11-21-2006, 10:53 AM
I talked with a naval archaeologists fellow yesterday over a few beers and got some information I hadn't heard before about ship steering.
Steering oars/steering boards can be (and were) mounted all over the place on the rear of ships (and sometimes, there were several steering oars) before the development of the more solidly mounted rudder. The rear-mounted steering oar seems to have been associated with coastal and river shipping (at least he told me so). From what I gathered, most people who sail with steering boards today prefer the side-mounted board for a number of reasons, among them durability and relatively small difference between the rear-mounted and side-mounted board. It also bears remembering that steering oars were a common feature of smaller ships long after the rudder took over on larger (or rather, higher vessels - it's not easy steering a tall vessel with very long oars, nor are long oars very durable) vessels; it is easier to maintain and build, after all, plus that it had certain advantages on long-and-narrow ships (such as galleys) compared to broader ships (such as towered warships and later ships-of-the-line and cargo vessels). Steering oar/board placement seems largerly to have been a cultural preference thing.
One of the main advantages of the more modern rudder arrangement isn't that it is mounted in the rear, it is that the hull-and-rudder are constructed in such a way that the waterflow of the rear part of the ship feeds directly into the rudder and thus propels turns - a "deadwood" area that improves the durability of the rudder and improves manouverability. Early mounted rudders did not necessarily have this feature (in Asia or Europe), which made the rudders quite a bit less effective than they could have been.
Steering oars/steering boards can be (and were) mounted all over the place on the rear of ships (and sometimes, there were several steering oars) before the development of the more solidly mounted rudder. The rear-mounted steering oar seems to have been associated with coastal and river shipping (at least he told me so). From what I gathered, most people who sail with steering boards today prefer the side-mounted board for a number of reasons, among them durability and relatively small difference between the rear-mounted and side-mounted board. It also bears remembering that steering oars were a common feature of smaller ships long after the rudder took over on larger (or rather, higher vessels - it's not easy steering a tall vessel with very long oars, nor are long oars very durable) vessels; it is easier to maintain and build, after all, plus that it had certain advantages on long-and-narrow ships (such as galleys) compared to broader ships (such as towered warships and later ships-of-the-line and cargo vessels). Steering oar/board placement seems largerly to have been a cultural preference thing.
One of the main advantages of the more modern rudder arrangement isn't that it is mounted in the rear, it is that the hull-and-rudder are constructed in such a way that the waterflow of the rear part of the ship feeds directly into the rudder and thus propels turns - a "deadwood" area that improves the durability of the rudder and improves manouverability. Early mounted rudders did not necessarily have this feature (in Asia or Europe), which made the rudders quite a bit less effective than they could have been.
