Tarn Ships on Gor

This, the Dorna, is a single-banked, heavy class tarn ship. (NOTE - This entire section on construction is one long quote from Raiders, interspersed with red comments for clarity)
It must be understood that the ship itself is the weapon.
The Dorna, a tarn ship, is not untypical of her class. Accordingly I shall, in brief, describe her. I mention, however, in passing, that a great variety of ram-ships ply Thassa, many of which, in their dimensions, their lines, their rigging and their rowing arrangements, differ from her considerably. The major difference, I would suppose, is that between the singly-banked and the most doubly- or trebly-banked vessel. The Dorna, like most other tarn ships, is single-banked; and yet her oar power is not inferior to even the trebly-banked vessels; how this is I shall soon note.

Most tarn ships are long, narrow vessels of shallow draft
The Dorna, like most tarn ships, is a long, narrow vessel of shallow draft.

Carvel-built
Planking fastened with bronze & iron nails - also wooden pegs in places
Planking varies from 2 to 6 inches in thickness
Visual of "Clinker" and "Carvel" built hulls

She is carvel-built, and her planking is fastened with nails of bronze and iron; in places, wooden pegs are also used; her planking, depending on placement, varies from two to six inches in thickness;

Single, removable mast
Lateen rigged (triangular sails) - (NOTE: See Sails section below)
...also, to strengthen her against the shock of ramming, four-inch-thich wales run longitudinally about her sides. She carrieds a single, removable mast, with its long yard. It is lateen rigged.

Keel is (on this tarn ship) 128 gorean feet
Beam is (on this tarn ship) 16 gorean feet
Freeboard area is 5 gorean feet
Her keel, one hundred and twenty-eight feet Gorean, and her beam, sixteen feet Gorean, mark her as heavy class. Her freeboard area, that between the water line and the deck, is five feet Gorean. She is long, low and swift.


Built with ability to be beached at night
Common among gorean seamen to beach in evening and launch again in morning
She has a rather straight keel, and this, with her shallow draft, even given her size, makes it possible to beach her at night, if one wishes. It is common among Gorean seamen to beach their craft in the evening, set watches, make camp, and launch again in the morning.

The ram rides just below the water line
Heavy projection shaped as a tarns beak, shod with iron (NOTE - See Ram section below)
The Dorna's ram, a heavy projection in the shape of a tarn's beak, shod with iron, rides just below the water line. Behind the ram, to prevent it from going too deeply into an enemy ship, pinning the attacker, is, shaped like the spread crest of a tarn, the shield. The entire ship is built in such a way that the combined strength of the keel, sternpost and strut-frames centers itself at the ram, or spur. The ship is, thus, itself the weapon.

Bow is concave
Two steering oars or side rudders
Sternpost is high, fanlike
Prow designed to resemble ram and shield, made of painted wood to look like head of a tarn
The bow of the Dorna is concave, sloping down to meet the ram. Her stern describes what is almost a complete semicircle. She has two steering oars, or side rudders. The sternpost is high, and fanlike; it is carved to represent feathers; the actual tail feathers of a tarn, however, would be horizontal to the plane, not vertical; the prow of the tarn ship resembles the ram and shield, though it is made of painted wood; it is designed and painted to resemble the head of a tarn.

Tarn ships painted a variety of colors
Tarn ships are painted in a variety of colors; the Dorna, of course, was green.

Two movable turrets, each 20 feet high
Two light catapults on leather-cushioned swivel mounts
Two chain-sling onagers (heavy catapults)
Eight springals
Besides her stem and stern castles the Dorna carried two movable turrets amidships, each about twenty feet high. She also carried, on leather-cushioned, swivel mounts, two light catapults, two chain-sling onagers, and eight springals.

Shearing blades fixed on each side of hull, between oars and bow
Shearing blades, too, of course, were a portion of her equipment. These blades, mentioned before, are fixed on each side of the hull, abaft of the bow and forward of the oars. They resemble quarter moons of steel and are fastened into the frames of the ship itself. They are an invention of Tersites of Port Kar. They are now, however, found on most recent ram-ships, of whatever port of origin.

