Roman Warship Reconstruction and Plans

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All you need to know to scratch build a Roman Warship: https://www.academia.edu/30405668/W...ADI_ISLANDS_241_B_C_pdf?email_work_card=title


WARSHIPS OF THE FIRST PUNIC WAR: AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION AND CONTRIBUTORY RECONSTRUCTION OF THE EGADI 10 WARSHIP FROM THE BATTLE OF THE EGADI ISLANDS (241 B.C.) by Mateusz Polakowski April, 2016 Director of Thesis: Dr. David J. Stewart Major Department: Program in Maritime Studies of the Department of History Oared warships dominated the Mediterranean from the Bronze Age down to the development of cannon. Purpose-built warships were specifically designed to withstand the stresses of ramming tactics and high intensity impacts. Propelled by the oars of skilled rowing crews, squadrons of these ships could work in unison to outmaneuver and attack enemy ships. In 241 B.C. off the northwestern coast of Sicily, a Roman fleet of fast ramming warships intercepted a Carthaginian warship convoy attempting to relie
ve Hamilcar Barca’s besieged
troops atop Mount Eryx (modern day Erice). The ensuing naval battle led to the ultimate defeat of the Carthaginian forces and an end to the First Punic War (264

241 B.C.). Over the course of the past 12 years, the Egadi Islands Archaeological Site has been under investigation producing new insights into the warships that once patrolled the wine dark sea. The ongoing archaeological investigation has located Carthaginian helmets, hundreds of amphora, and 11 rams that sank during the course of the battle. This research uses the recovered Egadi 10 ram to attempt a conjectural reconstruction of a warship that took part in the battle.
 
Academia.edu has all kinds of information- takes a some digging to find exactly what you want, but well worth it!
 
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Not sure it is quite all you need to know - much of it is just about the ram, as the bit of the ship recovered. Underwater archeology is hampered by the way even a flooded Graeco-Roman warship still floated, rather than leaving a wreck on the sea floor.

The best known reconstruction of an ancient Graeco-Roman warship is Coates and Morrison's work on the 5th century Greek Trireme culminating in the full size replica Olympias, completed and tested in a far more thoroughly researched way than say Heyerdahl's earlier ancient vessels.

I think Olympias' failure to meet known ancient performance shows we still have much unknown...

Going tangential, about the Greek Trireme as the distant ancestor of the vessel, some wild not overly informed guesses for a 5th century Trireme reconstruction;

- the hypozomata rope may not have only been used to stop fore and aft hogging but may have also provided light weight lateral structural strength in tension - which would explain the length of it in ancient records.

- there may have been no central aisle, rowers walking on seats to enter and exit, and the vessel could accordingly have been narrower with an increased fineness ratio.

End tangent :)
 
There were some galleys excavated at Yenikapi- the write ups are still circulating as archaeology grey literature, but can be found.Two of these are YK2 and YK4.
 
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There some fascinating findings from the Yenkapi vessels - both galleys / galea and merchants.

I’m certainly no expert about them - someone on here may be?

I think there were 6 warships?

From the older information to hand
YK 13 690-890 AD and
YK16 720-890 AD
were best preserved.

YK 2, 4, and 25 dated to the 10th century AD.

I can’t in quick googling see any date for the very poorly preserved YK36.

Unlike mid second century BC warships from the Punic war, these Byzantine warships all
-had a single level of oarsmen,
- were denser than water, (of course, why they were preserved).

So- being 800-1100 years after the Punic war and another 160-200 years after the classic Greek Trireme - they are of course fascinatingly different designs.

When I then consider the once again quite different Mediterranean galleys from a further 5-600 years on, with their multiple rowers per oar on steps, it is quite fascinating to think of the different forms ships can take over time to do similar jobs - even within the same geographic area and developing culture.
 
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