How many years do ships last? The exact answer to this question most likely will not be found in textbooks on maritime affairs. Then you can try to find the oldest operating ship in the fleet.
The Russian Black Sea Fleet, which is based in Sevastopol, has the oldest ship Navy Russia - the rescue catamaran ship "Kommuna", which has been in service for 99 years.
1. Rescue catamaran ship “Commune” – oldest ship Russian Black Sea Fleet. November 12, 2012 will mark the 100th anniversary of the ship's keel.
2. Project of the first specialized double-hulled rescue vessel in the country submarines was developed back in 1911 by order of the Marine General Staff. The German rescue catamaran Vulcan was used as a prototype. The original name of the court was “Volkhov”, and the name “Commune” was received in 1922.
3. “Commune” has a displacement of 3100 tons, its length is 81 m, its width is 13.2 m, and its draft is 3.7 m.
Speed full speed- 8.5 knots, and cruising range - 4000 miles.
There are no weapons. Specialist. equipment: ship lifting equipment – left hull for 80 tons, right hull for 30 tons. Crew: 23 people
It is worth noting that the ship’s hull is made of Putilov steel and is, of course, not in perfect, but in quite working condition. The ship is constantly undergoing routine repairs, because, of course, even by human standards, it is no longer even at pre-retirement age, but at deep retirement age.
4. Let’s go up the stairs to the “Commune” to get to know the veteran better.
5. A plaque with a brief history of the ship..
6. There is another sign in the wardroom. It was minted in the year the ship was launched - in 1915.
It is interesting that (and this is noticeable from the sign) the coat of arms Putilovsky plant was changed much later.
7. “Commune” is a catamaran-type vessel, with a movable platform with a descent module moving between its sides.
It is driven by four cable drives located in pairs on the sides of the vessel in the front and rear parts.
8. View of the platform from the upper truss
9. Huge drums with cables allow the descent vehicle to be immersed to a depth of up to 1 kilometer
10. Drive cables for the platform of the descent underwater vehicle
11. The main object of the “Commune” is a working remote-controlled uninhabited underwater vehicle RTNPA. Allows you to work at depths of up to 1 km (limited by the length of the cable). Designed for searching and detecting underwater objects using sonars, lifting loads up to 150 kg, cutting cables, etc.
12. RTNPA is equipped with 4 video cameras, as well as a pair of manipulators. Replaceable manipulators are designed for various purposes - capturing an object, installing a radio beacon, grabbing a cable, biting or cutting.
The device is equipped with 10 engines, allowing for exceptional maneuverability of the device.
13. A manipulator with a cutting disc, allowing cutting of metal and cables at depths of up to 1 km
14. Yellow capsules contain everything electronic systems. When diving, all the air is forcibly pumped out of there. This ensures complete sealing of the capsules due to compression by water pressure
15. Control bridge of the descent underwater vehicle. Equipment and equipment manufactured in Norway
16. The ship's navigation bridge.
17. The steering wheel and some elements have been preserved since the date the ship was launched - since 1915
20. The ship “Kommuna” is based in Streletskaya Bay of Sevastopol on rented berths Navy Ukraine. Here the warships of Russia and Ukraine stand side by side
21. Spotlight on the upper bridge
23. Spare screws
24. Anchor chain length indicators
25. The chain goes into the sea...
26. Engine room. Two six-cylinder diesel engines from the Riga plant "Felzer" with a power of 600 hp each were initially installed as the main engines on the "Commune". (310 rpm). Subsequently, they were replaced by diesel engines with similar characteristics from the Kolomensky Plant.
27. Emergency sound system in case of emergency
29. There is also F...
30. Galley sign
31. The team will have lunch soon
32. Piano in the officer's wardroom. It was installed during the construction of the ship. At present it is not possible to remove it due to the difference in dimensions and doorways
33. Heading indicator
34. In some places on the “Commune” there are still pre-revolutionary signs
35. Voltmeters
36. Storm ladder
37. On Russian Fleet Day, which will be celebrated on July 29, 2012, the ship will perform the task of escorting Neptune. In this regard, the team is painting lifeboats for the parade in honor of the holiday
38. For the first time, the rescue ship was used for its intended purpose in the summer of 1917, when in the Åland skerries during the educational immersion The submarine AG-15 sank with its hatch open. Although rescue work a strong storm interfered, on June 16 (29) at 00 hours 50 minutes, the boat was raised by the Volkhov guineas. The crew of the “rescuer” repaired the boat within a month, and it was put back into operation. On September 24 (October 7), 1917, the Volkhov rescue ship successfully raised the Unicorn submarine, which sank during a navigation accident, from a depth of 13.5 meters.
