THE SHIPS OF HY-BRASIL

Part 2 of 2

In Part 1 of “The Ships of Hy-Brasil” we learned that Howard’s poem “The Isle of Hy-Brasil” is more than a historical narration of this island and its myth. As stated previously, “Isle” essentially describes the many types of ships anchored along its shores. To envision the beauty of this ancient island shoreline when lined with these ships, pictures of each ship type as well as a description have been added below. The ships discussed in Part 1 include the galleon, the coracle, the trireme, the galley, an ancient barge-boat, and the pirate ships: the brigantine, the caravel, the carrack and finally the frigate. Part 2 begins with the bireme.

And there’s a sturdy bireme that sailed to the Holy Land.

The Bireme

The Bireme is a galley type ship with two bank of oars that was especially used by the Greeks and Phoenicians. The ship had a hull of wood and was used for both shipping and naval warfare possibly as early as 350 bc It was configured with a single square rigged sail, short mast. The two banks of oars provided man-powered propulsion in case of calm waters or for better control in battles. The bronze armored ram on the bow of the ship was designed to be driven deep into an enemy ship. In addition to the small number of crew required, there could hold as many as 45 sailors during combat as well as additional fighting men on the main deck who were ready to board enemy vessels that had been rammed. Top speed was approximately seven knots.

Main masts lifting like a forest of the south,
Beaked prows looming and the scarlet courses furled,
Dim decks heel-marked, warped by rain and drouth,
Rift in the cross-trees, drift of the southern seas;
Dim ships, strong ships, from all about the world.

High ships, proud ships, towering at their poops,
Galleons flaunting their pinnacles of pride,

Galleon

(Galleon ship also pictured in Part 1.) A galleon was a large, multi-decked sailing ship used primarily by the European nations from the 16th to the 18th centuries. The galleon was 100-150 feet long, 40-50 feet wide, carrying about 600 tons (although some were bigger). Whether used for war or commerce, they were generally armed with the demi-culverin type of cannon. [NOTE: this is a long heavy cannon that was used in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries having a bore of about 41/2 in. (11 cm) and firing a shot of about 10 lb. (5 kg).] A lowering of the forecastle and elongation of the hull gave an unprecedented level of stability in the water, and reduced wind resistance at the front, leading to a faster, more maneuverable vessel. The galleon was powered entirely by sail, carried three to five masts, with a lateen sail on the last (usually third) mast.

Battleships and merchantmen and long, lean sloops,

Battleship, the USS Kentucky (pictured)

Battleships came in a variety of types. Most ship websites agree that battleships never used sail power. A good example of a battleship is the USS Kentucky (pictured above). According to the Navy Military History website, she was commissioned in 1900. Her first active service was on the Asiatic Station between 1900 and 1904 transiting between the U.S. and the Far East via the Suez Canal. The Kentucky operated along the U.S. east coast and in the Caribbean area from 1905 to late 1907. She participated in the “Great White Fleet” cruise around the world, visiting South America, the U.S. West Coast, Hawaii, New Zealand, Australia, the Philippines, Japan, China, Ceylon and the Mediterranean before returning to Hampton Road, Virginia in February 1909. She was out of commission from August 1909 to June 1912 to be modernized and receive two of the new “cage” masts. She was again inactive in 1913-15, then operated in the western Atlantic and Caribbean areas until the U.S. entered the First World War. During that conflict, Kentucky served as a training ship in the Chesapeake Bay and along the Atlantic coast. With the return of peace, she briefly remained in service, making a Naval Academy Midshipmen’s cruise to Panama in mid-1919. She was finally decommissioned in 1920 and sadly, sold for scrap in 1924 in compliance with U.S. commitments under the Washington Treaty which limited naval armaments.

[NOTE: In a return email regarding my inquiry about the purpose of the upper “cage” masts, Bill from the USS Kentucky website stated they were used for spotting the fall of shells in battle; they also carried small machine guns for ship to ship battle in boarding, held antennas that were mounted for the radios and were used for the hoisting of the signal flags.]

Merchantmen

A merchantmen ship carried cargo rather than the armaments of a warship. Without weapons, they were easy targets for pirates.

Sloop

The Sloop is a single-masted, fore-and-aft-rigged sailing boat with a short standing bowsprit or none at all and a single headsail set from the forestay. Small and fast, it had a narrow bow which allowed it to move through waves easily..

Flagships floating with the schooners on the tide.

HMS Victory, flagship of the Second Sea Lord of the Royal Navy

The purpose of a flagship is to carry a fleet or squadron commander and it bears the commander’s flag. It is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, a designation given on account of being either the largest, fastest, newest, most heavily armed or, for publicity purposes, the best known. In military terms, it is a ship used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships. The term originates from the custom of the commanding officer (usually, but not always, a flag officer) to fly a distinguishing flag.

Schooner

A schooner is a vessel with two or more masts, with fore and aft sails on both masts, normally less than 150 tons but some of the triple masted schooners built on Prince Edward Island in the 1800s exceeded 700 tons.

