BIG SHIPS BUILT BY THE ANCIENTS.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, 24 December 1907, Page 27

BIG SHIPS BUILT BY THE ANCIENTS.

The record for bulkiness is being smashed so often by ocean steamships nowadays that the advent of a new leviathan excites little more than passing interest. For nearly fifty years the record ■ was held by the Great Eastern, which, after the Atlantic cable was laid from her decks, was found to. be too large and expensive to be operated as ' a liner. But the fame of the Great Eastern has been eclipsed by other vessels, and the belief is general that if a little company of delegates from ancient races were to come back to earth to investigate the subject, the members of that delegation would stand aghast before an up-to-date greyhound of the seas. - • But this belief is wrong. The shipbuilding - abilities of the ancients have been greatly underestimated. They built many large craft and fitted some of them luxuriously. ? In order that the size of these' oldtime ships may be appreciated, it will be well to compare their measurements with a well-known modern vessel. The Baltic, the largest ship in the world, is 726 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 49 feet deep, with a tonnage of 23,876. That much controverted craft, the ark, is an example of bigness. Her tonnage is estimated at about 15,000 tons. No less an authority than Lindsay thinks that she was simply a raft of stupendous size, having upon it a structure resembling a huge warehouse. As no means of produlsion were necessary, this description may be correct. The cargo, however, was unique, and probably the largest and most valuable ever carried. The description of the ark, as given in the Scriptures, makes the vessel about 450 feet in length, 75 feet in breadth, and 45 feet in depth—proportions similar to those now in use for great vessels. The Egyptians, fond of large things and big dimensions, made other big tonnage vessels in ancient times. Ptolemy (Philopator) would have appreciated the Baltic. He was fond of building big boats. One of these is said to have been 420 feet long, 57 feet broad, and 72 feet deep from the highest point of the stern. This vessel had four rudders, or what some would call steering oars, as they were not fastened, each 45

feet long. She carried 4,000 rowers, besides a,OOO marines, a large body of servants under her decks, and stores and provisions. Her oars were 57 feet long, and the handles were weighted with lead. There were 2,000 rowers on a side, and it is supposed that- these were divided into five banks. ’ That this extraordinary vessel ever put to sea is doubted, but that she was launched and used at times, if only for display, several historians are agreed. Another -ship,” the Thalamegus, built for one of the Ptolemies, is said to have been 300 feet long, 40 feet broad, and 60 fQet deep. This was a far more magnificent vessel, than any previous one. An Alexandrian historian, Catlixenus, in describing her, speaks of her having colonnades, marble stairs, and garden. / . Another great vessel, historical by reason of his size; is one built by Hiero, King of Syracuse. Her dimensions are estimated to be large from the description of her cargo, and the number of her decks and houses. She is supposed to have been sheathed with lead, and accomplished at least one successful trip. She had three entrances, the lowest leading to the hold, the second to the eating rooms, and the third was appropriated to. the soldiers. There were thirty rooms, each having four couches, for the soldiers; there were fifteen couches in the sailors’ supperroom, and there were three more cabins, each having three couches. The floors of all these rooms were laid in stone mosaic work. There was also a temple of cypress, inlaid with ivory, and dedicated to Venus. The mainmast was composed of a single tree, and the vessel carried four wooden and eight iron anchors. As a freight carrier, she would rival the largest of our ocean tramps. It is recorded that one or two of the launches belonging to her would carry about eighty tons. This vessel is said to have carried “60,000 measures of corn, 10,000 jars of Sicilian salt fish, 20,000 talents’ weight of wool, and. of other cargo 20,000 talents, in addition to the provision for the crew.” These are the notably big vessels of ancient times, but the supposition is that, as rulers, whether , king, or people, were as emulous in those"days as these, other big craft alsQ built. Perhaps the Lusitania wouldn’t stagger the ancients so much as we think.