its eastern part) and the Baltic. The storm playfully blew the Spanish squadron out of the English Channel.

Already in the 16th century, Spain, England and France together had about 60 ships of the line, with Spain more than half of this number. In the 17th century, Sweden, Denmark, Turkey and Portugal joined this trio.

Ships of the 17th-18th centuries

In northern Europe, at the beginning of the 17th century, a new type of vessel appeared, similar to a flute - a three-masted pinnace (pinnace). The same type of ship includes the galion, which appeared in the mid-16th century - a warship of Portuguese origin, which later became the basis of the fleets of the Spaniards and the British. On a galleon, for the first time, guns were mounted both above and below the main deck, leading to the construction of battery decks; the guns stood on the sides and fired through the ports. The displacement of the largest Spanish galleons of 1580-1590 was 1000 tons, and the ratio of hull length to width was 4:1. The absence of high superstructures and a long hull allowed these ships to sail faster and steeper to the wind than “round” ships. To increase speed, the number and area of ​​sails were increased, and additional sails appeared - foxes and underlisels. At that time, decorations were considered a symbol of wealth and power - all state and royal ships were luxuriously decorated. The distinction between warships and merchant ships became more distinct. In the middle of the 17th century, frigates with up to 60 guns on two decks, and smaller warships such as a corvette, sloop, bombard and others began to be built in England.

By the middle of the 17th century, battleships had grown significantly, some already up to 1500 tons. The number of guns remained the same - 50-80 pieces, but 12-pound guns remained only on the bow, stern and upper deck; guns of 24 and 48 pounds were placed on the other decks. Accordingly, the hull became stronger - it could withstand 24-pound shells. In general, the 17th century is characterized by a low level of confrontation at sea. England throughout almost its entire period could not deal with internal troubles. Holland preferred small ships, relying more on their numbers and the experience of the crews. France, powerful at that time, tried to impose its hegemony on Europe through wars on land; the French were of little interest in the sea. Sweden reigned supreme in the Baltic Sea and did not lay claim to other bodies of water. Spain and Portugal were ruined and often found themselves dependent on France. Venice and Genoa quickly turned into third-rate states. The Mediterranean Sea was divided - the western part went to Europe, the eastern part to Turkey. Neither side sought to upset the balance. However, the Maghreb found itself within the European sphere of influence - English, French and Dutch squadrons put an end to piracy during the 17th century. The greatest naval powers of the 17th century had 20-30 battleships, the rest had only a few.

Türkiye also began building battleships from the end of the 16th century. But they were still significantly different from European models. Especially the shape of the hull and sailing equipment. Turkish battleships were significantly faster than European ones (this was especially true in Mediterranean conditions), carried 36 - 60 guns of 12-24 pound caliber and were weaker armored - only 12 pound cannonballs. Armament was pound per ton. The displacement was 750 -1100 tons. In the 18th century, Türkiye began to lag significantly behind in terms of technology. Turkish battleships of the 18th century resembled European ones of the 17th century.

During the 18th century, the growth in the size of battleships continued unabated. By the end of this century, battleships had reached a displacement of 5,000 tons (the limit for wooden ships), armor had been strengthened to an incredible degree - even 96-pound bombs did not harm them enough - and 12-pound half-guns were no longer used on them. Only 24 lbs for the upper deck, 48 lbs for the middle two and 96 lbs for the lower deck. The number of guns reached 130. There were, however, smaller battleships with 60-80 guns, with a displacement of about 2000 tons. They were often limited to the 48-pound caliber, and were protected from it.

The number of battleships has also increased incredibly. England, France, Russia, Turkey, Holland, Sweden, Denmark, Spain and Portugal had linear fleets. By the middle of the 18th century, England seized almost undivided dominance at sea. By the end of the century, it had almost a hundred battleships (including those that were not in active use). France scored 60-70, but they were weaker than the English. Russia under Peter churned out 60 battleships, but they were made in a hurry, somehow, carelessly. In a rich way, only the preparation of wood - so that it would turn into armor - should have taken 30 years (in fact, Russian ships later were built not from bog oak, but from larch, it was heavy, relatively soft, but did not rot and lasted 10 times longer than oak). But their sheer number forced Sweden (and all of Europe) to recognize the Baltic Sea as Russian internal. By the end of the century, the size of the Russian battle fleet even decreased, but the ships were brought up to European standards. Holland, Sweden, Denmark and Portugal each had 10-20 ships, Spain - 30, Turkey - also about that, but these were not ships of the European level.

Even then, the property of battleships was evident that they were created most of all for numbers - to be there, and not for war. It was expensive to build and maintain them, and even more so to staff them with a crew, all kinds of supplies and send them on campaigns. This is where they saved money - they didn’t send it. So even England used only a small part of its battlefleet at a time. Equipping 20-30 battleships for a voyage was also a task on a national scale for England. Russia kept only a few battleships in combat readiness. Most battleships spent their entire lives in port with only a minimal crew on board (capable of moving the ship to another port if urgently needed) and unloaded guns.

The ship next in rank to the battleship was a frigate, designed to capture water space. With the accompanying destruction of everything (except for battleships) that existed in this space. Formally, the frigate was an auxiliary ship for the battle fleet, but given that the latter was used extremely sluggishly, frigates turned out to be the most popular of the ships of that period. Frigates, like cruisers later, could be divided into light and heavy, although such a gradation was not formally carried out. A heavy frigate appeared in the 17th century; it was a ship with 32-40 guns, including falconets, and displacing 600-900 tons of water. The guns were 12-24 pounds, with a predominance of the latter. The armor could withstand 12-pound cannonballs, the armament was 1.2-1.5 tons per pound, and the speed was greater than that of a battleship. The displacement of the latest modifications of the 18th century reached 1,500 tons, there were up to 60 guns, but usually there were no 48-pounders.