The Schooner Thomas W. Lawson

An exceptional schooner, the Thomas W. Lawson was a seven-masted, steel-hulled schooner originally planned for the Pacific trade, but primarily used to haul coal and oil along the East Coast of the USA. Built in 1902, she holds the distinction of being the largest schooner and the largest pure sailing vessel (without an auxiliary engine) ever built. Her design was an extreme attempt to keep sail viable in the coastal trade against competition from steam vessels. Her seven masts were all the same height with gear and sails that were more or less interchangeable. The lower parts of her seven masts were of steel while the upper parts were of pine. Her dimensions were 385 x 50 x 35 feet; masts: seven gaff sails, seven topsails, seven staysails and five jibs, with a total area of 43,000 sq feet or approx. one acre of sail. The sails weighed 18 tons. She could carry 11,000 tons of coal or 60,000 barrels of oil and held a crew of 17. She was also reportedly very difficult to handle and sluggish to maneuver and was described as being “like a beached whale” and had “the lines of a canal barge, and about as sweet as a bath tub”. Caught in a succession of winter gales, her hull and masts provided so much windage that she reportedly made twelve knots under bare poles. On December 13, 1907, she was riding out a gale off the Scilly Isles (south of England) when she dragged her anchors and broke up on western rocks of Hellweather’s Reef, with the loss of 15 of the 17-member crew. Captain George Dow and engineer Edward Rowe were the survivors. Also lost in this mishap was pilot William Thomas Hicks. This grounding resulted in the first case of oil pollution in the Channel, exactly 60 years prior to the ‘Torrey Canyon’.

And there’s a Viking Serpent that sailed the northern seas,

Viking Serpent Ship

The Viking ship was perhaps the greatest technical and artistic achievement of the European dark ages. These fast ships had the strength to survive ocean crossings while having a draft of as little as 50cm (20 inches), allowing navigation in very shallow water. Two different classes of Viking era ships were found: warships called langskip and merchant ships called knörr. Typically, a warship is narrower, longer, and shallower than a knörr, and is powered by oars, supplanted by sail. The warship is completely open and is built for speed and maneuverability. In contrast, a knörr is partially enclosed and powered primarily by sail. Cargo carrying capability is the primary concern. The single square rigged sail allowed sailing close to the wind. This ability, combined with the capability to row during adverse wind conditions, allowed Norse sailors to run in to shore, engage the enemy on land, and escape retribution at will. The shallow draft of Norse war ships had several advantages. The Norse could raid well inland by sailing far up rivers that were too shallow for typical sea-going vessels of the day. The Frankish kingdoms in present day France were shocked by Norse raids in unthinkable locations hundreds of kilometers (100+ miles) inland on rivers not thought to be navigable. In general, the Norse raided only those locations to which they could sail. Overland marches were avoided. In addition, the shallow draft made for fast and easy disembarkation during a raid. When the ship was beached, a Viking could be certain that if he jumped out near the stem, the water would scarcely be over his knees. The crew could leave the ship and join the raid quickly and confidently.

That knew the stride of giants, ferocious gods of brawn,
And there’s a lateened rover that billowed to the breeze,
There a ship that sailed from Tyre when the waves were tinged with fire
And the first skies of history were rosying to dawn.

Lateened Rover

A Rover is a pirate ship or vessel. Lateened refers to the type of sail which is triangular in shape and extended by a long yard, which is slung at about one fourth of its length from the lower end, to a low mast, this end being brought down at the tack, while the other end is elevated at an angle or about forty-five degrees.  This sail is used in small boats, feluccas, xebecs, etc., especially in the Mediterranean and adjacent waters. Some lateen sails have also a boom on the lower side.

The Good St. Brandon knew it when he turned him to the West
When he left the world behind him as he ventured far away,
And his fearless keel went plowing the ocean’s sapphire crest
Till he won unto Hy-Brasil which no other mortal may.

For the island is Hy-Brasil, the paradise of ships,
Where the dim ghost crafts lie anchored and at rest,
Where the sea wind never rages and the sea rain never drips,
There they dream away the days in the mystic, sapphire haze
About the isle of Hy-Brasil, far off amid the West.

A THANK YOU TO ALL TC’S WORD OF THE WEEK FANS

For the past ten months, the Word of the Week Blog has searched the nooks and crannies of Robert E. Howard’s poetry for new words or for a new way of looking at familiar ones. His expertise with words and his extensive vocabulary made it easy to post this blog each week.  But defining the word, its part of speech, and its origin was only part of it, quoting the Howard poem gave it a context and  meaning.  Words were Robert E. Howard’s business and they offer us a passport to other worlds. Through his descriptions, we can travel to ancient lands and alternate realities, we are able to see decaying civilizations, barbarians, as well as both the horror and the beauty in Life. We can experience ocean waves and mountain peaks, and even get a glimpse of a hidden altar dedicated to a forgotten deity.

The Word of the Week Blog has been challenging and fun. I’ve added to my own vocabulary and I hope that you have also. Some of the poems quoted were favorites but in many cases, even the familiar ones came alive by just defining that one word. I hope your experience with Word of the Week was as enjoyable as mine.  

Thank you so much for your support!
Barbara