Viking Ship Museum in Denmark announces the discovery of the largest cog
medievalists.net
Announcement from museum: https://www.vikingeskibsmuseet.dk/en/news/archaeologists-rev...
medievalists.net
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46633574 ("Found: Medieval Cargo Ship – Largest Vessel of Its Kind Ever (smithsonianmag.com)", 54 comments)
edit: Also, I think this domain (medievalists.net) is suspect. This article has no author byline; and its text is highly similar to other published articles (like [0]), with only minor word changes. Here's an A/B of an excerpt:
> [vikingeskibsmuseet.dk] "Dendrochronological analysis shows that Svælget 2 was built around 1410 using timber from two regions: Pomerania, which is modern-day Poland, and the Netherlands. By comparing tree-ring patterns with reference data, researchers were able to date the wood and determine its origin. The planks were made of Pomeranian oak, while the frames – the ship’s ribs – came from the Netherlands. This construction pattern suggests that the heavy planking timber was imported, while the frames were cut locally at the building site, reflecting a practical approach and a complex trade network where large quantities of timber moved across Northern Europe."
> [medievalists.net] "One of the most striking results so far comes from dendrochronology (tree-ring dating). Researchers report that Svælget 2 was built around 1410 using timber sourced from two different regions: Pomerania (in modern-day Poland) and the Netherlands. The planks were made from Pomeranian oak, while the ship’s frames (ribs) came from the Netherlands—an arrangement the team interprets as evidence of complex material supply and specialised shipbuilding capacity."
[0] https://www.vikingeskibsmuseet.dk/en/news/archaeologists-rev... (author byline Rikke Tørnsø Johansen)
/s
It's a big ship. It's an important find. It's not a supership or a supercog, or a beast, or a behemoth.
It's 9m wide, 6m high and 28m long.
Compare it to these: https://www.google.com/search?q=example+of+a+30m+commercial+...
This class of ship was a significant component of middle age trade and presages even larger ships, which in turn increased carrying capacity. Transport on water is bound by displacement to surface area so a small increase in surface area bounds a larger volume, where drag is bounded in surface area so as ships increase in volume the energy cost per unit carried drops significantly and thus the crewing and sail burden. Bigger ships mean cheaper goods.
Carrying 300 tonnes of cargo in 1400 was pretty good.
I agree Roman ships were large and cogs were not in comparison. But Caligula’s were more like floating party platforms that could be sunk even in a lake.
Looks like it's closed now and being merged into a new museum:
Thanks for the link!