Naval Architecture (History)

RELACIONES INTERCOLONIALES Nueva España y Filipinas, (coordinador Jaime Olveda Legaspi), COLJAL, 2017. Ivan Valdez-Bubnov "El navío de 70 cañones de González Cabrera Bueno (1734): ¿Un modelo tecnológico propio de la carrera de Filipinas?, pp- 63-88.

In ogni tempo, nell'antichità come nella più recente tradizione marinaresca, l'arte della navigazione condensa quel complesso di conoscenze e di capacità specifiche con cui i naviganti guidano il corso della nave. La straordinaria sensibilità di percezione degli elementi naturali, la perfetta conoscenza del comportamento della propria imbarcazione, insomma quello che viene definito a ragione il "senso marino" dei naviganti, costituiscono insieme al sapere pratico, acquisito con l'esperienza, i più importanti istrumenti nautici che l'uomo abbia mai avuto, strumenti che hanno consentito di collegare regolarmente tutte le sponde e le isole del Mediterraneo molti secoli prima che fossero introdotte la bussola magnetica e le carte nautiche.

Stefano Medas

Anno di Edizione: 2004
Edizione: L'ERMA di BRETSCHNEIDER
Collane:
Studia Archaeologica, 132
ISBN: 9788882652784
Rilegatura: Brossura
Pagine: 244
Formato: 17 x 24 cm

The purpose of this study is to understand the political, social, economic and military factors that shaped the evolution of Spanish shipbuilding for the Acapulco-Manila trade route under the Habsburg and Bourbon dynasties (1571-1815). It focuses on the main variables that affected the size of the trans-Pacific galleons, on the objectives of the Spanish crown's shipbuilding legislation, and on the methods used by Spanish colonial administrators to mobilize human and material resources in the Philippines. It discusses the role of the religious orders in the functioning of this industry, particularly in opposing the negative social consequences of shipbuilding. It also details the administrative reforms that shaped the development of this industry during the eighteenth century, which sought to limit the exploitation of the local workforce by transferring executive powers from local government officials and encomenderos to the friars. Finally, it also discusses the measures implemented by the Bourbon regime to increase its control over the functioning of the shipyards, particularly during the late eighteenth century. Although this article focuses on the construction of the largest ships launched from the Philippine shipyards, its conclusions can be extended to other types of vessels built by the Spanish administration in the archipelago during this period.

The volume is the publication of the proceedings of the international colloquium ‘La batellerie égyptienne’ (The Egyptian River Craft) held in Alexandria in June 2010. Organized by the Centre d’Études Alexandrines, the event brought together many renowned researchers, French-speaking in the majority, working in the field of ancient shipbuilding and navigation.

A lo largo de su historia el Imperio romano tuvo que hacer frente a numerosas revueltas, debido al enorme territorio que controlaba. De entre los pueblos que las protagonizaron, los hebreos se contaban entre los que con mayor insistencia lucharon por recuperar su independencia. En cuanto a los diversos conflictos que enfrentaron a judíos y romanos, la que, a la postre, seria recordada como la Primera Guerra Judeo-romana (66-73 d.C.) pasó a la historia como el más importante de todos. Ello se debe tanto a que requirió de la participación de dos futuros emperadores al mando de las tropas romanas que debían restablecer la paz en la provincia de Judea, Vespasiano y su hijo Tito, como al hecho de que la ciudad de Jerusalén y el Gran Templo que albergaba acabaron completamente destruidos.

En el año 66 d.C. numerosos factores se unieron al odio que sectores radicales hebreos sentían hacia sus conquistadores romanos, provocando la caída del procurador de Judea, Gesio Floro, y la derrota del Legado de Siria, Cestio Galo, en Beth Horón, quien acudió con sus tropas a pacificar la región sin conseguirlo. El movimiento fue cobrando fuerza tras estos éxitos, y Jerusalén se convirtió en el epicentro del independentismo judío. Roma no podía permanecer pasiva ante estos acontecimientos y Nerón envió allí a Vespasiano, un general experimentado, para acabar de una vez por todas con el problema. La resistencia implacable que demostraron los rebeldes y los problemas políticos que, durante ese tiempo, se produjeron en Roma, provocaron que la conquista final quedara en manos de su capaz hijo Tito quien, a la postre, consiguió conquistar Jerusalén y acabar con la revuelta. El gran triunfo que se celebró en Roma para conmemorar la victoria era lo que la nueva dinastía Flavia necesitaba para afianzar su poder. Sin embargo, la campaña no finalizó hasta el año 73 d.C., tras la toma de la fortaleza de Masada, donde los últimos insurrectos prefirieron suicidarse antes de ser derrotados. El enfrentamiento se saldaría con una enorme pérdida de vidas, tanto entre los soldados romanos como entre los insurrectos judíos y la población civil. Gracias a la obra de Flavio Josefo, podemos reconstruir lo sucedido para poder así conocer con detalle uno de los grandes episodios de la Historia Antigua.

