I need to do some research on naval vessels, specifically pre-20th century. Sailing vessels, to be precise. The web offers some information, but it’s sometimes contradictory or simplistic, and I’d like a recommendation for a book, or multiple books, that cover the points I want.
[ul]
[li]Clear classification of size and crew, including speed and how long a voyage lasts for different ships, if possible.[/li][li]A decent discussion of vocabulary. What a jibsail is, port, starboard, keel, etc.[/li][li]A good discussion of technical innovations. Square sails versus triangular, why the decks were slanted, etc.[/li][li]Particular coverage of pre-cannon vessels, and how cannon changed designs of some vessels.[/li][/ul]
Obviously I know some things already. I’d prefer one big good reference over several smaller, decent ones, but I don’t want to spend a fortune either. I’d try the library, but my local library… isn’t all that great.
Not that great a reference for pre-20th Century ships.
Okay, it MIGHT be a good reference for pre-20th Century ships, but they make you pay to do anything more than look at the table of contents, which doesn’t seem to have anything about the ships I want.
A search for “Caravel” came up blank, too.
If it has the imformation I need, I really wouldn’t call it a convenient reference.
van Loon, Willem Hendrik, “Ships & How They Sailed the Seven Seas (5,000 B.C. -A.D. 1935)”, New York, Simon & Schuster, 1935. (used book store decades ago)
Henderson, James, CBE, “The Frigates-An Account of the Lighter Warships of the Napoleonic Wars 1793-1815”, Barnes & Noble Books, 1994. (B&N remaindered c. 1985)
Villiers, Alan, Capt., “Men, Ships and the Sea”, Washington, DC, National Geographic Society, 1973. (with several other authors, including Swatek, Philip M., under whom I served in the U.S. Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean.) 434 pages-may still be available.
Labaree, Benjamin W., et alii, “America and the Sea: A Maritime History”-The American Maritime Library Volume XV, Mystic, CT., 1998. 686 pages (used book store)
Howarth, David and the Editors of Time-Life Books, “The Seafarers (series)-The Men-of-War”, Alexandria, VA, Time-Life Books, 1978. (one-a-month subscription)
ibid, “Fighting Sail”
ibid, “The Men-of-War”
and from the web, really old stuff, with lots of explanations of early navigation and many cross-links:
I have a copy of this book: The Lore of Ships, by Tre Tryckare, and can recommend it for explanations of details such as rigging, ship construction and nautical lore. Very comprehensive.