Unit 2 History of shipping

2.1. History of navigation

In the pre-modern history of human migration and discovery of new lands by navigating the
oceans, a few peoples have excelled as sea-faring explorers. Prominent examples are the
Phoenicians, the ancient Greeks, the Persians, the Arabians, the Norse, the Austronesian peoples
including the Malays, and the Polynesians and the Micronesians of the Pacific Ocean.
Maritime history is the study of human activity at sea. It covers a broad thematic element
of history that often uses a global approach, although national and regional histories remain
predominant. As an academic subject, it often crosses the boundaries of standard disciplines,
focusing on understanding humankind's various relationships to the oceans, seas, and major
waterways of the globe. Nautical history records and interprets past events involving ships,
shipping, navigation, and seafarers.
Maritime history is a broad subject that includes fishing, whaling, international maritime
law, naval history, the history of ships, ship design, shipbuilding, the history of navigation, the
history of the various maritime-related sciences (oceanography, cartography, hydrography, etc.), sea
exploration, maritime economics and trade, shipping, yachting, seaside resorts, the history of
lighthouses and aids to navigation, maritime themes in literature, maritime themes in art, the social
history of sailors and passengers and sea-related communities. Typically, studies of merchant
shipping and of defensive navies are seen as separate fields. Similarly studies of inland waterways
are usually seen as not appropriately included within 'maritime history.'
A dominant approach to maritime history writing has been nicknamed 'rivet counting' because of a
focus on the minutiae of the vessel. But revisionist scholars are creating new turns in the study of
maritime history. This includes a post-1980s turn towards the study of human users of ships (which
involves sociology, cultural geography, gender studies and narrative studies); and post-2000 turn
towards seeing sea travel as part of the wider history of transport and mobilities. This move is
emerging from the International Association for the History of Transport, Traffic and Mobilities.
2.1.1. Antiquity
In ancient maritime history, the first boats are presumed to have been dugout canoes,
developed independently by various Stone Age populations, and used for coastal fishing and travel.
The Indigenous of the Pacific Northwest are very skilled at crafting wood. Best known for totem

poles up to 80 feet (24 m) tall, they also construct dugout canoes over 60 feet (18 m) long for
everyday use and ceremonial purposes.

Indigenous Americans making a dugout canoe, a practice which they had done for centuries

The earliest seaworthy boats may have been developed as early as 45,000 years ago,
according to one hypothesis explaining the habitation of Australia. In the history of whaling,
humans began whaling in pre-historic times. The oldest known method of catching whales is to
simply drive them ashore by placing a number of small boats between the whale and the open sea
and attempting to frighten them with noise, activity, and perhaps small, non-lethal weapons such as
arrows.
The earliest known reference to an organization devoted to ships in ancient India is to the
Mauryan Empire from the 4th century BC. It is believed that the navigation as a science originated
on the river Indus some 5000 years ago.
The Ancient Egyptians had knowledge to some extent of sail construction. This is governed
by the science of aerodynamics. According to the Greek historian Herodotus, Necho II sent out an
expedition of Phoenicians, which in three years sailed from the Red Sea around Africa to the mouth
of the Nile. Some current historians believe Herodotus on this point, even though Herodotus himself
was in disbelief that the Phoenicians had accomplished the act.
Pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact refers to hypothesised interactions between the Natives
populations of the Americas and peoples of other continents before the arrival of Christopher
Columbus in 1492. Many such events have been proposed at various times, based on historical
reports, archaeological finds, and cultural comparisons.
Mediterranean
Navigation in the Mediterranean made use of several techniques that sailors used to
determine their location including, staying in sight of land, and understanding of the winds and their
tendencies, knowledge of the seas currents, and observation of the positions of the sun and stars. [1]
Sailing by hugging the coast would have been ill advised in the Mediterranean and the Aegean Sea
1

Taylor, 1971:35-64

due to the rocky and dangerous coastlines and because of the sudden storms that plague the area
that could easily cause a ship to crash.[2]
Greece
The Minoans of Crete are an example of an early Western civilization that used celestial
navigation. Their palaces and mountaintop sanctuaries exhibit architectural features that align with
the rising sun on the equinoxes, as well as the rising and setting of particular stars. [3] The Minoans
made sea voyages to the island of Thera and to Egypt.[4] Both of these trips would have taken more
than a days sail for the Minoans and would have left them traveling by night across open water. [4]
Here the sailors would use the locations of particular stars, especially that of the constellation Ursa
Major, to orient the ship in the correct direction.[4]
Written records of navigation using stars, or celestial navigation, go back to Homers
Odyssey where Calypso tells Odysseus to keep the Bear on his left hand side as he sailed away from
her island.[5] The Greek poet Aratus wrote in his Phainomena in the third century BCE detailed
positions of the constellations as written by Eudoxos.[6] The positions described do not match the
locations of the stars during Aratus or Eudoxos time for the Greek mainland, but some argue that
they match the sky from Crete during the Bronze Age.[6] This change in the position of the stars is
due to the wobble of the Earth on its axis which affects primarily the pole stars.[7] Around 1000 BCE
the constellation Draco would have been closer to the North Pole than Polaris.[8] The pole stars
were used to navigate because they did not disappear below the horizon and could be seen
consistently throughout the night.[7]
By the third century BCE the Greeks had begun to use the Little Bear, Ursa Minor, to
navigate.[9] In the mid first century CE Lucan writes of Pompey who questions a sailor about the use
of stars in navigation. The sailor replies with his description of the use of circumpolar stars to
navigate by.[10] To navigate along a degree of latitude a sailor would have needed to find a
circumpolar star above that degree in the sky.[11] For example, Apollonius would have used
Draconis to navigate as he traveled west from the mouth of the Alpheus River to Syracuse.[11]
The voyage of the Greek navigator Pytheas of Massalia is a particularly notable example of
a very long, early voyage.[12] A competent astronomer and geographer,[12] Pytheas ventured from
2
3

