[Palfrey]

... ships and sailing? I know nothing and now that I'm editing my book I should probably try to make it realistic. :) (I was so disappointed in The Writer's Complete Fantasy Reference... It completely fails to mention several things fantasy authors need to know about!)

[Lucanus]

What era? It makes a difference. Are we talking triremes or pirate galleys?

[tmso]

Oh, oh, oh, pirate galleys, please! I want to know about pirate ships! :D

[Palfrey]

What era? It makes a difference. Are we talking triremes or pirate galleys?

In between those two I think. (Had to look up "triremes"). I do need war galleys though. Specifically I need to know two things:

1) How many troops would a war galley carry?
2) What kind of damage could a merchant ship sustain that would slow it down but not incapacitate it?

... But I would like to have more of a general education too so that I can make what happens on the ship (Captain's orders etc.) more specific.

No pirates, sorry.

[PeteMC]

1) How many troops would a war galley carry?
2) What kind of damage could a merchant ship sustain that would slow it down but not incapacitate it?

... But I would like to have more of a general education too so that I can make what happens on the ship (Captain's orders etc.) more specific.



Define "war galley" - a Tudor warship was considerably bigger than a Viking longship, for instance. In some periods the sailors were also the troops, in others you have sailors who work the ship and marines who fight.

Are you writing historical fiction or alternate world fantasy?

If it's historical, find a relevant reference book for ships of your period. If it's alternate world, what sort of equivalent time period are you aiming for (eg ASOIAF is very medieval, whereas WOT feels much more Renaissance in its setting). Find a reference book for roughly the right time period and use that.

If you're doing alt world you don't have to be quite so vigorous with your research, as long as it doesn't feel outrageously implausible - I'm fondly thinking of a scene in Orcs where a ship is so close to the shore that the characters can wade out to it and only be thigh-deep in the water, yet in the same paragraph there is reference to there being two holds below decks....

In terms of damage etc, I guess it depends on the type of ship. If it has oars or sweeps then having some broken would be limiting but not debilitating. Broken masts or burned sails are popular with damaged sailing ships in fiction, but I'm not a sailor so wouldn't know how realistic that sort of thing is.

[goldhawk]

1) How many troops would a war galley carry?

Are you talking before or after cannons?

2) What kind of damage could a merchant ship sustain that would slow it down but not incapacitate it?

If the merchant ship was not armed, they would stop when the warship was in range to do damage.

[Palfrey]

Are you talking before or after cannons?

Before.

If the merchant ship was not armed, they would stop when the warship was in range to do damage.

No, the damage to the merchant ship is caused by a storm. It has nothing to do with the war.

[Sonja Ravenscroft]

Wondering if this could be pulled in the "knowledge" thread we have going? :)

[Laer Carroll]

I'm unsure why you would ask this question here, or consult the fantasy reference guide you mentioned. Only many hours in a library and searching on the internet will answer your question.

Did you ever read any of the sea-war series such as the Hornblower series by C. S. Forester? The feeling of authenticity in those books came from much research. There is no easy path to this kind of knowledge.

[Sonja Ravenscroft]

Try asking it here:


http://www.sffworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=29379


A little knowledge thread we're putting together for questions just like yours!