39. From May 15 to September 13, 1928, the “Commune” carried out work to raise the ship sunk on June 4, 1919 in Koporskaya Bay Gulf of Finland British submarine L-55. The boat was raised to the surface from a depth of 62 meters using a stepwise method on July 21, 1928. And again everyday work: raising the sunken marine border guard boat and tugboat KP-7, ensuring testing of new submarines and repairing the ships of the Baltic Fleet. "Commune" raised from the depths the submarines "Bolshevik", M-90, a torpedo boat and wrecked airplane…
40. With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War The rescue ship "Kommuna" is based in Leningrad. Since March 1942, 32 Commune divers have been working on Ladoga Road life. Part of the crew took part in landing operations on the Neva (and this is with a 40% shortage). During this time, the sailors of the “Commune” raised four KV tanks, two tractors and 31 cars from the bottom. "Kommunartsy" trained 159 light divers for the fleet, repaired six M-type submarines. Despite the difficult situation at the front, rescuers raised the sunken ones from the water: submarine Shch-411, tug "Austra", schooners "Trud", "Vodoley-2", the floating base of the OVR "TsO "Pravda", two "pike" and several "small hunters" were docked...
41. In 1944, “Commune” raised 14 sunken objects with a total displacement of 11,767 tons, and provided assistance to 34 emergency ships and vessels. The entire crew of the ship was awarded with medals"For the defense of Leningrad."
Only in 1954 was the veteran ship able to pass major renovation, during which the main diesel engines were replaced with Dutch-made engines. At the end of November 1956, the catamaran again took up combat duty: the M-200 submarine, rammed by a destroyer, was lifted from a depth of 45 meters. In October 1957, the submarine M-256 was raised from a depth of 73 meters, and in August 1959, a torpedo boat that sank at a depth of 22 meters was raised. In total, during its service, the Commune provided assistance to more than a hundred ships and submarines.
42. In 1967, the veteran ship successfully made an inter-base transition from the Baltic to the Black Sea, arriving safely in Sevastopol, circumnavigating Europe. In Sevastopol, at the Sevmorzavod, the Kommuna was converted into a carrier vessel for deep-sea vehicles. The re-equipment project was completed by the end of 1969 at the Sevastopol Central Design Bureau "Chernomorets". By the time work at the SMZ was completed (April 27, 1973), the cost of work to re-equip the vessel amounted to about 11 million rubles
On currently The rescue ship "Komunna" has undergone dock repairs, and, despite its age, actively participates in various activities of the fleet's emergency rescue service with access to the sea.
The first means of transportation on which people crossed water barriers during their migrations or while hunting were, in all likelihood, more or less primitive rafts. Rafts undoubtedly existed already in the Stone Age. Great progress was made at the end of the Middle Stone Age by a boat hollowed out of a tree trunk - a canoe. Over time and with the further development of productive forces, boats and rafts became better, larger and more reliable. We have most information about the development of shipbuilding in the Mediterranean region, although, of course, shipbuilding technology and navigation on the rivers and seas of other parts of the world developed in parallel. The oldest known to us are the boats and ships of Ancient Egypt. A variety of floating craft sailed along the Nile and the seas surrounding Egypt: first, rafts and boats made of wood and papyrus, and later ships on which it was possible to make long sea voyages, such as famous expedition during the 18th dynasty to the country of Punt (Rip - probably Somalia or even India) around 1500 BC. e.
Ancient Egyptian papyrus river rowing boat
Due to the low strength of papyrus, a thick rope was used as longitudinal reinforcement, stretched between short masts, bow and stern. The boats were steered using an oar located at the stern. Ancient Egyptian sea vessels, like the river vessels that sailed along the Nile in those days, were flat-bottomed. As a result of this, and also due to the lack of frames and insufficient strength of the building material (papyrus or low-growing trees, acanthus), the seaworthiness of sea-going vessels of Ancient Egypt was very low. Sailing along the Mediterranean coast or the calm waters of the Red Sea, these ships were propelled by oars and a raked sail.
Antique Egyptian ship with raked sail
Egyptian merchant and military ships were almost no different from each other, only military ships were faster. It should not be forgotten that military campaigns and trade were closely interconnected. However, the Egyptians (residents of the Nile Valley) cannot be called good sailors. Their achievements in the field of shipbuilding and long sea voyages are relatively modest. The inhabitants of the island of Crete were the first to begin building merchant ships. According to some ancient researchers, they used a keel and frames, which increased the strength of the ship's hull. To move the ship, the Cretans used both oars and a rectangular sail. It is believed that it was partly due to these technical improvements that Crete became the first sea power on the Mediterranean Sea. Its heyday was in the 17th - 14th centuries. BC e. The Phoenicians borrowed the method of building ships with frames from the Cretans. The Phoenicians lived on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, in a country rich in cedar forests, which provided excellent shipbuilding material. On their ships, the Phoenicians carried out military and trade expeditions to the most remote places of the modern world. As Herodotus wrote at the beginning of the 7th century. n. e., Phoenician ships skirted Africa from east to west. This indicates the high seaworthiness of the ships: on their way they had to go around the cape Good Hope, where it was often stormy. Although Phoenician ships were significantly larger than Egyptian ships in size and strength, their shape did not change significantly. As the surviving bas-reliefs testify, for the first time, rams appeared on the bow of a Phoenician warship to sink enemy ships.
