The largest sailing ship in history. Ship of the line (sailing)

Man began to master the water element a very long time ago. Scientists believe that man invented the first swimming means 50-60 thousand years ago. These were rafts made from bundles of reeds or logs, but this did not stop our desperate ancestors from setting off on such fragile boats to new islands and even continents. In ancient times, the sea did not separate people, but, on the contrary, connected different cultures and civilizations.

Ancient people used the sea for trade, transporting goods, searching for new territories and for war. Very soon the sea became another arena of fierce battles. Already in the ancient world, the first specialized warships appeared, and large-scale naval battles began to take place. The largest of them was the Battle of Salamis between the Persians and Greeks, which took place in the Aegean Sea in 480 BC. e.

In the nineteenth century, a real revolution took place in shipbuilding. If previously all ships (including military ones) moved using wind energy and human muscle power, then they were replaced by steam engines. Wood, the main building material used by shipbuilders since ancient times, was replaced by steel.

In the twentieth century, the rapid development of the navy continued. The first aircraft carriers, submarines, missile and torpedo boats appeared. Currently, the Navy is the most high-tech and most expensive branch of the armed forces.

This material tells about the largest warships in the world. Our rating contains not only modern ships, but also ships built in other historical periods. The main criterion is not only the size of the ship, but also the history of its use and the influence it had on the development of naval affairs. The top 10 includes ships built in different countries: Russia, USSR, USA, Great Britain.

So, top 10: the largest ships in the world.

10. MDKVP "Zubr" (USSR/Russia)

Our ranking of the 10 largest ships opens with a hovercraft. Although this ship bore the official name “small landing ship,” this should not mislead you: the Zubr’s displacement is 555 tons, and its length is more than 57 meters. However, the ship's greatest advantage is its speed, which can reach 60 knots.

The ship was developed in the Soviet Union and entered service in 1988. The Zubr MDKVP can carry three main battle tanks (up to 150 tons) and 140 paratroopers. Today, similar ships are in service with the Russian and Greek navies.

9. Battleship Yamato (Japan)

In ninth place in the top 10 is a Japanese super battleship from the Second World War. Yamato is the largest warship sunk by the enemy. It was launched in 1939. "Yamato" took part in battles in the Pacific Ocean and was destroyed by American aircraft, without having time to fire a single salvo from its main caliber guns.

The dimensions of this ship are truly impressive: length - 263 meters, total displacement - more than 72 thousand tons. It was armed with nine 460 mm main caliber cannons, which could fire at a distance of up to 45 kilometers.

8. Iowa-class battleships

This is a series of American battleships whose construction began before World War II. Today, the battleships of this project are the largest existing ships of their class. A total of four battleships were built, they took part in combat operations in the Pacific Ocean, and then provided support to ground forces during the Korean and Vietnam Wars.

Three battleships have been converted into floating museums, and another is part of the United States Reserve Fleet.

The length of each of these ships is 270 meters, the displacement is more than 57 thousand tons. Artillery armament consists of nine 406 mm guns and twenty 127 mm cannons.

7. Battleship Bismarck (Germany)

In seventh place in the top 10 largest ships is another legendary battleship of World War II - the Bismarck. This ship was the real pride of the Third Reich navy. It was launched in 1939 and had a displacement of more than 50 thousand tons. In terms of its size and caliber of main caliber guns, it was second only to the Yamato and Iowa.

In the first raid, the Bismarck was sunk by the combined forces of the British Royal Navy. However, before this, the German battleship was able to sink the British flagship, the battleship Hood.

6. Linear sailing ship Santisima Trinidad (“Holy Trinity”, Spain)

In sixth place in the top 10 is the Spanish combat sailing ship, which is considered the largest in history. It was built in Cuba in 1769 and was in service with the Spanish Navy for about 35 years.

For its time, the battleship "Holy Trinity" was a real giant. The entire hull, including the planking and deck, was made of very durable and expensive material - Cuban mahogany, and pine from Mexico was used for the masts. The battleship was armed with 140 cannons of various calibers, its displacement was 5 thousand tons, and its crew was 1200 people.

Due to its large size, the ship was very clumsy, but the thickness of the sides of 60 cm made the battleship practically unsinkable. The famous Admiral Nelson repeatedly encountered this ship in battle. The last time this happened was during the Battle of Trafalgar: seven English battleships fought simultaneously with the Spanish battleship, but they were never able to sink it. After the battle was won, the British wanted to tow the giant to Britain, but on the way it sank.

5. Cruiser "Peter the Great" (Russia)

This is the largest of the non-aircraft-carrying ships; it belongs to the series of Project 1114 Orlan ships, the first of which was launched in 1977. "Peter the Great" was adopted by the Russian Navy in 1996.

The Peter the Great's displacement is 25,860 tons, its length is 250 meters, the ship's most formidable weapon is the Granit anti-ship missiles, which can hit the enemy at a distance of 550 km. Currently, the cruiser is the flagship of the Russian Northern Fleet.

4. Project 941 “Akula” submarine (USSR/Russia)

In fourth place in the top 10 is the Project 941 Akula nuclear submarine, armed with strategic ballistic missiles. This submarine was designed back in the Soviet Union, the first boat of this series was launched in 1981.

