Ships and Boats

Ships and Boats

Introduction Before there were cars, trains, or airplanes, boats were the fastest way to travel. Boats and ships helped to shape history, leading explorers to new lands and carrying goods, people, and ideas around the world. Ships and boats have changed a lot over the years, but they still share many features with the earliest designs. Let's take a look at some of the different kinds of ships and boats.

Early Ships and Boats The original boats were carved from single wooden logs. Boats of this kind date back to the Stone Age. People used fire along with tools made of stone, shells, or wood to hollow out the logs. These dugout canoes were used in rivers, lakes, and oceans around the world. People used long poles, paddles, or oars to move the canoes through the water. Paddles and oars are long pieces of wood with broad, flat ends that push against the water to move the boat forward.

Later, people began to make boats with wooden frames. They used steam to bend the wood into the shapes they needed to make the frame of the boat. Then they covered the frame with bark or animal skins to keep out the water. People living in the far north made kayaks from driftwood covered with sealskins. They used these boats to hunt and fish over wide areas that they would not have been able to reach without boats.

Some frame ships, such as galleys, were much larger than log boats. Thousands of years ago, many ancient civilizations around the Mediterranean Sea used galleys for trade and warfare. The Egyptians, the Greeks, the Persians, and the Romans all used galleys to build and maintain their empires. Galleys were frame ships covered with wood that carried many rowers. The largest galleys had hundreds of rowers sitting on several decks. Many galleys also had sails that could be used when the wind was blowing in the direction the ship was traveling. Some galleys designed for warfare had rams built into their prows that could pierce the sides of enemy ships.

Over a thousand years ago, the Vikings of Scandinavia used wooden-framed longships to cross the sea to raid coastal towns and villages in neighboring countries. A typical longship was about 28 meters (90 ft) long and carried twenty to thirty oarsmen. Like galleys, longships had sails in addition to their oars. Viking longships were sometimes called " dragon ships" because of the dragon heads carved into their prows. The Vikings were skilled sailors and warriors, and their ability to land by surprise anywhere along the coast gave them a big advantage in battle. They also used longships for trade and exploration.