Phoenician sailing ship
Marine vessels Ancient Greece and, later, Rome were modifications of Phoenician ships. Merchant ships were predominantly wide and slow-moving, usually propelled by a sail and controlled by a large steering oar located at the stern. Warships were narrow and propelled by oars. In addition, they were armed with a rectangular main sail mounted on a long yard and a small sail mounted on an inclined mast. This inclined mast is the forerunner of the bowsprit, which will appear on sailing ships much later and will carry additional sails to facilitate maneuvering. At first, one tier of oars was installed on each side of a military vessel, but as the size and weight of ships increased, a second tier of oars appeared above the first tier, and even later, a third. This was explained by the desire to increase the speed, maneuverability and force of the ram's impact on the enemy ship. One tier of rowers was located below deck, the other two were on deck. This is what the most popular type of warship of antiquity looked like, which, starting from the 6th century BC. e. called a trireme.
Triremes formed the basis Greek fleet, who participated in the battle of Salamis (480 BC). The length of the triremes was 30-40 m, width 4-6 m (including supports for oars), freeboard height approximately 1.5 m. The ship had a hundred or more oarsmen, in most cases slaves; the speed reached 8-10 knots. The ancient Romans were not good sailors, but the Punic Wars (1st War - 264-241 BC; 2nd War - 218-210 BC) convinced them of the need to have their own navy to defeat the Carthaginians. The Roman navy of that time consisted of triremes built on the Greek model.
An example of a Roman trireme of this type is the ship shown in the figure. It has a raised deck at the stern, as well as a kind of tower in which the commander and his assistant could find reliable shelter. The nose ends in a ram covered with iron. To facilitate combat at sea, the Romans invented the so-called “raven” - a boarding bridge with a metal load in the shape of a hawse, which was lowered onto an enemy ship and along which Roman legionnaires could cross to it. At the Battle of Actium (31 BC), the Romans used a new type of vessel - the liburne. This vessel is significantly smaller than a trireme, equipped with rams, has one tier of oars and a rectangular transverse sail. The main advantages of Liburns are good agility and maneuverability, as well as speed. Based on combination structural elements Trieres and Liburns a Roman rowing galley was created, which, with some changes, survived until the 17th century. n. e.
The improvement of rowing military vessels with additional sailing weapons was in the nature of leaps. The need for these ships increased, for example, during military campaigns. From the end of the XII to the XIV centuries. galleys appeared in the Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea. But the main area of action for the galleys was, as before, the Mediterranean Sea; The Venetians contributed greatly to their further development. Light combat galleys served warships, in heavy cases - by military transports. They were also used as merchant ships. The disadvantage of galleys was their large crew. Thus, one galley up to 40 m long required 120-180 rowers (and with two tiers of oars - 240-300 rowers). When you factor in the crew required to maintain the rudder and sail, and the crew in the galley, the total was well over 500 men. Such a galley had a draft of approximately 2 m and a freeboard height of 1-1.5 m. On medieval galleys, one oar was served by 2-5 oarsmen; the weight of an oar with a length of 10-12 m was up to 300 kg. In addition to oars, galleys were equipped with an auxiliary sail. Later, two and then three masts began to be installed, and the rectangular sail was replaced by an oblique sail, borrowed from the Arabs of the Mediterranean. In the course of further development, ships began to be built that were a combination of a galley and a sailing ship. Such ships were called galleasses. Galleasses were larger than galleys: the largest ones reached 70 m in length, 16 m in width, and displaced 1000 tons; the crew was 1000 people. They were used as both military and merchant vessels.
Galleass
Regardless of the development of shipping in the Mediterranean Sea, shipping also developed in Northern Europe, where already in early centuries There lived wonderful sailors - the Vikings. Viking ships were open wooden boats with a symmetrical fore and stern post; on these ships it was possible to go both forward and backward. Viking ships were propelled by oars (they are not shown in the picture) and a straight sail mounted on a mast approximately in the middle of the ship.
Viking ships had frames and longitudinal braces. A characteristic feature of their design was the way of connecting frames and other beams with the outer skin, which usually consisted of very long wooden strips running from one stem to another and located overlapping. The largest Viking ships, which were called “dragons” based on the nasal decoration and the shape of the dragon’s head, had a length of 45 m and approximately 30 pairs of oars. Despite the difficulties of sailing through the stormy northern seas on open, undecked ships, the Vikings very soon penetrated from Scandinavia to the coasts of England and France, reaching White Sea, conquered Greenland and Holland and at the end of the 10th century. penetrated into North America.
The ancient Russian ice-class koch was a real conqueror of the northern seas
Under feudalism, shipbuilding continued to develop in parallel with the development of trade in Northern Europe. Large merchant ships of the 12th and 13th centuries, called naves, had the same shape of bow and stern. They were driven exclusively by a transverse sail mounted on a mast in the middle of the ship. From the end of the 12th century. so-called towers appeared in the bow and stern. At first these were probably fighting bridges (possibly a remnant of a Roman bridge), which over time moved to the bow and stern and became the forecastle and poop. The steering oar was usually on the starboard side.
