1. The method of "clinker-construction" of ship plates, that is, the ship plates overlap, while the Mediterranean ship is "Creville-construction", and the ship plates are spliced smoothly, so the surface is smooth.
In the 8th century, Viking ships began to develop into sailboats. In a series of sculptures left on the Gotland Islands in Sweden, it has been found that the sail is not a small piece of cloth, but a complete square sail with red and blue ribbons painted on its surface, which has become a dazzling symbol. The bottom of the sail is tied loosely and there is no cross beam. Since the end of the 8th century, Vikings have been sailing to the sea in all directions. They migrated widely and were excellent maritime nations in the world at that time. In England, they are called Danes, and in Frank and Italy, they are called Nuo boats, which are deep and high, and may be troop carriers.
According to the analysis of various hull materials, Norman ship has the following characteristics. Most of these features were formed in the Needham Ship Age, and some of them were further developed and appeared in the 9th century to12nd century.
1. The hull is a long ship, but the middle part is much wider than the long ship in the southern Mediterranean. The head and tail of a ship are almost symmetrical, both pointed and high from the sea, so they are called double-headed ships. As a whole, the hull is a smoothly curved line, from the high bow to the middle near circle and then to the high stern. Elegant curve, head and tail are like snake dragons, and you can go to the head and tail in distress.
2. The motive force is mainly navigation, but also paddling. "There is one or at most two masts with longitudinal sails", and the masts generally stand in the center. For example, the mast of the Gostad ship stands on a hard stone in the center that looks like a fish, and has a mast. In order to resist the strong wind in the northern seas, the square sails (single sails) set on Viking ships are generally made of leather or cloth and leather strips. The ship is also designed with a sail foot rope, which can affect the windward side of the sail, so that the ship can still sail before the wind in the case of crosswind. A special device with a fixed paddle. For example, there are 16 paddle holes on each side of the Gostad ship, which pass through the upper side of the ship's side and look like keyhole. When sailing without paddles, the paddle holes are covered with sliding shuttle plugs to prevent water from entering. There is also a cover plate on the paddle, which is removed when rowing.
3. The ship bottom and shell plate are unique in structure. There is a keel at the bottom of the boat, and there are two ways for the ribs to pass through: a gondola with invisible keel and a pointed bottom boat with protruding keel. Both kinds of ships have their own uses. Sharp-bottomed ships are thinner and have good seakeeping, which is the advantage of Nordic ships over Mediterranean ships and the main ship type of Normans. But gondolas are easy to climb on the beach, which is suitable for Normans to get involved in inland rivers when invading other places, so they are also very common. The hull plates are connected into a whole by tower connection. For example, on Gostad's boat, each board is made of oak with a thickness of 465,438+0 cm. The eight boards at the bottom are fixed on the ribs by binding, instead of being tied with nails, which increases the elasticity and flexibility and reduces the pressure on the ship at sea. The ship still has no deck, so Norman navigation is basically open-air. It is said that William of Normandy used this ship when he conquered England in 1066. One of the five ships in Copenhagen mentioned above has an empty cabin.
4. Use rudder propeller. The rudder propeller is very long and installed on the right side of the stern, reaching below the bottom of the keel, which can maintain stability. The rudder propeller is controlled by shaking the tiller on the starboard side, which leads to the use of the word "steer-board" to represent the right side of the ship.
According to Engels, it was Norman ships (mainly sharp-bottomed ships) that brought about a comprehensive revolution in navigation technology: "Their ships are stable and strong, with raised keels and sharp bows. Most of them only use the sails of this ship, and they are not afraid of being suddenly attacked by storms in the choppy North Sea. ..... and the Normans sailed this ship on a pirate adventure and arrived in Constantinople in the east and America in the west. The crash of this ship that dared to cross the Atlantic caused a comprehensive revolution in the navigation industry, so before the end of the Middle Ages, all coastal areas in Europe adopted new types of pointed-bottomed seagoing ships. "
From 12 to 14, the northern ships represented by Viking ships have made some new developments. The first is the appearance of the tail rudder, which replaced the rudder paddle in the past. The earliest picture of the stern rudder and tiller was found in a 1200 British city seal, which shows that the original stern rudder was bent to adapt to the stern curve. Later, the stern became straight and the stern rudder was improved. A seal of 1242 in northern Germany shows this point. The use of the stern rudder is helpful for the ship to sail against the wind. With the deepening of the hull, the ship can sail diagonally against the wind. Secondly, the low freeboard of Viking ships also changed after 1 100 years, that is, superstructure was built at the bow and stern, which was called "castle". The fort was originally built for military purposes. At that time, the naval vessels were very close, and when the enemy boarded the ship's waist, the front and rear batteries could play a certain defensive role. Later, it also extended to merchant ships. There are such tall buildings on board, giving people a "top-heavy" appearance. To this end, the forecastle actually became the "sailor's cabin" of the bow. Third, the appearance and evolution of northern merchant ships. Knohl, a merchant ship in the north, has a wider and deeper hull than a long ship, and is the earliest ship in the north that can use headwind. /kloc-In the 4th century, Noel developed into a standard merchant ship, which ruled Northern Europe for 400 years. The famous "cog" ship in the north is actually a copy of it. The Koger ship has a veritable stern rudder to control the direction, a long bowsprit extending forward and a square sail. The hull is particularly strong. 1400 or so, on the basis of the Kege ship, a larger "Hulk" ship appeared in the north.