Light frigates were already common in the 16th century, and in the 17th they made up the vast majority of all warships. Their production required wood of significantly lower quality than for the construction of heavy frigates. Larch and oak were considered strategic resources, and pine trees suitable for making masts in Europe and the European part of Russia were counted and registered. Light frigates did not carry armor, in the sense that their hulls could withstand wave impacts and mechanical loads, but did not pretend to be more, the thickness of the plating was 5-7 centimeters. The number of guns did not exceed 30, and only on the largest frigates of this class there were 4 24-pounders on the lower deck - they did not even occupy the entire floor. The displacement was 350-500 tons.

In the 17th and early 18th centuries, light frigates were simply the cheapest warships, ships that could be made in a whole bunch and quickly. Including by re-equipping merchant ships. By the middle of the 18th century, similar ships began to be specially produced, but with an emphasis on maximum speed - corvettes. There were even fewer guns on the corvettes, from 10 to 20 (on 10-gun ships there were actually 12-14 guns, but those that looked at the bow and stern were classified as falconets). The displacement was 250-450 tons.

The number of frigates in the 18th century was significant. England had little more of them than ships of the line, but it still amounted to a lot. Countries with small battle fleets had several times more frigates than battleships. The exception was Russia; it had one frigate for every three battleships. The fact was that the frigate was intended to capture space, and with it (space) in the Black and Baltic Seas it was a little tight. At the very bottom of the hierarchy were sloops - ships intended for patrol service, reconnaissance, anti-piracy, and so on. That is, not for fighting other warships. The smallest of them were ordinary schooners weighing 50-100 tons with several guns less than 12 pounds in caliber. The largest had up to 20 12-pounder guns and a displacement of up to 350-400 tons. There could be any number of sloops and other auxiliary ships. For example, Holland in the mid-16th century had 6,000 merchant ships, most of which were armed.

By installing additional guns, 300-400 of them could be converted into light frigates. The rest are in sloops. Another question is that the merchant ship brought profit to the Dutch treasury, and the frigate or sloop consumed this profit. England at that time had 600 merchant ships. How many people could there be on these ships? A - in different ways. In principle, a sailing ship could have one crew member for every ton of displacement. But this worsened living conditions and reduced autonomy. On the other hand, the larger the crew, the more combat-ready the ship was. In principle, 20 people could control the sails of a large frigate. But only in good weather. They could do the same thing in a storm, while simultaneously working on the pumps and battening down the port covers knocked out by the waves, for a short time. Most likely, their strength would have run out earlier than the wind. To conduct a battle on a 40-gun ship, a minimum of 80 people were required - 70 loaded the guns on one side, and another 10 ran around the deck and directed. But if the ship performs such a complex maneuver as a turn, all the gunners will have to rush from the lower decks to the masts - when turning, the ship will certainly have to tack against the wind for some time, but for this, all straight sails will need to be tightly reefed, and then, naturally, open them again. If the gunners have to either climb the masts or run into the hold for cannonballs, they won’t shoot much.

Typically, sailing ships intended for long passages or long cruising had one person on board for 4 tons. This was enough to control the ship and for combat. If the ship was used for landing operations or boarding, the crew size could reach one person per ton. How did they fight? If two approximately equal ships under the flags of warring powers met at sea, then both of them began to maneuver in order to take a more advantageous position from the wind. One tried to get behind the other - this way it was possible to take away the wind from the enemy at the most interesting moment. Considering that the guns were aimed by the hull, and the maneuverability of the ship was proportional to its speed, no one wanted to move against the wind at the time of the collision. On the other hand, if there was too much wind in the sails, it was possible to rush forward and let the enemy into the rear. All these dances were original in the sense that it was practically possible to maneuver only by direction.

Of course, the whole story did not fit into the framework of LiveJournal, so read the continuation on InfoGlaz -

Battleship(English) ship-of-the-line, fr. navire de ligne) - a class of sailing three-masted wooden warships. Sailing battleships were characterized by the following features: a total displacement from 500 to 5500 tons, armament, including from 30-50 to 135 guns in the side ports (in 2-4 decks), the crew size ranged from 300 to 800 people when fully manned. Ships of the line were built and used from the 17th century until the early 1860s for naval battles using linear tactics. Sailing battleships were not called battleships.

General information

In 1907, a new class of armored ships with a displacement from 20 thousand to 64 thousand tons was called battleships (abbreviated as battleships).

History of creation

“In times long past... on the high seas, he, a battleship, was not afraid of anything. There was not a shadow of a feeling of defenselessness from possible attacks by destroyers, submarines or aircraft, nor trembling thoughts about enemy mines or air torpedoes, there was essentially nothing, with the possible exception of a severe storm, drift to a leeward shore, or a concentrated attack by several equal opponents, which could shake the proud confidence of a sailing battleship in its own indestructibility, which it assumed with every right." - Oscar Parks. Battleships of the British Empire.

Technological innovations

Many related technological advances led to the emergence of battleships as the main force of navies.

The technology of building wooden ships, considered today to be classical - first the frame, then the plating - finally took shape in Byzantium at the turn of the 1st and 2nd millennia AD, and thanks to its advantages, over time it replaced the previously used methods: the Roman one used in the Mediterranean, with smooth lining boards, the ends of which were connected with tenons, and clinker, which was used from Russia to the Basque Country in Spain, with overlapping cladding and transverse reinforcement ribs inserted into the finished body. In southern Europe, this transition finally took place before the middle of the 14th century, in England - around 1500, and in Northern Europe, merchant ships with clinker lining (holkas) were built back in the 16th century, possibly later. In most European languages, this method was denoted by derivatives of the word carvel; hence the caravel, that is, initially, a ship built starting from the frame and with the skin smooth.

The new technology gave shipbuilders a number of advantages. The presence of a frame on the ship made it possible to accurately determine in advance its dimensions and the nature of its contours, which, with the previous technology, became fully obvious only during the construction process; ships are now built according to a pre-approved plan. In addition, the new technology made it possible to significantly increase the size of ships - both due to greater hull strength and due to reduced requirements for the width of the boards used for plating, which made it possible to use lower quality wood for the construction of ships. The qualification requirements for the workforce involved in construction were also reduced, which made it possible to build ships faster and in much larger quantities than before.