The Akula submarine cruiser has truly impressive dimensions: length - 172.8 m, underwater displacement - 48 thousand tons. The submarine can dive to a depth of 500 meters. Its crew is 160 people. In addition to torpedo armament, the ship carries 20 R-39 or R-30 Bulava SLBMs. Today the Russian Navy includes three Project 941 submarines.

3. Aircraft-carrying cruiser "Admiral Kuznetsov" (USSR/Russia)

2. Battleship HMS Dreadnought (“Neustrashimy”, UK)

In second place in the top 10 is a ship whose name gave its name to an entire subclass of battleships. Its appearance made a real revolution in naval affairs.

Neustrashimy was launched in 1906. The main difference between this ship and the battleships of that time was the increase in the number of main caliber guns and the abandonment of intermediate caliber guns. This gave the ship significant tactical advantages. In addition, the Dreadnought was the first to use a steam turbine power plant, which provided it with a speed of 21 knots.

After the appearance of this ship, other leading naval powers began to build similar battleships, all of them received the common name “dreadnought”. By the beginning of the First World War, “super-dreadnoughts” armed with even more powerful artillery systems were already plowing the seas.

The displacement of these giant floating airfields is about 100 thousand tons, the length is about 330 meters. All ships in this series are equipped with a nuclear power plant. The take-off deck area is more than 18 thousand square meters. meters. Aircraft carriers of this series can carry up to 90 aircraft and helicopters of various types.

Such a ship alone can decide the outcome of a military conflict with a small country, as the war with Yugoslavia and Iraq clearly demonstrated. Existing anti-ship weapons are practically powerless against such aircraft carriers - only the use of nuclear missiles can destroy this sea monster. Today, Nimitz is truly the rightful owner of the oceans.

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On May 18, 1881, the last sailing ship in the Atlantic Ocean completed its voyage. We decided to remember 9 legendary sailing ships that went down in the history of great voyages and discoveries.

1. "Santa Maria" - a legend of legends, the ship on which America was discovered by Christopher Columbus and his crew. This is a small vessel no more than 25 meters long with four masts and straight sails. The Santa Maria had five sails, which, under favorable conditions, could give it a fairly high speed. It should be noted that the Santa Maria was not the fastest ship, but at the same time it was highly stable, which could be useful during a storm. The last voyage of this semi-mythical sailing ship took place on Christmas Day 1492 - it crashed off the coast of Haiti. But the wreckage of the Maria was not left to rot on the ocean floor, but was used to build a settlement that still exists today. To our greatest regret, not a single image of “Santa Maria” remains, and all photographs and drawings were made either from diary descriptions or from reconstructions.

2. Ship "Victoria" became the first ship in history on which people managed to circumnavigate the globe. The captain of this legendary ship was the no less legendary Ferdinand Magellan - a man who managed to maintain the spirit of his sailors throughout many months of a grueling, unbearable journey. Reliable images of the Victoria have also not been preserved, but researchers believe that this ship had three masts, two rows of straight sails and one oblique sail. The ship, despite the fact that it was intended primarily for research and peaceful purposes, was armed with several dozen cannons to increase safety. Scientists cannot decide on the characteristics of the ship: its mass ranges from 80 to 200 tons.

3. "Golden Doe" , this is an English galleon led by Captain Drake, who was the first to return from a trip around the world after Magellan's voyage. The golden doe spent 2 years and 10 months in the ocean. This ship is unique in that it was the only one that managed to sail through the Strait of Magellan (after Magellan himself). There are several exact copies of the Golden Hind, which are permanently parked in shipbuilding museums.

4. "Endeavour" James Cook - the ship on which this famous navigator made his first trip around the world, pursuing scientific astronomical goals - studying the passage of Venus across the disk of the Sun, as well as for a more thorough study of the southern hemisphere.

5. "Dyfken"- the ship on which Australia was discovered by the European Willem Jans. It was a small ship, about 25-30 meters in length, quite fast (it reached speeds of up to 13 kilometers per hour) and light, designed for a small crew. A replica of the legendary ship is in the Australian Museum and anyone can easily visit it.

6. "Hope" And "Neva"- two small ships that managed to glorify domestic sailors and enter their names into the list of the greatest travelers of the world. It should be noted that both ships were purchased in England, specifically in order to travel around the world. The navigators took this step for the reason that Russia at that time did not have its own shipbuilding industry of the required level, and Russian ships could not withstand such a long voyage. Kruzenshtern, who initiated the journey, and his close friend Lisyansky were appointed captains of the ships.

7. "Galley"- the most famous pirate sailing ship of one of the most cruel and successful sea robbers - Captain Kid. This ship had a displacement of about 300 tons, was equipped with fifty oars and 34 deck guns, which made it a very formidable weapon in the skillful hands of the experienced Captain Kid.

8. "Flying Dutchman" is a ghost ship that has been instilling fear in sailors around the world for several centuries. This is an eternal sea hulk, around which dozens of legends revolve. All the legends, although they differ in plot, are similar in that the ship and crew were cursed for the sins of their captain. Neither the year of construction nor the type of the ship itself is known.

