11-21-2008, 06:17 PM
Greets to all forum members. I'm new to the forum but I've been a lurker here for a while, so thought I'd make it official.
I'm writing a fiction piece based in C6th Byzantium and have a question that I'm hoping somebody here can help with. It's essentially a very simple question but one that's proving frustratingly difficult to find a reliable answer for. (The same question could actually be applied to Roman ships too.)
Basically, by what method would the crew of a warship (dromon) have boarded the vessel?
Assuming that the ship is in a dock, would the sailors and troops have simply stepped onto the deck from a quayside of the same height? Would they have used rigging ladders to climb up the hull? Or would they have laid gangplanks across the gunwale to allow men to board? Or was there some other method, like ladders built into the hull? Or scaffolding perhaps built on the quayside to the ship's height?
I'm assuming that heavy provisions and artillery would have been brought aboard with cranes and hoists, but I haven't read or seen any account of how the personnel got aboard the ship.
Of course, the reverse applies when the ship reaches its destination and the troops need to disembark (presumably in coastal shallows). Would they have just jumped off the side, or was there some more orderly and advanced system for disembarking?
Thanks in advance to any who can help.
Cheers
Rob
I'm writing a fiction piece based in C6th Byzantium and have a question that I'm hoping somebody here can help with. It's essentially a very simple question but one that's proving frustratingly difficult to find a reliable answer for. (The same question could actually be applied to Roman ships too.)
Basically, by what method would the crew of a warship (dromon) have boarded the vessel?
Assuming that the ship is in a dock, would the sailors and troops have simply stepped onto the deck from a quayside of the same height? Would they have used rigging ladders to climb up the hull? Or would they have laid gangplanks across the gunwale to allow men to board? Or was there some other method, like ladders built into the hull? Or scaffolding perhaps built on the quayside to the ship's height?
I'm assuming that heavy provisions and artillery would have been brought aboard with cranes and hoists, but I haven't read or seen any account of how the personnel got aboard the ship.
Of course, the reverse applies when the ship reaches its destination and the troops need to disembark (presumably in coastal shallows). Would they have just jumped off the side, or was there some more orderly and advanced system for disembarking?
Thanks in advance to any who can help.
Cheers
Rob
Rob