In the 14th-15th centuries, gunpowder artillery began to be used on ships, but initially, due to the inertia of thinking, it was placed on superstructures intended for archers - the forecastle and sterncastle, which limited the permissible mass of the guns for reasons of maintaining stability. Later, artillery began to be installed along the side in the middle of the ship, which largely removed the restrictions on the mass of the guns, but aiming them at the target was very difficult, since the fire was fired through round slots made to the size of the gun barrel in the sides, which were plugged from the inside in the stowed position. Real gun ports with covers appeared only towards the end of the 15th century, which paved the way for the creation of heavily armed artillery ships. During the 16th century, a complete change in the nature of naval battles occurred: rowing galleys, which had previously been the main warships for thousands of years, gave way to sailing ships armed with artillery, and boarding combat to artillery.

Mass production of heavy artillery guns for a long time was very difficult, therefore, until the 19th century, the largest ones installed on ships remained 32...42-pounders (based on the mass of the corresponding solid cast-iron core), with a bore diameter of no more than 170 mm. But working with them during loading and aiming was very complicated due to the lack of servos, which required a huge calculation for their maintenance: such guns weighed several tons each. Therefore, for centuries, they tried to arm ships with as many relatively small guns as possible, which were located along the side. At the same time, for reasons of strength, the length of a warship with a wooden hull is limited to approximately 70-80 meters, which also limited the length of the onboard battery: more than two to three dozen guns could only be placed in several rows. This is how warships arose with several closed gun decks (decks), carrying from several dozen to hundreds or more guns of various calibers.

In the 16th century, cast iron cannons began to be used in England, which were a great technological innovation due to their lower cost relative to bronze and less labor-intensive manufacturing compared to iron ones, and at the same time possessing higher characteristics. Superiority in artillery manifested itself during the battles of the English fleet with the Invincible Armada (1588) and has since begun to determine the strength of the fleet, making boarding battles history - after which boarding is used exclusively for the purpose of capturing an enemy ship that has already been disabled by fire from the guns of an enemy ship.

In the middle of the 17th century, methods for mathematical calculation of ship hulls appeared. Introduced into practice around the 1660s by the English shipbuilder A. Dean, the method of determining the displacement and waterline level of a ship based on its total mass and the shape of its contours made it possible to calculate in advance at what height from the sea surface the ports of the lower battery would be located, and to position the decks accordingly and the guns are still on the slipway - previously this required lowering the ship’s hull into the water. This made it possible to determine the firepower of the future ship at the design stage, as well as to avoid accidents like what happened with the Swedish Vasa due to the ports being too low. In addition, on ships with powerful artillery, part of the gun ports necessarily fell on the frames; Only real frames, not cut by ports, were power-bearing, and the rest were additional, so precise coordination of their relative positions was important.

History of appearance

The immediate predecessors of battleships were heavily armed galleons, carracks and the so-called “big ships” (Great Ships). The first purpose-built gunship is sometimes considered to be the English carrack. Mary Rose(1510), although the Portuguese attribute the honor of their invention to their king João II (1455-1495), who ordered the arming of several caravels with heavy guns.

The first battleships appeared in the fleets of European countries at the beginning of the 17th century, and the first three-decker battleship is considered HMS Prince Royal(1610) . They were lighter and shorter than the “tower ships” that existed at that time - galleons, which made it possible to quickly line up with the side facing the enemy, when the bow of the next ship looked at the stern of the previous one. Also, battleships differ from galleons in having straight sails on a mizzen mast (galleons had from three to five masts, of which usually one or two were “dry”, with oblique sails), the absence of a long horizontal latrine at the bow and a rectangular tower at the stern , and maximum use of the free area of ​​the sides for the guns. A battleship is more maneuverable and stronger than a galleon in artillery combat, while a galleon is better suited for boarding combat. Unlike battleships, galleons were also used to transport troops and trade cargo.

The resulting multi-deck sailing battleships were the main means of warfare at sea for more than 250 years and allowed countries such as Holland, Great Britain and Spain to create huge trading empires.

By the middle of the 17th century, a clear division of battleships by class arose: the old two-deck (that is, in which two closed decks one above the other were filled with cannons firing through ports - slits in the sides) ships with 50 guns were not strong enough for linear battle and were used in mainly for escorting convoys. Double-decker battleships, carrying from 64 to 90 guns, made up the bulk of the navy, while three- or even four-decker ships (98-144 guns) served as flagships. A fleet of 10-25 such ships made it possible to control sea trade lines and, in the event of war, close them to the enemy.

Battleships should be distinguished from frigates. Frigates had either only one closed battery, or one closed and one open battery on the upper deck. The sailing equipment of battleships and frigates was the same (three masts, each with straight sails). Battleships were superior to frigates in the number of guns (several times) and the height of their sides, but they were inferior in speed and could not operate in shallow water.

Battleship tactics

With the increase in the strength of the warship and with the improvement of its seaworthiness and fighting qualities, an equal success has appeared in the art of using them... As sea evolutions become more skillful, their importance grows day by day. These evolutions needed a base, a point from which they could depart and to which they could return. The fleet of warships must always be ready to meet the enemy, so it is logical that such a base for naval evolution should be a battle formation. Further, with the abolition of the galleys, almost all the artillery moved to the sides of the ship, which is why it became necessary to keep the ship always in such a position that the enemy was abeam. On the other hand, it is necessary that not a single ship of its own fleet could interfere with firing at enemy ships. Only one system allows you to fully satisfy these requirements, this is the wake system. The latter, therefore, was chosen as the only battle formation, and consequently also as the basis for all fleet tactics. At the same time, they realized that in order for the battle formation, this long thin line of guns, not to be damaged or broken at its weakest point, it is necessary to bring into it only ships, if not of equal strength, then at least with equally strong sides. It logically follows from this that at the same time as the wake column becomes the final battle formation, a distinction is established between battleships, which alone are intended for it, and smaller vessels for other purposes. Mahan, Alfred Thayer

The term "battleship" itself arose due to the fact that in battle, multi-deck ships began to line up one after another - so that during their volley they were turned to the enemy by the side, because the volley from all onboard guns caused the greatest damage to the target. This tactic was called linear. Formation in a line during a naval battle first began to be used by the fleets of England and Spain at the beginning of the 17th century and was considered the main one until the middle of the 19th century. Linear tactics also did a good job of protecting the squadron leading the battle from attacks by fireships.