True beam of Dorna is 16 gorean feet
Deck width is 21 gorean feet
Rowing frame slightly higher than deck area and extends 2 and 1/2 feet on each side
Extended rowing frame is supported by extensions of hull beam
Although the Dorna's true beam is sixteen feet Gorean, her deck width is twenty-one feet Gorean, due to the long rectangular rowing frame, which carries the thole ports: the rowing frame is slightly higher than the deck area and extends beyond it, two and one half feet Gorean on each side; it is supported by extensions of the hull beams; the rowing frame is placed somewhat nearer the stern than the sternpost; the extension of the rowing frame not only permits greater deck area but, because of the size of the oars used, is expedient because of matters of work space.

(Snipped section of the passage from Raiders on the oars - See Oars section below)

One man per oar, three men on a bench each with an oar
Rowing deck is open to air
Oarsmen are available to fight if needed, each bench protected by parapet - behind which is a bowman
This arrangement, one man to an oar, and oars in groups of three, and oars mounted in the rowing frame, long and beautiful sweeps, had been found extremely practical in the Gorean navies. It is almost universal on ram-ships. The rowing deck, further, is open to the air, thereby differing from the rowing holds of round ships. This brings many more free fighting men, the oarsmen, into any action which might be required. They, while rowing, are protected, incidentally, by a parapet fixed on the rowing frame. Between eacy pair of benches, behind the parapet, is one bowman.

Thole ports for the oars are in groups of three, spaced ten inches apart
Nearly 4 feet between each set of three thole ports
Dorna has 20 groups of three on each side
Uses 120 oarsmen.
(Since each bench of three men is protected by a bowman, we may conclude also that there are 20 bowmen per side, or 40 bowmen upon the tarnship Dorna)
The thole ports in a given group of three are about ten inches apart and the groups themselves, center to center, are a bit less than four feet apart. Then Dorna carried twenty groups of three to a side, and so used one hundred and tweny oarsmen.

Explanation of triple banked versus single banked
From this account it may perhaps be conjectured why the oar power of a single-banked ram-ship is often comparable or superior to that of a doubly- or trebly-banked ship. The major questions involve the number and size of oars that can be practically mounted, balanced against the size of ship required for the differing arrangements. The use of extended rowing frame, permitting the leverage necessary for the great oars, and the seating of several oarsmen, each with his own oar, on a given bench, conserving space, are important in this regard. If we suppose a trebly-banked ship with one hundred and twenty oarsmen, say, in three banks of twenty each to a side, I think we can see she would have to be a rather large ship, and a good deal heavier than the single-decked, three-men-to-a- bench type, also with one hundred and twenty oarsmen. She would thus, also, be slower. And this does not even take into consideration the longer, larger oar possible with the projecting rowing frame.

Single-banked, 3 oarsmen to a bench type arrangement is almost universal on fighting ships on Thassa
To be sure, they are many factors involved here, and one might suppose triple banks following the model of the single-banked, three-men-oars-to-a-bench type, and so on, but, putting aside questions of the size of vessel required for such arrangements, we may simply note, without commenting further, that the single-banked, three-men-three-oars arrangement is almost universal in fighting ships on Thassa.

Single banked is lighter, faster, easier to maneuver
The other type of ship, though found occasionally, does not seem, at least currently, to present a distinct challenge to the low, swift, single-banked ships. In questions of ramming, I suppose the heavier ship would deliver the heaviest blow, but, even this might be contested for the lighter ship would, presumably, be moving more rapidly. Further, of course, the chances of being rammed by a lighter ship are greater than those of being rammed by a heavier ship, because of the greater speed and maneuverablitity of the former. Other disadvantages to the double- and triple-banked systems, of course, are that many of your oarsmen, if not all, are below decks and thus unable to enter into necessary actions as easily as they might otherwise do; further, in case of ramming or wreck, it is a good deal more dangerous to be below decks than above decks. At any rate, whatever the reasons or rationale, the single-banked tarn ship, of which the Dorna is an example, is the dominant type on Thassa.
Raiders

