The Story Of Sailing

In an effort to command the mighty oceans and seas, human beings have built and developed sailing craft ships since the ancient times.

Papyrus reed boats

The earliest floating craft were simply tree trunks or inflated animal skins. After early humans discovered tools, they carved canoes out of the tree trunks and barks, and sometimes covered them with animal skins. In ancient Egypt, people gathered papyrus reed together to make boats. To push the boat through the water, they made broad wooden paddles. The Pacific and Indian Ocean islanders made their canoes more stable by lashing two canoes together to make a catamaran.

The Jolly Roger Flag

The origins of Jolly Roger flag in its most common form known today (black flag with white human skull andcrossbones below it) started being used in early 1710-1720s. Sailing at high seas was quite dangerous in those days. One of the deadliest forms of danger at sea were the pirates, who regularly attacked and plundered trade ships. Piracy was especially common in the Caribbean and the Mediterranean Sea, which were crossed by trading ships sailing from Europe to the New World. The pirate ships flew flags with symbols of death to scare their victims. One of the most famous pirate flags was the Jolly Roger.

The Savannah Steamship

The invention of the steam engine by Thomas Newcomen in 1712 and its development by James Watt led to a revolution at sea. Steam propulsion of ships was tried successful in 1787, when a steamboat was sailed on the Delaware River in the Middle Atlantic region of the United States. Savannah was the first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean in 1819, through it used its sail most of the way. Later, the invention of the propeller in the 1830s ended the use of the sail.

The Nimitz

By the 16th century, European countries started building large fleets of warships to assert their power and command over the seas. They were faster and were designed to withstand damage. In 1588, such warships enabled Sir Francis Drake of England to defeat the Spanish Armada.

A Nuclear Submarine

Submarines, torpedoes, and mines are used for war at sea. Submarines have also been used since the 17th century for underwater exploration. The first practical submarine was built by John Phillips Holland in 1897. They were also used in large numbers in the two World Wars. The Trieste FNRS II submarine made the deepest dive ever in 1960 when it descended 10,916 m into the Mariana Trench.

Titanic

The first half of the 20th century was the age of ocean liners - luxury cruise ships which resemble floating palaces. The largest and the most famous of them was the Titanic, which was thought to be unsinkable. On its first voyage on 14 April, 1912, the Titanic struck an iceberg and sank beneath the icy waters of the Atlantic with about 2000 passengers on board.