15 ADVANCED Ancient Ships

before the invention of the aircraft in the 20th century the only way to travel fast distances around the world was by boat and throughout history the design of ships has continually improved from advanced war boats to sophisticated treasure carriers it's time to take a look at the 15 most advanced ancient ships number 15 hms victory first launched from the shipyard in 1765 hms victory was at the time one of the most advanced warships in the world and would play an instrumental role in britain's naval strength classified as a first-rate vessel which is the equivalent to the super dreadnaughts of recent times it took six thousand trees to build the main structure and the efforts of 150 workers over seven years to complete now docked is a museum ship in portsmouth england hms victory is the oldest naval ship that's still in commission with an impressive 243 year service record measuring 227 feet and six inches long she's a fully rigged sailing ship that has a maximum speed of up to 11 knots designed to change the face of any battle she was involved in she was armed with 102 cannons of various sizes and had a crew compliment of 850 after being involved in several battles for the first 35 years hms victory established its place in history by acting as lord nelson's flagship during the battle of trafalgar in 1803 it led the british navy to one of their most famous victories against the french despite being severely damaged there was public outcry at the suggestion of her being scuttled so she was instead repaired and used as a harbor ship and a museum ship once more powerful vessels took the waves later that century number 14 viking longship the vikings were once a much-feared warrior civilization that controlled regions across scandinavia and ventured further down into coastal regions around europe and based on recent evidence were able to travel as far as north america this wasn't just possible because of their sheer determination to plunder enemies however they relied on their ships and were far ahead of everyone else's in the region at the time the long ships that they used had their origins as long ago as the 4th century bc and continued to be improved with each one that was built in fact every long ship was different to the next with features depending on the particular designer and shipyard that built it the wood used for example was what was locally available so the long ships constructed in norway and sweden were made of pine and those from denmark were oak there were five main designs that are considered to be long ships each of which have the trademark long and wide design were built from wood had cloth sails and had their hulls decorated with elaborate carvings they were stable light fast and nimble and they were simply no other ships at the time that could compete against them in any way by using ores and sails for propulsion they were effective in virtually any conditions that they experienced and stories from the time often mentioned vicious enemies arriving under the cover of storms before vanishing back into the sea at night long ships were so efficient and advanced that many of the techniques and design philosophies are still used in shipbuilding around the world to this day and without them there's no way the vikings would have been anywhere near as successful as they were number 13 the syracusia archimedes is generally regarded as being the greatest mathematician of antiquity and one of the best scientists too living in the city-state of syracuse he was renowned for developing a number of inventions that helped defend his home from invasions but in 240 bc he was asked to design something a little different the city's leader at the time hiron ii wanted a vessel that could be used to transport huge loads throughout the mediterranean and the result was the syracusia believed by researchers to have been the largest ship to have been built in ancient times details of the exact design aren't known but records suggest that it measured 180 feet long and 46 feet wide supposedly having the capacity to carry up to 1800 tons of cargo along with almost 2 000 passengers it would have been an incredible sight to see at the time it's said to have so much interior space that it featured an indoor garden a bathroom with hot water and stunning decorations made from ivory and marble there were mosaics throughout and even a gym a library and a temple dedicated to aphrodite the size of the syracusia did however come with a downside it was apparently far too big to fit into any port in sicily and so only actually completed one voyage when it traveled from syracuse to alexandria in egypt where it was given to pharaoh ptolemy iii as a gift number 12 the flying cloud designed and built by donald mckay in boston massachusetts the flying cloud was first launched in 1851 and would go on to set one of the longest lasting sailing records of all time it was a clipper ship which is a type of vessel specifically designed to carry cargo at fast speeds and measure 225 feet long and 41 feet wide these were the early days of the california gold rush and one of the problems the prospectors faced was how long it took for them to transport their valuable product elsewhere in the country it took a standard vessel around 200 days to make the more than 16 000 mile journey from new york to san francisco around cape horn at the southern tip of south america but within six weeks of being completed the flying cloud managed to do this in just under 90 days three years later she managed to beat her own time by doing it 13 hours quicker and this became a record that would stand for 135 years until it was beaten in 1989 of course the construction of the panama canal that opened in 1914 meant that the route around the cape was no longer used in a commercial way but the fact that it held this speed record for so long was a phenomenal achievement number 11 conquerings first designed on behalf of dionysius the first the ruler of syracuse during the 4th century bc as a naval upgrade for their war against the carthaginians quinquerims would become the most powerful and heaviest types of warship over the next few centuries used not only by the greeks but also by the romans and the carthaginians too known as fives they were warships that were rowed by oarsmen who were arranged in groups of five it's believed that they usually had the oars in banks of three whereby the top two were pulled by teams of two men while the lower ones were pulled by just one person and because of their superior size compared to the tri-rims and quadrarims that were more commonly used they were able to carry far more troops weapons and boarding bridges that made it much easier to capture enemy ships during the first punic