Nave
Hanseatic merchants, in whose hands European trade was concentrated in the period from the 13th to the 15th centuries, usually transported their goods on cogs. These were strong, high-sided, single-masted ships with almost vertical fore and stern stems. Gradually, small tower-like superstructures appeared on the coggs in the bow, relatively large superstructures in the stern and peculiar “crow’s nests” at the top of the mast. The main feature that distinguishes a cogg from a nave is the articulated steering wheel with a tiller, located in the center plane of the vessel. Thanks to this, the maneuverability of the vessel has improved.
Single Mast Cogg
Until about the 14th century. shipbuilding in the northern regions Western Europe developed independently of shipbuilding in the Mediterranean. If the rudder, placed in the plane of symmetry of the vessel, became the greatest achievement in the art of shipbuilding and navigation of the North, then the triangular sail introduced in the Mediterranean Sea, which in our time is called the Latin sail, made it possible to sail steeper to the wind than was possible with a rectangular sail. Thanks to contacts between north and south in the 14th century. A new type of vessel arose - the caravel, a three-masted vessel with lateen sails and an articulated rudder. Over time, a transverse sail began to be installed on the bow mast.
Columbus era carrack
The next type of vessel, which appeared at the end of the 15th century, was the karakka. This vessel had a much more developed forecastle and poop. Carracks were equipped with an articulated rudder and both types of sails. There was a straight sail on the bow mast, one or two straight sails on the middle mast, and a lateen sail on the stern mast. Later they began to install an inclined bow mast - a bowsprit with a small straight sail. With the advent of caravels and carracks, long voyages became possible, such as the journey of Vasco de Gama, Columbus, Magellan and other navigators to unknown lands. " Santa Maria", Columbus's flagship was most likely a carrack. It had a length of 23 m, a beam of 8.7 m, a draft of 2.8 m and a crew of 90 people. The ship belonged to the ships average size(for example, the ship "Peter von la Rochelle", built in 1460, had a length of 12 m). Subsequently, the typical stern superstructure of the karak was replaced by a superstructure that rose in steps to the stern. A mast was added (sometimes inclined), and the number of sails increased. Straight sails were predominantly used, only a gaff sail was installed at the stern. This is how the galion arose, which in the 17th and 18th centuries. became the main type of warship. The most common type of merchant ship of that time was the flute, whose hull tapered towards the top. Its masts were higher and its yards shorter than those of ships built earlier. The rigging was the same as on galleons.
Flutes
Powerful trading companies under the tutelage of the state (the English West India Company, founded in 1600, or the Dutch East India Company, founded in 1602), stimulated the construction of a new type of ship, which was called “East India”. These ships were not very fast. Their full contours and high sides provided a very large carrying capacity. To protect against pirates, merchant ships were armed with cannons. Three, and later four, straight sails were installed on the masts, and a slanting gaff sail was installed on the aft mast. There were usually lateen sails in the bow, and trapezoidal sails between the individual masts. These vessels, due to their resemblance to a warship of a similar type and with the same rigging, are also called frigates.
Frigate
A significant achievement in sailing shipbuilding was the creation of clipper ships. Clipper ships were narrow vessels (length to width ratio was approximately 6.7 m) with advanced armament and a carrying capacity of 500-2000 tons. They were distinguished by high speed. The so-called “tea races” of this period are known, during which clippers loaded with tea on the China-England line reached a speed of 18 knots.
Tea clipper
At the beginning of the 19th century. after many thousands of years of domination sailing fleet A new type of engine appeared on ships. It was a steam engine - the first mechanical engine. In 1807, the American Robert Fulton built the first ship with a steam engine, the Claremont; it walked along the Hudson River. The ship performed especially well when sailing against the current. Thus began the era of the steam engine on river boats. In maritime shipping steam engine began to be used later. In 1818, a steam engine was installed on the sailing ship Savannah, which drove paddle wheels. The ship used a steam engine only when short passage across the Atlantic. For the first time, the ship Sirius, a steam sailing ship built in 1837, whose hull was still wooden, crossed the North Atlantic almost exclusively with the help of a mechanical drive.
Steam ship - Sirius
Since that time, the development of mechanical drives for sea vessels began. Large paddle wheels, which were hampered by rough seas, gave way in 1843 to a propeller. It was first installed on the Great Britain steamship. The Great Eastern, a huge ship at that time, 210 m long and 25 m wide, built in 1860, was a sensation. This ship had two paddle wheels with a diameter of 16.5 m each and a propeller with a diameter of more than 7 m, five pipes and six masts with total area 5400 m2 on which a sail could be set. The ship had accommodations for 4,000 passengers, holds for 6,000 tons of cargo and a speed of 15 knots.
Great Britain
Great Eastern
The next step in the development of ship drives was made at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries; in 1897, a steam turbine was installed for the first time on the Turbinia ship, which made it possible to achieve a hitherto unprecedented speed of 34.5 knots. Built in 1906, the British passenger ship Mauritania (length 241 m, width 26.8 m, carrying capacity 31,940 register tons, crew 612 people, 2,335 passenger seats) was equipped with turbines with a total power of 51,485 kW. During its passage across the Atlantic in 1907, it developed average speed 26.06 knots and won a symbolic award for speed - the Blue Ribbon, which she held for 22 years.
