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Quinquereme: Descendant from the
trireme, this is a war galley that measures about 120
feet long, with a maximum beam or width of about
17 feet, and a draft of 5 feet. Known as “five,” the
quinquereme potentially has 3 rows of oars, though
only 1 row is preferred. There are 270 oarsmen.
They may be distributed among 3 decks, such as:
112 on the upper, 108 on the middle, and 50 on the
lower. The bottom rows of oars are powered by 1
oarsman apiece, while 2 oarsmen control each oar
on the second and third decks. However, the most
efficient manner is to only use 1 row of oars and
assign 5 oarsmen per oar. 1 oarsman per oar needs
to be highly trained, while the rest are mere labor -
- most often slaves encouraged by the whip. Oars
for a quinquereme are roughly 15 feet in length. Otherwise,
there are 30 sailors and 40-120 warriors. Each
oarsman pulls his own oar. The vessel is built in
large numbers. Additionally, 1 sail exists on a mast
amidships. The sails are lowered for battle, when
the oarsmen and the bronze ram become the main
armament. The quinquereme is equipped with a
corvus for boarding (for more information, see Chap.
18: Warfare). Quinqueremes are made from cedar.
War galleys follow the coasts and put into harbor
every night, where the crew enjoys a shore-based
meal and a night’s sleep in a stable bed. BCT is 9
months for a shipwright.
Raft: This is a collection of logs or timber
that are fastened together for transportation by floating.
Although they vary, most rafts measure 10 feet
long by 10 feet wide. A raft has a flat structure, a
floating platform, for the conveyance of characters
or cargo on a body of water.
Septireme: Desendant from the
quinquereme, this vessel measures 135-140 feet long,
with a maximum beam or width of about 18 feet,
and a draft of 5-6 feet. The frame is reinforced,
making this vessel much less susceptible to ramming.
However, due to the increased weight of this large
vessel, it is very effective at ramming. This vessel
has 2 rows of oars, which are 32 feet long on top
and 28 feet long on bottom. The crew consists of
350 oarsmen, 15-20 deck hands, 150-200 warriors,
and the trierarch and officers. The ram is reinforced
with bronze and iron. Finally, the septireme may
have up to 5 catapults. BCT is 10 months.
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Trireme: Desendant from the bireme, the
trireme is a war galley that measures about 125 feet
long, with a maximum beam or width of about 20
feet, and a draft of 3 feet. The trireme has 3 rows
of oars. It derives its name from the 3 rows of oars,
one atop the other. A trireme is powered by oarsmen
as well as sails, when wind is favorable. A
trireme is manned by 170 oarsmen (85 per side), a
captain (called a Trierarch), 3 oarsman chiefs (called
Hortators, who 'encourage' the oarsmen), and 25
warriors who are either spearmen, archers, slingers,
or a combination. Oarsmen are divided between
the tiers as follows: 31 on top, 27 in the middle, and
27 in the bottom. Each oarsman controls 1 oar.
Most strong oarsmen are placed on the upper decks.
The oarsmen of a trireme are not slaves, but highly
trained. The trireme can reach 7-8 knots under oars.
This vessel has scant room for provisions. It is used
for short naval trips. Even the largest triremes puts
into shore and beaches, stern first for the night, resuming
passage in the morning, weather permitting.
The hull is a thin shell of planks joined edge-toedge,
and then stiffened by a keel and light, transverse
ribs. Such light construction enables the
trireme to displace only 40 tons. Square-rigged sails
are used for power when the ship is not engaged in
warfare. The principal armament of the trireme is
a bronze-clad ram, which extends from the keel at
or below the waterline and is designed to pierce the
light hulls of enemy warships. The function of a
trireme in warfare is to advance to maximum speed
and attack the side of an enemy vessel with its battering
ram. If this fails, the enemy vessel is usually
boarded. Triremes are made from wood from fir
trees. BCT is 7 months for a shipwright.
Unireme: The unireme is a war galley that
measures about 150 feet long. The unireme has 1
row of 50 oars. It derives its name from the single
row of oars. A unireme is a purely rowing vessel
with no sails. The unireme is powered by 100 oarsmen,
each to his own oar. There are no multiple
decks aboard this vessel. The unireme is fast and
graceful, with a high, curving stem and stern. The
unireme sometimes carries an embolon (a beak or
ram). In its day it was a formidable war galley, but
now, this light warship is mainly used for scouting.
BCT is 5 months for a shipwrright.
Chapter 9: Equipment