It is worth noting that in a number of cases, fleets consisting of battleships could vary tactics, often deviating from the canons of the classic firefight of two wake columns running parallel courses. Thus, at Camperdown, the British, not having time to line up in the correct wake column, attacked the Dutch battle line with a formation close to the front line followed by a disorderly dump, and at Trafalgar they attacked the French line with two columns running across each other, wisely using the advantages of longitudinal fire, striking not separated by transverse bulkheads caused terrible damage to wooden ships (at Trafalgar, Admiral Nelson used tactics developed by Admiral Ushakov). Although these were extraordinary cases, even within the framework of the general paradigm of linear tactics, the squadron commander often had sufficient space for bold maneuver, and the captains for exercising their own initiative.

Design features and combat qualities

The wood for the construction of battleships (usually oak, less often teak or mahogany) was selected with the most care, soaked and dried for a number of years, after which it was carefully laid in several layers. The side skin was double - inside and outside of the frames; the thickness of one outer skin on some battleships reached 60 cm at the gondeck (at the Spanish Santisima Trinidad), and the total internal and external - up to 37 inches, that is, about 95 cm. The British built ships with relatively thin plating, but often spaced frames, in the area of ​​which the total thickness of the side of the gondeck reached 70-90 cm of solid wood; between the frames, the total thickness of the side, formed by only two layers of skin, was less and reached 2 feet (60 cm). For greater speed, French battleships were built with thinner frames, but thicker plating - up to 70 cm between frames in total.

To protect the underwater part from rot and fouling, an outer lining of thin strips of soft wood was placed on it, which was regularly changed during the timbering process at the dock. Subsequently, at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries, copper cladding began to be used for the same purposes.

• List of men-of-war 1650-1700. Part II. French ships 1648-1700.
• Histoire de la Marine Francaise. French naval history.
• Les Vaisseaux du roi Soleil. Contain for instance list of ships 1661 to 1715 (1-3 rates). Author: J.C Lemineur: 1996 ISBN 2906381225

Notes

For early ships “This name of a warship is a compound abbreviated word that arose in the 20s of the 20th century. based on the phrase battleship." Krylov's Etymological Dictionary https://www.slovopedia.com/25/203/1650517.html

List of galleons of the Spanish Navy

Just because of this museum you can go to Stockholm for the weekend! It took me a long time to write this post, if you are too lazy to read, check out the photos)
Prologue
On August 10, 1628, a large warship sailed from Stockholm harbor. Big, probably an understatement, for the Swedes it was huge. Rarely have they built ships of this scale. The weather was clear, the wind was weak but gusty. There were about 150 crew members on board, as well as their families - women and children (a magnificent celebration was planned on the occasion of the first voyage, so the crew members were allowed to take their family members and relatives with them). This was the newly built Vasa, named after the ruling dynasty. As part of the ceremony, a salute was fired from cannons located in openings on both sides of the ship. There were no signs of trouble; the ship was moving towards the entrance to the harbor. A gust of wind hit, the ship tilted a little but stood firm. The second gust of wind was stronger and threw the ship on its side, and water poured through the open holes for the guns. From that moment on, collapse became inevitable. Perhaps panic began on the ship; not everyone managed to get to the upper deck and jump into the water. But still, most of the team made it. The ship lasted only six minutes on its side. Vasa became the grave of at least 30 people, and fell asleep for 333 years, just like in a fairy tale. Below the cut you will find photographs and a story about the fate of the ship.


02. Take a closer look at him.

03. Vasa was built in Stockholm by order of Gustav Adolf II, King of Sweden, under the direction of the Dutch shipbuilder Henrik Hibertson. A total of 400 people worked on the construction. Its construction took about two years. The ship had three masts, could carry ten sails, its dimensions were 52 meters from the top of the mast to the keel and 69 meters from bow to stern; weight was 1200 tons. By the time it was completed, it was one of the largest ships in the world.

04. Of course, they are not allowed on the ship, the museum has locations that show how it is inside.

05. What went wrong? In the 17th century there were no computers, there were only size tables. But a ship of this level cannot be built “approximately”. High side, short keel, 64 guns on the sides in two tiers, Gustav Adolf II wanted to have more guns on the ship than were usually installed. The ship was built with a high superstructure, with two additional decks for guns. This is what let him down, the center of gravity was too high. The bottom of the ship was filled with large stones, which served as ballast for stability on the water. But "Vasa" was too heavy at the top. As always, little things came up, they put in less ballast (120 tons is not enough) than needed, because they were afraid that the speed would be low, and for some reason a smaller copy was not built either. The comments suggest that there was nowhere else to put more ballast.

06. Vasa was to become one of the leading ships of the Swedish Navy. As I said, he had 64 guns, most of them 24 pounders (they fired cannonballs weighing 24 pounds or over 11 kg). There is a version that they made it for the war with Russia. But at that time the Swedes had more problems with Poland. By the way, they managed to get the guns almost immediately; they were very valuable. England bought the right to raise it. If the guide didn’t lie, these guns were later bought by Poland for the war with Sweden).

07. Why aren’t other ships raised after 300 years? And there is simply nothing left of them. The secret is that the shipworm, Teredo navalis, which devours wooden debris in salt water, is not very common in the slightly salty waters of the Baltic, but in other seas it is quite capable of devouring the hull of an active ship in a short time. Plus, the local water itself is a good preservative; its temperature and salinity are optimal for sailboats.

08. The nose did not enter the lens completely.

09. The lion holds the crown in his paws.

10. There is a copy nearby, you can take a closer look.

11. All faces are different.

12. Look closely at the stern. Initially it was colored and gilded.

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14.

15.

16. He was like that, I don’t like him like that. But in the 17th century there were clearly different views on shipbuilding.