Mauritania
In the second decade of the 20th century. on sea vessels started using diesel engines. In 1912, two diesel engines with a total power of 1,324 kW were installed on the cargo ship Zealandia with a carrying capacity of 7,400 tons.
Look at the globe. Water spaces occupy more than two-thirds of the surface of the globe. And from the most distant, distant times, man has strived to overcome water barriers. Scientists have determined the age of the oldest marine find - a canoe found in Scotland - to be about 8 thousand years old.
And such ships sailed along the ancient Nile.
It is impossible to say for sure in which country shipbuilding originated. Most likely this happened in Egypt. Archaeological finds confirm this. The first ships (papyrus boats) were propelled by oars, or they were pulled by people or animals walking along the banks of rivers and canals. No one knows exactly when man first set a sail. Sails first appeared on the Nile, only when tailwind the ships moved with the help of a narrow rectangular sail.. The oldest image of a Nile sailing boat is on a vase dating back to approximately 3200 BC. e. In Ancient Egypt there were few trees suitable for building ships, so the first boats there were made from papyrus stalks, which were bundled and impregnated with resin. This probably explains why later wooden Egyptian boats were painted in all shades of green. In addition to green, yellow and blue colors were also often used.
Seaworthy merchant ship of Egypt.
Back in 2300 BC. the ancient Egyptians did long voyages V fairyland Punt. Championship in equipment sea expeditions belongs to a woman - Egyptian queen Hatshepsut. The Egyptians brought from the country of Punt ebony wood, myrrh wood, various incense, including incense, black eye paint, ivory, tame monkeys, gold, slaves and the skins of exotic animals.
Egyptian warships were similar to merchant ships, but had a ram. Egyptian ships, as a rule, had the following dimensions: length - about 15 m, width - 5 m and height - 1.5 m, with a mast 10 m high. To steer the ship, steering oars were used, the location of which is visible in the pictures.
Great merits in the further development of shipbuilding belong to the Phoenicians. They were the first to use keels and frames in the construction of ships, which increased the strength of the ship's hull. Thanks to these improvements in shipbuilding, Crete became the first maritime power in the Mediterranean. And the Phoenician sailors were recognized as the best sailors.
Phoenician trading ship.
Gradually, other peoples began to develop shipbuilding - the Etruscans, Greeks, Carthaginians and Romans began to challenge the Phoenicians for their dominant position in
shipbuilding.
Greek bireme.
Greek merchant ship.
Etruscan ship.
IN Byzantine state which arose after the collapse of the Roman Empire (IV century), was also strong fleet, which consisted mainly of dromons - ships with two tiers of oars, two masts and armed with a catapult. At first they carried quadrangular (straight) sails, and later - lateen sails.
Hooray! People have invented a new sail!
The invention of the sail greatly improved the maneuverability of ships and made it possible to cover long distances without special costs. First sailing equipment At first it consisted of a straight rack sail, which could only be used with a fair wind.
It took a long time for man to invent sails that made it possible to move against the wind. Around the 8th-9th centuries, the lateen (triangular) sail came into use in the Mediterranean region.
Mediterranean ship.
Dear Masters! So we made our first journey through the ancient Mediterranean.
On our way we met only a small, but in my opinion, the most interesting part ships and ships of antiquity.
And what can we say about the sailors, when they bravely went out to the open sea on such simple boats and made their first long voyages...
Well, now let's get to work... Here are nine drawings of sailing ships, but if you seriously think about it, you can make a simple model and a work of art based on them. I think it's very tempting to have a collection of sailing ships on your desk or wall, at home or at school. During my life I have made many such models, but unfortunately the collection did not work out.
We'll have to do it together with you.
And so... I invite you to look, think and... create... After all, you are such MASTERS!!!
After a while I will offer you my version of transforming these drawings into....
You can show your work on the website in the section.
And please tell us your wishes, suggestions or advice. How theoretical material? Are you satisfied or not? Can you give more details? But I think that it’s quite enough for our crafts, and for those who are seriously interested in the history of shipbuilding, I’ll tell you where to find more details.
During the lesson we looked at postcards from the series “The History of the Ship” by V. Dygalo and M. Averyanov.
A brief history of shipbuilding, sailing ships from the beginning of time to the present day...In this world it is difficult to imagine something more romantic than a sailboat. Of course, traveling by sea is romantic in itself, but a sailboat is the pinnacle of romantic dreams.
We have dreamed of sailboats since childhood, reading Jules Verne, Jack London or Robert Louis Stevenson. But sailing even on a small sailing yacht will not leave an adult indifferent. And when the real one appears on the horizon big sailboat with multiple masts and a full complement of fore and aft sails, it is simply breathtaking and heart-stopping.
