Vikings! A real world viking ship
Aug 12, 2018 18:45:50 GMT -6
howandwhy99, tkdco2, and 3 more like this
Post by rustic313 on Aug 12, 2018 18:45:50 GMT -6
This weekend, my town had a Viking longship pull into the harbor. My kids were somewhat concerned -- my wife did a learning module on the Vikings and they were afraid that the Vikings might come and pillage our house. However, we assured them that we would pay the Dane Gold and thus our home would be spared.
So we watched the ship sail into the harbor, then the next day came down to the dock to pay our Dane Geld.
Here's the specs on the vessel:
We got to chat with the crew, who actually sailed it from Europe to America and are now touring the coast. They reported that it makes 4-14 knots under sail. They sailed across the Atlantic and are now trolling around America with a crew of 30, with 1/3 on watch at any time. Raising the sail requires 11 crew to turn the windlass alone, and is thus a largely "all hands on deck" affair. Same for rough seas or weather. They have also rowed the vessel in Norway; this took a crew of 100 on 50 oars, and best speed was 4 knots. It was crowded but do-able, even for entire days or maybe overnight.
Some of the photos in the gallery show a cluster of people. That's a crowd of about 25 tourists. I suspect you could fit 100-300 vikings on there. It'd be tight and uncomfortable but there's space. Barely.
The ship has a cargo of stone ballast, and a cargo space of 1.5' under the deck above the ballast.
The runes up front are for travel, protection, and strength IIRC:
Here is the view from the captain's navigation station. The tiller is just to the right of here. The deckhands emphasized that instant obedience is key, even more so than on a modern vessel, due to the intensity of the labor and lack of safety features. The photos don't show it, but there are two sculpted ravens (Odin's Wisdom and Knowledge) perched on the navigation table.
Overall it was super interesting, especially to interact with the crew who sail the vessel.
I would highlight some OD&D rules from U&WA:
- Large galley: 100 rowers, 50 marines, 20 crew (nearly dead on, a little light on sailors but not terrible)
- Stepping Masts: Need 10 RAW... Real world needs 11+ for this older design.
- Oared Movement, Longship: 12-25 (usually 18)"*: Typical speed 1800 feet per combat turn
- Sailed Movement, Longship: 20-35"*: Typical speed 2000 to 3500 feet per combat turn
*Scale is 1:1200, or 1" = 100 feet. If we assume turns of 10 minutes then that gives max rowing speed of 3 knots. Nearly dead on for the rowing speed! Sailing speed of 35" is 14 knots, perfect! Turns of 10 minutes align perfectly with the scale given in the RAW and the "reconstructed archaeology."
Here's more of the photos (click picture for album):
So we watched the ship sail into the harbor, then the next day came down to the dock to pay our Dane Geld.
Here's the specs on the vessel:
We got to chat with the crew, who actually sailed it from Europe to America and are now touring the coast. They reported that it makes 4-14 knots under sail. They sailed across the Atlantic and are now trolling around America with a crew of 30, with 1/3 on watch at any time. Raising the sail requires 11 crew to turn the windlass alone, and is thus a largely "all hands on deck" affair. Same for rough seas or weather. They have also rowed the vessel in Norway; this took a crew of 100 on 50 oars, and best speed was 4 knots. It was crowded but do-able, even for entire days or maybe overnight.
Some of the photos in the gallery show a cluster of people. That's a crowd of about 25 tourists. I suspect you could fit 100-300 vikings on there. It'd be tight and uncomfortable but there's space. Barely.
The ship has a cargo of stone ballast, and a cargo space of 1.5' under the deck above the ballast.
The runes up front are for travel, protection, and strength IIRC:
Here is the view from the captain's navigation station. The tiller is just to the right of here. The deckhands emphasized that instant obedience is key, even more so than on a modern vessel, due to the intensity of the labor and lack of safety features. The photos don't show it, but there are two sculpted ravens (Odin's Wisdom and Knowledge) perched on the navigation table.
Overall it was super interesting, especially to interact with the crew who sail the vessel.
I would highlight some OD&D rules from U&WA:
- Large galley: 100 rowers, 50 marines, 20 crew (nearly dead on, a little light on sailors but not terrible)
- Stepping Masts: Need 10 RAW... Real world needs 11+ for this older design.
- Oared Movement, Longship: 12-25 (usually 18)"*: Typical speed 1800 feet per combat turn
- Sailed Movement, Longship: 20-35"*: Typical speed 2000 to 3500 feet per combat turn
*Scale is 1:1200, or 1" = 100 feet. If we assume turns of 10 minutes then that gives max rowing speed of 3 knots. Nearly dead on for the rowing speed! Sailing speed of 35" is 14 knots, perfect! Turns of 10 minutes align perfectly with the scale given in the RAW and the "reconstructed archaeology."
Here's more of the photos (click picture for album):