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18. The life of sailors is cut short, they don’t have their own cabins, everything is done on deck.

19. As for the rise of the ship, not everything was easy here either. The ship was found by Anders Franzen, an independent researcher, who had been interested in ship wrecks since childhood. And of course he knew all about the crash. For several years, with the help of a lot and a cat, a search was carried out. "I mostly picked up rusty iron stoves, ladies' bicycles, Christmas trees and dead cats." But in 1956 "pecked". And Anders Franzen did everything to raise the ship. And he convinced the bureaucrats that he was right, and organized a campaign “Save the Vasa” and from the port dumps he collected and repaired a bunch of various diving equipment that were considered unusable. Money began to flow in and things started to improve, it took two years to build the tunnels under the ship. Tunnels in the literal sense washed under the ship, a dangerous and courageous job. The tunnels were very narrow and the divers had to squeeze through them without getting entangled. And of course, a ship weighing a thousand tons hanging above them did not give courage, Nobody knew whether the Vasa would survive. Nobody else in this the world has not yet raised ships that sank so long ago! But the Vasa survived, did not crumble when sharpened, when divers - mostly amateur archaeologists - entangled its hull with ropes and attached it to hooks lowered into the water from cranes and pontoons - miracle, scientific miracle.

20. For another two years it hung in this state while divers prepared it for lifting, plugging thousands of holes formed by rusty metal bolts. and on April 24, 1961, everything worked out. In that blackened ghost that was brought to the surface, no one would have recognized the same “Vasa”. Years of work lay ahead. Initially, the ship was doused with jets of water, and at this time experts developed a proper conservation method. The preservative material chosen was polyethylene glycol, a water-soluble, viscous substance that slowly penetrates the wood to replace the water. The polyethylene glycol spraying continued for 17 years.

21. 14,000 lost wooden objects were raised to the surface, including 700 sculptures. Their conservation was carried out on an individual basis; then they took their original places on the ship. The task was like a jigsaw puzzle.

22. Blade handle.

23.

24. The inhabitants of the ship. The bones were extracted mixed, without modern technology, nothing would have happened.

25.

26. Museum staff went further than just showing visitors the skeletons. With the help of "spectral analysis" they restored the faces of some people.

27. Look very close to the living.

28. Frightening look.

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33. That's probably all I wanted to tell you. By the way, the ship is 98% original!

34. Thank you for your attention.

The 17th century was a rich period in the history of shipbuilding. Ships have become faster, more maneuverable, and more stable. Engineers have learned to design the best examples of sailing ships. The development of artillery made it possible to equip battleships with reliable, accurate guns. The need for military action determined progress in shipbuilding.

The most powerful ship at the beginning of the century

The beginning of the 17th century marks the dawn of the era of battleships. The first three-decker was the British HMS Prince Royal, which left the Woolwich shipyard in 1610. The British shipbuilders took the prototype from the Danish flagship, and subsequently rebuilt and improved it several times.

Four masts were installed on the ship, two each for straight and lateen sails. Three-decker, originally 55-gun, the ship in the final version of 1641 became 70-gun, then changed the name to Resolution, returned the name, and in 1663 already had 93 guns in her equipment.

• Displacement about 1200 tons;
• Length (keel) 115 feet;
• Beam (midship) 43 feet;
• Trench depth 18 feet;
• 3 full artillery decks.

As a result of battles with the Dutch, the ship was captured by the enemy in 1666, and when they tried to recapture it, it was burned and flooded.

The most powerful ship at the end of the century

The French Soleil Royal was built by shipbuilders at the Brest shipyard 3 times. The first 1669 three-masted with 104 guns, created as an equal opponent to the British Royal Sovereign, died in 1692. And in the same year, a new battleship was already built with an armament of 112 guns and had:

• Guns 28 x 36-pounders, 30 x 18-pounders (on the middeck), 28 x 12-pounders (on the front deck);
• Displacement 2200 tons;
• 55 meters long (along the keel);
• Width 15 m (midship frame);
• Draft (intryum) 7 m;
• A team of 830 people.

The third was built after the death of the previous one, as a worthy heir to the glorious traditions associated with this name.

New types of ships of the 17th century

The evolution of past centuries has shifted the emphasis of shipbuilding from the need to simply move safely across the seas, from the merchant ships of the Venetians, Hanseatics, Flemings and, traditionally, the Portuguese and Spaniards to overcome significant distances, to asserting the importance of dominance at sea and, as a result, defending their interests through military means actions.

Initially, merchant ships began to be militarized to counteract pirates, and by the 17th century, a class of only warships was finally formed, and a separation of the merchant and military fleets took place.

The shipbuilders and, of course, the Dutch provinces succeeded in building the navy. The galleon, the basis of the power of the squadrons of Spain and England, originated from the Portuguese shipbuilders.

17th century galleon

Shipbuilders in Portugal and Spain, who played a significant role until recently, continued to improve traditional ship designs.

In Portugal at the beginning of the century, 2 types of ships appeared with new hull proportions in the ratio of length to width - 4 to 1. These are a 3-masted pinnace (similar to a flute) and a military galleon.

On galleons, guns began to be installed above and below the main deck, highlighting battery decks in the design of the ship, port-cells for guns were opened on board only for combat, and were battened down to avoid flooding with waves of water, which, given the solid mass of the ship, would inevitably flood it; warheads were hidden in the holds below the waterline. The displacement of the largest Spanish galleons of the early 17th century was about 1000 tons.

The Dutch galleon had three or four masts, up to 120 feet long, up to 30 feet wide, and 12 feet low. draft and up to 30 guns. Ships with such a proportion of long hulls were added speed by the number and area of ​​\u200b\u200bsails, additionally foxes and underliesels. This made it possible to cut the wave steeper towards the wind in comparison to rounded hulls.

Linear multi-deck sailing ships formed the backbone of the squadrons of Holland, Britain, and Spain. Three-, four-deck ships were the flagships of the squadrons and determined the military superiority and advantage in battle.

And if battleships constituted the main combat power, then frigates began to be built as the fastest ships, equipping one closed firing battery with a small number of guns. To increase speed, the sail area was increased and the curb weight was reduced.

