MEDIEVAL WARFARE

Ships and Guns

Galley
Problems confronting the galley
Persistance of galley technology
Scurvy
Castles (on ships)
Galleys and Hulks
Viking Ship
Sagas
Vinland
Arab and Chinese Ships
Cheng Ho
Advantages of Arab ships
Lateen Sail
The Role of Portugal
Caravel
Caravela redonda ( "squared caravel")
The Development of Sea-going Firearms
Traditional forms of Naval Combat:
(1)  Ramming
(2)  Boarding
(3)  Firing missiles
Pre-gunpowder forms of artillery:
(1)  catapults (for throwing stones)
(2)  ballistae (for shooting giant arrows)
(3)  Greek Fire
Broadside
Advantages of the broadside:
Tumbledown sides
By 1500, when the Portuguese began to fight the Arabs for control of Far Eastern trade, the new naval technology gave them an enormous advantage and the technology was fast spreading to other European nation soon to enter the colonial race (Spain, England, France, Holland).