As soon as humanity rose above the level of stone clubs and began to explore the world around it, it immediately understood what prospects promise the sea routes of communication. Yes, even the rivers, through the waters of which it was possible to move quickly and relatively safely, played a tremendous role in the formation of all modern civilizations.
The value of sailboats for humans
We do not know and, most likely, will never know where and how the first sailing ship appeared. But only one thing is indisputable - the person who invented it is comparable in its influence on the future of civilization with the inventor of the wheel. The latter, by the way, is also unknown to us, but the memory of him is eternal. A sailing ship, by the way, is a ship driven by wind.
It was sailboats that provided the opportunity for the development of civilization. The first of the ancient sailors who perfectly mastered the art of "catching the wind", were the Greeks and, possibly, the Sumerians. Subsequently, the Phoenicians took the palm, as well as the Vikings, who, according to modern research, sailed their drakkara to the coast of North America long before Columbus. So a sailing ship is the type of transport on which a person first crossed the Atlantic and the Pacific Ocean, it was on such ships that Magellan first made a round-the-world tour.
The first "sailboats"
The first ships capable of sailing were most likely galleys. It all started with the simplest rowing boats of Ancient Egypt, and it ended ... it is believed that the last ships of this type were used after the invention of the steam engine, so they served humanity for a very long time.
Galleys were ships designed to operate exclusively in shallow coastal waters, and among the Egyptians they were often completely flat-bottomed. Of course, such ships did not have outstanding seaworthiness. Their sail was the most primitive, direct, allowed to go under the wind only if the latter was in passing. So the types of sailing ships described by us below do not include galleys. After all, it is impossible to consider them full-fledged sailboats.
Classification of Sailing Ships
Subsequently, shipbuilders of the world mastered increasingly sophisticated technologies that allowed them to build ships with ever-better seaworthiness. The simplest classification of ships should be given on the pages of this article so that there is no further confusion:
- The ship (frigate). Yes, yes, not every sailing ship could be called that. Only those ships that had three masts were so named. Sails are exceptionally straight, but on the mizzen, in addition, there was a “slanting” rigging that allowed you to walk tacks. What other types of sailing ships were there?
- A ship with three masts was also called a bark, but on the first two there were only straight sails, and on the third - exclusively oblique.
- Brig is almost the same as a frigate, only a two-masted sailing ship. The mizzen also has a slanting sail, but the rest of the rigging is only straight.
- Any ship with a number of masts of two was called a schooner. But at the same time, no less than two of them had to carry oblique sails.
- One and a half mast vessels. Their grotto and mizzen are, as it were, "merged" into one structure.
- Single mast vessels. As you might guess, they only had one mast. As a rule, sails were the simplest, most straight.
It just so happened that the most common type in the history of world navigation was a two-masted sailing ship. Such ships were much simpler to frigate or schooner in construction, and with the successful location of the sailing equipment, they were distinguished by better mobility and high-speed qualities.
Galleons and the Maritime Revolution
The first sailing ship, designed specifically for long ocean transitions, is the galleon. It is believed that the first ship of this class was Karakara Mary Rose, built in 1512, owned by the British. However, the Portuguese are sure that they belong to the honor of creating galleons, since they were the first to build caravels.
But all these ships appeared far from scratch, since the possibility of their construction arose only when shipbuilding had already absorbed many of the technical achievements and discoveries of those years. For example, the galleon is the first multi-deck sailing vessel. So that a huge structure made entirely of wood with minimal use of scarce iron simply did not fall apart, shipbuilders should have a very high degree of professional skill.
Discoveries in the field of ship hull construction
It is believed that the classical scheme for building ships, when the hull is first made and then sheathed, was invented by the Byzantines around the end of the first millennium AD. Before that, craftsmen assembled the ships, initially making the hull, and only then the frame was “embedded” in its design. At the same time, it was difficult to achieve high accuracy, and therefore ships with high seaworthiness were rarely obtained.
The limit of perfection of those years is a small two-masted sailing vessel, on which it was already possible to make short sea voyages, but nevertheless its specialization is cabotage.