The English ship "Sovereign of the Seas" became the first classic example of a battleship. Built in 1637, armed with 100 guns.

Another classic example was the British frigate - scout and escort of merchant ships.

Actually, these 2 types of ships became an innovative line in shipbuilding and gradually replaced the European galleons, galliots, flutes, pinnaces, which were obsolete by the middle of the century, from the shipyards.

New technologies of the navy

The Dutch for a long time maintained the dual purpose of the ship during construction; shipbuilding for trade was their priority. Therefore, regarding warships, they were clearly inferior to England. In the middle of the century, the Netherlands built the 53-gun ship Brederode, similar to the Sovereign of the Seas, its flagship of the fleet. Design parameters:

• Displacement 1520 tons;
• Proportions (132 x 32) ft.;
• Draft - 13 ft.;
• Two artillery decks.

Flute “Schwarzer Rabe”

At the end of the 16th century, the Netherlands began to build flutes. Due to the new design, the Dutch flute had excellent seaworthiness and had:

• Shallow draft;
• Fast sailing rig that allowed steep sailing to the wind;
• High speed;
• Large capacity;
• A new design with a length-to-width ratio starting from four-to-one;
• Was cost effective;
• And the crew is about 60 people.

That is, in fact, a military transport ship to transport goods, and on the high seas to repel an enemy attack, and quickly go into the lead.

Flutes were built at the beginning of the 17th century:

• About 40 meters long;
• About 6 or 7 m wide;
• Draft 3÷4 m;
• Load capacity 350÷400 tons;
• And a weaponry of 10÷20 guns.

For a century, flutes dominated all seas, played a prominent role in wars. They were the first to use a steering wheel.

From the sailing running equipment, topmasts appeared on them, the yards were made shortened, the length of the mast became longer than the vessel, and the sails became narrower, more convenient to manage, small in size. Sails of the main, foresails, topsails, topsails on the main and foremasts. On the bowsprit there is a rectangular blind sail, a bomb blind. On the mizzen mast there is a slanting sail and a straight cruisel. To control the sailing equipment, a smaller number of the upper crew was required.

17th century warship designs

The gradual modernization of artillery pieces began to allow their successful use on board a ship. The important characteristics in the new battle tactics were:

• Convenient, quick reloading during the battle;
• Conducting continuous fire with intervals for reloading;
• Conducting targeted fire over long distances;
• An increase in the number of crew, which made it possible to fire during boarding conditions.

Since the 16th century, the tactics of dividing combat missions as part of a squadron continued to develop: some of the ships retreated to the flanks to conduct long-range artillery fire on the accumulation of large enemy ships, and the light avant-garde rushed to board the affected ships.

British naval forces used these tactics during the Anglo-Spanish War.

The wake column during the review in 1849

Ships are classified according to the purpose of their use. Rowing galleys are being replaced by sailing cannon ships, and the focus is shifting from boarding to devastating cannon fire.

The use of heavy large-caliber weapons was difficult. The increased number of artillery crew, the significant weight of the gun and charges, the recoil force that was destructive for the ship, which made it impossible to launch volleys at the same time. The emphasis was on 32-42-pound guns with a barrel diameter of no more than 17 cm. For this reason, several medium-sized guns were preferable to a pair of large ones.

The most difficult thing is the accuracy of the shot in conditions of pitching and inertia of recoil from neighboring guns. Therefore, the artillery crew needed a clear sequence of volleys with minimal intervals, the training of the entire crew of the team.

Strength and maneuverability have become very important: it is necessary to keep the enemy strictly on board, not allow entry to the rear, and be able to quickly turn the ship to the other side in case of serious damage. The length of the ship's keel was no more than 80 meters, and in order to accommodate more guns, they began to build upper decks, a battery of guns was placed along the board on each deck.

The coherence and skill of the ship's crew were determined by the speed of maneuvers. The speed with which the ship, having fired a volley from one side, managed to turn its narrow bow under the oncoming volley of the enemy, and then turning the opposite side to fire a new volley, was considered the highest manifestation of skill. Such maneuvers made it possible to receive less damage and inflict significant and rapid damage to the enemy.

Worth mentioning are the numerous military rowing vessels used throughout the 17th century. The proportions were approximately 40 by 5 meters. Displacement is about 200 tons, draft is 1.5 meters. A mast and lateen sail were installed on the galleys. For a typical galley with a crew of 200 people, 140 oarsmen were placed in groups of three on 25 banks on each side, each with his own oar. The oar bulwarks were protected from bullets and crossbows. Guns were installed at the stern and bow. The purpose of the galley attack is boarding combat. Cannons and throwing weapons began the attack, and when they approached, boarding began. It is clear that such attacks were designed for heavily loaded merchant ships.

The most powerful army at sea in the 17th century

If at the beginning of the century the fleet of the winner of the Great Spanish Armada was considered the strongest, then in the future the combat capability of the British fleet fell catastrophically. And the failures in the battles with the Spaniards and the shameful capture of 27 English ships by Moroccan pirates finally dropped the prestige of British power.

At this time, the Dutch fleet takes the lead. This is the only reason why its rapidly growing neighbor encouraged Britain to build up its fleet in a new way. By the middle of the century, the flotilla consisted of up to 40 warships, six of which were 100-gun. And after the Revolution, the combat power at sea increased until the Restoration. After a period of calm, towards the end of the century Britain was again asserting its power at sea.

From the beginning of the 17th century, the flotillas of European countries began to be equipped with battleships, the number of which determined their combat strength. The first 3-deck linear ship is considered to be the 55-gun ship HMS Prince Royal of 1610. The next 3-deck HMS "Sovereign of the Seas" acquired the parameters of a serial prototype:

• Proportions 127 x 46 feet;
• Draft - 20 feet;
• Displacement 1520 tons;
• The total number of guns is 126 on 3 artillery decks.

Placement of guns: 30 on the lower deck, 30 on the middle deck, 26 with a smaller caliber on the upper deck, 14 under the forecastle, 12 under the poop. In addition, the superstructures have many embrasures for the guns of the remaining crew on board.