Different sails for different conditions
Three main types of sails used are all lateens (triangular)
Fair weather sail is large - used in light winds
Smaller sail used in strong winds astern
Storm sail - used in riding out storms
As I watched, the long, strung-out line of round ships of Port Kar moved past, tacking, scarcely using their oars, their small, triangular storm sails beaten from the north. The lateen-rigged galley, whether a round ship or a ram-ship, although it can furl its sail, cannot well let out and take in sail; it is not a square-rigged craft; accordingly she carries different sails for different conditions; the yard itself, from the mast, is lowered and hoisted, sails being removed or attached; the three main types of sail used are all lateens, and differ largely in their size; there is a large, fair-weather sail, used with light winds; there is a smaller sail, used with strong winds astern; and yet a smaller sail, a storm sail, used most often in riding out storms. It was the latter sail which, although it was unusual, the round ships were using for tacking; had they used either of the larger sails, with the sharp wind, they would have heeled dangerously toward the water, perhaps shipping water through the leeward thole ports.
Raiders

3 main types of sails - fair-weather, 'tarn' and storm
May be varieties within each type
Fair-weather sail is quite large, used in gentle winds
Tarn sail is common sail more often found on the yard
Smaller tarn sail called 'tharlarion' sail - more mangeable than large tarn sail, used most often in swift, brutal shifting winds.
Gorean galleys commonly carry several sails, usually falling into three main types, fair-weather, "tarn" and storm. Within each type, depending on the ship, there may be varieties. The Tesephone carried four sails, one said of the first type; two of the second, and one of the third. Her sails were, first, the fair-weather sail, which is quite large, and is used in gentle winds; secondly, the tarn sail, which is the common sail most often found on the yard of a tarn ship, and taking its name from the ship; third, a sail of the same type as the tarn sail, and, in a sense, a smaller "tarn" sail, the "tharlarion" sail; this smaller "tarn" sail, or "tharlarion" sail, as it is commonly called, to distinguish it from the larger sail of the same type, is more manageable than the standard, larger tarn sail; it is used most often in swift, brutal, shifting winds, providing a useful sail between the standard tarn sail and the storm sail; fourthly, of course, the Tesephone carried her storm sail; if, upon occasion, a ship could not run before a heavy sea, it would be broken in the crashing of the waves.
Hunters

In changing a sail, the yard is lowered, and then raised again. In the usual Gorean galley, lateen rigged, there is no practical way to take in, or shorten, sail, as with many types of square-rigged craft. In consequence, the different sails. The brail ropes serve little more, in the lateen-rigged galley, with its triangular sail on the long, sloping yard, has marvelous maneuvering capabilities, and can sail incredibly close to the wind. Its efficiency in tacking more than compensates for the convenience of a single, multipurposed sail. And, too, perhaps it should be mentioned, the lateen rigging is very beautiful.
Hunters

I glanced back. Astern of the Dorna, not hurrying, at half beat, came fifty tarn ships, their masts high, storm sails bound to their long, sloping yards.
Raiders

Mast is lowered and sails stored when entering battle
At the far edge of the piazza, in one of the bordering canals, nosing forward to take a berth between two tiled piers, we saw a ram-ship, medium class. Her mast, with its long yard, was lashed to the deck. Doubtless her sail was stored below. These are the arrangements when a galley moves through the city, or when she enters battle. On a line running from the forward starboard mooring cleat to the stem castle, furnishing cover for archers and spearmen, there flew a flag, snapping in the wind.
Raiders

