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Roman ships are named in different ways, often in compound expressions with the word Latin: navis, lit. 'ship'.These are found in many ancient Roman texts, and named in different ways, such as by the appearance of the ship: for example, navis tecta (covered ship); or by its function, for example: navis mercatoria (commerce ship), or navis praedatoria (plunder ship).
The name bireme comes from "bi-" meaning two and "-reme" meaning oar. It was typically about 80 feet (24 m) long with a maximum beam width of around 10 feet (3 m). It was modified from the penteconter, a ship that had only one set of oars on each side, the bireme having two sets of oars on each side. The bireme was twice the triaconter's length ...
The great galleys were in all respects larger than contemporary war galleys (up to 46 m) and had a deeper draft, with more room for cargo (140–250 tonnes). With a full complement of rowers ranging from 150 to 180 men, all available to defend the ship from attack, they were also very safe modes of travel.
The ship also had two masts, a main (histos megas) and a small foremast (histos akateios), with square sails, while steering was provided by two steering oars at the stern (one at the port side, one to starboard). Classical sources indicate that the trireme was capable of sustained speeds of ca. 6 knots at relatively leisurely oaring. [31]
Vasa had three masts: a foremast towards the bow of the ship, a mainmast near the middle and a mizzen mast towards the aft of the ship. The fore- and mainmasts were built in three sections: a lower mast that was stepped on the stem and keel at the bottom of the ship's hull and passed through each of the decks; a topmast that was attached to the ...
The rest of the war was carried out mostly by Rome's allies, the Aetolian League and later the Kingdom of Pergamon, but a combined Roman–Pergamene fleet of ca. 60 ships patrolled the Aegean until the war's end in 205 BC. In this conflict, Rome, still embroiled in the Punic War, was not interested in expanding her possessions, but rather in ...
Ships became increasingly large and heavy, including some of the largest wooden ships hitherto constructed. These developments were spearheaded in the Hellenistic Near East , but also to a large extent shared by the naval powers of the Western Mediterranean, specifically Carthage and the Roman Republic .
The deck or ship superstructure has not survived, although a baulk of timber and its supports as found, fitted carefully onto the lowest frames of the hull. [3] This mast-step timber indicates sockets that correspond to a main mast, a foremast, of a bilge pump well, and of various interior architectural characteristics. [4]