Two-mast Standard Transport

One of the larger ships in Vutara Bay, the Two-mast Standard Transport is a popular choice for both merchants and fishermen. It's not especially fast, but it's wide, giving it decent room for cargo. It lies comfortably and stable in the water and can handle a bit of rough weather.

These ships are built all around the Bay, and although the general design and size is the same some details might be different from place to place.

Most Two-mast Standard Transports, especially those who are used to transport goods, are armed with at least one cannon. The Bay has the occasional Stormfeather Lodge ship hunting for traders to loot, so having a cannon or two to try to chase them away is always a smart choice. Though, with the high number of trading ships and relatively few Stormfeathers, the chance of being robbed in the Bay is not too great - but it is there.

The fishing boats of this type aren't always armed, but some have a canon just in case. Almost all fishing vessels of this type are commercial as people fishing only to feed their own families use much smaller boats than this. There are some communities that have gone together to buy and crew a Two-mast Standard Transporter together to feed all their families, but the large majority of fishing vessels of this type intend to sell their fish in one of the Bay's trading hubs like Verraja, Sakastro or Candavir.

Rarity
Very common
Length
About 20m
Speed
Relatively slow


Cover image: by Gerhard Bögner

Comments

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Jul 9, 2019 04:57 by TheirGraceGrace

Hello for the almost-last time today. It's your friendly feedback wizard calling to ask you something: how are you doing?   This article contains a lot of cultural information, which is part of any vehicle! I like how you reference the fact that different towns make different variations on the basic design. Also, their cannons (check the spelling in a couple of places) are mostly for warding off bandits which is very understandable! Until cannons on ships became commonplace, they were mostly a deterrent; pirate movies gave a lot of us the wrong idea, unfortunately.   One thing that would be a great addition to this article. Headings. I know that your style tends to be heading-light, but having at least one or two here would make it a little more readable for some more easy-lost readers.   One last thing that I would recommend is to look up more facts about galleons and other kinds of large ships. For two-masted ones, 20 metres is a bit small but those ones would have been rather fast as opposed to rowed boats or smaller one-masted ships.   Okay, last article is the Printing Press! Without old Gutenberg this might be an interesting read. See you there :)

Jul 9, 2019 14:22 by Elizabread

For a short article, you've done a great job with highlighting the important aspects of the ship. I get a good understanding of the uses of the ship and its place in your world. As you go back and expand, here are a few things about ships to keep in mind.   Most ships carried cannons in pairs in order to balance out the weight. One cannon configurations do exist, but it would be impractical for a merchant ship needing to defend itself. For armed fishing vessels, they would most likely want a swivel gun which is lighter and more maneuverable. Like other cannons, they come in pairs. Fishing vessels empty their nets onto the deck, so having cannons on deck would take up valuable space and be one more place for a stray fish to get lost under. Small cannons were primarily used for warding off would-be pirates, but they were unable to seriously damage another ship except at very close range. Also, unless there are navies present to deter piracy, well-travelled trade routes would be extremely lucrative for pirates.   Concerning the ships themselves, it's a little contradictory to have a small ship that's slow. Particularly with merchant vessels, a small ship is likely to be fast so that you can minimize the time spent travelling between places given a smaller cargo. Slow merchant ships like galleons and East Indiamen compensated for their slow speed by being able to carry massive amounts of cargo which translated to a fairly large ship. Based on the size, mast plan, purpose, where it's used, and to a lesser degree your cover image, the type of ship that comes to mind for me a schooner. They were small, versatile ships suitable for more coastal waters. They required a small crew and were fast. The somewhat sheltered waters of Vutara Bay would be perfect for these ships, but they're equally able to navigate harsher open waters. Historically, they were commonly used as merchant and fishing vessels and were armed. A two-masted configuration with sails going fore-and-aft was the most common and is the sail plan shown in your cover image. Schooners are defined by their sail plan, some variations include adding square rigged topsails or adding more masts.   Overall, the article is an enjoyable read, and I look forward to seeing it expanded upon after summer camp. Keep up the great work!

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