This paper will present an unpublished document preserved in the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana in Venice and datable to the second half of the sixteenth century. It deals the technical description of two ships, a galleon and a naveta. The latter ship, which is defined in the text as a chosa moderna (modern thing), bears the date 1567. This anonymous document belongs to the Venetian tradition of technical manuscript on shipbuilding. This paper will present the transcription of the text, a brief description of its contents, and an attempt to identify its author.

En el S. XVI mares y océanos se habían convertido en ajetreadas zonas de paso, confrontación, exploración, etc. por las que pululaban armadas, corsarios, piratas, comerciantes y aventureros tanto de coronas europeas como de reinos norteafricanos y orientales. La corona española centraba su interés en controlar las rutas comerciales, puertos, etc. tanto en las Américas como en el Mediterráneo y Norte de España, para proteger esos mercados tanto de la flota Otomana y los berberiscos en el Mediterráneo como de corsarios y demás enemigos en el Atlántico y pacifico, lo cual determino el sistema naval y defensivo que iba a emplear el imperio.

Los numerosos rasgos sorprendentes de los templos griegos antiguos se entienden como algo natural si suponemos que los templos proceden de barcos de guerra reales, no metafóricos, volteados y varados sobre soportes (hay suficientes paralelos etnográficos de esta práctica). Además de algún indicio en las fuentes literarias y en el vocabulario, el argumento definitivo que sostiene esta afirmación es la comparación entre los penteconteros de la época geométrica y los templos dóricos y jónicos: la forma del entablamento en su conjunto, el aspecto de ventana de las metopas, los escudos que cuelgan en el arquitrabe, la sutil curvatura longitudinal, el tamaño de los templos y la distribución de su interior, su simetría axial, la creación de la perístasis, el número y distribución de las columnas, la éntasis, la ubicación de las esculturas y de la estatua de culto principal... La estatua principal procede del ancla sagrada, que se usó como proyectil en las batallas navales en el mar Egeo antes de la invención del espolón; esta práctica se puede rastrear en muchas leyendas heroicas. Los templos griegos son, más que edificios, esculturas en piedra de barcos varados que proclaman la familiaridad de los griegos con el mar y su dominio, su talasocracia.

The Swedish warship Mars was considered to have been one of the largest ships in the world when it exploded and sank in 1564. The problem is that no written accounts clearly reveal its dimensions. This article reviews how different researchers have discussed the size of Mars in the past. It also aims to shed new light on this topic by using information from the archaeological survey carried out at the wreck site since 2011. Even if the result is approximate it clearly shows that Mars was indeed an impressively large ship by sixteenth century standards, but not as large as many previous researchers have thought.

Evidence for Ancient Egyptian boatbuilding during the Late Period (664-332 BC) is very scarce and thus the description of Herodotus (“Histories” II.96, c.450 BC) of the local Egyptian boat called “baris” is of great interest. Different translations of this fragment caused much debate. Excavations by the European Institute of Underwater Archaeology in Egypt allowed locating over sixty shipwrecks in the harbour area and channels of the submerged city of Thonis-Heracleion and at least eighteen of them are dated to the Late Period. The construction of shipwreck 17 has been studied during three excavation seasons (2009-2011) and it shows many parallels with the description of Herodotus. This ressemblance starts with the construction material and continues with both longitudinal and transversal structure of the ship as well as with its steering and propulsion system. Shipwreck 17 provides new data that allows not only to consider in detail the construction of this ship but also to propose some general conclusions on the constructional principles and methods characteristic to the Late Period many of which remain unique to the Ancient Egyptian boatbuilding tradition. A three-dimensional modeling of this ship gives an opportunity to make an estimate of its technical characteristics.

