Medieval War Ships and Naval War (from the Fourth to the Sixteenth Century)

Roman warship (4th century, Mainx)

Byzantine dromon 30-50 meters long and 5-7 meters wide, carrying up to 250 men (200 rowers and 50 marines)

Greek Fire and Byzantine Naval Warfare The Chronicle of Theophanes (810) reports that in 673 an inventor named Kallinikos “had devised a sea fire which ignited the Arab ships and burned them with all hands. Thus it was that the Romans returned with victory and discovered the sea fire.” Greek Fire was a combustible substance made from some combination of petroleum, naphtha, and other ingredients that at the least could not be put out with water and perhaps was either spread or even ignited by contact with water. Byzantine chroniclers falsely claimed that the formula remained a closely guarded state secret. In actuality, Greek Fire was used by Arab fleets as well and was a standard part of the weaponry of eastern Mediterranean fleets 700-1100. The substance itself, either pumped at high pressure out of bronze siphons mounted on the bows of galleys or lobbed, from on-board catapults, in earthenware pots that would shatter on impact, constituted a deadly weapon against wooden ships that the Byzantine navy used again and again to devastating effect, most decisively at the siege of Constantinople in 717. Only when the Turks discovered how to combat it in the late eleventh century (vinegar, rather than water, did the trick in dousing the flames) did Greek Fire lose importance as a Byzantine naval weapon; the formula was lost with the fall of the Empire, never to be recovered. Greek Fire had limitations, as the siphons had limited range and catapulted pots had limited accuracy. Greek Fire had to be handled carefully lest one’s own ship caught fire. Stephen Morillo

Byzantine naval warfare in the eleventh century

Viking ships

Ships ca. 1140 (English ms)

Cinque Ports

Eustace the Pirate (d. 1217) Eustace the Pirate was a mercenary naval commander from Boulogne (nw France, on English channel). Served King John of England vs. Philip Augustus of France,1205-1212 Naval bases on Channel Islands Switched sides in 1212, raided Folkestone Defeated twice in 1217, Battles of Sandwich and Dover. Captured at Sandwich and beheaded

The 24th of August 1217 AD, Battle of Sandwich in English Channel off eastern coast of Kent After King John reneged on Magna Carta, the rebel barons offered the throne to King Philip Augustus of France’s eldest son Louis. When John died in 1216, he left a nine-year-old heir (Henry III) to fight both a rebellion and French invasion. At the end of 1216 Louis held London and had many powerful allies, though many barons turned from him when he lost the Battle of Lincoln Fair in May 1217. Louis needed reinforcements and new supplies in his London stronghold, and after several abortive attempts a French fleet sailed from Calais on St Bartholomew's Day (August 24) 1217, with more than 100 knights and more importantly with stores and currency aplenty. The large fleet had already been attacked in harbor whilst waiting for a fair wind in Calais, and the English had been given time to prepare for the invasion, assembling a fleet under Hubert de Burgh in Sandwich, Kent. The French fleet under Robert de Courtenai and the former pirate Eustace the Monk was undoubtedly larger than the defenders could muster, but as at the preceding Battle of Dover the English out sailed the French, manoeuvring behind them, boarding ships picked out as targets, and very effectively using lime to burn the French vessels and blind their sailors. Eustace pragmatically wanted to sail on to London once the English fleet was behind his own, but the more aggressive de Courtenai, perhaps conscious of his honour as well as aware of his force being numerically superior, decided to turn and fight. For Eustace this was to prove a fatal error. The English captured many of the knights sailing to reinforce Louis, and even more significantly they captured the supply vessels, putting the French sailors on board these ships to the sword. Eustace, loathed for his former piratical exploits, was found hiding away from the fray, hauled up on deck, and in spite of his offer of a huge ransom was summarily executed by one Stephen Crabbe, who cut his head off there and then. The head was put on a spear and marched around Canterbury and Dover. The Battle of Sandwich was the turning point for Louis, whose grab for England was now doomed. Indeed, the English ended up gaining The Channel Islands when the conflict was finally resolved. (http://www.information-britain.co.uk/famdates.php?id=588)

Illustration of the naval battle of Sandwich in 1217 by the English monk and chronicler Matthew Paris (c.1250). On the left, English bishops bless the English fleet, saying: “I absolve those who are about to die for the liberation of England.” In the center we see an English archer shooting a bag filled with quick-lime and a second man flinging a pot, again presumably filled with quick-lime, at the French, as an English sailor lashes the two ships together with a grappling hook. On the right, Matthew Paris depicts the hand-to-hand fighting aboard the French ship during which Eustace the Pirate, commander of the French fleet was beheaded (far right). Corpus Christi College Cambridge MS 16, fol. 52 r.