9. "Vasa"- a museum ship, the only sailing ship from our selection that has survived to this day. It was built and put into service in 1628 in Sweden, after which, after floating for about half an hour, it sank safely. The ship was raised from the bottom centuries later, becoming a museum exhibit. At one time, “Vasa” was one of the largest sailing ships, its length reached 65 meters and width 12 meters; for the construction of “Vassa” an entire oak forest (about a thousand trees) was destroyed.

For now, let’s quickly and briefly “run” to the 15th century, and then we’ll discuss the issue in more detail. So let's begin:

The first sailing ships appeared in Egypt around 3000 BC. e. This is evidenced by the paintings decorating ancient Egyptian vases. However, the birthplace of the boats depicted on the vases is apparently not the Nile Valley, but the nearby Persian Gulf. This is confirmed by a model of a similar boat found in the Obeid tomb, in the city of Eridu, which stood on the shores of the Persian Gulf.

In 1969, the Norwegian scientist Thor Heyerdahl made an interesting attempt to test the assumption that a ship equipped with a sail, made from papyrus reeds, could sail not only along the Nile, but also on the open sea. This vessel, essentially a raft, 15 m long, 5 m wide and 1.5 m high, with a 10 m high mast and a single square sail, was steered by a steering oar.

Before the use of wind, floating craft either moved with oars or were pulled by people or animals walking along the banks of rivers and canals. The ships made it possible to transport heavy and bulky cargo, which was much more productive than transporting animals by teams on land. Bulk cargo was also transported primarily by water.

Papyrus vessel

The large naval expedition of the Egyptian ruler Hatshepsut, undertaken in the first half of the 15th century, is historically attested. BC e. This expedition, which historians also consider a trading expedition, traveled across the Red Sea to the ancient country of Punt on the east coast of Africa (roughly modern Somalia). The ships returned heavily laden with various goods and slaves.

When sailing short distances, the Phoenicians used mainly light merchant ships that had oars and a straight rack sail. Vessels designed for long-distance navigation and warships looked much more impressive. Phenicia, unlike Egypt, had very favorable natural conditions for the construction of a fleet: near the coast, on the slopes of the Lebanese mountains, forests grew, dominated by the famous Lebanese cedar and oak, as well as other valuable tree species.

In addition to improving sea vessels, the Phoenicians left another remarkable legacy - the word “galley”, which probably entered all European languages. Phoenician ships set sail from the large port cities of Sidon, Ugarit, Arvada, Gebala, etc., where there were also large shipyards.

Historical materials also speak of the Phoenicians sailing south through the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean. The Phoenicians are credited with the honor of the first voyage around Africa at the end of the 7th century. BC e., i.e. almost 2000 years before Vasco da Gama.

The Greeks already in the 9th century. BC e. They learned from the Phoenicians to build ships that were remarkable for that time and began colonizing the surrounding territories early. In the VIII-VI centuries. BC e. the area of ​​their penetration covered the western shores of the Mediterranean Sea, the entire Pont Euxine (Black Sea) and the Aegean coast of Asia Minor.

Not a single wooden antique ship or part of it has survived, and this does not allow us to clarify the idea of ​​​​the main types of galleys, which has developed on the basis of written and other historical materials. Divers and scuba divers continue to survey the seabed at the sites of ancient naval battles in which hundreds of ships were lost. Their shape and internal structure can be judged by indirect signs - for example, by precise sketches of the location of clay vessels and metal objects preserved where the ship lay. And yet, in the absence of wooden parts of the hull, one cannot do without the help of painstaking analysis and imagination.

The ship was kept on course using a steering oar, which compared to the later rudder had at least two advantages: it made it possible to turn a stationary ship and to easily replace a damaged or broken steering oar. Merchant ships were wide and had ample hold space to accommodate cargo.

The ship is a Greek war galley, approximately 5th century. BC e., the so-called bireme. With rows of oars located on the sides in two tiers, she naturally had greater speed than a ship of the same size with half the number of oars. In the same century, triremes, warships with three “floors” of rowers, also became widespread. A similar arrangement of galleys is the contribution of ancient Greek craftsmen to the design of sea vessels. Military kinkerems were not “long ships”; they had a deck, internal quarters for soldiers and a particularly powerful ram, bound with copper sheets, located in front at water level, which was used to break through the sides of enemy ships during naval battles. The Greeks adopted a similar combat device from the Phoenicians, who used it in the 8th century. BC e.

Although the Greeks were capable, well-trained navigators, sea travel at that time was dangerous. Not every ship reached its destination as a result of either a shipwreck or a pirate attack.
The galleys of ancient Greece plied almost the entire Mediterranean and Black Seas; there is evidence of their penetration through Gibraltar to the north. Here they reached Britain, and possibly Scandinavia. Their voyage routes are shown on the map.

At their first big clash with Carthage (in the First Punic War), the Romans realized that they could not hope to win without a strong navy. With the help of Greek specialists, they quickly built 120 large galleys and transferred to the sea their method of combat, which they used on land - individual combat of warrior against warrior with personal weapons. The Romans used the so-called "crows" - boarding bridges. Along these bridges, which were pierced with a sharp hook into the deck of the enemy ship, depriving it of the ability to maneuver, the Roman legionaries burst onto the enemy deck and started a battle in their characteristic manner.