4
5

Bloomberg, 1997:71
Bloomberg, 1997:73
Bloomberg, 1997:77
Homer

Bloomberg, 1997:72

Taylor, 1971:12

Taylor, 1971:10

Taylor, 1971:43

10

Taylor, 1971:46-47

11

Bilic, 2009:126

12

Chisholm, 1911:703

Greece through the strait of Gibraltar to Western Europe and the British Isles. [12] Pytheas is the first
known person to describe the Midnight Sun,[13] polar ice, Germanic tribes and possibly Stonehenge.
Pytheas also introduced the idea of distant "Thule" to the geographic imagination and his account is
the earliest to state that the moon is the cause of the tides.
Nearchoss celebrated voyage from India to Susa after Alexander's expedition in India is
preserved in Arrian's account, the Indica. Greek navigator Eudoxus of Cyzicus explored the Arabian
Sea for Ptolemy VIII, king of the Hellenistic Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt. According to Poseidonius,
later reported in Strabo's Geography, the monsoon wind system of the Indian Ocean was first sailed
by Eudoxus of Cyzicus in 118 or 116 BC.[14]
Nautical charts and textual descriptions known as sailing directions have been in use in one
form or another since the sixth century BC.[15] Nautical charts using stereographic and orthographic
projections date back to the second century BC.[15]
Phoenicia and Carthage
The Phoenicians and their successors, the Carthaginians, were particularly adept sailors and
learned to voyage further and further away from the coast in order to reach destinations faster. One
tool that helped them was the sounding weight. This tool was bell shaped, made from stone or lead,
with tallow inside attached to a very long rope. When out to sea, sailors could lower the sounding
weight in order to determine how deep the waters were, and therefore estimate how far they were
from land. Also, the tallow picked up sediments from the bottom which expert sailors could
examine to determine exactly where they were. The Carthaginian Hanno the Navigator is known to
have sailed through the Strait of Gibraltar c. 500 BC and explored the Atlantic coast of Africa.
There is general consensus that the expedition reached at least as far as Senegal.[16] There is a lack
of agreement whether the furthest limit of Hanno's explorations was Mount Cameroon, or Guinea's
890-metre (2910-foot) Mount Kakulima.[17]
Asia
In the South China Sea and Indian Ocean, a navigator could take advantage of the fairly
constant monsoon winds to judge direction. [18] This made long one-way voyages possible twice a
year.[18]
13

The theoretical existence of a Frigid Zone where the nights are very short in summer and the sun does not set at the summer solstice was already
known. Similarly reports of a country of perpetual snows and darkness (the country of the Hyperboreans) had been reaching the Mediterranean for
some centuries. Pytheas is the first known scientific visitor and reporter of the arctic.
14
Strabo's Geography - Book II Chapter 3, Lacus Curtius
15

Bowditch, 2003:2

16

Donald Harden, The Phoenicians, Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, page 168

17

B.H. Warmington, op. cit., page 79

18

Chisholm, 1911:284.

The earliest known reference to an organization devoted to ships in ancient India is to the
Mauryan Empire from the 4th century BCE. The Arthashastra of Emperor Chandragupta Maurya's
Prime Minister, Kautilya, devotes a full chapter on the state department of waterways under a
navadhyaksha (Sanskrit for "superintendent of ships"). The term, nava dvipantaragamanam
(Sanskrit for sailing to other lands by ships) appears in this book in addition to appearing in the
Buddhist text Baudhayana Dharmasastra.
As early as in the Neolithic Age about 7,000 years ago, the ancestors of Chinese people were
already able to conduct sea voyages with their primitive floating tools - canoes and rafts and rough
navigation knowledge, which shows that China, alongside those Mediterranean countries, is the
cradle of global maritime culture. With the availability of wooden boats and sails during the Xia
(21-16th century BC), Shang (16-11th century BC), and Zhou (11th century-256BC) dynasties, the
ancient people started their voyages to today's Korea peninsula and Japanese islands.
By the Spring and Autumn Period (770-446BC) and the Warring States Period (475221BC), when ancient navigation was formed, people had already accumulated some knowledge on
aspects such as astronomical direction, geographical positioning, and oceanic climate. With the
formation of necessary navigation skills and knowledge, maritime transportation and warfare of a
relatively large scale emerged. By the time of the Qin (221-206BC) and Han (206BC-220AD)
dynasties, large sea boats had taken the place of wooden sailboats and people were gradually
mastering how to sail with the help of wind, thus giving rise to Xu Fu's expedition to Japan during
the Qin Dynasty as well as his voyage to the Indian Ocean during the Western Han Dynasty
(206BC-24AD). During the Three Kingdoms Period (220-280), fleets from the Wu State reached
Taiwan and the South Sea, while Fa Xian of the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317-420) returned from India
by sea. By the Northern Dynasty (386-581), Chinese fleets had gone as far as the Persian Gulf.
During the Tang Dynasty (618-907), the whole society took on a prosperous scene, with a
well-developed economy and a highly civilized culture after the "Gold Years of Zhenguan." Based
on a strong national power and advanced shipbuilding technologies, especially the introduction of
watertight cabins, China developed maritime navigations with countries in West Asia and coastal
countries in Africa. Also, by this time, Arab and African countries could already be directly reached
through straight-line navigation instead of the original section (or localized) navigation.

2.1.2. Medieval age of navigation

The Arab Empire significantly contributed to navigation, and had trade networks extending
from the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea in the west to the Indian Ocean and China Sea in
the east,[19] Apart from the Nile, Tigris and Euphrates, navigable rivers in the Islamic regions were
19

Subhi Y. Labib (1969), "Capitalism in Medieval Islam", The Journal of Economic History 29 (1), p. 79-96.

uncommon, so transport by sea was very important. Islamic geography and navigational sciences
made use of a magnetic compass and a rudimentary instrument known as a kamal, used for celestial
navigation and for measuring the altitudes and latitudes of the stars. The kamal itself was
rudimentary and simple to construct. It was simply a rectangular piece of either bone or wood
which had a string with 9 consecutive knots attached to it. Another instrument available, developed
by the Arabs as well, was the quadrant. Also a celestial navigation device, it was originally
developed for astronomy and later transitioned to navigation. [20] When combined with detailed maps
of the period, sailors were able to sail across oceans rather than skirt along the coast. According to
the political scientist Hobson, the origins of the caravel ship, used for long-distance travel by the
Spanish and Portuguese since the 15th century, date back to the qarib used by Andalusian explorers
by the 13th century.[21]
The sea lanes between India and neighboring lands were the usual form of trade for many
centuries, and are responsible for the widespread influence of Indian culture to the societies of
Southeast Asia. Powerful navies included those of the Maurya, Satavahana, Chola, Vijayanagara,
Kalinga, Maratha and Mughal Empire.
In China between 1040 and 1117, the magnetic compass was being developed and applied to
navigation.[22] This let masters continue sailing a course when the weather limited visibility of the
sky. The true mariner's compass using a pivoting needle in a dry box was invented in Europe no
later than 1300.[18][23]
As a result of the wide use of marine compasses, and the application of seafaring
knowledge, such as celestial navigation technology and monsoon predictions, plus the development
in shipbuilding, especially the employment of watertight cabins, navigators of the Song Dynasty
(960-1279) could carry out sea voyages all year round. The Song navigators blazed a trail in starting
from Guangzhou of South China's Guangdong Province and Quanzhou of East China's Fujian
Province , then crossing the northern Indian Ocean, and finally reaching Western Asia and Eastern
Africa, with the route being of particular importance.