For me, born and raised on the seashore, a sailboat is not just a sound, it is a part of life, a piece of a bygone childhood, Nice memories and dreams that, alas, were not destined to come true... But anyone who has ever seen a sailing ship entering a port remembers it all their lives... We are fascinated by the names: frigate, brigantine, caravel... But few people know how do these ships differ, why do they have such names and how did they appear? sailing ships... Let's try to figure it out... 
HISTORY OF SHIPBUILDING
I. BIBLE BEGINNING
“Make yourself an ark of gopher wood; make compartments in the ark and coat it with pitch inside and outside. And make it this way: the length of the ark is three hundred cubits... And it must have three bottoms. "" This is how, according to the Bible, Noah's ark, the first ship in the history of mankind, should have looked like.
It is worth noting an extremely remarkable fact that already the “book of books” is trying to answer the question of the origin of navigation. The word “Bible” itself probably comes from the name ancient center shipbuilding, the city of Byblos, located on the Syrian coast and now called Jebel. Here, among other things, the Greeks became acquainted with Egyptian papyrus - “biblios” in Greek - and named the city accordingly.
Agreeing with the Bible, one would have to believe that the first means of transportation by sea were invented when the lives of people began to be threatened global flood- a giant water element. An attempt to escape the flood is the biblical explanation of man's first step into the sea. The instinct to preserve the species is what prompted people to turn to the development of new paths.
II. ANCIENT EGYPT
Egyptian ship of the times Ancient kingdom, V Dynasty, 2550 BC Drawing from the tomb of Pharaoh Sahor, Memphis.
Unfortunately, it is unknown what the ships of the Middle Kingdom were like. The ships of the New Kingdom were significantly different from those that preceded them. Their hulls were stronger, since for construction they used beams hewn from long trunks of coniferous trees brought from Libya.
The ships in profile have become much sharper, the bow and stern are slightly higher. The strong mast carried a quadrangular, low, but very wide sail, mounted on two yards. The oars had oarlocks. 
Egyptian ship from the New Kingdom, XVIII Dynasty, 1500 BC. Drawing from a relief from the temple of Queen Hatshepsut, Deir el-Bahri.
Thus, Ancient Egypt stands, as it were, at the source of shipbuilding.
The Egyptians themselves were not great sailors. Thus, Pharaoh Necho (612 - 576 AD), in order to expand his trade relations, entrusted the Phoenicians, who were considered not only good sailors, but also great master shipbuilders of antiquity, to circumnavigate Africa.
III. ANCIENT PHOENICIA
The fact that the Phoenicians were not only good sailors, but also master shipbuilders is explained, on the one hand, by the presence of rich forests (the state was located on the territory of modern Lebanon), and on the other hand, by the desire to expand their trade relations. The Phoenicians founded colonies along the entire Mediterranean coast; Phoenician merchants were known far beyond the Strait of Gibraltar, including the Kassetiridae, or Tin Islands (modern British Isles).
The Phoenicians provided great attention for shipbuilding of that time. Apparently, they were the first to begin building ships with a keel and plating on frames, and placing cargo rooms below deck. 
Phoenician merchant ship, 720 BC. Drawing from a bas-relief from the palace of King Sargon II, Khorsabad.
The power of the Phoenicians was shaken by the destruction of Sidon by the Semitic nomads (1200 BC), and then by the Assyrians (700 BC) and finally by the Egyptians.
Gradually, other peoples - the Etruscans, Greeks, Carthaginians and Romans - began to challenge the Phoenicians' dominant position in shipbuilding. Then the authority of the Greeks as shipbuilders is established.
IV. ANCIENT GREECE.
In their courts the Greeks unite best qualities designs of Aegean and Phoenician ships, relying on their own achievements in technology. The hulls of Greek ships had a keel, a stem and a sternpost, the planking was made with paired seams, and the belts were fastened with wooden pins.
During the time of Ancient Greece, the differences between merchant and military ships deepened. Military vessels ranging from 30 to 35 m in length had a ram, a raised deck at the front and a single mast. The middle part of the hull was low, 25 oars on each side were supported by external beams, and two large stern oars served as rudders.
Gradually this type of vessel changed, although the main features remained the same. Due to the introduction more the number of oars, which were located in two or three rows, increased the maneuverability and speed of the vessel.
The basis of the Mediterranean fleets was the famous trireme ship of antiquity, called the trireme by the Greeks. 
Greek trireme, 100 BC.
Later, military vessels such as cataphracts appeared in Corinth. There is no exact information about these ships.
Carthage's navy consisted primarily of large quinqueremes, or quinqueremes (ships with five rows of oars or five oarsmen). They protected Carthaginian merchant ships sailing in the Mediterranean Sea, and even going out into the ocean.
V. ANCIENT ROME AND BYZANTIUM
Roman ships (galleys) were armed with a “raven”, invented by Gaius Duilius. The “Raven,” which made it easier to board an enemy ship, was a rotating gangplank with a hinged device on one side and a sharp “beak” on the other.
The galleys (pentera), built on the model of the Carthaginian kinkerems, were about 70 m long and 8 m wide and could take 300 oarsmen and 100 armed warriors.