The Roman fleet, like its contemporary Greek fleet, consisted of two main types of ships: “rounded” merchant ships and slender war galleys

Certain improvements can be noted in sailing equipment. On the main mast (mainmast) a large quadrangular straight sail is retained, which is sometimes supplemented by two small triangular upper sails. A smaller quadrangular sail appears on the forward inclined mast - the bowsprit. Increasing the total area of ​​the sails increased the force used to propel the ship. However, the sails continue to be an additional propulsion device; the main one remains the oars, not shown in the figure.
The importance of the sail, however, undoubtedly increased, especially on long voyages, which took place as far as India. In this case, the discovery of the Greek navigator Hippalus helped: the August southwest and January northeast monsoons contributed to the maximum use of sails and at the same time reliably indicated the direction, much like a compass much later. The road from Italy to India and the return journey, with an intermediate crossing by caravans and ships along the Nile from Alexandria to the Red Sea, lasted about a year. Previously, the rowing journey along the shores of the Arabian Sea was much longer.

During their trading voyages, the Romans used numerous Mediterranean ports. Some of them have already been mentioned, but one of the first places should be Alexandria, located in the Nile Delta, whose importance as a transit point increased as Rome’s trade turnover with India and the Far East grew.

For more than half a millennium, the Viking knights of the high seas kept Europe in fear. They owe their mobility and omnipresence to drakars - true masterpieces of shipbuilding art

The Vikings made long sea voyages on these ships. They discovered Iceland, the southern coast of Greenland, and long before Columbus they visited North America. The inhabitants of the Baltic, Mediterranean and Byzantium saw the snake heads on the stems of their ships. Together with the squads of the Slavs, they settled on the great trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks.

The main propulsion device of the drakar was a rack sail with an area of ​​70 m2 or more, sewn from separate vertical panels, richly decorated with gold braid, drawings of the coats of arms of leaders or various signs and symbols. Ray rose with the sail. The high mast was supported by stays running from it to the sides and to the ends of the ship. The sides were protected by richly painted shields of warriors. The silhouette of the Scandinavian vessel is one of a kind. It has many aesthetic advantages. The basis for recreating this vessel was a drawing of the famous carpet from Baye, telling about the landing of William the Conqueror in England in 1066.

At the beginning of the 15th century, two-masted coggs began to be built. The further development of world shipbuilding was marked by the transition to three-masted ships in the mid-15th century. This type of vessel first appeared in northern Europe in 1475. Its foremast and mizzen masts were borrowed from Mediterranean Venetian ships.

The first three-masted ship to enter the Baltic Sea was the French ship La Rochelle. The plating of this ship, which had a length of 43 m and a width of 12 m, was not laid face to face, like tiles on the roof of a house, as was done before, but smoothly: one board close to the other. And although this method of plating was known before, nevertheless, the merit of its invention is attributed to a shipbuilder from Brittany named Julian, who called this method “carvel” or “craveel”. The name of the casing later became the name of the type of ship - “caravel”. Caravels were more elegant than coggs and had better sailing equipment, so it was no coincidence that medieval discoverers chose these durable, fast-moving and capacious ships for overseas campaigns. Characteristic features of caravels are high sides, deep sheer decks in the middle part of the ship and mixed sailing equipment. Only the foremast carried a quadrangular straight sail. The lateen sails on the slanting yards of the main and mizzen masts allowed the ships to sail steeply to the wind.

In the first half of the 15th century, the largest cargo ship (possibly up to 2000 tons) was a three-masted, double-decker carrack, probably of Portuguese origin. In the 15th-16th centuries, composite masts appeared on sailing ships, which carried several sails at once. The area of ​​the topsails and cruises (upper sails) was increased, making it easier to control and maneuver the vessel. The ratio of body length to width ranged from 2:1 to 2.5:1. As a result, the seaworthiness of these so-called “round” ships improved, which made it possible to make safer long-distance voyages to America and India and even around the world. There was no clear distinction between sailing merchant and military ships at that time; For a number of centuries, the typical military vessel was only a rowing galley. The galleys were built with one or two masts and carried lateen sails.

"Vasa" Swedish warship

At the beginning of the 17th century. Sweden has significantly strengthened its position in Europe. The founder of the new royal dynasty, Gustav I Vasa, did a lot to bring the country out of medieval backwardness. He freed Sweden from Danish rule and carried out a reformation, subordinating the previously all-powerful church to the state.
There was a Thirty Years' War of 1618-1648. Sweden, which claimed to be one of the leading countries in Europe, sought to finally consolidate its dominant position in the Baltic.

Sweden's main rival in the western part of the Baltic Sea was Denmark, which owned both banks of the Sound and the most important islands of the Baltic Sea. But it was a very strong opponent. Then the Swedes concentrated all their attention on the eastern shores of the sea and, after long wars, captured the cities of Yam, Koporye, Karela, Oreshek and Ivan-gorod, which had long belonged to Russia, thus depriving the Russian state of access to the Baltic Sea.
However, Gustav II Adolf, the new king of the Vasa dynasty (1611-1632), wanted to achieve complete Swedish domination in the eastern part of the Baltic Sea and began to create a strong navy.