After three wars between England and Holland, they united in an alliance against France. By 1697, the Anglo-Dutch alliance was able to destroy 1,300 French naval units. And at the beginning of the next century, led by Britain, the alliance achieved an advantage. And the blackmail of the naval power of England, which became Great Britain, began to determine the outcome of the battles.

Naval tactics

Previous naval wars were characterized by disorderly tactics, with skirmishes between ship captains and no structure or unified command.

Since 1618, the British Admiralty introduced ranking of its warships

• Ships Royal, 40...55 guns.
• Great Royals, about 40 guns.
• Middle Ships. 30...40 guns.
• Small Ships, including frigates, less than 30 guns.

The British developed linear combat tactics. According to its rules were followed

1. Peer-to-peer formation in wake columns;
2. Building an equal-strength and equal-speed column without breaks;
3. Unified command.

What should ensure success in battle.

The tactics of equal-rank formation excluded the presence of weak links in the column; the flagships led the vanguard, the center, the command and brought up the rear. A unified command was subordinate to the admiral, and a clear system for transmitting commands and signals between ships appeared.

Naval battles and wars

Battle of Dover 1659

The first battle of the fleets a month before the start of the 1st Anglo-Dutch War, which formally gave it its beginning. Tromp with a squadron of 40 ships set off to escort and protect Dutch transport ships from English corsairs. Being in English waters close to a squadron of 12 ships under command. Admiral Burn, the Dutch flagships did not want to salute the English flag. When Blake approached with a squadron of 15 ships, the British attacked the Dutch. Tromp covered a caravan of merchant ships, did not dare to get involved in a long battle, and lost the battlefield.

Battle of Plymouth 1652

It took place in the First Anglo-Dutch War. de Ruyter took command of a squadron from Zeeland of 31 military units. ship and 6 firewalls in the protection of the trade caravan convoy. He was opposed by 38 soldiers. ships and 5 fireships of the British forces.

When the Dutch met, they divided the squadron; some of the English ships began to pursue them, breaking the formation and losing the advantage in firepower. The Dutch, using their favorite tactic of shooting at masts and rigging, disabled some of the enemy ships. As a result, the British had to retreat and go to the ports for repairs, and the caravan safely left for Calais.

Newport battles of 1652 and 1653

If in the battle of 1652 Ruyter and de Witt, having united 2 squadrons of 64 ships into a single one - the vanguard of Ruyter and the center of de Witt - the squadron, gave an equal battle to Black's 68 ships. Then in 1653, the squadron of Tromp, who had 98 ships and 6 fire ships against the 100 ships and 5 fire ships of the English admirals Monk and Dean, was significantly destroyed when trying to attack the main forces of the British. Ruyter, rushing into the wind as a vanguard, attacked the English. the vanguard of Admiral Lawson, he was energetically supported by Tromp; but Admiral Dean managed to come to the rescue. And then the wind subsided, an artillery exchange began until darkness, when the Dutch, having discovered a lack of shells, were forced to quickly leave for their ports. The battle showed the superiority of the equipment and weapons of the English ships.

Battle of Portland 1653

Battle of the First Anglo-Dutch War. Convoy under command. Admiral M. Tromp of 80 ships was accompanied in the English Channel by a returning caravan of 250 merchant ships loaded with colonial goods. Having met with a fleet of 70 British ships under command. Admiral R. Blake, Tromp was forced into battle.

For two days of fighting, changing winds did not allow groups of ships to line up; the Dutch, shackled by the defense of transport ships, suffered losses. And yet, at night, the Dutch were able to break through and leave, ultimately losing 9 military and 40 merchant ships, and the British 4 ships.

Battle of Texel 1673

Victory of de Ruyter with admirals Bankert and Tromp over the Anglo-French fleet at Texel in the third Anglo-Dutch war. This period is marked by the occupation of the Netherlands by French troops. The goal was to recapture the trade caravan. 92 ships and 30 fire ships of the Allies were opposed by a Dutch fleet of 75 ships and 30 fire ships.

Ruyter's vanguard managed to separate the French vanguard from the British squadron. The maneuver was a success and, due to the disunity of the allies, the French chose to keep the flotilla, and the Dutch managed to crush the British center in a brutal battle that lasted many hours. And as a result, having ousted the French, Bankert came to reinforce the Dutch center. The British were never able to land troops and suffered heavy losses in manpower.

These wars of advanced sea powers determined the importance of tactics, formations and firepower in the development of the navy and the art of warfare. Based on the experience of these wars, classes of division into ranks of ships were developed, the optimal configuration of a linear sailing ship and the number of weapons were tested. The tactics of combat between enemy ships was transformed into a combat formation of a wake column with coordinated artillery fire, quick formation and unified command. Boarding combat was becoming a thing of the past, and strength at sea influenced success on land.

17th century Spanish fleet

Spain continued to form its armadas with large galleons, the unsinkability and strength of which were proven by the results of the battles of the Invincible Armada with the British. The artillery the British had was unable to inflict damage on the Spaniards.

Therefore, Spanish shipbuilders continued to build galleons with an average displacement of 500 ÷ 1000 tons and a draft of 9 feet, creating an ocean-going ship - stable and reliable. Such ships were equipped with three or four masts and about 30 guns.

In the first third of the century, 18 galleons with up to 66 guns were launched. The number of large ships exceeded 60 against 20 large royal ships of England and 52 of France.

The features of durable, heavy ships are their high resistance to staying in the ocean and combating water elements. Installing straight sails in two tiers did not provide maneuverability and ease of control. At the same time, the lack of maneuverability was compensated by excellent survivability during storms in terms of strength parameters, and the versatility of galleons. They were used simultaneously for trade and military operations, which were often combined during an unexpected meeting with the enemy in the vast waters of the ocean.

The extraordinary capacity made it possible to equip ships with a decent number of weapons and take on board a large crew trained for combat. This made it possible to successfully carry out boarding - the main naval tactics of battles and capture of ships in the arsenal of the Spaniards.