Most likely, the Byzantine scheme was switched to the south of Europe, where such ships were built already from the XIV century, the British began to do this somewhere from 1500, and in Northern Europe, ships with simple clinker cladding were constructed in some places in the 16th century. Initially, the names of ships made using Byzantine technology always contained the “carvel” root, which meant building a frame with its subsequent “smooth” planking. From here comes the caravel, a relatively small sailing ship with excellent seaworthiness.
The advantages of the new method
Shipbuilders got a lot of advantages when they finally switched to the frame assembly of ships. The most important thing is that the frame from the first days of construction made it possible to visually assess the appearance of the future ship, its contours and displacement, and immediately identify possible design flaws. In addition, the new technology made it possible to repeatedly increase the size of ships through the use of a durable and "springy" frame, which leveled even very strong loads.
In addition, significantly less wide planks could be allowed on the casing, which made it possible to drastically reduce the cost of construction and stop cutting down centuries-old oak forests. For example, a small two-masted sailing vessel constructed by such a technique could be “cut” from relatively cheap pine and birch, and its seaworthiness did not deteriorate.
About workers qualifications
Finally, it was possible to use the labor of significantly less skilled workers: only a few people were directly responsible for the design, and the carpenters were only engaged in plating. During the construction of ships of the early types, each of them was supposed to be practically a virtuoso of their craft. The increased manufacturability of the building also made it possible to make significantly more huge naval ships.
Each such a large multi-deck sailing vessel in its combat power surpassed more than a dozen early clumsy vessels, which, by and large, were suitable only for coastal navigation.
Gunpowder artillery and sailboats
Powder artillery began to spread actively in the maritime industry in the 14-15 centuries, but for a long time it was placed exclusively in the deck settings, which were originally intended for archers. This led to a strong "decentralization", making the ship very unstable even with relatively weak unrest.
Soon the guns began to be placed along the longitudinal axis of the guns, but still on the upper deck. However, to conduct aimed fire from the guns was extremely difficult, since round holes cut into the sides were used for this purpose. In peacetime they were plugged with wooden corks.
Real ports for guns appeared only at the beginning of the 16th century. This innovation gave way to the creation of large and well-armed
battleships. Such a large multi-deck sailing vessel was perfectly suitable both for naval battles and for expansion into the lands of the future Latin America.
Giants of the Middle Ages
But the first mention of the classic galleon is found in historical documents dated 1535. His advantages were quickly appreciated by the Spaniards and the British. Unlike other ships of those years, this one was significantly lower, with the “correct” hull contours that provided minimal hydrodynamic drag on the move. The masts of a sailing vessel of this type carried mixed sailing rigging, which, with due skill of the captain and crew, allowed them to go tacks in the wind close to the headwind.
Their displacement, even today, was decent - up to 2000 tons! At the same time, the cost of galleons even became lower due to the use of cheaper types of wood. Only the masts of the sailing ship, for which exceptionally selected pine trees were required, brought the problem.
Design Features
Masts were also made of pines, oak was let into the power elements of the hull. Unlike karakk, the nasal superstructure did not hang forward. The cut feed had a high and narrow superstructure, which positively affected the stability of the ship during the excitement. Traditionally, galleons were distinguished by rich carvings and other options for decorating the hull.
The largest sailing vessel of this type had seven (!) Decks. During the construction of such giants, the work of mathematicians was widely demanded (recall the Great Embassy of Peter in Holland). They did not eat their bread for nothing: the calculations made it possible to create a ship very large, but durable, able to withstand the storm, and survive the boarding, accompanied by collisions of ships.
Sailing Features
The number of masts on the galleons varied from three to five, the front ones carried straight sails, and the rear sails. The largest Spanish galleons could have two bisans at once, which provided good speed indicators even with a headwind and the need for a tack. How poorly qualified the carpenters involved in the construction of such ships could have, their sailors should have been trained as well, since they had to cope with several hundred kilometers of equipment.
By the way, the relatively short length of the first galleons made them a kind of "relatives" of the galleys, which we spoke about at the very beginning of the article. If the ship fell into the absolute calm zone, he could move on a merry move. Of course, in a storm, using this version of the move was suicide.