In 1625, the Stockholm Royal Shipyard received a large order for the simultaneous construction of four large ships. The king showed the greatest interest in the construction of a new flagship. This ship was named "Vasa" - in honor of the Swedish royal Vasa dynasty, to which Gustav II Adolf belonged.

The best shipbuilders, artists, sculptors, and woodcarvers were involved in the construction of Vasa. The Dutch master Hendrik Hibertson, a well-known shipbuilder in Europe, was invited as the main builder. Two years later, the ship was safely launched and towed to the outfitting pier, located just under the windows of the royal palace.

Galion "Golden Hind" ("Golden Hind")

The ship was built in the 60s of the 16th century in England and was originally called "Pelican". On it, the English navigator Francis Drake, in 1577-1580, as part of a squadron of five ships, undertook a pirate expedition to the West Indies and made his second circumnavigation of the world after Magellan. In honor of the excellent seaworthiness of his ship, Drake renamed it the "Golden Hind" and installed a figurine of a doe made of pure gold in the bow of the ship. The length of the galleon is 18.3 m, width 5.8 m, draft 2.45 m. This is one of the smallest galleons.

Galleasses were much larger ships than galleys: they had three masts with lateen sails, two large steering oars in the stern, two decks (the lower one for oarsmen, the upper one for soldiers and cannons), and a surface ram in the bow. These warships turned out to be durable: even in the 18th century, almost all maritime powers continued to replenish their fleets with galleys and galleasses. During the 16th century, the appearance of the sailing ship as a whole was formed and preserved until the mid-19th century. Ships increased significantly in size; if in the 15th century ships over 200 tons were rare, then by the end of the 16th century single giants appeared reaching 2000 tons, and ships with a displacement of 700-800 tons ceased to be rare. From the beginning of the 16th century, oblique sails began to be used more and more often in European shipbuilding, at first in their pure form, as was done in Asia, but by the end of the century mixed sailing equipment had spread. Artillery was improved - bombards of the 15th and culverins of the early 16th centuries were still not very suitable for arming ships, but by the end of the 16th century the problems associated with casting were largely resolved and a naval cannon of the usual type appeared. Around 1500, cannon ports were invented; it became possible to place cannons in several tiers, and the upper deck was freed from them, which had a positive effect on the stability of the ship. The sides of the ship began to roll inward, so the guns on the upper tiers were closer to the axis of symmetry of the ship. Finally, in the 16th century, regular navies appeared in many European countries. All these innovations gravitate towards the beginning of the 16th century, but, given the time required for implementation, they spread only towards the end. Again, the shipbuilders also needed to gain experience, because at first ships of the new type had the annoying habit of capsizing immediately upon leaving the slipway.

During the 16th century, the appearance of the sailing ship as a whole was formed and preserved until the mid-19th century. Ships increased significantly in size; if in the 15th century ships over 200 tons were rare, then by the end of the 16th century single giants appeared reaching 2000 tons, and ships with a displacement of 700-800 tons ceased to be rare. From the beginning of the 16th century, oblique sails began to be used more and more often in European shipbuilding, at first in their pure form, as was done in Asia, but by the end of the century mixed sailing equipment had spread. Artillery was improved - bombards of the 15th and culverins of the early 16th centuries were still not very suitable for arming ships, but by the end of the 16th century the problems associated with casting were largely resolved and a naval cannon of the usual type appeared. Around 1500, cannon ports were invented; it became possible to place cannons in several tiers, and the upper deck was freed from them, which had a positive effect on the stability of the ship. The sides of the ship began to roll inward, so the guns on the upper tiers were closer to the axis of symmetry of the ship. Finally, in the 16th century, regular navies appeared in many European countries. All these innovations gravitate towards the beginning of the 16th century, but, given the time required for implementation, they spread only towards the end. Again, the shipbuilders also needed to gain experience, because at first ships of the new type had the annoying habit of capsizing immediately upon leaving the slipway.

In the first half of the 16th century, a ship appeared with fundamentally new properties and a completely different purpose than the ships that existed before. This ship was intended to fight for supremacy at sea by destroying enemy warships on the high seas with artillery fire and combined significant autonomy at that time with powerful weapons. The rowing ships that existed up to this point could only dominate over a narrow strait, and even then if they were based in a port on the shore of this strait, in addition, their power was determined by the number of troops on board, and artillery ships could act independently of infantry. The new type of ships began to be called linear - that is, main (like "linear infantry", "linear tanks", the name "battleship" has nothing to do with lining up in a line - if they were built, it was in a column).