17th century French fleet

In France, the first battleship "Crown" was launched in 1636. Then the rivalry with England and Holland at sea began.

Ship characteristics of a three-masted two-deck "" 1st rank:

• Displacement more than 2100 tons;
• Length on the upper deck is 54 meters, along the waterline 50 m, along the keel 39 m;
• Width 14 m;
• 3 masts;
• Mainmast 60 meters high;
• Sides up to 10 m high;
• The sail area is about 1000 m²;
• 600 sailors;
• 3 decks;
• 72 different-caliber guns (14x 36-pounders);
• Oak body.

The construction required about 2 thousand dried trunks. The shape of the barrel was matched to the shape of the ship part by matching the bends of the fibers and the part, which gave special strength.

The ship is famous for eclipsing the Sovereign of the Seas, the British masterpiece Sovereign of the Seas (1634), and is now considered the most luxurious and beautiful ship of the sailing era.

Fleet of the United Netherlands Provinces of the 17th century

In the 17th century, the Netherlands fought endless wars with neighboring countries for independence. The maritime confrontation between the Netherlands and Britain had the character of internecine rivalry between neighbors. On the one hand, they were in a hurry to control the seas and oceans with the help of the fleet, on the other, to oust Spain and Portugal, while successfully carrying out robbery attacks on their ships, and on the third, they wanted to dominate as the two most militant rivals. At the same time, dependence on corporations - the owners of the ships, which financed shipbuilding, overshadowed the importance of victories in naval battles, which stopped the growth of the Dutch maritime industry.

The formation of the power of the Dutch fleet was facilitated by the liberation struggle with Spain, the weakening of its strength, and numerous victories of Dutch ships over the Spaniards during the Thirty Years' War by its end in 1648.

The Dutch fleet was the largest, numbering 20 thousand merchant ships, and a huge number of shipyards operated. Actually, this century was the Golden Age of the Netherlands. The Netherlands' struggle for independence from the Spanish Empire led to the Eighty Years' War (1568-1648). After the completion of the war of liberation of the Seventeen Provinces from the rule of the Spanish monarchy, there were three Anglo-Gol. wars, a successful invasion of England, and wars with France.

3 Anglo-Dutch wars at sea tried to determine a dominant position at sea. By the beginning of the first, the Dutch fleet had 75 warships along with frigates. The available warships of the United Provinces were scattered around the world. In case of war, warships could be chartered, or simply hired from other European states. The designs of the “pinnace” and “Flemish carrack” were easily upgraded from a merchant vessel to a military vessel in case of war. However, apart from Brederode and Grote Vergulde Fortuijn, the Dutch could not boast of their own warships. They won battles through courage and skill.

By the Second Anglo-Dutch War in 1665, van Wassenaar's squadron was able to assemble 107 ships, 9 frigates and 27 lower ships. Of these, 92 are armed with more than 30 guns. The number of crews is 21 thousand sailors, 4800 guns.

England could oppose 88 ships, 12 frigates and 24 inferior ships. A total of 4,500 guns, 22 thousand sailors.

In the most disastrous battle in the history of Holland, the Battle of Lowestoft, the Flemish flagship, the 76-gun Eendragt, was blown up along with van Wassenaar.

17th century British fleet

In the middle of the century, there were no more than 5 thousand merchant ships in Britain. But the navy was significant. By 1651, the Royal Navy squadron already had 21 battleships and 29 frigates, with 2 battleships and 50 frigates being completed on the way. If we add the number of free-hire and chartered ships, the fleet could reach up to 200 ships. The total number of guns and caliber were unrivaled.

Construction was carried out at the royal shipyards of Britain - Woolwich, Davenport, Chatham, Portsmouth, Deptford. A significant part of the ships came from private shipyards in Bristol, Liverpool, etc. Over the course of the century, growth gradually increased with the predominance of the regular fleet over the chartered one.

In England, the most powerful battleships were called Manovar, as the largest, with the number of guns exceeding a hundred.

To increase the multi-purpose composition of the British fleet in the middle of the century, more combat ships of smaller types were created: corvettes, bombards.

During the construction of frigates, the number of guns on two decks increased to 60.

In the first battle of Dover with the Netherlands, the British fleet had:

60 push. James, 56- push. Andrew, 62- push. Triumph, 56- push. Andrew, 62- push. Triumph, 52- push. Victory, 52- push. Speaker, five 36-guns, including President, three 44-guns, including Garland, 52-guns. Fairfax and others.

What the Dutch fleet could counter:

54- push. Brederode, 35-push. Grote Vergulde Fortuijn, nine 34-guns, the rest of lower ranks.

Therefore, the reluctance of the Netherlands to engage in open water combat according to the rules of linear tactics becomes obvious.

Russian fleet of the 17th century

As such, the Russian fleet did not exist before Peter I, due to the lack of access to the seas. The very first Russian warship was the two-deck, three-masted "Eagle" built in 1669 on the Oka River. But it was built at the Voronezh shipyards in 1695 - 1696 from 23 rowing galleys, 2 sailing-rowing frigates and more than 1000 ships, barques, and plows.

Ship “Eagle” 1667

The parameters of the 36-gun frigates “Apostle Peter” and “Apostle Paul” are similar:

• Length 34 meters;
• Width 7.6 m;
• 15 pairs of oars to ensure maneuverability;
• Flat-bottomed body;
• The anti-boarding sides are curved inward at the top.

Russian masters and Peter himself in 1697 The frigate Peter and Paul was built in Holland.

The first ship to sail into the Black Sea was the Fortress. From the shipyard at the mouth of the Don in 1699:

• Length - 38 meters;
• Width - 7.5 m;
• Crew - 106 sailors;
• 46 guns.

In 1700, the first Russian battleship “God's Predestination”, intended for the Azov flotilla, left the Voronezh shipyard, and it was rebuilt by Russian craftsmen and engineers. This three-masted ship, equal to IV rank, had:

• Length 36 meters;
• Width 9 m;
• 58 guns (26x 16-pounder guns, 24x 8-pounder guns, 8x 3-pounder guns);
• A team of 250 sailors.