Older naval artillery discovery in Europe on a sunk ship

The artillery of a mysterious medieval ship reveals secrets about the history of European navigation – and we already know how it sank.

The Danish-Norwegian add-on ship Gribshunden is the only surviving example of his type of the medieval era, points to. He sank in 1495 in mysterious circumstances near Ronneby, Sweden.

Now, the analysis of your weaponry reveals thatAnd the maritime powers of the late fifteenth century were already equipped to begin to affirm their domain.

“Exploring a royal wreck of the late-medieval period is exciting in itself. But the biggest reward comes when we can gather the tests later, using Martin’s experience in Castles and the deep knowledge of Kay about artillery,” explains Brendan Foley, the underwater archaeologist who led the project, which collaborated with also the university archaeologist, Martin Hansson, and the expert in expert Medieval artillery Kay Douglas Smith.

The authors of published in July in International Journal of Nautical Archaeology found that the Norwegian king even used this ship similar to a Royal terrestrial fortification. It was a real floating castle, that allowed him to travel to Sweden and throughout the Danish territory – including Gotland.

The vessel, the investigators suggest, will have sunk when a fire. According to Scitechdaily, the cost of building the gribshunden was so elegate that it probably absorbed about 8% of the Danish National Budget in 1485.

Artillery was also innovative at the time: both the ship and its weaponry They are very similar to those used later by the first Spanish and Portuguese explorers.