The first battleships that appeared on the northern seas, and later on the Mediterranean Sea, were small - 500-800 tons, which approximately corresponded to the displacement of large transports of that period. Not even the biggest ones. But the largest transports were built for themselves by wealthy merchant companies, and battleships were ordered by states that were not rich at that time. These ships were armed with 50 - 90 guns, but these were not very strong guns - mostly 12-pounders, with a small admixture of 24-pounders and a very large admixture of small-caliber guns and culverins. Seaworthiness did not stand up to any criticism - even in the 18th century, ships were still built without drawings (they were replaced by a mock-up), and the number of guns was calculated based on the width of the ship measured in steps - that is, it varied depending on the length of the legs of the shipyard's chief engineer. But this was in the 18th, and in the 16th the correlation between the width of the ship and the weight of the guns was not known (especially since it does not exist). Simply put, ships were built without a theoretical basis, only on the basis of experience, which was almost non-existent in the 16th and early 17th centuries. But the main trend was clearly visible - guns in such numbers could no longer be considered as auxiliary weapons, and a purely sailing design indicated the desire to obtain an ocean-going ship. Even then, battleships were characterized by armament at the level of 1.5 pounds per ton of displacement.

The faster the ship was, the fewer guns it could have in relation to its displacement, since the more the engine and masts weighed. Not only did the masts themselves, with a mass of ropes and sails, weigh a fair amount, but they also shifted the center of gravity upward, so they had to be balanced by placing more cast-iron ballast in the hold.

Battleships of the 16th century still had insufficiently advanced sailing equipment for sailing in the Mediterranean Sea (especially in its eastern part) and the Baltic. The storm playfully blew the Spanish squadron out of the English Channel.

Already in the 16th century, Spain, England and France together had about 60 battleships, with Spain more than half of this number. In the 17th century, Sweden, Denmark, Türkiye and Portugal joined this trio.

Ships of the 17th and 18th centuries

In northern Europe, at the beginning of the 17th century, a new type of vessel appeared, similar to a flute - a three-masted pinnace (pinnace). The same type of ship includes the galion, which appeared in the mid-16th century - a warship of Portuguese origin, which later became the basis of the fleets of the Spaniards and the British. On a galleon, for the first time, guns were mounted both above and below the main deck, leading to the construction of battery decks; the guns stood on the sides and fired through the ports. The displacement of the largest Spanish galleons of 1580-1590 was 1000 tons, and the ratio of hull length to width was 4:1. The absence of high superstructures and a long hull allowed these ships to sail faster and steeper to the wind than “round” ships. To increase speed, the number and area of ​​sails were increased, and additional sails appeared - foxes and underlisels. At that time, decorations were considered a symbol of wealth and power - all state and royal ships were luxuriously decorated. The distinction between warships and merchant ships became more distinct. In the middle of the 17th century, frigates with up to 60 guns on two decks, and smaller warships such as a corvette, sloop, bombard and others began to be built in England.

By the middle of the 17th century, battleships had grown significantly, some already up to 1500 tons. The number of guns remained the same - 50-80 pieces, but 12-pound guns remained only on the bow, stern and upper deck; guns of 24 and 48 pounds were placed on the other decks. Accordingly, the hull became stronger - it could withstand 24-pound shells. In general, the 17th century is characterized by a low level of confrontation at sea. England throughout almost its entire period could not deal with internal troubles. Holland preferred smaller ships, relying more on their numbers and the experience of the crews. France, powerful at that time, tried to impose its hegemony on Europe through wars on land; the French were of little interest in the sea. Sweden reigned supreme in the Baltic Sea and did not lay claim to other bodies of water. Spain and Portugal were ruined and often found themselves dependent on France. Venice and Genoa quickly turned into third-rate states. The Mediterranean Sea was divided - the western part went to Europe, the eastern part to Turkey. Neither side sought to upset the balance. However, the Maghreb found itself within the European sphere of influence - English, French and Dutch squadrons put an end to piracy during the 17th century. The greatest naval powers of the 17th century had 20-30 battleships, the rest had only a few.

Türkiye also began building battleships from the end of the 16th century. But they were still significantly different from European models. Especially the shape of the hull and sailing equipment. Turkish battleships were significantly faster than European ones (this was especially true in Mediterranean conditions), carried 36 - 60 guns of 12-24 pound caliber and were weaker armored - only 12 pound cannonballs. Armament was pound per ton. The displacement was 750 -1100 tons. In the 18th century, Türkiye began to lag significantly behind in terms of technology. Turkish battleships of the 18th century resembled European ones of the 17th century.

During the 18th century, the growth in the size of battleships continued unabated. By the end of this century, battleships had reached a displacement of 5,000 tons (the limit for wooden ships), armor had been strengthened to an incredible degree - even 96-pound bombs did not harm them enough - and 12-pound half-guns were no longer used on them. Only 24 lbs for the upper deck, 48 lbs for the middle two and 96 lbs for the lower deck. The number of guns reached 130. There were, however, smaller battleships with 60-80 guns, with a displacement of about 2000 tons. They were often limited to the 48-pound caliber, and were protected from it.