Tipi navali nei Regesti marittimi croati del XVIII secolo


La presentazione espone tutti i tipi di navi con cui si viaggiava nel Mare Adriatico nel corso del XVIII secolo. L’analisi parte dalle fonti dei Regesti marittimi croati, voll. I-II, Settecento, compilati da Nikola Čolak, che raccolgono circa 12.000 documenti di entrate ed uscite dei bastimenti da vari porti adriatici: Trieste, Venezia, Ancona, Fano, Otranto su una sponda, e Parenzo, Rovigno, Cherso, Zara, Spalato, Lesina, Curzola, Ragusavecchia, Castelnuovo, Cattaro, Budua, Scutari, Durazzo, Valona ed altri ancora sull’altra.
Dall’analisi risultano più di sessanta vari tipi navali dalle cui caratteristiche è possibile ricostruire un vivissimo commercio giornaliero e settimanale non solo fra le due sponde (per quanto riguarda i bastimenti di minor portata quali i trabaccoli, pieleghi, tartane, brazzere, polacche, grippi ecc.) ma anche un commercio fuori dal Golfo, verso Livorno, l’Olanda, l’Inghilterra ed il Nuovo Mondo, oppure verso il ben più antico e conosciuto Levante (con bastimenti di grande portata quali le navi, fregate, fregatoni, marciliane, urche e talvolta pure galeoni).
Le caratteristiche tecniche, le portate delle navi, i loro stessi nomi ci aprono plasticamente e visualmente mondi e “porti di mare” ancora vividi il cui intenso vissuto è tutt’oggi parte integrante del nostro vivere, sapere e conoscersi a vicenda.


Parole chiave: bastimenti, Settecento, Adriatico, trabaccolo, pielego, tartana, brazzera, polacca, grippo, fregata, fregatone, marciliana, urca, nave, galeone

The article gives preliminary information on the shipwrecks of the submerged Egyptian city of Heracleion-Thonis excavated by the European Institute of Underwater Archaeology (IEASM). Underwater surveys started in 1996 in the Bay of Abukir allowed determining the outline of the submerged Canopic region, the circumstances and chronology of its submersion. From the 8th century B.C.E., this town was the custom and border post, and the emporion which controlled access to the Canopic channel, traded with the Greek regions and supervised foreign ships. More than sixty ships dating from the 6th to the 2nd centuries B.C.E. were discovered in the port regions and in the canals of the city bringing evidence on the intense maritime and fluvial activity in this coastal region. Initial analysis of the distribution of the ships of Heracleion-Thonis and some observations on their constructional peculiarities and on the choice of the building material is proposed. Ship 17 of Heracleion-Thonis is the first vessel to be excavated and is thoroughly analysed in the PhD thesis of A.Belov entitled ‘Studies of the Egyptian naval architecture of the Late Period. New archaeological evidence and an attempt at a 3D reconstruction’, which will be examined at the University of Bordeaux in autumn 2013. The ship shows many similarities with the description by Herodotus of the Egyptian river-going ship ‘baris’ (Histories, 2.96, c.450 BC).

A sea route is more than a simple path between obstacles formed by Nature.
Harbour installations, fortifications, customs offices, and umpteen other
expressions of material culture formed the architecture of the sea routes – an
architecture that underwent a significant remake in the fifteenth and sixteenth
centuries. This essay looks at how the Swedish state took control of the natural
landscape along the sea routes into Stockholm and transformed them.