war between the romans and carthage rome at the time had a relatively small navy after discovering a quinquirim shipwreck however they replicated the design and soon had built a hundred of them according to records from the time the roman version was around 150 feet long and had a crew compliment of 420 of whom 300 were oarsmen and they became the backbone of their fleet and were crucial to rome's military might number 10 chinese treasure ship in the 13th century during china's ming dynasty between 1405 and 1433 admiral zhang hey led seven missions around the world as far away as east africa and the middle east which would become known as the treasure voyages rather than plundering destinations for valuable items the idea behind these voyages was that the chinese would take vast riches to coastal states to project chinese wealth and power and in return these communities would pledge their allegiance to china to do this a series of enormous treasure ships were built to carry the valuables and although no direct evidence remains it's believed that they were up to 440 feet long and 180 feet wide during the first voyage 63 of these ships were said to have set sail with almost 28 000 crew members they were accompanied by a further 200 warships and support ships which makes this one of the largest ancient fleets to have ever taken the seas as well as serving as gifts to foreign kings who often sent ambassadors back in return the seven treasure voyages were also credited with destroying the chenzui pirate fleet at palambong in 1407 for capturing the sinali's cote kingdom in 1411 and for destroying a number of other harbor kingdoms it was a huge display of power and wealth and as a result of the advanced shipbuilding brought countless countries under the influence of the chinese empire number nine kufu ship egypt is one of the most archaeologically interesting countries in the world thanks to the burial practices of the ancient egyptian empire and in 1954 a researcher made an astonishing discovery at the foot of the great pyramid of khufu in the giza pyramid complex within a pit that had been carved in the bedrock around 4 500 years ago there were a series of wooden planks and parts that were the pieces of an egyptian solar barge after extensive work all the pieces were put back together again and the result was the best preserved ship from antiquity that you'll find anywhere in the world measuring 142 feet long and 19 feet wide it's in such good condition that experts are sure that it would still be able to float if it were put into a river or lake today based on the designs of the boats that ancient egyptians believe the sun god ra used to travel through the sky and provide light to the world this one was probably used by khufu to visit holy places or that was used to carry his body along the nile to its final resting place number eight the santa maria while he most certainly wasn't the first person to set foot in the americas nor was he the first to travel to the continent from europe but there's no denying the fact that columbus's voyage to the new world in 1492 was an important historical event his flagship for the majority of this journey the santa maria is somewhat legendary but perhaps the most surprising thing about it was how small it actually was and how advanced it had to be for its time for the adventure to be possible the largest of the three ships used for the first voyage the santa maria was just 62 feet long and 18 feet wide it was purchased second hand to be part of the fleet and wasn't at all designed for exploration instead being a merchant ship still after being retrofitted for columbus's needs the ship was the perfect blend of strong and sturdy and light and nimble that was able to traverse the atlantic ocean with two smaller ships in tow of course the santa maria would never actually make it to america after running aground off the coast of the island of hispaniola near to modern-day haiti and while most of its wood was repurposed to build a temporary fort wreck hunters to this day are still trying to find what remains of one of the world's most famous ships hull number seven korean turtle ship this unusual looking vessel was used by the royal korean navy between the 15th and 19th centuries and because of the almost fully covered deck was known as a turtle ship the overall designs of the ships changed over the centuries but on average they were around 100 feet long and about 30 feet wide with 80 oarsmen used to propel it through the water in addition to the sails there was also a room on board for 50 soldiers and the ship was equipped with 26 cannons iron spike launchers and a sulfur gas thrower known by the koreans as we son they were most famously used for the war with the japanese navy in the late 16th century during the attempted invasion of the korean peninsula the koreans however won every single one of the battles thanks in part to the turtle ships what was effective about their design was the dragon-shaped head at the bow that was able to launch cannonballs or release flames from the mouth and the booby-trapped covered deck that protected the oarsmen from arrows musket shots and incendiary weapons while at the same time preventing the enemies from trying to board number six the nemi ships the roman emperor caligula was the third leader of the empire from the year 37 to 41 and was mainly remembered as a cruel tyrant with curious passions and interests of his own notorious for pursuing anything that would improve his own enjoyment of his position no matter the cost he was responsible for commissioning the construction of two vessels known as the nemi ships that are still a complete mystery to this day with no clear reason for why they were built the remains of the ships were first found in the bed of lake nemic in italy in 1929 but were unfortunately completely destroyed by fire during the second world war the lake itself covers an area of just 0.6 square miles but the two ships were so large there was no way they could have been transported to any other region of water both were built by the roman vitruvian method which involved first creating a shell then building the rest of the ship on top of that the first one that was discovered was 230 feet long and the second was slightly larger at 240 feet long adorned with marble mosaics and gilded copper roof tiles studies also found that they were built with three layers of lead sheeting something that was done to prevent shipworms from ruining the timbers but was a completely unnecessary and hugely costly design choice considering there are no worms like that in fresh water with such vast expanse put towards these vessels there seems to be only one logical purpose for them and that's that they were floating