The number of battleships has also increased incredibly. England, France, Russia, Turkey, Holland, Sweden, Denmark, Spain and Portugal had linear fleets. By the middle of the 18th century, England seized almost undivided dominance at sea. By the end of the century, it had almost a hundred battleships (including those that were not in active use). France scored 60-70, but they were weaker than the English. Russia under Peter churned out 60 battleships, but they were made in a hurry, somehow, carelessly. In a rich way, only the preparation of wood - so that it would turn into armor - should have taken 30 years (in fact, Russian ships later were built not from bog oak, but from larch, it was heavy, relatively soft, but did not rot and lasted 10 times longer than oak). But their sheer number forced Sweden (and all of Europe) to recognize the Baltic Sea as Russian internal. By the end of the century, the size of the Russian battle fleet even decreased, but the ships were brought up to European standards. Holland, Sweden, Denmark and Portugal each had 10-20 ships, Spain - 30, Turkey - also about that, but these were not ships of the European level.

Even then, the property of battleships was evident that they were created most of all for numbers - to be there, and not for war. It was expensive to build and maintain them, and even more so to staff them with a crew, all kinds of supplies and send them on campaigns. This is where they saved money - they didn’t send it. So even England used only a small part of its battlefleet at a time. Equipping 20-30 battleships for a voyage was also a task on a national scale for England. Russia kept only a few battleships in combat readiness. Most battleships spent their entire lives in port with only a minimal crew on board (capable of moving the ship to another port if urgently needed) and unloaded guns.

The ship next in rank to the battleship was the frigate, designed to capture water space. With the accompanying destruction of everything (except for battleships) that existed in this space. Formally, the frigate was an auxiliary ship for the battle fleet, but given that the latter was used extremely sluggishly, frigates turned out to be the most popular of the ships of that period. Frigates, like cruisers later, could be divided into light and heavy, although such a gradation was not formally carried out. A heavy frigate appeared in the 17th century; it was a ship with 32-40 guns, including falconets, and displacing 600-900 tons of water. The guns were 12-24 pounds, with a predominance of the latter. The armor could withstand 12-pound cannonballs, the armament was 1.2-1.5 tons per pound, and the speed was greater than that of a battleship. The displacement of the latest modifications of the 18th century reached 1,500 tons, there were up to 60 guns, but usually there were no 48-pounders.

Light frigates were already common in the 16th century, and in the 17th they made up the vast majority of all warships. Their production required wood of significantly lower quality than for the construction of heavy frigates. Larch and oak were considered strategic resources, and pine trees suitable for making masts in Europe and the European part of Russia were counted and registered. Light frigates did not carry armor, in the sense that their hulls could withstand wave impacts and mechanical loads, but did not pretend to be more, the thickness of the plating was 5-7 centimeters. The number of guns did not exceed 30, and only on the largest frigates of this class there were 4 24-pounders on the lower deck - they did not even occupy the entire floor. The displacement was 350-500 tons.

In the 17th and early 18th centuries, light frigates were simply the cheapest warships, ships that could be made in a whole bunch and quickly. Including by re-equipping merchant ships. By the middle of the 18th century, similar ships began to be specially produced, but with an emphasis on maximum speed - corvettes. There were even fewer guns on the corvettes, from 10 to 20 (on 10-gun ships there were actually 12-14 guns, but those that looked at the bow and stern were classified as falconets). The displacement was 250-450 tons.

The number of frigates in the 18th century was significant. England had little more of them than ships of the line, but it still amounted to a lot. Countries with small battle fleets had several times more frigates than battleships. The exception was Russia; it had one frigate for every three battleships. The fact was that the frigate was intended to capture space, and with it (space) in the Black and Baltic Seas it was a little tight. At the very bottom of the hierarchy were sloops - ships intended for patrol service, reconnaissance, anti-piracy, and so on. That is, not for fighting other warships. The smallest of them were ordinary schooners weighing 50-100 tons with several guns less than 12 pounds in caliber. The largest had up to 20 12-pounder guns and a displacement of up to 350-400 tons. There could be any number of sloops and other auxiliary ships. For example, Holland in the mid-16th century had 6,000 merchant ships, most of which were armed.

By installing additional guns, 300-400 of them could be converted into light frigates. The rest are in sloops. Another question is that the merchant ship brought profit to the Dutch treasury, and the frigate or sloop consumed this profit. England at that time had 600 merchant ships. How many people could there be on these ships? A - in different ways. In principle, a sailing ship could have one crew member for every ton of displacement. But this worsened living conditions and reduced autonomy. On the other hand, the larger the crew, the more combat-ready the ship was. In principle, 20 people could control the sails of a large frigate. But only in good weather. They could do the same thing in a storm, while simultaneously working on the pumps and battening down the port covers knocked out by the waves, for a short time. Most likely, their strength would have run out earlier than the wind. To conduct a battle on a 40-gun ship, a minimum of 80 people were required - 70 loaded the guns on one side, and another 10 ran around the deck and directed. But if the ship performs such a complex maneuver as a turn, all the gunners will have to rush from the lower decks to the masts - when turning, the ship will certainly have to tack against the wind for some time, but for this, all straight sails will need to be tightly reefed, and then, naturally, open them again. If the gunners have to either climb the masts or run into the hold for cannonballs, they won’t shoot much.

