Dutch archaeologists find 34 possible shipwrecks of 1573 naval battle

Republication from heritagetribune

One of the Shipwrecks in the Hoornse Hop, Scan/ image RCE

.

By Sebas

Dutch archaeologists have found at least a stunning 34 shipwrecks near the Dutch town of Hoorn. These ships are presumed to be for a large part 16^th century Spanish war ships which were sunk during the Battle on the Zuiderzee. This major naval conflict turned out pivotal for the Dutch to gain their sovereignty from Spanish rule in 1573. The ships were found using combined methods for sonar scanning.

Expanse of the Hanseatic League

A map of the expanse of the Hanseatic League, mostly known as Hansa (copyright: W. Heinemann / Bibliographisches Institut Leipzig). The Hanseatic League was a large commercial and also politico-military confederation of merchant guilds and commercial towns in North and Central Europe.

Georadar detects a Viking ship in in Østfold County, Norway

Republication from Niku

 

Archaeologists armed with a motorized high resolution georadar have found a Viking ship and a large number of burial mounds and longhouses in Østfold County in Norway.

Press release: 

The discoveries were made by archaeologists from the Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research (NIKU) with technology developed by the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Archaeological Prospection and Virtual Archaeology (LBI ArchPro).

– We are certain that there is a ship there, but how much is preserved is hard to say before further investigation”, says Morten Hanisch, county conservator in Østfold.

– This find is incredibly exciting as we only know three well-preserved Viking ship finds in Norway excavated long time ago. This new ship will certainly be of great historical significance as it can be investigated with all modern means of archaeology”, says Dr. Knut Paasche, Head of the Department of Digital Archaeology at NIKU, and an expert on Viking ships.

Tessarakonteres, “Super-carrier” of Antiquity

A tessarakonteres (40reme) according to L. Casson’s theory, that is two eikoseres (20remes) stably bound by a common deck.  

.

By Periklis Deligiannis

.

The Early Successors of Alexander gave a boost in the use and the development of the polyeres-type warships (multimeremes), using them widely in their wars (321 BC – early 3rd century BC). The Successors have built fleets comprised of numerous large warships, reaching the building of colossal vessels such as the ‘eikoseres’ (20reme, with twenty oarsmen on each vertical group of oars) and the enormous ‘tessarakonteres’ (40reme, with forty oarsmen on each vertical group of oars). These warships resembled to floating fortresses, very similar in size to the modern large battleships and aircraft carriers. The tessarakonteres had a crew of 6.000 men (officers, oarsmen, sailors, marines and others), as many as a modern aircraft carrier.

Τεσσαρακοντήρης, το «αεροπλανοφόρο» της Αρχαιότητας

Απεικόνιση μιας τεσσαρακοντήρους κατά την άποψη του L. Casson.

.

Π. Δεληγιάννης

.

Οι Διάδοχοι και οι Επίγονοι τους, ναυπήγησαν στόλους αποτελούμενους από πολυάριθμες πολυήρεις, φτάνοντας μέχρι την κατασκευή κολοσσιαίων σκαφών όπως η εικοσήρης και η τεσσαρακοντήρης. Όπως θα δούμε, επρόκειτο για πραγματικά πλωτά φρούρια που θύμιζαν αναλογικά τα σύγχρονα θωρηκτά και αεροπλανοφόρα πλοία. Ειδικά η τεσσαρακοντήρης έφερε συνολικό πλήρωμα το οποίο έφθανε τους 6.000 άνδρες, περίπου όσους διαθέτει ένα σύγχρονο αεροπλανοφόρο.