Ships of gor, of all classes and types, have eyes painted on either side
The painting of eyes is the last thing done to a ship before launching
The eyes of the ship, painted on either side of the bow, would now have turned toward the opening of the harbor of Telnus. Ships of Gor, of whatever class or type, always have eyes painted on them, either in a head surmounting the prow, as in tarn ships, or, as in the Rena, as in round ships, on either side of the bow. It is the last thing that is done for the ship before it is first launched. The painting of the eyes reflects the Gorean seaman's belief that the ship is a living thing. She is accordingly given eyes, that she may see her way.
Raiders

Anchors are used, and are heavier than anchor hooks of marsh barges
The high-prowed marsh barge is anchored at both stem and sternn. Soon, each drawn by two warriors, the anchor-hooks, curved and three-pronged, not unlike large grappling irons, emerged dripping from the mud on the marsh. These anchor-hooks, incidentally, are a great deal lighter that the anchors used in the long galleys, and the round ships.
Raiders

Difficult to sail windward because of length, narrowness and shallow draft
Tacking to windward the leeward oars and rowing frame are likely to drag in water
Commonly a tarn ship only sails in fair wind
The ram-ship, on the other hand, is difficult to sail to windward, even with lateen rigging, because of its length, its narrowness and its shallow draft. In tacking to windward her leeward oars and rowing frame are likely to drag in the water, cutting down speed considerably and not infrequently breaking oars. Accordingly the ram-ship most commonly sails only with a fair wind.

Less seaworthy than round ship - more easily washed with waves
Greater danger of breaking apart in high seas
Further, she is less seaworthy than the round ship, having a lower freeboard area, being more easily washed with waves, and having a higher keel-to-beam ratio, making the danger of breaking apart in a high sea greater than it would be with a round ship. There are in the building of ships, as in other things, values to be weighed. The ram-ship is not built for significant sail dependence or maximum seaworthiness. She is built for speed, and the capacity to destroy other shipping. She is not a rowboat but a racing shell; she is not a club, but a rapier.
Raiders

Not built to lift and fall, crash among 50 foot waves.
Gorean galleys, in particular the ram-ships, are built for speed and war. They are long, narrow, shallow-drafted, carvel-built craft. They are not made to lift and fall, to crash among fifty-foot waves, caught in the fists of the sea's violence. In such a sea literally, in spite of their beams and chains, they can break in two, snapping like the spines of tabuk in the jaws of frenzied larls.
Hunters

Keel length of between 80 and 120 gorean feet
Beam width of 10 to 15 gorean feet
Medium class for a long ship, or ram-ship, in determined not by freight capacity but by keel length and width of beam; a medium-class long ship, or ram-ship, will have a keel length of from eighty to one hundred and twenty feet Gorean; and a width of beam of from ten to fifteeen feet Gorean. The Gorean foot, interestingly, is almost identical to the Earth foot. Both measures doubtless bear some distand relation to the length of the foot of an adult human male. The Gorean foot is, in my estimation, just slightly longer than the Earth foot; based on the supposition that each of its ten Horts is roughly one and one-quarter inches long, I would give the Gorean foot length of roughly twelve and one-half inches, Earth measure. Normally, incidentally, in giving measures, the Earth foot, unless otherwise specified, should be understood. It seems pertinent, however, in this instance, to state the ratios in Gorean feet, rather than translate into English measure, where the harmony of the proportions would be obscurred.
Raiders

Here, the Dorna with a 128 foot keel and 16 foot beam is heavy class
Presumably, ships over the 120 feet length keel of medium class (and 15 foot beam) are considered heavy class
The Dorna, like most tarn ships, is a long, narrow vessel of shallow draft. She is carvel-built, and her planking is fastened with nails of bronze and iron; in places, wooden pegs are also used; her planking, depending on placement, varies from two to six inches in thickness; also, to strengthen her against the shock of ramming, four-inch-thich wales run longitudinally about her sides. She carrieds a single, removable mast, with its long yard. It is lateen rigged. Her keel, one hundred and twenty-eight feet Gorean, and her beam, sixteen feet Gorean, mark her as heavy class.
Raiders