Typically, sailing ships intended for long passages or long cruising had one person on board for 4 tons. This was enough to control the ship and for combat. If the ship was used for landing operations or boarding, the crew size could reach one person per ton. How did they fight? If two approximately equal ships under the flags of warring powers met at sea, then both of them began to maneuver in order to take a more advantageous position from the wind. One tried to get behind the other - this way, at the most interesting moment, it was possible to take away the wind from the enemy. Considering that the guns were aimed by the hull, and the maneuverability of the ship was proportional to its speed, no one wanted to move against the wind at the time of the collision. On the other hand, if there was too much wind in the sails, it was possible to rush forward and let the enemy into the rear. All these dances were original in the sense that it was practically possible to maneuver only by direction.

Of course, the whole story did not fit into the framework of LiveJournal, so read the continuation on InfoGlaz -

We continue to replenish our piggy bank

Not long ago it was reported that it was being tested. This is certainly interesting, but let’s return to historical classic sailboats.

The human desire for scale and gigantism is due to various reasons. However, recently, more and more often this reason is a banal desire to stand out or become the owner of a record. Another thing is the time when sailing ships were the main type of maritime transport.

Today we will learn about the largest sailing ships in history. Moreover, we will measure differently and in different classes of ships.

The world's largest barque

The first largest among the barks is the five-masted ship "France II", launched back in 1912 and owned by France. A bark is a sailing vessel with a large number (from three) of masts, on which all the sails are straight, except for the stern one. At the stern the sails are slanted. The total length of the France II vessel was 146.2 meters. It has set a considerable number of records for the speed of cargo delivery around the world. The ship sailed for 9 years, until in 1922 it ran aground off the coast of New Caledonia and was abandoned there. Later, the ship was finally destroyed during American pilot exercises in 1944. There is even a fund in France that plans to restore the ship and return it to its homeland.

It was an extremely large sailing ship. The ship's hull and its five masts were made of steel. The total sail area was 6350 m². The interior of the ship could satisfy even the most demanding taste: there was a large room with a piano, a darkroom, a library and several luxury cabins. In addition to its significant carrying capacity, the ship allowed wealthy passengers to travel in comfort and luxury.

The world's largest schooner

But the largest schooner was created in the USA in 1902. Moreover, the ship "Thomas W. Lawson" is the only one in history that had as many as seven masts. A schooner is a sailing ship with two or more masts, all of which have slanting sails. The maximum length of the ship "Thomas W. Lawson" is only 2 meters and 20 centimeters less than the record holder. The ship sailed safely with bulk cargo between the United States and Canada for more than five years. And then he set off on his first and last voyage across the Atlantic. The ship was twice caught in a storm and hit the coastal rocks. 17 of the 19 crew members were killed. This happened off the coast of England.

Largest operating sailing ship

Of the sailing ships currently in operation, the Royal Clipper is the largest in the world. It was built in 2000 and is a cruise ship that can accommodate 227 passengers. The ship belongs to Luxembourg, although it was built in Poland and Germany. The maximum length of the vessel is 133.8 meters. The ship sails in the Mediterranean Sea in summer and in the Caribbean in winter. In the off-season it sails across the Atlantic Ocean.

The largest barquentine in history

The largest barquentine in history is the functioning Spanish ship Juan Sebastián de Elcano. It was built back in 1927 and still successfully plows the sea. Of course, the ship underwent major repairs several times. However, its dimensions and main features remain the same. This four-masted vessel with a straight forward sail and all the rest is beveled (signs of a barquentine), is a considerable 113 meters in length.

The world's largest yacht

And finally, we have the world's largest yacht. We are not going to resolve this dispute, since there is still a competition between the yachts “Eos” and “Maltese Falcon” as to which vessel is the largest. We proceed from the maximum length data. And in this dispute it is “Eos” that wins due to its longer 10-meter bowsprit. The total length of this giant is 92.92 meters.

What else can be added to this list, for example:

British steamship Great Eastern - original name Leviathan. The design of the vessel belongs to Isambard Brunel. The Great Eastern was launched in 1858, and until the very end of the 19th century it was not only the largest sailing ship, which, by the way, the steamship is to this day, but also the largest ship in the world. The Great Eastern could carry up to 4,000 passengers and was many times larger in size than all existing ships of that time.

An interesting fact is that the 6 matches of the ship were named according to the days of the week - from Monday to Saturday.

Here is another sailing ship Club Med 2 (ClubMed 2). The ship is owned by the French travel company ClubMed. The five-masted ship was launched in Le Havre (France) in 1992.

Club Med 2 is one of the largest sailing cruise ships in the world, cruising the Mediterranean and Adriatic Seas in the summer and the Caribbean Sea in the winter.

The bulk carrier Aqua City, built at the Surumi shipyard in Japan for the Aqua City Maritime company, is today in fourth place. The length of the ship is 180 meters, width - 26.30 meters. The vessel was created in 1980. Since 1990, the ship has changed owners several times and was renamed. Now it is called Merida.

Usuki Pioneer is a Japanese cargo ship with a combined engine and sails. He worked successfully from 1985 to 1995. Used for transporting wood and grains. The length of the ship is 162.5 meters.

In 1995, the ship's sail center was dismantled due to the high cost of maintenance and the need for frequent repairs.