Research question: Resources for period watercraft?

[gem]

I've bookmarked a couple of older threads, but wanted to post a new call for information. I'm looking for resources--books, particularly, and anything with really good pictures--on 16th century boats and ships, especially small craft for inland river travel, and seagoing merchant vessels.

Anything to recommend?

Gramercy!!

[Barret]

Don't know much about the inland vessels, but I do know that the 16th century saw the coming of the Galleons which replaced other ship types, (primarily the 15th century carrak) as both the standard men-of-war and merchant vessel. The main difference between the Galleons and previous large ships is the absence of a raised fore-castle. In the 16th century sailing maneuverability and the ability to sale closer to the wind (more upwind) over took the desire to prevent boarding from the bow and other concerns that had led to the expansion of the fore-castle, due to this the galleon design was developed as a more maneuverable sailing vessel that removes the large forecastle and replaces it with a low forecastle or no forecastle at all. Because the forecastle caught a lot of wind in front of the masts it made it very hard to sail close to the wind, the boat was constantly being pushed leeward, with the removal of the forecastle galleons were able to sale much closer to the wind.

Galleons were actually not Spanish ships, this is a common miss conception. The design of galleons was actually pioneered by an English trader and after posting his finding to the naval board was adopted by the English navy as well. It is believed that the use of the more maneuverable galleons helped the English defeat the Spanish Armada.

Generally the ships of the day are not the super sized vessels of the 17th and 18th century, those developed out of the trade with the east indies when speed was not of much concern and gross tonnage and livability were much more important.
Also it is important to remember that ships were a very expensive proposition then as they are today and they often were sailed until sunk, meaning that even in the 16th century you would find lots of ships in the designs more common to the 15th century and before. These older ships would also be retrofitted to keep up with modern sailing technology and thought creating franken-ships that don't truly fit into any specific category.

If you are looking for specifics for a project let me know what area of the world, under what flag, and for what purpose, the ships you want information on would be sailing and I will see what I can come up with. I get pretty into maritime history so would be happy to help you research.

[gem]

Wow, Barret, thanks so much!

This is research for my upcoming novel (I'm an author), which is historical fantasy set in the equivalent of the late 16th century (although, as you said, I am flexible here, so anything of the Renaissance era will work fine). I am specifically interested in the sorts of craft English or Italian sailors would have used--so something like the biggest ships to sail up the Thames to London, as well as any much smaller boats such as the type that would have been used on the canals in Venice.

Does that narrow it down? I need everyday-use boats that ordinary people might have used/hired for transport around the city, as well as decent-sized, ocean-going merchant vessels (or possibly slave ships?).

Thanks!

[Barret]

I had written a long reply, but then I accidentally closed the window. So here goes remembering what I had written.

London: Originally the home port of the His Majesty's Navy, they were based at the Tower of London as of there formation by Kind Henry VII. Also was a major economic trading port likely with ships from near and far bringing goods to the rich markets of London. It is probable that most ship types common in that day would have been seen at one point in London. Interesting the RN is typically more associated with Portsmouth on the Southern Coast, probably due to its more strategic location. As for largest ships, I think anything from that time period could make it up the Thames, large keels hadn't really become popular and most ships had a shallow drought and weren't that long compared to today's ships.

Venice: The 16th century was the heyday for Gondolas, they are more or less unchanged in design sense them. During the 16th century they were the main mode of transport for goods and people throughout the city and it is estimated that about 10,000 were in service. The only real difference is that the older gondolas appear to be more ornately decorated, but this may be due to only the nice one surviving while the working Gondolas got damaged or destroyed. Like London Venice was a major seaport an this is what enable the arts to thrive in the renaissance period, with easy access to incoming goods, and outgoing ships, the artists could perfect their craft and sell there wares anywhere, using the money to buy goods as them came in.

In general nationality is not that important when looking at ships, particularly in this period. While different nationalities did have their preferences for design, this was before the typical broadside to broadside method of ship to ship combat was common. Most ships of the period were lightly armed in terms of cannons, and instead relied on boarding combat. This lead to many more ships being captured then sunk, so ships changed hands often. Even after heavy cannons and broadside fighting became more common, due to the expenses and time related to build a ship it was always more desirable for a captain to capture a ship and bring it in as a prize. The capturing of prizes was actually an important consideration for captains looking to move up in the ranks of the Royal Navy, not to mention make some money, sense they "sold" the prizes to the state and got to keep a portion of the proceeds for themselves.

As for more specific information on large boats of the day I recommend this website http://www.thepirateking.com/ships/ship_types.htm They have information on any sailing ship type I can think of right now, and from what I can tell is pretty accurate. Not the most in depth but it gives an overview and a picture. Of particular interest to you I would think are the Galleon, Caravel, and Carrack as well as the Saettia, Pinque, Nao and Galley. On the page they are arranged alphabetically, so it should be easy to look those up. Hope this helps