20

ThinkQuest: Library, Early Navigational Instruments, http://library.thinkquest.org/C004706/contents/1stsea/nap/page/n-2.html#

21

John M. Hobson (2004), The Eastern Origins of Western Civilisation, p. 141, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-54724-5.

22

Li Shu-hua, Origine de la Boussole 11. Aimant et Boussole, Isis, Vol. 45, No. 2. (Jul., 1954), p.181

23

Frederic C. Lane, The Economic Meaning of the Invention of the Compass, The American Historical Review, Vol. 68, No. 3. (Apr., 1963),
p.615ff.

A seaboat of the Southern Song Dynasty, which was excavated in Quanzhou has 13 watertight cabins.

A conspicuous characteristic of China's navigation in the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) was the
important position of grain transport, which was meant to solve the grain shortage in the capital Dadu (Beijing ) -- and the surrounding areas.
In terms of oceangoing voyages, the Yuan Dynasty surpassed both the Tang and Song
dynasties, whether in the scale of the shipbuilding and navigation technologies. The large
oceangoing vessels of that time could hold over 1,000 people, and was equipped with dozens of
sails. Also at that time, Arabic astronomical navigation techniques were introduced to China, greatly
promoting the development of China's navigation technology.
Due to the then positive policy on maritime trade and the great breakthrough in navigation
technologies, China took the lead to enter the period of "quantitative navigation." Chinese sailboats
reached almost all the seacoasts of the western Pacific and northern Indian oceans, establishing
trade relations with 120 countries and regions.
The development of oceangoing navigation in the Yuan Dynasty resulted in a boom of
domestic ports, especially the Quanzhou Port, which experienced its most glorious time in history.
It was not only the most important port for foreign trade and the first port in the East, but also was
the most wellknown port at that time in the world.
Wang Dayuan, a great folk navigator of the Yuan Dynasty, twice sailed from Quanzhou
between 1333-1390 for oceangoing voyages, reaching as far as the Arabian Peninsula and coastal
areas in East Africa. Upon returning, he compiled Dayi Zhilue for his voyages, covering 96
countries and regions.
Nautical charts called portolan charts began to appear in Italy at the end of the 13th century.
[24]

However, their use did not seem to spread quickly: there are no reports of the use of a nautical

chart on an English vessel until 1489.[24]

Various ships were in use during the Middle Ages. The longship was a type of ship that was
developed over a period of centuries and perfected by its most famous user, the Vikings, in
approximately the 9th century. The ships were clinker-built, utilizing overlapping wooden strakes.
The knaar, a relative of the longship, was a type of cargo vessel. It differed from the longship in
that it was larger and relied solely on its square rigged sail for propulsion. The cog was a design
which is believed to have evolved from (or at least been influenced by) the longship, and was in
wide use by the 12th century. It too used the clinker method of construction. The caravel was a ship
24

Chisholm, 1911:285.

invented in Islamic Iberia and used in the Mediterranean from the 13th century. Unlike the
longship and cog, it used a carvel method of construction. It could be either square rigged
(Caravela Redonda) or lateen rigged (Caravela Latina). The carrack was another type of ship
invented in the Mediterranean in the 15th century. It was a larger vessel than the caravel.
Columbuss ship, the Santa Mara was a famous example of a carrack.
The Hanseatic League was an alliance of trading guilds that established and maintained a
trade monopoly over the Baltic Sea, to a certain extent the North Sea, and most of Northern Europe
for a time in the Late Middle Ages and the early modern period, between the 13th and 17th
centuries. Historians generally trace the origins of the League to the foundation of the Northern
German town of Lbeck, established in 1158/1159 after the capture of the area from the Count of
Schauenburg and Holstein by Henry the Lion, the Duke of Saxony. Exploratory trading adventures,
raids and piracy had occurred earlier throughout the Baltic (see Vikings) the sailors of Gotland
sailed up rivers as far away as Novgorod, for example but the scale of international economy in
the Baltic area remained insignificant before the growth of the Hanseatic League. German cities
achieved domination of trade in the Baltic with striking speed over the next century, and Lbeck
became a central node in all the seaborne trade that linked the areas around the North Sea and the
Baltic Sea.
The 15th century saw the climax of Lbeck's hegemony. By the late 16th century, the
League imploded and could no longer deal with its own internal struggles, the social and political
changes that accompanied the Reformation, the rise of Dutch and English merchants, and the
incursion of the Ottoman Turks upon its trade routes and upon the Holy Roman Empire itself. Only
nine members attended the last formal meeting in 1669 and only three (Lbeck, Hamburg and
Bremen) remained as members until its final demise in 1862.
2.1.3. Age of exploration
During the reigns of emperors Yongle and Xuande of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), Zheng
He , the greatest navigator in China's history, led his oceangoing fleets into the seas of West China
seven times, leaving his footsteps in many Asian and African countries. Zheng He's voyages were
unparalleled in terms of the scale of his fleets and the treasure boats, the vastness of the areas his
voyages had covered, and the level of the navigation technologies.
During the six years between 1405 and 1411, Zheng He's fleets set sail three times, with
virtually no rest between voyages. Calling at ports throughout Southeast Asia and India, Zheng He
solidified China's relations with countries and regions large and small, particularly in the areas of
political and economic exchange. In the wake of Zheng He's voyages, foreign emissaries poured
into China to pay return visits. Many of these envoys chose to travel to China on their own ships,

rather than on Zheng He's fleets. Sails and masts dotted the South China Sea as Sino-foreign
exchange grew with every passing day. During the course of his first three voyages, Zheng He made
several stops in Jiugang (Palembang, Indonesia) where he eliminated pirate activities, thus
strengthening China's ties with the countries of Southeast Asia and securing the safety of maritime
routes through the area.
Zheng He's fleets pioneered numerous new maritime routes, amassing extensive
navigational expertise as they sailed from the Western Pacific across the Indian Ocean to the east
coast of Africa. The breakthroughs made by Zheng He put China in the forefront of world
navigation. Relying solely upon wooden ships and natural wind power, Zheng He overcame all
manner of difficulties at sea. To accomplish this required not only advanced navigational and
shipbuilding technology and extensive knowledge of marine conditions, but also the courage to
venture into largely uncharted waters. Prior to this time, China's navigators were essentially limited
to following coastal routes. Their voyages could not compare to those of Zheng He in any respect,
including fleet and crew size, range, and duration.

