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Longships were sea vessels made and used by the Vikings from the Nordic countries for trade, commerce, exploration, and warfare during the Viking Age although scientific analysis of the oak timber shows at least one well known ship was built in Dublin, Ireland. The longship’s design evolved over many years, beginning in the Stone Age with the invention of the umiak and continuing up to the 9th century with the Nydam and Kvalsund ships. The longship appeared in its complete form between the 9th and 13th centuries. The character and appearance of these ships have been reflected in Scandinavian boat-building traditions until today. The particular skills and methods employed in making longships are still used world wide, often with modern adaptations.
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The longship is characterized as a graceful, long, narrow, light, wooden boat with a shallow-draft hull designed for speed. The ship's shallow draft allowed navigation in waters only one metre deep and permitted beach landings, while its light weight enabled it to be carried over portages. Longships were also double-ended, the symmetrical bow and stern allowing the ship to reverse direction quickly without having to turn around; this trait proved particularly useful in northern latitudes where icebergs and sea ice posed hazards to navigation. Longships were fitted with oars along almost the entire length of the boat itself. Later versions had a rectangular sail on a single mast which was used to replace or augment the effort of the rowers, particularly during long journeys.[citation needed] The average speed of Viking ships varied from ship to ship but lay in the range of 5–10 knots and the maximum speed of a longship under favorable conditions was around 15 knots.
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Longship - Viking Ship Museum Oslo, Norway
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The first true longship, that was rowed was the Nydam ship built in Denmark around AD 350. It also had very rounded underwater sections but had more pronounced flair in the topsides, giving it more stability as well as keeping more water out of the boat at speed or in waves. It had no sail. It was of lapstrake construction fastened with iron nails. The bow and stern had slight elevation. The keel was a flattened plank about twice as thick as a normal strake plank, but not considered strong enough to withstand the downwards thrust of a mast.
Long ships can trace their origin back to between 500 and 300BC, when the Danish Hjortspring boat was built. It was fastened with cord, not nailed and paddled, not rowed. It had rounded cross sections and although 65 feet long was only 6 feet wide. The rounded sections gave maximum displacement for the lowest wetted surface area, similar to a modern narrow rowing skiff, so were a very fast shape, but not great load carriers. The shape suggests mainly river use. Unlike later boats, it had a low bow and stern. A distinctive feature is the two prong, cutaway bow section.
Long ships can trace their origin back to between 500 and 300BC, when the Danish Hjortspring boat was built. It was fastened with cord, not nailed and paddled, not rowed. It had rounded cross sections and although 65 feet long was only 6 feet wide. The rounded sections gave maximum displacement for the lowest wetted surface area, similar to a modern narrow rowing skiff, so were a very fast shape, but not great load carriers. The shape suggests mainly river use. Unlike later boats, it had a low bow and stern. A distinctive feature is the two prong, cutaway bow section.
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Longship - Viking Ship Museum Oslo, Norway
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Longships were the epitome of Scandinavian naval power at the time, and were highly valued possessions. They were often owned by coastal farmers and commissioned by the king in times of conflict, in order to build a powerful naval force. While longships were used by the Norse in warfare, they were troop transports, not warships. In the tenth century, these boats would sometimes be tied together in battle to form a steady platform for infantry warfare. The Norse had a strong sense of naval architecture, and during the early medieval period they were advanced for their time compared to other European nations.
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During the 9th century peak of the Viking expansion, large fleets set out to attack the degrading Frankish empire by attacking up navigable rivers such as the Seine. Rouen was sacked in 841, the year after the death of Louis the Pious, a son of Charlemagne. Quentovic, near modern Etables, was attacked in 842 and 600 Danish ships attacked Hamburg in 845. In the same year 129 ships returned to attack up the Seine. They were called "dragonships" by enemies such as the English because they had a dragon-shaped bow.
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The Viking shipbuilders had no written diagrams or standard written design plan. The shipbuilder pictured the longship before its construction, based on previous builds, and the ship was then built from the keel up. The keel and stems were made first. The shape of the stem was based on segments of circles of varying sizes. The keel was an inverted T shape to accept the garboard planks. In the longships the keel was made up of several sections spliced together and fastened with treenails. The next step was building the strakes – the lines of planks joined endwise from stern to stern. stern. Where long timber was not available, or the ship was very long, the planks were butt joined although over lapping scarf joints, fixed with nails.
The Karvi
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The Karvi are the smallest vessel that is considered a longship. According to the 10th century Gulating Law, a ship with 13 rowing benches is the smallest ship suitable for military use. A ship with between 6 and 16 benches would be classified as a Karvi. These ships were considered to be “general purpose” ships, mainly used for fishing and trade, but occasionally were commissioned for military use.
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The Gokstad Ship above is a famous Karvi ship, built around the end of the 9th century, excavated in 1880 by Nicolay Nicolyasen. It was approximately 75 feet long with 16 rowing positions
The Snekkja
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The snekkja, meaning 'thin and projecting,' was typically the smallest longship used in warfare and was classified as a ship with at least 20 rowing benches. A typical snekkja might have a length of 56 ft, a width of 8.2 ft, and a draught of only 0.5 1.6 ft. It would carry a crew of around 41 men
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The Norwegian snekkjas, designed for deep fjords and Atlantic weather, typically had more draught than the Danish model designed for low coasts and beaches. Snekkjas were so light that they had no need of ports – they could simply be beached, and potentially even carried across a portage.
The Skei
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Skei (skeið), meaning ‘that which cuts through water,’ ships were larger warships, consisting of more than 30 rowing benches. Ships of this classification are some of the largest longships ever discovered. A group of these ships was discovered by Danish archaeologists in Roskilde during development in the harbor-area in 1962 and 1996-97. The ship discovered in 1962, Skuldelev 2 is an oak-built Skei longship. It is believed to have been built in the Dublin area around 1042. Skuldelev 2 could carry a crew of some 70–80 and measures just fewer than 98 ft. in length
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The Drekkar
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Drekkar are known from historical sources, such as the 13th century Göngu-Hrólfs Saga (the Saga of Rollo). Here, the ships are described as elegant and ornately decorated, and used by those who went raiding and plundering. According to the historical sources the ships' prows carried carvings of menacing beasts, such as dragons and snakes, allegedly to protect the ship and crew, and to ward off the terrible sea monsters of Norse mythology. It is however likely that the carvings, like those on the Oseberg ship, might have had a ritual purpose, or that the purported effect was to frighten enemies and townspeople. No true dragon ship, as defined by the sagas, has been found by archaeological exc
Longship Voyages
from Wikipedia
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