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beep ! We have arrived at the Greek NAVAL HEADQUARTERS WELCOME TO ANCIENT GREEK NAVAL WARFARE
Before 800BC
there was no dominant ship type used in the navies of the Aegean
Sea. Most ships were little more than long boats of a
primitive design. In war they were mainly used to transport
troops and naval battles were boarding actions.
In 800BC the ram was invented and this changed naval battles to a
contest of speed and maneuver. At first this led to the
development of the Penteconter (meaning 50-oared), a sleek ram-armed
and fast war galley power by fifty oars, with twenty-five to a side
and manned by fifty oarsmen. A large Penteconter
could range
up to 37-38 meters, the beam would be four meters to allow room for
the rowers to work the oars. These ships would have a
top speed of 9-10 knots. There was also a smaller war galley,
the Triaconter (meaning 30-oared) used in the navies of the Aegean
Sea.
In 700BC the Bireme was developed when someone came up with the idea
of using two tiers of oars. The lower tier of oars were
fitted directly to the hull and operate exactly as they had in
earlier ships. The upper tier of oars were fitted to the sides
of the upper deck and the upper oarsmen sat further outward, giving room
for both tiers of oars to work. Biremes
had a narrower beam
than Penteconters of the same length with most having a beam of
three meters. Most Biremes carried 100 oarsmen.
In
650BC the first Triremes were built
in 650BC, and by 500BC the Trireme was
the most widely used heavy warship of the Greek city-states.
It was called Trireme because it had three tiers of oarsmen. The
Trireme also had a partial or full fighting
deck above the rowers. The length of the Trireme remained
approximately 35-38 meters, and the beam was approximately 3.5
meters. A Trireme carried 170 oarsmen, plus twenty sailors and
fourteen marines in Greek navies. The top speed of a Trireme
was approximately 11.5 knots. Some Triremes may have been able
to reach higher speeds in short bursts. A Trireme traveling
from Athens to Mitylene in 427BC made the 350 kilometer trip in only
24 hours averaging eight knots (14.6 km/h). The Trireme could
accelerate much faster than a Bireme or
Penteconter, and was much
more maneuverable. This gave the Trireme an advantage in
combat where higher speed and maneuverability meant a better chance
of victory.
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The Trireme needed a well-trained and drilled crew of rowers, every
man had to respond to commands in unison. A single rower that
failed to maintain the stroke could cripple the ship's fighting
ability, so only free men could be used on Triremes. This
meant they were expensive to maintain, and it took time to train
crews to the level needed for combat.