this is the Trireme "Olympias" a modern reproduction of an Ancient Athenian Warship. Olympias is 121 ft long and rowed by 170 oarsmen. her primary weapon is the bronze ram at the bow. in ancient times she would also have carried marines for hand to hand fighting. these vessels could make a top speed of slightly over 9kts or somewhere in the region of 10mph. not bad for a muscle powered ship. ancient warships were rowed not by slaves for the most part but highly trained and muscled oarsmen. can you imagine trying to keep 170 oars on three levels coordinated? takes lots of training and practice. the bottom picture would be a terrifying sight to an opposing ship as it was about to be rammed. in actual battle the masts would be taken down and left ashore as they and all their rigging would be in the way and this would also lighten the ship to some degree. even a small advantage in speed or manuverability counted for quite a bit.
"Olympias" is drydocked in Faliron not far from Athens and close by her modern sister the Armoured Cruiser "Giorgios Averof". as you can see the Greeks have a maritime heritage going back several thousand years.
Friday, April 30, 2010
"Olympias"
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