Shearing blades are huge quarter moon shaped pieces of steel
Anchored to the frame of the ship, forward of the oars
Common strategy is to slide along hull of enemy vessel, splintering and breaking its oars
Tersites had been permitted that once to address the council because he, though thought mad, had once been a skilled shipwright. Indeed, the galleys of Port Kar, medium and heavy class, carried shearing blades, which had been an invention of Tersites. These are huge quarter-moons of steel, fixed forward of the oars, anchored into the frame of the ship itself. One of the most common of naval strategies, other than ramming, is oar shearing, in which one vessel, her oars suddenly shortened inboard, slides along the hull of another, whose oars are still outboard, splintering and breaking them off. The injured gally then is like a broken-winged bird, and at the mercy of the other ship's ram as she comes about, flutes playing and drums beating, and makes her strike amidships. Recent galleys of Cos and Tyros, and other maritime powers, it had been noted, were now also, most often, equipped with shearing blades.
Raiders

Oars set in groups of three, three men sit on a single bench
Benches slant toward stern castle to allow three men to row
The size and weight of the oars used will doubtless seem surprizing, but, in practice, they are effective and beautiful levers. The oars are set in groups of three, and three men sit a single bench. These benches are not perpendicular to the bulwarks but slant obliquely back toward the stern castle. Accordingly their inboard ends are father aft than their outboard ends. This slanting makes it possible to have each of the three oars in an oar group parallel to the others.

Oars often vary in length by a foot and a half to allow for the distance of each man on the bench
The three oars are sometimes of the same length, but often they are not. The Dorna used oars of varying lengths; her oars, like those of many tarn ships, varied by about one and one-half foot Gorean, oar to oar; the most inboard oar being the longest; the outboard oar being the shortest.

Oars weigh one stone a foot (four pounds per foot)
Oars on a tarn ship are commonly 27 to 30 gorean feet
Weight then is 27 to 30 stone or roughly 108 to 120 pounds
The oars themselves usually weigh about one stone a foot, or roughly four pounds a foot. The length of those oars on a tarn ship commonly varies from twenty-seven to thirty foot Gorean. A thirty-foot Gorean oar, the most inboard oar, would commonly weigh thirty stone, or about one hundred and twenty pounds.

Oar is weighted with lead on inboard end to make rowing practical for the weight
The length and weight of these oars would make their operation impractical were it not for the fact that each of them, on its inboard end, is weighted with lead. B Raiders

Example of a ram

I had little doubt the Dorna was swifter than the ship that had pursued her.
She was now moving way, perhaps at half beat.
I did not think she would have time to turn about again.
We fired no missile, and gave no warning.
We were within fifty yards of her before a seaman on her stern castle, looking back, screamed the warning.
The iron-shod ram of the Dorna splintered into her stern a foot below water line.
"Back oars!" came the cry from the oar-master, and the Dorna, rocking and shuddering from the impact, chopped her way backward.
"Helmsmen pass to starboard!" I called. "Stroke, Maximum beat!"
The stern of the enemy ship was already under water as she slipped past her.
Raiders

In the stern quarter, behind the open kitchen, the girls were chained by the neck to the deck, to iron rings set in the heavy sanded wood. Each was given a yard of chain.
I smelled roast bosk cooking and fried vulo. It would be delicious. I thought no more of the girls.
Hunters

Captain of the ship
"Helmsmen," said I, "take your course now for the treasure fleet of Cos and Tyros."
"Yes, Captain," said they.
"Half-beat," said I to the oar-master.
"Yes, Captain," said he.
Raiders

Oar-master
"Maximum beat," said the oar-master to his keleustes, and then came to stand beside me on the stern castle.
Raiders

As soon as the Rena had swung to her original course, the oar-master cried "Stroke!" and the mallets of the keleustes began to strike, in great beats, the copper-covered drum.
Raiders

Keleustes
Before him, since this was a large ship, there sat a keleustes, a strong man, a time-beater, with leather-wrapped wrists. He would mark the rowing stroke with blows of wooden, leather-cushioned mallets on the head of a huge copper-covered drum.
Raiders