Catalan 120-oared galley (late 13th cent) Length: 43 meters Beam: 5 meters “Depiction of a 120 oared galley, which was the largest type deployed by the fleet. Unlike their opponents, these galleys had raised forecastles and poops from which the dreaded Catalan crossbowmen could shoot down on their adversaries. The admiral's galley was traditionally painted red.” Lawrence Mott Lawrence Mott (http://websrv5.sdu.dk/mott/warsicilianvespers/warofthevespers/fleetships.html

Standard Catalan galley and barca (late 13th century) “An painted tablita of a standard galley for Mediterranean fleets. This type of vessel had only a low forecastle and carried between 104 and 112 oars, 108 oared vessels being the most common. They … were used for virtually every type of duty.” length (108 oar galley): 39.5m beam: 4.6m (maximum), 3m at waterline draft: 1.5 m freeboard: .55m “The workhorse of the fleet was the barca, which was a large boat or ship's barge with 18 to 22 oars. These barges could be attached to a 120 oared galley or operate alone. They were sometimes used for scouting, but mainly served to transport supplies, men or even siege engines. They operated with the fleet or in coast waters and were generally not sent on missions in the open sea. “ length: 12.4 m beam: 2.1 m Lawrence Mott http://websrv5.sdu.dk/mott/warsicilianvespers/warofthevespers/fleetships.html

Medieval Arsenal (Barcelona) “One of the best examples of a medieval naval arsenal still in existence is the Museu Maritím at Barcelona. Typical of the arsenals of the period, it is made of a series of long sheds under which the galleys could be stored and repaired. The arsenal at Barcelona was first mentioned in 1255 and from then it was continually expanded and modified into the 18th century. Muntaner in his chronicle believed the proper arsenal should be able to house 20 galleys. The sheds were important, not only for protecting the shipwrights and workers, but also for preventing fresh water collecting in the vessels which could lead to dry rot.” Lawrence Mott http://websrv5.sdu.dk/mott/warsicilianvespers/warofthevespers/arsenals.html

Flemish galley,1445 Length on the deck: 121.06 feet Breadth 20.11 feet Height 9.0 feet The Book of Michael of Rhodes http://dibinst.mit.edu/DIBNER/Rhodes/life_writing.html

Lepanto 1571 (galley warfare in the age of the gun)

Medieval cogs (late 13th century) “To illustrate the quickly increasing size of the ships we can look at the Hanseatic notes in the Lübecker Zollrolle of 1227. The ships were divided in three classes: Under 5 lasten (under 10 tons) 5-12 lasten (10-24 tons) More than 12 lasten (more than 24 tons) In a similar document from 1358 there were two classes: Under 60 lasten (- 120 tons) More than 60 lasten (120 tons)” From website by Per Åkesson, January 1999 www.abc.se/~pa/mar/cog.htm Dudszus, Henriot, Krumley : Das grosse Buch der Schiffstypen, Transpress VEB Verlag, Berlin 1987,

Battle of Sluys Coin depicting cog warship (1340)

Naos and Carracks (15th and early 16th Centuries) A carrack or nao was a three- or four-masted sailing ship developed in the Mediterranean in the fifteenth century. Characteristics: high rounded stern with an aftercastle and a forecastle; a bowsprit at the stem; square-rigging on the foremast and mainmast; and lateen-rigging on the mizzenmast.

The Battle of Sluys (1340) late 14th century and 15th century ms depictions

Naval Battles (late 15th-century manuscripts)

Pintle-and-gudgeon rudder of the Hanseatic league flagship Adler von Lübeck (1567-1581), the largest ship in the world at its time

The Mary Rose (built 1509-11; sunk 1545) The Mary Rose was an English warship, one of the earliest designed to fire its cannons broadside Ordnance: 78 guns (91 after an upgrade in 1536). Displacement: 500 tons (700 tons after 1536) Dimensions: 38.5 m long and 11.7 m abeam Crew complement: 200 sailors, 185 soldiers, and 30 gunners.