Nautical chart of Zheng He's Voyages to the west seas

The new sea routes pioneered by Zheng He during his seven voyages formed a
comprehensive maritime transport network. The first three voyages passed through Southeast Asia
to reach Calicut, India, a major trading port of the ancient world. With the fourth voyage, Zheng He
reached West Asia and East Africa. Zheng He's voyages followed 56 main sea routes and covered a
total distance of 15,000 miles. The later voyages continued from Calicut to Liushan (present-day
Maldives) and on to the East African coast, reaching ports including Mugudushu (Mogadishu) and
Buluwa (Brava) in Somalia; Malindi, Kenya; Bila (Beira), Mozambique; and Sulan in present-day
Sufala, Mozambique. It is said that one portion of the fleet even braved the seasonal monsoons to
reach the tempestuous waters of Southern Africa. Zheng He's voyages had a historic impact on the
development of maritime navigation, and established a solid foundation for future generations of
seafarers.
Zheng He's momentous voyages were instrumental in the major rerouting of commerce from
the overland Silk Road to the maritime Silk Road. His courage, dedication, and spirit of adventure
are second to none in the annals of exploration.

It was China's Zheng He who initiated The Century of Seafaring -- that great process of both
East and West turning to the sea. Following the routes that he pioneered, great numbers of Chinese
people set forth into the world. It was this great exploration of the seas by East and West that
ultimately brought the peoples of the world together into a global community.
The Age of Discovery was a period from the early 15th century and continuing into the early
17th century, during which European ships traveled around the world to search for new trading
routes and partners to feed burgeoning capitalism in Europe. They also were in search of trading
goods such as gold, silver, and spices. In the process, Europeans encountered peoples and mapped
lands previously unknown to them.
Christopher Columbus was a navigator and maritime explorer who is one of several
historical figures credited as the discoverer of the Americas. It is generally believed that he was
born in Genoa, although other theories and possibilities exist. Columbus' voyages across the
Atlantic Ocean began a European effort at exploration and colonization of the Western Hemisphere.
While history places great significance on his first voyage of 1492, he did not actually reach the
mainland until his third voyage in 1498. Likewise, he was not the earliest European explorer to
reach the Americas, as there are accounts of European transatlantic contact prior to 1492.
Nevertheless, Columbus's voyage came at a critical time of growing national imperialism and
economic competition between developing nation states seeking wealth from the establishment of
trade routes and colonies. Therefore, the period before 1492 is known as Pre-Columbian.
John Cabot was a Genoese navigator and explorer commonly credited as one of the first
early modern Europeans to land on the North American mainland aboard the Matthew in 1497.
Sebastian Cabot was an Italian explorer and may have sailed with his father John Cabot in May
1497. John Cabot and perhaps Sebastian, sailing from Bristol, took their small fleet along the coasts
of a "New Found Land". There is much controversy over where exactly Cabot landed, but two
likely locations that are often suggested are Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. Cabot and his crew
(including perhaps Sebastian) mistook this place for China, without finding the passage to the east
they were looking for. Some scholars maintain that the name America comes from Richard Amerik,
a Bristol merchant and customs officer, who is claimed on very slender evidence to have helped
finance the Cabot voyages.
Jacques Cartier was a French navigator who first explored and described the Gulf of StLawrence and the shores of the Saint Lawrence River, which he named Canada. Juan Fernndez
was a Spanish explorer and navigator. Probably between 1563 and 1574 he discovered the Juan
Fernndez Islands west of Valparaso, Chile. He also discovered the Pacific islands of San Flix and
San Ambrosio (1574). Among the other famous explorers of the period were Vasco da Gama, Pedro

lvares Cabral, Yermak, Juan Ponce de Len, Francisco Coronado, Juan Sebastin Elcano,
Bartolomeu Dias, Ferdinand Magellan, Willem Barentsz, Abel Tasman, Jean Alfonse, Samuel de
Champlain, Willem Jansz, Captain James Cook, Henry Hudson, and Giovanni da Verrazzano.
Peter Martyr d'Anghiera was an Italian-born historian of Spain and of the discoveries of her
representatives during the Age of Exploration. He wrote the first accounts of explorations in Central
and South America in a series of letters and reports, grouped in the original Latin publications of
1511-1530 into sets of ten chapters called "decades." His Decades are thus of great value in the
history of geography and discovery. His De Orbe Novo (published 1530; "On the New World")
describes the first contacts of Europeans and native Americans and contains, for example, the first
European reference to India rubber.
The commercial activities of Portugal in the early 15th century marked an epoch of distinct
progress in practical navigation.[18] These trade expeditions sent out by Henry the Navigator led first
to the discovery of the Porto Santo (near Madeira) in 1418, rediscovery of the Azores in 1427, the
discovery of the Cape Verde Islands in 1447 and Sierra Leone in 1462.[25] Henry worked to
systemize the practice of navigation.[18] In order to develop more accurate tables on the sun's
declination, he established an observatory at Sagres. Combined with the empirical observations
gathered in oceanic seafaring, mapping winds and currents, Portuguese explorers took the lead in
the long distance oceanic navigation.[26]
Henry's successor, John II continued this research, forming a committee on navigation. [18]
This group computed tables of the sun's declination and improved the mariner's astrolabe, believing
it a good replacement for the cross-staff.[18] These resources improved the ability of a navigator at
sea to judge his latitude.[18]
In the 15th and 16th centuries, Spain was in the vanguard of European global exploration
and colonial expansion. Spain opened trade routes across the oceans, specially the transatlantic
expedition of Christopher Columbus in 1492. The Crown of Spain also financed the first expedition
of world circumnavigation in 1521. The enterprise was led by Portuguese navigator Ferdinand
Magellan and completed by Spaniard Juan Sebastian Elcano. The trips of exploration led to trade
flourishing across the Atlantic Ocean between Spain and America and across the Pacific Ocean
between Asia-Pacific and Mexico via the Philippines.
The compass, a cross-staff or astrolabe, a method to correct for the altitude of Polaris and
rudimentary nautical charts were all the tools available to a navigator at the time of Christopher
Columbus.[18] In his notes on Ptolemy's geography, Johannes Werner of Nurenberg wrote in 1514
that the cross-staff was a very ancient instrument, but was only beginning to be used on ships.[24]
25