Helmsmen
The two helmsmen strained with their side rudders, bringing the ship about.
Raiders

The oar-master cried out angrily and turned to the helmsman, he who held the tiller beam.
The helmsman stood at the tiller, not moving.
Raiders

Bowmen
Between eacy pair of benches, behind the parapet, is one bowman.
Raiders

Oarsmen
The Dorna carried twenty groups of three to a side, and so used one hundred and tweny oarsmen.
Raiders

Spearmen
On a line running from the forward starboard mooring cleat to the stem castle, furnishing cover for archers and spearmen, there flew a flag, snapping in the wind.
Raiders

Lookout
There is usually a water gourd kept at the masthead, for the lookout. I uncorked the gourd and took some of the water. There had been a light film of ice in it. Some of the crystals melted in my mouth.
Raiders

Trumpeters
. I heard more trumpets from across the water. Some of these were from the enemy fleet. Others, brief notes, interrogations, demands for clarification, were from my own ships. They had good commanders.
Raiders

Flutists and drummers
Although I had had the masts, with their yards, taken down and lashed to the decks, and the saild stored below, I had the flutists and drummers, not uncommon on the ram-ships of Thassa, strike up a martial air.
Raiders

A war ship going into battle, incidentally, always takes its mast down and stores its sail below decks. The bulwarks and deck of the ship are often covered with wet hides.
Raiders

From the stern castle of the Dorna, then, with a long glass of the builders, I observed, far across the waters, the masts of ram-ships, one by one, lowering. I could hear, moreover, their war trumpets, carrying form ship to the other, signaling fleet movements. Message flags, doubltless repeating the message of the trumpets, were being run from the decks on their halyards to the heights of the stem castles. Although I could not yet see the decks, I had no doubt that there was a flurry of activity there. Bowmen were setting their weapons; helmets, weapons and shields were being brought up from below decks. Fires were being stoked to heat pitch and stones; bundles of tarred javelins would be shaken out near the springals and light catapults. In a few moments hides, soaked overside, would be spread over good portions of decks and bulwarks; and bags of sea water, for putting our fires, would be drawn and placed about the ships. In about ten Ehn the decks of the treasure fleet, save for the paraphernalia of war, would be clear, and her hatches would be secured. Similar preparations, of course, were taking place on my own ships.
Raiders

The fighting ship, incidentally, the long ship, the ram-ship, has never been, to my knowledge, in Port Kar, or Cos, or Tyros, or elsewhere on Gor, rowed by slaves; the Gorean fighting ship always has free men at the oars.
Raiders

Since the principal weapons of the ram-ship are the ram and shearing blades, she is most dangerous taken head on. Accordingly, in such a combat situation, involving only two ships at sea, both ships commonly described the broad starboard circles, prowling about one another like wary sleen, exchanging missiles, watchful for the opportunity to engage with ram and blades. I had little doub that the Dorna, a somewhat lighter ship, with better lines and shorter keel, would be more responsive to her helm than the other ship and that, sooner or later, as the circles grew smaller, she would be able to wheel and take her foe in the stern quarter or amidships.
Raiders

Signaling the fleet with flags and lanterns
The men of Torvaldsland have in common a code of sound signals, given by the horns, consisting of some forty mes-sages. Messages such as "Attack," "Heave to," "Regroup," and "Communication desired" have each their special combination of sounds. This sort ofthing is done more effectively, in my opinion, in the south by means of flags, run commonly from the prow cleats to the height of the stern castle. Flags, of course, are useless at night. At night ship’s lanterns may be used, but there is no standardization in their use, even among the ships of a given port. There are shield signals, too, how-ever, it might be mentioned, in Torvaldsland, though these are quite limited. Two that are universal in Torvaldsland are the red shield for war, the white for peace. The men of Torvaldsland, hearing the blasts on the bronze horns, were silent. The blasts had been the signal for attention.
Marauders