Category:Longship

The longship or dragonship is not without ancestors reaching far back into history. But as a sailed and seaworthy craft, both with endurance and military application, is far from ancient. It predates the cog but belongs to the same period.

The longship is not for the faint of heart and is even less for the inexperienced captain. The ship affords very narrow margins for error on the high seas. It is perfectly apt to coastal sailing and coastal raiding however. And in waters too shallow or treacherous to be safely, let alone easily, naviagated by larger vessels, it comes into its own. Its raised dragon or snake prow affords a measure of protection against missiles and doubles as a protected ladder to reach the deck of an enemy vessel. In very favourable circumstances, above all with the advantage of surprise, a longship can be used as an effective platform from which to launch a boarding of a not overly large craft. The longship is inadpt, however, to the exchange of missile fire, let alone the exchange of artillery fire, with larger craft. And it lacks the strength to survive a ramming.