Almagi, discussing the copy of another map by Fra Mauro, in the Vatican Library: Roberto Almagi, Monumenta cartographica vaticana, (Rome
1944) I:32-40.
26
Kenneth Maxwell, Naked tropics: essays on empire and other rogues, p. 16, Routledge, 2003, ISBN 0-415-94577-1

Rabbi Abraham Zacuto perfected the astrolabe, which only then became an instrument of
precision, and he was the author of the highly accurate Almanach Perpetuum that were used by ship
captains to determine the position of their Portuguese caravels in high seas, through calculations on
data acquired with an astrolabe. His contributions were undoubtedly valuable in saving the lives of
Portuguese seamen, and allowing them to reach Brazil and India. While in Spain he wrote an
exceptional treatise on astronomy/astrology in Hebrew, with the title Ha-jibbur Ha-gadol. He
published in the printing press of Leiria in 1496, property of Abrao de Ortas the book Biur Luhoth,
or in Latin Almanach Perpetuum, which was soon translated into Latin and Spanish. In this book
were the astronomical tables (ephemerides) for the years 1497 to 1500, which were instrumental,
together with the new astrolabe made of metal and not wood as before, to Vasco da Gama and Pedro
lvares Cabral in their voyages to India and Brazil respectively.
Prior to 1577, no method of judging the ship's speed was mentioned that was more advanced
than observing the size of the vessel's bow wave or the passage of sea foam or various floating
objects.[27] In 1577, a more advanced technique was mentioned: the chip log.[18] In 1578, a patent
was registered for a device that would judge the ship's speed by counting the revolutions of a wheel
mounted below the ship's waterline.[18]
Accurate time-keeping is necessary for the determination of longitude. [24] As early as 1530,
precursors to modern techniques were being explored. [24] However, the most accurate clocks
available to these early navigators were water clocks and sand clocks, such as hourglass.[24]
Hourglasses were still in use by the Royal Navy of Britain until 1839 for the timing of watches.[24]
Continuous accumulation of navigational data, along with increased exploration and trade, led to
increased production of volumes through the Middle Ages.[15] "Routiers" were produced in France
about 1500; the English referred to them as "rutters." [15] In 1584 Lucas Waghenaer published the
Spieghel der Zeevaerdt (The Mariners Mirror), which became the model for such publications for
several generations of navigators.[15] They were known as "Waggoners" by most sailors.[15]
In 1537, the Portuguese cosmographer Pedro Nunes published his Tratado da Sphera. In this
book he included two original treatises about questions of navigation. For the first time the subject
was approached using mathematical tools. This publication gave rise to a new scientific discipline:
"theoretical or scientific navigation".
In 1545, Pedro de Medina published the influential Arte de navegar. The book was
translated into French, Italian, Dutch and English.[24]
In the late 16th century, Gerardus Mercator made vast improvements to nautical charts.[28]

27

May, William Edward, A History of Marine Navigation, G. T. Foulis & Co. Ltd., Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, 1973, ISBN 0-85429-143-1

28

Chisholm, 1911:287.

In 1594, John Davis published an 80-page pamphlet called The Seaman's Secrets which,
among other things describes great circle sailing.[28] It's said that the explorer Sebastian Cabot had
used great circle methods in a crossing of the North Atlantic in 1495. [28] Davis also gave the world a
version of the backstaff, the Davis quadrant, which became one of the dominant instruments from
the 17th century until the adoption of the sextant in the 19th century.
In 1599, Edward Wright published Certaine Errors in Navigation, which for the first time
explained the mathematical basis of the Mercator projection, with calculated mathematical tables
which made it possible to use in practice. The book made clear why only with this projection would
a constant bearing correspond to a straight line on a chart. It also analysed other sources of error,
including the risk of parallax errors with some instruments; and faulty estimates of latitude and
longitude on contemporary charts.
In 1631, Pierre Vernier described his newly invented quadrant that was accurate to one
minute of arc.[28] In theory, this level of accuracy could give a line of position within a nautical mile
of the navigator's actual position.
In 1635, Henry Gellibrand published an account of yearly change in magnetic variation.[29]
In 1637, using a specially built astronomical sextant with a 5-foot radius, Richard Norwood
measured the length of a nautical mile with chains. [30] His definition of 2,040 yards is fairly close to
the modern International System of Units (SI) definition of 2,025.372 yards. Norwood is also
credited with the discovery of magnetic dip 59 years earlier, in 1576.[30]
2.1.4. Modern times
In 1714, the British Commissioners for the discovery of longitude at sea came into
prominence.[31] This group, which existed until 1828, offered grants and rewards for the solution of
various navigational problems.[31] Between 1737 and 1828, the commissioners disbursed some
101,000.[31] The government of the United Kingdom also offered significant rewards for
navigational accomplishments in this era, such as 20,000 for the discovery of the Northwest
passage and 5,000 for the navigator that could sail within a degree of latitude of the North pole.[31]
A widespread manual in the 18th century was Navigatio Britannica by John Barrow, published in
1750 by March & Page and still being advertised in 1787.[32]
In 1731 the octant was invented, eventually replacing earlier cross-staffs and Davis
quadrants.[31] This had the immediate effect of making latitude calculations much more accurate.
Four years later, the first marine chronometer was invented.[31] The sextant was derived from the
29

Chisholm, 1911:288.

30

Chisholm, 1911:289.
Chisholm, 1911:290.

31

32

ODNB entry for John Barrow (fl. 17351774): Retrieved 18 July 2011.