In this dissertation, I argue against the conventional view that economic activity during the Archaic Period of Greek history (8th c. to the early 5th c. BCE) was a by-product of broader social and political developments, but instead constituted an essential element in the transformation of the Greek world. I examine the contemporary literary sources (the Homeric epics and the poetry of Hesiod and Theognis) as well as the material record (shipwrecks, ceramics) in which I identify the outlines of an ideological struggle between the traditional landed nobility and an emerging class of free, landholding farmers that centered on establishing norms for economic activity favorable to the respective groups. Meanwhile, the archaeological evidence demonstrates the existence and growth of sophisticated distribution networks that were capable of responding to specific regional consumer demands, as well as communicating consumer preferences to producers who in turn altered their production strategies in response to those demands. Ultimately, these conditions presented opportunities for the acquisition of wealth by previously marginalized groups, who then leveraged their newfound wealth to bring about changes to the prevailing power structure; the expansion of maritime trade in this period broke the monopolistic control of resources by the traditional landed nobility and led to a more egalitarian distribution of wealth, which in turn contributed to a shift in the balance of power that was a central element in the growth of democracy and the rise of the polis. Consequently, no examination of archaic Greek history would be complete without a fuller appreciation of the powerful impact of expanding maritime trade in the broader transformation of Greek society during the Archaic Period.

In 2005 and 2006 the remains of great armed vessels dated from the 16th century were discovered within an archaeological survey framework led by the Société d'Etudes en Archéologie Subaquatique (SEAS) in Saint-Florent Bay (north Corsica, France). The preliminary study of the two archaeological sites located, named Mortella II and Mortella III, sheds light on these highly interesting shipwrecks and the contribution their excavation-programmed for 2010-will be able to provide to the maritime archaeology of this period, about which relatively little is known.

This article complements the archaeological account of the so‐called ‘Edesö Wreck’ with archival research that has led to its identification. In 1659 the Swedish King Karl X Gustav ordered a number of vessels for transport of horses and soldiers while at war with Denmark. The king died just a few months later, the war with Denmark was aborted, and the unfinished vessels were rebuilt to serve other purposes. One of these was Bodekull, built under English master shipwright Thomas Day between 1659 and 1661. In October 1678 Bodekull sank in the Stockholm archipelago. Alterations made during construction mentioned in written sources have been noted on the wreck and strengthen the argument for the identification.

The paper describes the pilot activity conducted in the contest of BLUEMED project to create an interactive virtual scenario of the underwater site of the Peristera Shipwreck. The wreck lies just off the coast of Peristera, an uninhabited island located at about half nautical mile from Alonissos (Northern Sporades), at a depth of about 22-28 meters. The applied methodology, based on the combined use of optical and acoustic technologies, enables the chance to provide a high-quality digital 3D reconstruction of large-scale and complex underwater scenarios. This digital model represents the starting key element from which a Virtual Reality (VR) system has been developed. The VR system will be accessible to the general public, as well as researchers and archaeologists, inside a Knowledge Awareness Center located in the town of Alonissos

The paper deals with the discovery of an unpublished project by means of a surface assault boat in the Archive of the Historical Office of the Italian Navy. Made in January 1915, the project predates Italy’s entry into the First World War and testifies to the early interest of the Royal Italian Navy for unconventional naval assault operations which in 1918 led to the forcing of the Austro-Hungarian port of Pula in the Adriatic Sea. The project is examined in detail and compared with contemporary projects for other and more well-known types of surface assault boats, in particular with those of anti-submarine motorboats (MAS) wanted by the chief of staff of the Italian Navy of the time, the vice admiral Paolo Thaon di Revel. In parallel, the project is also considered as a fundamental anticipation of what was subsequently achieved from 1939 onwards with the surface and underwater assault boats always used by the Italian Navy during the Second World War in the Mediterranean and in the Black Sea.

This study focuses on the construction of the
largest ship produced in the new shipyard in
Belém, the Ship of the line Nossa Senhora de
Belém e S. José (1766-1805) by the shipbuilder
Luís Isidoro de Gouveia, whose history is closely
linked to the creation of Pará’s Arsenal. With
the publication of these new data, both documentary
and iconographic, it is intended to
bring new light to the study the study of Naval
Construction in the eighteenth century and in
particular, to the Arsenal of Belém do Pará.

Este trabajo analiza la problemática habida durante el reinado de Felipe II en torno a la jefatura de la maestranza de la fábrica de galeras de Barcelona. En pleno auge en la lucha contra los musulmanes por el control del Mediterráneo, el rey –a instancia de sus capitanes–, decidió apostar por las galeras hechas al estilo genovés en detrimento del catalán. Esto –junto a otros factores–, ocasionó un conflicto en las atarazanas que se acrecentó a medida en que el escenario mediterráneo perdía fuelle al concentrar la Monarquía sus fuerzas y recursos en el Atlántico.

