[Under construction]

Smaller ships vastly outnumber the largest ships. They often sailed freely and independently, with alone or in small groups. Most cargo moves on ships of 30 to 50 deadweight tons, and most ships stay close to the coast whenever possible. Round ships (cogs, caracks) of about 100 to 250 tons are reasonably common, and much larger ships existed but were rare (prized royal ships, imperial grain ships, and so on). Any particular port city might only have a dozen or a few dozen larger ships; most ships would be below 100 tons.

For destination cities in warzones, cities often organized more regulated fleets.

Crew–cogs or round ships typically needed about a minimum of one to two seamen for every ten deadweight tons; so figure that a 50-ton cog or round ship would need a crew of about twelve to twenty-four seamen; light galleys and great galleys needed large crews, typically about 180 to 210 seamen, armed officers or men-at-arms, and archers, with about 150 seamen also working as oarsmen. On a large round ship, you might be able to pack on 600 or more men for short journeys or a boarding-action battle.

Example: Let’s say that you want to move by ship 200 soldiers (say, 50 mounted men-at-arms and 150 mounted archers), each with about fifty pounds of gear, a saddle, and a horse, and enough grain, oats, ale, and wine for thirty days. I’d say that a small fleet of about two 50-ton cogs or round ships and about 7-to-10 horse standard horse transport ships (20 or 30 horses each) should be adequate for the task. If you can’t secure that many ships, you could leave behind the horses for the archers, and then either bring them in follow-up voyages or secure horses, one way or another, at your destination.

Cook

Carpenter–most ships had one or more crew members with carpentry skills; all large Khartras ships (round ships and all the galleys) had a carpenter in compliance with the kingdom’s maritime ordinances. The carpenter not only dealt with shipboard needs but also made scaling or rope ladders and fighting platforms as needed.

Cat(s)

Sailor’s Normal Rations

Biscuits or bread, cheese, pickled fish

Meat–three days a week

Figs and prunes, if and when available

Wine–morning and evening

Extra rations (double?) on feast days

Military Usages

Defense

Khartras, Ravenwood, the Seven Kingdoms, and the Free Baronies remember the terrible centuries of pirate coastal raids after the Collapse of the Tiberian Empire. Support among all ranks of people for maintaining a navy remains fairly strong.

Trading

Voyages

Small cargo ships and small galleys typically traveled within sight of land and traveled from one coastal town to the next. The crew could trade, resupply, visit, celebrate, and so on. Lots of small trading happened.

Large cargo ships (round ships) spent more days at sea to push their pace, and they sometimes sailed in fleets for safety.

The great galleys and the rare huge ships typically sailed in organized fleets.

Water or Liquid Consumption

One person needs anywhere from three-quarters of a gallon to three gallons daily, depending on climate and exertion levels. The daily water requirement for a ship’s crew, therefore, was significant (e.g., for a galley with at least 180 people on it, you’re looking at ~ 400 to 540 gallons of water/liquid daily (~5-6 tons of water for three days)). This reality is one reason why trading and combat ships usually moved along the coast and stopped at ports frequently and why round ships engaged in trade often operated with small crews (10-20 crew=common; up to 40 to 80=only if necessary).

Construction

For cogs, oak construction and clinker-built hulls were the norm.

Oak groves–plains

Ash, beech–near rivers

larch, pine, and firs–mountains