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The Vikings are well known for their boat-building skills – without which they wouldn’t have been able to create the famed longships that helped them to reach far away lands. The largest preserved Viking boat to be found in Norway is the 9th century Gokstad longship, which was discovered in a burial mound in 1880.
- History Hit Podcast
- Harry Atkins
- Their design evolved over many years. The design principles that led to the Viking longship can be traced back to the beginning of the Stone Age and the umiak, a large open skin boat used by Yupik and Inuit people as long as 2,500 years ago.
- Viking ships were clinker built. The so-called “clinker” method of ship construction is based on planks of timber, usually oak, being overlapped and nailed together.
- Longships were able to navigate in shallow waters. A shallow draft allowed navigation in waters as shallow as one metre and made beach landings possible.
- Their top speed was around 17 knots. Speed was variable from ship to ship but it’s thought that the quickest longships could achieve speeds of up to 17 knots in favourable conditions.
These re-creators have been able to identify many of the advances that the Vikings implemented in order to make the longship a superior vessel. The longship was light, fast, and nimble. The true Viking warships, or langskips , were long and narrow, frequently with a length-breadth ratio of 7:1; they were very fast under sail or propelled by warriors who served as oarsmen. [ 6 ]
Feb 7, 2018 · One of the most famous images connected with the Vikings is that of the dragon-headed longships, red-and-white striped sails giving it deadly speed and carrying its bloodthirsty warriors to their destinations of plunder. However, Viking ships came in many different forms, among which there were big-bellied cargo ships and, indeed, the speedy longships which facilitated raiding and gave the ...
- Emma Groeneveld
Mar 3, 2024 · The Viking longships were more than just vessels; they were symbols of power and prestige. They played a crucial role in the Vikings’ societal structure, serving as the primary means of expanding their influence through exploration, raiding, and establishing trade routes. The speed and agility of the longships enabled Vikings to launch sudden ...
sailing craft. longship, type of sail-and-oar vessel that predominated in northern European waters for more than 1,500 years and played an important role in history. Ranging from 45 to 75 feet (14 to 23 metres) in length, clinker-built (with overlapped planks), and carrying a single square sail, the longship was exceptionally sturdy in heavy seas.
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The Vikings built many different kinds of craft, from small fishing boats and ferries, to their famous longships. They were all made from planks of timber, usually oak, overlapped and nailed together. The ships were made watertight by filling the spaces between the planks with wool, moss or animal hair, mixed with tar or tallow. The ships were ...