palaces or pleasure barges also featuring heating and plumbing with baths a temple and large rooms they were packed with technology that wasn't thought to have been developed until many decades later number five hms beagle launched in 1820 the hms beagle was a cherokee class brig sloop of the british royal navy one of a hundred that would eventually be constructed with this design believed to have taken part in the coronation celebrations for king george iv there was no need for the ship so it remained moored without masts or rigging for several years until it was repurposed for survey missions it's the second of these voyages that the beagle would become best known as it was the ship that charles darwin used to travel to south america and was instrumental in him gathering enough data to prove his theory of evolution measuring just 93 long and about 24 and a half feet wide there was space on board for 74 crew members during longer voyages and it was fitted with seven guns for protection while most ships being built at the time were capable of transatlantic crossings and traveling great distances it was a testament to the design of the beagle that it was not only able to set sail as far as the galapagos islands from england but on other expeditions it also went to australia and to patagonia it was nimble able to capture even the slightest of winds and hardy against torrential weather and there are many ships even to this day that are built and wouldn't be able to even attempt what the beagle was able to accomplish then number four trirem the tri-ram was one of the most common types of vessels used by civilizations around the mediterranean during ancient times and made up a large part of the navies of the romans the ancient greeks and the phoenicians translating to mean three banks of oars because of the layout on the ships whereby there'd be one rower responsible for each ore they were the main type of warship in use between the 7th and 4th centuries bc and were particularly fast and agile which gave navies the edge over their enemies while no original triremes still exist there is a perfect replica called the olympias which is based on an athenian design built in the 1980s it's just over 121 feet long and it's 18 feet wide and has a maximum speed of 2.5 miles per hour while historians thought they knew how advanced triremes were from records the olympia showed for the first time just how impressive they were as a fast attack and low displacement vessel special ropes were fitted along the length of the hull to increase its rigidity in a process known as pre-tensioning which is a technique that's still used on long ships today number three uss constitution first launched in 1797 and now moored at the charleston navy yard in boston the uss constitution is the oldest ship of any type in the world that's still afloat it's a three-masted frigate that was built with a wooden hull and her name was chosen by president george washington measuring 304 feet long and 43 feet wide she was able to reach a top speed of 15 miles per hour despite carrying eight smaller boats and 52 guns designed mainly to act as a defense ship the constitution was effective during the war of 1812 when she destroyed five british warships captured countless merchant vessels and it was her skirmish and eventual defeat of hms gurier that would define her place in the history books following that war she was the flagship of the united states navy and went on to lead fleets in the mediterranean and africa as well as completing a circumnavigation of the world in the 1840s after an illustrious career she was only finally decommissioned in 1881 and because of her historical importance she was designated as a museum ship in 1907 in a show of how well-constructed the constitution was she sailed under her own power for her 200th anniversary of her first setting sale in 1997 and again in 2012 and remains one of the standout sites in boston harbor number two queen anne's revenge [Music] during the early 1700s in particular piracy was rife in the caribbean and along the eastern coast of the united states despite there being hundreds of vessels and many more notorious pirates there was none as famous as edward teach also known as blackbeard and his notoriety came not just because of his ruthless acts and plans but because of his ship the queen anne's revenge the origins of the vessel aren't entirely clear but it's believed that it was built for use as a merchant vessel in bristol england and was launched in 1710 soon after she was captured by french privateers who renamed her la concorde and became a naval frigate and slave trading ship for the french navy that was until 1717 when in a daring raid blackbeard and his crew managed to capture it for themselves and the rest was history measuring 103 feet long and 24 and a half feet wide the queen anne's revenge was armed with 40 cannons and had up to 300 crew members at a time highly maneuverable and easily able to outpace any british or french attempts to sink her she was only used by blackbeard for less than a year but enabled him to score some of his most valuable prizes in may 1718 in order to escape capture blackbeard was forced to run the ship aground at beaufort inlet in north carolina and the remains were only recently discovered and have now been added to the u.s national register of historic places number one cuddy sark built in dumberton scotland in 1869 the cutty sark was one of the last t-clippers to ever be constructed with the new age of steamships about to begin she was therefore considered to be the pinnacle of design for these types of vessels and would go on to set a number of records including the fastest journey between australia and the uk measuring 212 and a half feet long and 36 feet wide she was able to reach a maximum speed of around 20 miles per hour the designers had taken the best attributes from other ships such as a square or stern that increased its buoyancy and allowed it to ride over larger waves and reduce the chance of them breaking over the helmsman at the wheel or a rounder bow that helped break waves more reliably and had also made things in a way that the ship only needed a crew complement of around 30. now a museum ship that's docked in greenwich england the cuddy sark represents one of the most efficient designs of a sailing ship that was ever created is now certainly one of the very few that remain that you can actually see anywhere around the world watch our vehicles playlist for more top 15 videos about amazing vehicles sit back relax and binge watch all of our best vehicle videos [Music] you

Channel: Top Fives

Views: 1,388,160

Keywords: Ancient Ships, ships

Id: 16z1UXf5P0A

Length: 21min 6sec (1266 seconds)

Published: Tue Nov 30 2021