EVOLUTION OF WATER TRANSPORT

From Ancient History to the Megaships of today

Dug-out CanoesIn 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.

A dugout or dugout canoe is a boat made from a hollowed tree trunk.

Egyptian Reed Boat (4,000 BC)•The Ancient Egyptians had knowledge of sail construction. This is governed by the science of aerodynamics

•-Most probably the first sailing boat

Khufu’s solar boat (2500 B.C.)This boat is entirely

made out of wood and it is held together by ropes.

Dhow (lateen-sail ship)In early

modern India and Arabia the lateen-sail ship known as the dhow was used on the waters of the Red Sea, Indian Ocean, and Persian Gulf.

Dhow (Arabic داو dāw) is the generic name of a number of traditionalsailing vessels with one or more masts with lateen sails used in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean region. Historians are divided as to whether the dhow was invented by Arabs.

Medieval Period There were also Southeast

Asian Seafarers and Polynesians, and the Northern European Vikings, developed oceangoing vessels and depended heavily upon them for travel and population movements prior to 1000 AD.

China's ships in the medieval period were particularly massive; multi-mast sailing junks were carrying over 200 people as early as 200 AD.

Viking Longboats and Chinese Junks

Viking Longboats (Northern Europe, 1000A.D.)

These ships used 60 men to row the ship.

Chinese Junks (1,100 A.D.)They were used as fighting

and transport ships.

Medieval ShipsVarious ships were in

use during the Middle Ages. Longships were sea vessels made and used by the Vikings from the Nordic countriesfor 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.

Medieval ShipsA knarr is a type

of Norse merchant ship famously used by the Vikings.

Medieval ShipsThe 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 invented in Islamic Iberia and used in the Mediterranean from the 13th century.

Three & Four Masted Sailing ShipsThese wooden

ships were used as battleships, and for exploration.

SS SavannahSS Savannah was

an American hybrid sailing ship/sidewheel steamerbuilt in 1818. She is notable for being the first steamship in the world to cross the Atlantic Ocean

SS Great BritainThe first ocean

liners made of iron and driven by a propeller.

When launched in 1843, Great Britain was by far the largest vessel afloat.

The Zoroaster (1870)The first oil

tanker in the world built by the Nobel Brothers

RMS Titanic (1912)RMS Titanic was a

British passenger liner that sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after colliding with an iceberg during hermaiden voyage from Southampton, UK to New York City, US. Thesinking of Titanic caused the deaths of 1,502 people in one of the deadliest peacetime maritime disasters in modern history.

The RMS Titanic was the largest ship afloat at the time of her maiden voyage.

Wakamiya

First seaplane carrier. It was created by the Japanese.

Modern Passenger Ships

Modern Warships

Modern Cargo Ships