Only Rome could compete with Carthage at sea. 
Roman kinkerma.
With a relatively flat hull, the ships had five keels, on which frames with pine (Italian pine) planking were installed, mounted on wooden spikes. The underwater part of the vessel was covered with titrated wool and covered on top with lead plates on copper nails. As can be seen, Roman shipping and shipbuilding technology already in 30 BC. reached high prosperity. Thanks to this, Rome was able to build ships that were longer than the ships of the line in the mid-19th century.
The Roman fleet included multi-oared penthers and triremes armed with catapults.
Roman ships were shaped like fish. Their eyes were depicted on the bow of the ship; later fairleaes were made in these places. The oars looked like fins, and a tail could be recognized in the flexible fan-shaped decoration on the stern. The ships had one mast with a straight or lateen sail on two yards. Large ships also had fore and mizzen masts.
For several centuries Rome had no rivals at sea. Only pirates, Saxon in the north or Illyrian in the south, dared to attack Roman merchant ships. To combat them, light and fast ships were created with one row of oars - liburns.
Approximately in the VIII - IX centuries. in the Mediterranean region the lateen sail comes into use. He received wide use, as it allowed you to go against the wind.
Little is known about Byzantine shipping. It is known that the Byzantine fleet was quite strong. It, as few documents indicate, consisted of dromons - ships with two rows of oars, armed with a catapult and two masts. In addition, the Byzantines also built selands (in Greek - turtles - small auxiliary ships. Later, small tarids with one mast with a lateen sail and two side rudders and usiers appeared - small cargo ships, mainly used for transporting horses. 
Dromon
VI. VIKINGS
In countries Northern Europe Shipbuilding traditions are also long-standing. Gradually, from the primitive boats, a type of vessel developed, which differed from the Mediterranean ships in that its plating consisted mainly of boards laid edge to edge (overlapping).
In the 8th – 11th centuries northern seas the brave reign and warlike Vikings. Their ancestors - suioni - are first mentioned by Tacitus in “Germany”. He notes the curious shape of their ships - rooks, the main features of which remained unchanged over the centuries. The bow and stern of the boat were identical, which made it possible to row in any direction without turning around.
Found during excavations in Oseberg (1880) a boat (700 AD) and in Gokstadt (1904) a boat 800 AD. e., it was possible to reconstruct, accurately reproducing all the details. 
Rook
It has been established that Viking longships had keels; frames made of one piece of wood were attached to it. The sheathing was laid overlapping; it was attached to the frames using pins and leather cords, and the sheathing boards were connected to each other with iron nails. In the upper part of the casing, holes were made - oarlocks, through which the oars passed. The spur of the mast was fixed on a short keelson, made of one block and had characteristic shape. A quadrangular sail was raised on a single yard. The rudder was a large oar attached to the side of the sternpost with a sling. Viking boats reached 30 - 40 m in length and had 30, and possibly 60 oars on each side. Large longships were called drakkars, or dragons. 
drakkar
Evidence from ancient authors, largely illustrated today archaeological finds and scientific reconstructions, they tell fascinating stories about “things that happened long ago” days gone by"in the history of human culture. A good example This is due to the development of shipbuilding and shipping, the construction of ports and lighthouses. In ancient times, people settled along the banks of rivers, lakes and seas. Water was a convenient route of communication and trade, and people mastered this route first by boats and then by ships.
The ancient Sumerians (who once lived in the south of present-day Iraq) showed great skill here. They built strong ships, and one of the texts from more than 5,000 years ago, addressed directly to the ship, read as follows: “They made your hull from Cypriot wood, and your mast from cedar. Basan oak was used for oars, the deck was lined with spruce boards and ivory. They made your sail from expensive Egyptian canvas.”
Around the same time, the ancient Egyptian artist depicted a “shipyard” on the relief and, perhaps, it was from its “slipways” that the ancient ship, which archaeologists recently discovered not far from the famous Pyramid of Cheops, came off. Another relief depicts the journey undertaken 35 centuries ago by the female pharaoh Hatshepsut to the country of Punt (located on the Somali coast of Africa or, as scientists still believe, somewhere in the region of southern Yemen). The artist depicted the loading of large boats that arrived, adapted for coastal navigation on the sea - with high bows and sterns, oars, and a mast for a wide sail, which was raised only when the wind was blowing straight ahead. Main building materials For such ships, Nile reed, acacia, and imported cedar remained for many centuries. Pharaoh Snefru once sent a whole fleet of 40 ships to Phenicia for this valuable tree.
The Phoenicians (residents of large cities in the eastern Mediterranean) also excelled in shipbuilding and shipping. Their trading galleys, built of cedar and oak, were distinguished by greater capacity and adaptability to sea navigation; they sailed mainly under sails (oars were used only during calm periods).
Phoenician merchants sailed far beyond the Mediterranean, rounded the Cape of Good Hope, reached the shores of England and even, it is believed, America. ABOUT appearance their galleys can be judged by the relief of the 8th-7th centuries BC new era, as well as from a reconstruction reproduced on one of the current coins of Tunisia.