This volume presents the results of the analysis of the Princes Channel Wreck, a 16th-century merchant vessel, later to be termed the Gresham Ship, a working name assigned to the wreck after the English merchant and financier Sir Thomas Gresham, the owner of the gun foundry which produced one of the guns found on board. As yet, little is known about the voyages this ship undertook in its lifetime or the events that led to its loss in the Thames Estuary, but its final journey, from excavation to its current and hopefully last resting place, was certainly long and adventurous. Between 2004 and 2012 the wreck travelled from the Port of London Authority docks in Gravesend to Horsea Lake in Portsmouth and later to the Stoney Cove National Diving Centre in Leicestershire. This journey is also reflected in the long and just as adventurous process of analysis and finally publication. The current volume is the result of a series of field schools and surveys, university courses and student pr...

This monograph was written for the Maritime Archaeological Association of New Zealand (MAANZ) and the Friends of the Cerberus in order to promote the preservation of this historic vessel.  The monograph examines the significance of the Cerberus and her history, including all the efforts made to date to preserve the ship.

During the sixteenth century the polarized Mediterranean Sea was populated like never before with galleys, which became the main instrument for waging the war. The Christian-Muslim confrontation, led by the Hispanic Monarchy and the Ottoman Empire, in the middle of the century was clearly being in favour of the Sublime Porte. Philip II’s accession to the throne in 1556, settles a before and after in the way of warfare in the Mediterranean by the Monarchy, which goes from a «terrestrial» system focused on presidios and fortifications, to a «maritime» one based on building a large fleet of galleys, which happens to be administered directly by the sovereign. From the 1560s the shipyards of different kingdoms of the Monarchy carried on a feverish constructive activity, in which the arsenal of Barcelona was the main one. This study aims to approach the Royal Shipyard of Barcelona and the galleys that were made there, against the background of the events of 1565: The expected but secretive attack from a large Ottoman fleet was finally in the strategic island of Malta which in May started to be under siege.

The remains of a Roman barge were found in 1981 in the River Stella, Udine, Italy. Its cargo consisted mainly of roof tiles. It was excavated in 1998 and 1999, and detailed recording of the hull, and a second wooden structure, was achieved in 2011. A spread of material upstream of the wreck has been investigated 2012–2015. The barge was originally dated to the first quarter of the 1st century AD by the in situ cargo. This article describes the bottom-based sewn-plank hull construction and examines it in the light of local boatbuilding traditions. The second wooden structure is also described, along with recent finds and new dating evidence from the dispersed material. The Stella 1 excavation was part of the Anaxum Project, a wider study of the Stella River's cultural landscape through time.

Bosham, a quiet waterside village, five miles to the west of Chichester was, during the early to mid-11th century, the largest naval port in the country.  The evidence is overwhelming with both the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles and the Bayeux Tapestry offering undisputable support.  Unfortunately, due to a lack of archaeological finds, both the physical layout of the facility and its precise geographical location remains unknown.  However, there are a number of clues that, once put together, offer several very likely possibilities.

Research in the Swedish military archives has revealed the identity of the 'Edesö Wreck' as the Bodekull belonging to the Swedish navy. The vessel was one of around 45 struss vessels ordered by King Karl X Gustav in 1659 to be used to transport troops and horses between the Danish isles. As a consequence of the king's sudden death in January 1660 and the end of the war against Denmark, the semi-finished purpose-built invasion fleet was rebuilt into vessels for which the navy had better use. It is still possible, however, to trace the original design of the vessel through the preserved hull structure.

"For the reconstruction of the military Mycenaean world scarcely
we possess the information extracted from diverse slats written in Linear B, as well as the remains of some pictorial representations and scanty archaeological remains extracted from warriors' diverse tombs. It is for it that the reconstruction of this important aspect inside the Mycenaean culture is not simple, and in this respect it turns out very interesting to manage to raise approximations as the one that occupies us. Across the analysis of few remains which we possess,It occupies. Across the analysis of few remains which we possess, authors of John Chadwick's taya have proposed interesting theories on the Mycenaean systems of defense and, in this case, we will try to approach each other the system that could be used in Pilo's accession."