Ship
From the Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia that anyone can change
A ship is a large vehicle used to travel on water. It is bigger than a boat. Ships are used for travel, trade and warfare.
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[change] History
[change] Early ships
The first ships used oars or the wind (or both) to make them move.
From about 4000BC the Ancient Egyptians were making wooden sail boats. By 1200BC the Phoenicians and Greeks had begun to make bigger sailing ships which were about 30 metres (100 feet) long and could carry 90-180 tonnes of cargo. The Romans made even bigger ships which could carry up to 1,000 people and 1,000 tonnes of cargo. The 8th century saw the rise of the Vikings, who were famous for their "longships" and which were mainly used for raiding other countries, but also for trading.
[change] The age of sail
Sailing ships were used for thousands of years, but they were very important in wars and trade from the 1500's to the 1800's. The Chinese admiral Zheng He commanded a fleet of 'treasure ships' on seven voyages all iover Asia up to East-Africa in the early fifteenth century. These ships probably were about 130 m (450 ft) long and up to 50 m (180 ft) wide]. That makes them about twice the size of the largest European ships in the sixteenth century. The most succesful and largest fleet in the 17th century was the Dutch fleet (see the Netherlands). For trade and transport the Dutch often used a partcular kind of trading ship, called a flute (fluit in Dutch). Transport of people and cargo on sailing ships continued until the 1920's.
Some famous ships from this era include:
- Niña, Pinta, Santa Maria - Christopher Columbus' ships
- The Mayflower - The ship that carried the Pilgrims to Massachusetts
- Queen Anne's Revenge - The pirate Blackbeard's ship
- HMS Bounty - Captain Bligh's ship. Site of the most famous mutiny of all time
- USS Constitution - The most powerful ship in the early United States Navy
- HMS Victory - Admiral Horatio Nelson's flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar
[change] The age of steam
In the 19th century, steam ships were invented.
[change] Modern ships
Most modern ships have diesel engines.
At one time, Titanic, Olympic, and Britannic were the largest ships in the world, Titanic sank on her maiden voyage after hitting an iceberg, becoming one of the most famous shipwrecks of all time, the Olympic was Titanic 's nearly identical twin, and actually set sail before Titanic and was scrapped in the 1930's after a very successful career including her being a passenger liner and a warship in WWI. The Britannic was the larger of these three sister ships, and was supposed to be more grand and elegant than the Titanic, but before she set sail on her maiden voyage, WWI broke out and she was stripped of her elegant furniture and elaborate paneling and became a hospital ship. During her term as a hospital ship, she was sunk by either a mine or torpedo, no one knows for sure. The Titanic lies at the bottom of the North Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Nova Scotia, and the Britannic lies in the Aegean Sea, off the coast of the Island of Kea.
[change] Some names for parts of a ship
- Amidships - near the middle of the ship.
- Bow - the front of the ship.
- Stern - the back of the ship.
- Aft - in the direction of the stern.
- Astern - behind the ship.
- Starboard - the right side of the ship.
- Port - the left side of the ship.
- Bridge - the room in which the ship is controlled.
- Cabin - a room where a crew member lives.
- Decks - the floors.
- Galley - the kitchen.
- Hold - an area inside the ship used to carry goods.
- Hull - the main body of the ship.
- Keel - a beam running from stern to bow.
- Mast - a central pole on which sails are hung.
[change] Some types of ships
- Aircraft carrier - a warship which carries aircraft.
- Bulk carrier - very large ship used for carrying very heavy cargo.
- Catamaran - a ship with two hulls.
- Cruise ship - a large passenger ship that takes people on holiday or vacations.
- Destroyer - a large warship.
- Ferry - a passenger ship which often carries vehicles as well as people.
- Submarine - an underwater boat.
- Supertanker - a very large ship usually used for carrying oil.