With the further development of trade, the size of the ships increased, their equipment and decoration became more perfect, but design changes were not significant. Typically, a merchant ship had an average carrying capacity of about 80 tons. Its main part was the keel, which consisted of several interconnected logs. The fore and sternposts, frames were attached to it, and the deck was laid on the upper transverse logs. The body was sewn together from thick boards and covered with resin or paint. The bow and stern were made almost identical - with curved ends decorated with wood carvings; at the stern there was a superstructure - a shelter or platform for the helmsman; the steering wheel was made in the form of two large wide-bladed oars. As a rule, the equipment consisted of a mast with a sail, which was made from leather dressed and dyed in different colors; the sailing speed reached 7 knots. Oars were used very often.
Simple boats, the so-called peramas, sailed throughout the Mediterranean. But skilled shipbuilders also built the “commodity and passenger liners” of their time. According to the writer Athenaeus, who lived in the 3rd century BC, the three-deck, three-masted “Syracusan” with 20 rows of oars had sports and bathing rooms, decorated with marble and valuable wood, a library and walking galleries, decorated with statues, paintings, vases (it is quite possible that there was even exquisite antique barware in the holds of this ship). Unfortunately, the writer did not report the “passenger capacity” of the ship, but indicated its carrying capacity: more than 1,500 tons of grain, wool and other goods.
Images of ships are often found on Greek and Roman coins, and on one of the reliefs we see a river barge for transporting wine.
Interesting information about shipping and trade related to the Greek Bosporan Kingdom(in the northern Black Sea region). Merchants exported wheat, fish and shipbuilding materials from Colchis: Pine forest, hemp, resin. The historian and geographer Agatharchides of Cnidus, who lived more than 2,000 years ago, was the first to report carriers of goods whose cargo ships sailed from Maeotis ( Sea of Azov), on the tenth day they arrived on the island of Rhodes, then four days later they were in Alexandria, and after another ten, going up the Nile, they reached Ethiopia. In connection with the story of this author, it is worth noting that in those days the port in Feodosia could accommodate up to 100 ships, and Bosporan capital At Panticapaeum (Kerch) “docks” were located, designed for the repair or construction of 30 ships at once.
Ancient Roman coins show us a general view of the ancient port: Neptune himself, leaning on a dolphin and holding the ship’s rudder, looks at the lighthouse, breakwaters and ships that have arrived here in Ostia. Here, at the mouth of the Tiber, a “harbour for ships and sailors seeking their fate in the waves” was once built. In 42 AD, extensive dredging work was carried out in the harbor with the simultaneous construction of a capital port. Its main structure was two grandiosely curved breakwaters, which enclosed a water area of 70 hectares and figuratively Roman poet Juvenal “were like two hands stretched out in the middle of the sea.” Even later, in the 2nd century, the port was expanded by more than half, and coins also preserved the appearance of this new structure, which had granite piers and big number warehouses
“The greatest trading center of the Universe” - this is how the famous ancient geographer Strabo described the largest port of Greco-Roman times, which was located at the crossroads Mediterranean routes- Alexandria. Here one could see Hellenes and Romans, Scythians, Ethiopians, Bactrians, and even Hindus. Here, said the orator Aelius Aristides, “the coming and going of ships never ceases, and one should be surprised that not only the port, but also the sea is sufficient for cargo ships.” That is why, back in 283 BC, on the island of Pharos, opposite the port of Alexandria, they completed the construction of a grandiose lighthouse - one of the seven wonders of the world, as the ancients themselves called it.
The first lighthouses in history appeared more than 4,000 years ago in the Persian Gulf and for a long time they represented ordinary fires on coastal hills or on special columns that were placed on the sides of the entrance to the harbor. As for the “bizarre and amazing structure of the Greek architect Sostratus, the Faros lighthouse consisted of three square towers, gradually decreasing towards the top. The lower one had its facades facing the four cardinal directions, the middle one was oriented in the direction of the main winds, and the upper round tower at a height of 140 meters was a glass lantern, the fire of which was visible at night from a great distance. The lighthouse was decorated with bronze statues mechanical devices: for example, one sculpture seemed to always point to the sun and lower its hand as it set, while the other counted down the hours.
Pharos was built over two decades, and it stood for a good 1000 years until it collapsed due to weathering of the limestone from which it was built. And only thanks to the Alexandrian coins of the 2nd century AD, where the lighthouse is depicted together with the legendary Isis, the “inventor” of the sail, were scientists of our time able to carry out its general theoretical reconstruction.
… “Things of days gone by.” It is to these days and deeds that the expressive stanzas of the poet Antiphilus refer: “Courage, you are the mother of ships, Because you invented navigation.”
P.S. Ancient chronicles tell: And beautiful ships of antiquity can often be fascinating for children, especially boys who imagine themselves as brave sailors. And probably children's centers early development, for example, Koala Mama koalamama.club/ you should have in your arsenal similar educational toys, the same miniature ancient ships on which the brave Odysseus and Jason once sailed.