octant in 1757 in order to provide for the lunar distance method. With the lunar distance method,
mariners could determine their longitude accurately. Once chronometer production was established
in the late 18th century, the use of the chronometer for accurate determination of longitude was a
viable alternative.[31] Chronometers replaced lunars in wide usage by the late 19th century.[27]
In 1891, radios, in the form of wireless telegraphs, began to appear on ships at sea.[33]
Steam was first applied to boats in the 1770s. With the advent of economical steam engines,
efficient external combustion heat engines that makes use of the heat energy that exists in steam and
converting it to mechanical work, the prime mover was steam for ships. The technology only
became relevant to trans-oceanic travel after 1815, the year Pierre Andriel crossed the English
Channel aboard the steam ship lise.
A steamboat, sometimes called a steamer, became the primary method of propulsion is the age of
steam power, typically driving a propeller or paddlewheel. Small and large steamboats and
riverboats worked on lakes and rivers. Steamships gradually replaced sailing ships for commercial
shipping through the 19th century. From 1815 on, steamships increased significantly in speed and
size.
Ironclads are steam-propelled warships of the later 19th century, protected by iron or steel
armor plates. The ironclad was developed as a result of the vulnerability of wooden warships to
explosive or incendiary shells. The first ironclad battleship, La Gloire, was launched by the French
Navy in 1859; she prompted the British Royal Navy to start building ironclads. After the first
clashes of ironclads took place during the American Civil War, it became clear that the ironclad had
replaced the unarmored line-of-battle ship as the most powerful warship afloat.
In 1899, the R.F. Matthews was the first ship to use wireless communication to request
assistance at sea.[33] The idea of using radio for determining direction was investigated by "Sir
Oliver Lodge, of England; Andre Blondel, of France; De Forest, Pickard; and Stone, of the United
States; and Bellini and Tosi, of Italy." [34] The Stone Radio & Telegraph Company installed an early
prototype radio direction finder on the naval collier Lebanon in 1906.[34]
By 1904, time signals were being sent to ships to allow navigators to routinely check their
chronometers for error.[35] The U.S. Navy Hydrographic Office was sending navigational warnings
to ships at sea by 1907.[35]
In the 20th century, the internal combustion engine and gas turbine came to replace the
steam engine in most ship applications. Trans-oceanic travel, transatlantic and transpacific, was a
33

a b

34

a b

"Short History of Radio" (PDF). fcc.gov. http://www.fcc.gov/omd/history/radio/documents/short_history.pdf. Retrieved 2007-04-22.

Howeth, Captain Linwood S. (1963). "XXII". History of Communications-Electronics in the United States Navy. Washington, D.C.: Bureau of
Ships and Office of Naval History. pp. 261265. http://earlyradiohistory.us/1963hw22.htm.
35

Bowditch, 2002:8.

particularly important application, with steam powered Ocean liners replacing sailing ships, then
culminating in the massive Superliners which included the RMS Titanic. The event with the Titanic
lead to the Maritime Distress Safety System.
Later developments included the placing of lighthouses and buoys close to shore to act as
marine signposts identifying ambiguous features, highlighting hazards and pointing to safe channels
for ships approaching some part of a coast after a long sea voyage. In 1912 Nils Gustaf Daln was
awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his invention of automatic valves designed to be used in
combination with gas accumulators in lighthouses[36]
1921 saw the installation of the first radiobeacon.[35]
The first prototype shipborne radar system was installed on the USS Leary in April 1937.[37]
On November 18, 1940 Mr. Alfred L. Loomis made the initial suggestion for an electronic
air navigation system which was later developed into LORAN (long range navigation system) by
the Radiation Laboratory of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,[38] and on November 1, 1942
the first LORAN System was placed in operation with four stations between the Chesapeake Capes
and Nova Scotia.[38]
In October 1957, the Soviet Union launched the world's first artificial satellite, Sputnik.[39]
Scientists at Johns Hopkins Universitys Applied Physics Laboratory took a series of measurements
of Sputnik's doppler shift yielding the satellite's position and velocity.[39] This team continued to
monitor Sputnik and the next satellites into space, Sputnik II and Explorer I. In March 1958 the idea
of working backwards, using known satellite orbits to determine an unknown position on the Earth's
surface began to be explored.[39] This led to the TRANSIT satellite navigation system. [39] The first
TRANSIT satellite was placed in polar orbit in 1960.[39] The system, consisting of 7 satellites, was
made operational in 1962.[39] A navigator using readings from three satellites could expect accuracy
of about 80 feet.[39]
On July 14, 1974 the first prototype Navstar GPS satellite was put into orbit, but its clocks
failed shortly after launch.[39] The Navigational Technology Satellite 2, redesigned with caesium
clocks, started to go into orbit on June 23, 1977. [39] By 1985, the first 11-satellite GPS Block I
constellation was in orbit.[39]

36

"Gustav Daln, The Nobel Prize in Physics 1912: Biography.". nobelprize.org. http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1912/dalenbio.html. Retrieved 2007-04-17.
37
Howeth, Captain Linwood S. (1963). "XXXVIII". History of Communications-Electronics in the United States Navy. Washington, D.C.: Bureau of
Ships and Office of Naval History. pp. 443469. http://earlyradiohistory.us/1963hw38.htm.
38
Howeth, Captain Linwood S. (1963). "Appendix A. Chronology of Developments in Communications and Electronics". History of
Communications-Electronics in the United States Navy. Washington, D.C.: Bureau of Ships and Office of Naval History. pp. 443469.
http://earlyradiohistory.us/1963hwa.htm.
39
Bedwell, Don (2007). "Where Am I?". American Heritage Magazine 22 (4).
http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/it/2007/4/2007_4_20.shtml. Retrieved 2007-04-20.

Satellites of the similar Russian GLONASS system began to be put into orbit in 1982, and
the system is expected to have a complete 24-satellite constellation in place by 2010. [39] The
European Space Agency expects to have its Galileo with 30 satellites in place by 2011/12 as well.[39]
Since the turn of the millennium, the construction of stealth ships have occurred. These are
ships which employs stealth technology construction techniques in an effort to ensure that it is
harder to detect by one or more of radar, visual, sonar, and infrared methods. These techniques
borrow from stealth aircraft technology, although some aspects such as wake reduction are unique
to stealth ships' design.
Some of the major social changes of this period include women becoming admirals in defensive
navies, being allowed to work on submarines, and being appointed captains of cruise ships. On
Cunard, Royal Caribbean and P&O they include Liz Lauritzen, Karin Stahre-Janson, Inger Olsen
and Sarah Breton.
The growth of cruise ship crime - including murder, rape, theft and passengers disappearing
overboard - has brought a new focus on ships of sites of aberrant social activity.
Integrated bridge systems
Electronic integrated bridge concepts are driving future navigation system planning. [40]
Integrated systems take inputs from various ship sensors, electronically display positioning
information, and provide control signals required to maintain a vessel on a preset course. [40] The
navigator becomes a system manager, choosing system presets, interpreting system output, and
monitoring vessel response.[40]
2.2. Greek shipping
Greece is a maritime nation by tradition, as shipping is arguably the oldest form of
occupation of the Greeks and has been a key element of Greek economic activity since ancient
times.
2.2.1. Classical period
The Greeks have been a maritime nation since the times of ancient Greece, as the
mountainous landscape of the mainland, the limited farming area and the extended coastline of
Greece led people to occupy with shipping. The geographical position of the region on the
crossroads of ancient sea lanes in the eastern Mediterranean, the multiplicity of islands and the
proximity to other advanced civilizations helped shape the maritime nature of the Greek nation at an
early stage. Thus, the Greeks soon came to dominate the maritime trade in the region, gradually
expanding it along the shores of the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea, and establishing
colonies. A large part of the sea trade of the Roman Empire was carried out by the Greeks in the
40

