Far East

The Junk

The story of the far east needs to be told first because it was here that the best sailing vessels were built and the rest of the story is concerned with how the west caught up, and eventually got ahead. And the ships of this area was heavily influenced by the dominating power of asia, China. The major ship here was the Chinese junk, which proliferated throughout the east from China.

It was efficient and comfortable. By 400 B.C., a stern and fore and aft sails had already been added. These ships also had leeboards and centerboards. On the inside, junks had watertight compartments created by bulkheads, which only came into being in the west recently. Also, the accomodations onboard were generous.

However, perhaps the most surprising advantage of the junk was its system of sails. They were stiffened by battens running across the sail, and allowed the sails to be set flat and ships to move quickly. These battens also had another purpose, which took the place of all other mechanisms used to shorten sail. A single rope was used to control the sails. When it was let go, the sails folded up like window blinds. When the rope was tightened, the sails were raised.

The hull of the ships had flat bottoms, helping them to negotiate shallow waters. The rudder served as a steering mechanism and a keel. It could be raised or lowered depending on whether the ship is sailing in wind or sailing through shallows.

Junks of Different Areas

There were several distinctive types of junks. The southern Chinese junk had light battens and a prow. The shape of the craft was generally rounded. The northern Chinese junk had tall, square, sails with a lot of battens. Some ships had up to five sails. The hull was more rectangular and flat.

The Japanese also used a variation of the junk. Japanese vessels were much larger than Chinese ones and used regular square sails. These ships were sturdy, but were not useful for anything beyond coastal work. Long-distance Chinese junks had already reached northern Europe by the time Europeans themselves set out exploring.