NOVA: Ship That Changed The World

[MiddenMonster]

Wednesday night's NOVA episode is titled "Ship That Changed The World". Don't know the name of the ship or what breakthrough caused it to change the world, but it's on PBS tomorrow night if anyone is interested. The synopsis on the NOVA website reads as follows:

"The Age of Exploration and Europe's imperial colonization of far-off lands was launched by a revolution in ship design that made long-distance voyages practical. A newly discovered 500-year-old wreck offers vital clues to this momentous innovation."

I'm actually curious as to what about the design could be so game changing from what came before.

 

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[barney]

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[MiddenMonster]

https://www.lonewolfmedia.com/lone-...Hu-w205JFESAsgmM905i3GqKmkrrhGNRGqYZEwvMnHmLQ

Thanks for posting that. Now I know what they are calling this find. I also noticed that @Smithbrown posted something about it as well, but I don't be reading the Swedish. Will definitely watch this NOVA episode tomorrow night. Still wondering what this amazing breakthrough was. We really need a bookie on these forums so we can gamble on questions like this.

 

[MiddenMonster]

Like so much of what is on TV, the reality of the program didn't live up to the hype. The show was good, but there wasn't a single innovation that was responsible for why this ship was so unique. The innovation was the hybridization of the clinker hulls used by Vikings, and the Caravel-style hulls in the Mediterranean. But as for the breakthrough innovation that allowed for long distance sea travel? Hardly. The Chinese did it 100 years before, with ships as long as 400' and an armada of more than 25,000 people. Still, lot's of interesting stuff in the program, though it was more about how they explored and salvaged the wreck and what was found in the hold. And it did seem to be a logistical coup, seeing as they had just over two weeks to get everything done.

 

[Red-Coat]

The Gribshunden was an early Danish ?carvel-built? warship whereas in earlier times, ships were ?clinker-built?. However, the ship itself was not the game-changer. Gribsgunden was neither the first to be carvel-built, and the innovation is in any case generally attributed to the Portuguese (for European introduction), not the Danes

Clinker-built hulls had a light framework covered with planks that had over-lapping edges. Carvel-built hulls had a heavier and stronger framework covered with planks butted edge-to-edge such that the hull was essentially smooth. Both designs had their merits.

Carvel hulls were theoretically more streamlined in the water, but not inherently more efficient because they were heavier and had a larger water displacement. A carvel actually gives you less interior space for cargo at a given hull size because the rib framework is bulkier, but the hull is more rigid and can be built larger. The ability of the clinker hull to flex was an advantage in roller-wave conditions for hulls up to a modest size, but larger carvel-hulled ships had a distinct advantage in rough conditions and for heavy cargoes. Carvel hulls could be built several times larger than the maximum practical size for a clinker. In addition, clinker hulls weren?t able to cope with localised stresses from fore and aft sails that gave carvel hulls their better manoeuvrability, nor the deep keels needed when sailing across the wind.