Bowditch, 2002:1.

following centuries, while they continued to be involved and play a major role in shipping during
the era of the Byzantine Empire as well.
2.2.2. Ottoman period
In the times of the Ottoman Empire, the involvement of the Greeks in international maritime
commerce was also prominent and Greek ships could be found especially in the ports of the eastern
Mediterranean. They expanded their shipping activities and trade towards western Europe in the
16th century, taking advantage from the rapidly increasing need for grain. The restrictions imposed
by the Ottomans to regulate the grain trade did not prevent the Greeks from carrying out illicit trade
which brought considerable fortunes to them. Later, the Greek maritime merchants increased their
influence, as they supplied the Balkans with raw materials, handled goods on behalf of foreigners,
distributed the goods to the final markets and controlled the sea trade in the region, assuming the
role of shipping agents. During the 18th century, the consolidation of political and economical
power at the hands of the Phanariotes in Constantinople helped further expansion of the Greek
maritime activity into the rest of Europe. The Greek merchant marine was also able to displace the
western maritime powers due to the Anglo-French wars, which led their commerce to decline, and
the navigation of the Greek vessels under the protection of the Russian Empire in many occasions.
The most prominent of the Greek cities that emerged as maritime powers were those from
western Greece, primarily Galaxidi and Missolonghi, but also Arta, Preveza and Corfu, due to their
early commercial ties with the Italian cities. In addition, the Aegean Islands were heavily active in
shipping, where traditionally the inhabitants occupied with maritime commerce, especially Hydra,
Spetses, Andros, Syros, Chios, Kasos, Psara and Mykonos. Although they did not have their own
national flag, they flew the flags of the Russian and the British Empire for international routes. In
1792, the first Greek insurance company was founded in Trieste and those of Odessa followed in
1808 and 1814. Gradually, Greek seafarers made a lot of money and gained further knowledge and
experience as they had to refine their ships and themselves in warfare against pirates. The growth of
the Greek merchant fleet gave confidence and success to them, while their contact with the western
peoples awakened their national consciousness and made them feel free. The existence of a
reservoir of trained sailors was to be proven an inestimable advantage once the Greek War of
Independence had broken out, when the Greek merchant fleet converted to a formidable martial
weapon against the cumbersome ships of the Ottoman fleet.
2.2.3. Post-Napoleonic and Wars of Independence
Greek merchants also provided the material basis for the Neohellenic Diafotismos. Impelled
by the sense of local patriotism that had always been strong in the Greek world, they endowed

schools and libraries. The three most important schools-cum-colleges in the Greek world on the eve
of the War of Independence were situated in Smyrna, Chios, and Ayvalik (on the coast of Asia
Minor opposite the island of Lesbs), all three major centres of Greek commerce.[41]
In the wake of the nineteenth century diaspora the Chiot families were well positioned to
take advantage of the commercial opportunities across Europe after the Napoleonic Wars. Families
such as the Rallis were already established in Marseille and London. They established a network of
shipping specialists across all of the major ports in Europe, Asia and the Americas. Gaining a seat
on the Baltic Exchange, Ralli brothers were able to introduce shippers and agents to reliable sources
of funding and through Lloyds of London, to reliable insurance. Uniquely, this enabled them
finance their fleets with the ships acting as security, a practice that was illegal in Greece. In some
parts of the world these fleets were Greek-owned, but in Britain they were almost exclusively
chartered by London Greeks flying under the British Flag. The major shipping companies were then
owned by Papayanni, Spartali and Schilizzi, while the Rodocanachi family became pre-eminent
traders in their cargoes.
Accompanying these Greek-run fleets were local expatriate communities of workmen and
agent-translators who managed the unfamiliar customs and bureaucracy in foreign ports. In these
times before the telegraph, this network gave the Greek shippers advance warning of events and
allowed them to control news and prices in advance of their competitors.[42]
The financial crisis of the 1860s saw some of these businesses collapse [343]. Nonetheless, the
tradition of endowment continued, and it was shipping that funded institutions such as the National
Library of Greece.
These changes heralded a move by some of the Chios families out of shipping and into
financing or broking, allowing Ionian-descended families to establish their own networks and
shipping dynasties, most notably the Vaglianos, Ziffa and Sechiari, with funding routed from the
London financial markets.
2.2.4. Twentieth century
Many changes and upheavals affected their markets: the Russian Revolution, the collapse of
the Ottoman Empire and restrictions in Egypt that closed their markets to foreigners. The Greek
grain merchants in London and Odessa lost access to their traditional grain suppliers and markets
and, rather than close, they seized the chance to invest in merchant fleets of steamships, and
specialized in tramp shipping.
41
42

43

Encyclopdia Britannica, history of Greece, Merchant middle class, 2008, O. Ed.

A history of Greek-owned shipping, by Gelina Harlaftis
Depredations: Overend, Gurney & Co and the Greek and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, by 'Stefanos Xenos' (1869)

The Second World War saw those Greek shipping companies operating in the Allied areas place
their fleets under control of the British Merchant Marine, and suffer the same depredations and
difficulties.
References

Bowditch, Nathaniel (2002). The American Practical Navigator. Bethesda, MD: National Imagery and
Mapping Agency. ISBN 0-939837-54-4. http://www.irbs.com/bowditch/.

Cutler, Thomas J. (December 2003). Dutton's Nautical Navigation (15th ed.). Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute
Press. ISBN 978-1-55750-248-3.

Department of the Air Force (March 2001) (PDF). Air Navigation. Department of the Air Force. http://www.epublishing.af.mil/pubfiles/af/11/afpam11-216/afpam11-216.pdf. Retrieved 2007-04-17.

Great Britain Ministry of Defence (Navy) (1995). Admiralty Manual of Seamanship. The Stationery Office.
ISBN 0-11-772696-6.

Maloney, Elbert S. (December 2003). Chapman Piloting and Seamanship (64th ed.). New York, NY: Hearst
Communications Inc.. ISBN 1-58816-089-0.

National Imagery and Mapping Agency (2001) (PDF). Publication 1310: Radar Navigation and Maneuvering
Board Manual (7th ed.). Bethesda, MD: U.S. Government Printing Office.
http://www.nga.mil/portal/site/maritime/.

Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Navigation". Encyclopdia Britannica. 19 (11th ed.).

http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/User:Tim_Starling/ScanSet_TIFF_demo. Retrieved 2007-04-17.

Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Pytheas". Encyclopdia Britannica. 22 (11th ed.).

http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/User:Tim_Starling/ScanSet_TIFF_demo. Retrieved 2007-04-17.

Bilic, Tomislav (March 2009). "The Myth of Alpheus and Arethusa and Open-Sea Voyages on the
Mediterranean--Stellar Navigation in Antiquity". International Journal of Nautical Archaeology 38 (1): 116
132. doi:10.1111/j.1095-9270.2008.00189.x.

Bloomberg, Mary; Gran Henricksson (1997). "Evidence for the Minoan origins of stellar navigation in the
Aegean". Actes de la Vme confrence annuelle de la SEAC. Gdansk. pp. 6981.

Taylor, E. G. R. (1971) link ed. The haven-finding art; A History of Navigation from Odysseus to Captain
Cook New York: American Elsevier Publishing Company, INC.

Homer. link ed. The Odyssey , Book V.

History of Greek shipping
Greek freighter DIAMANTIS, sunk on 03 October 1939 by German U-Boat U-35
Historic house flags of Greek shipping companies
George Bitros and Ioanna Minoglou: Entrepreneurship and market order: Some historical evidence [1] Munich
University Personal RePEc Archive

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?

title=History_of_navigation&oldid=493719467"
http:// www.chinaculture.org/gb/en_madeinchina/2005-06/21/content_69874.htm
See also History of Merchant shipping on www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjUKm6MBIww
Vocabulary
altitude
astrolabe

astronomical tables (ephemerides)

bearing
buoys
caravel ship
cartography
celestial navigation
chain
chip log
clinker-built
cog
cross-staff
Davis quadrant
dry box
dugout canoes
external combustion heat engines
GPS satellite
hydrography
international maritime law
ironclad
latitude
lighthouses
longship
LORAN (long range navigation system)
magnetic compass
magnetic dip
mainland
marine chronometer
monsoon wind
nautical charts
naval collier
oceanography
octant
open water
paddlewheel
parallax errors

pivoting needle
propulsion
quadrant
radar
radio direction finder
sailing directions
sailor
sea lane
seaworthy boats
sextant
sonar
sounding weight
square rigged sail
stealth ship
steam engines,
steamer
steel armor plates
strakes
trading routes
visual
waterline
whaling
wireless telegraphs
wobble
yards
TASK 1 Learn the words from vocabulary and translate them in your own language.
TASK 2 Read the following text and answer the questions:
In the expansive empires of Greece and Rome, powerful fleets were needed for battle, trade and
communication. Greek galleys were powered by a sail and many oars. During the fifth and the
fourth centuries B.C., the trireme dominated the Mediterranean. It was powered by 170 oarsmen,
each pulling one oar, and ranged on three levels. The merchant ships of the Greeks and Romans
were mighty vessels. The full-bodied Roman corbita, for example, could hold up to 400 tons of

cargo, such as spices, gems, silk and animals. Some of these ships made long trading voyages,
sailing even as far as India.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

How were the Greek ships called?

How is a company of ships of a country called?
What made the ships sail in ancient times?
What was the name of the ship propelled by three banks of ores?
What was the name of the commercial ship of the imperial Rome?
How can be spices, gems, silk and animals called, when carried on a ship?

TASK 3 Answer the following questions about Vikings, using the paragraph in the unit and your
general knowledge.
1. Can you name any of the countries where the Vikings came from?
2. How did the Vikings make their ships move?
3. The name Viking comes from a Viking word meaning: a) King Vic; b) adventurer; c) red
beard.

TASK 4 Match the name of the ship with the description and the picture.
Description
1 Originally a Portuguese fishing boat

Name
A curragh

Picture

with lateen sail for local trade, it

developed in a seaworthy ship for carrying
bulk goods.
i
2 The larger type of three-masted trading

B cog

vessel in use in northern and southern

Europe during the 14th-17th centuries.
ii
3 Chinese ship built in the 13th century,

C caravel

with a single stern rudder and pontoon

type hull divided into watertight
compartments.
iii

4 An early coastal merchant ship, which

D junk

began as a small flat-bottomed coaster

developed by the Germans.
iv
5 A two-masted ship with the foremast

E brig

square rigged and the mainmast fore-andaft rigged and that was very much used in
the Northern Sea.
v
6 Basic boat used for fishing and for the

F carrack

transport of goods and people built

starting with the 5th century on the west
coast of the Celtic Ireland.
vi
The definitions were adapted from Liners, Tankers and Merchant Ships, Robert Jackson and Oxford
Companion to Ships and the Sea, I.C.B. Dear & Peter Kemp and the images taken from images
http://www.google.ro/search?hl=ro&q=maritime+history
TASK 5 Find other texts about history of shipping and navigation and translate then into your
language. It is the best way of improving your vocabulary and getting used to the terminology.

Key to the tasks:

TASK 2
1(galleys); 2(fleet); 3(sail and oars); 4(trireme); 5(corbita); 6(cargo).
TASK 3
1. The Vikings came from the lands which are now Denmark, Norway and Sweden, area which
is now called Scandinavia.

2. Vikings could make their ships move in two ways: when it was windy they used a sail and
when it was calm they rowed the ship.
3. The name of Viking comes from (b) the Viking word for adventurer. Every summer the
Vikings set out on long sea journeys to look for trade or to raid coastal towns and villages in
search for treasures.
TASK 4 Match the name of the ship with the description and the picture.
Description
1 Originally a Portuguese fishing boat

Name
A caravel

Picture

with lateen sail for local trade, it

developed in a seaworthy ship for carrying
bulk goods.
i
2 The larger type of three-masted trading

B carrack

vessel in use in northern and southern

Europe during the 14th-17th centuries.

ii
3 Chinese ship built in the 13th century,

C junk

with a single stern rudder and pontoon

type hull divided into watertight
compartments.
iii
4 An early coastal merchant ship, which

D cog

began as a small flat-bottomed coaster

developed by the Germans.

iv
5 A two-masted ship with the foremast

E brig

square rigged and the mainmast fore-andaft rigged and that was very much used in
the Northern Sea.
v

6 Basic boat used for fishing and for the

F curragh

transport of goods and people built

starting with the 5th century on the west
coast of the Celtic Ireland.
vi