What to Learn about Ships
This book teaches a lot. It depicts diagrams of parts of ships, old ships, new ships, types of ships, and so much more. It isn't all about ships, however, like the title might suggest. It tells stories about war and how ships are involved. Territorial stories. Exploration stories. It's truly a learning experience like no other. Most of the book is full of facts, but that doesn't distract too much from the overall story-esque writing. Parts of the ship are depicted beautifully with very detailed diagrams. Most of the facts, as the title suggests, are about ancient ships/boats, such as the old Chinese exploration and military ships. Many types of craft had been used in China in prehistoric times, such as log boats in more remote areas and hide boats hear the rivers. Most of these boats seem to have developed from log rafts, which are first mentioned in 472 BC. The Chinese developed a variety of rudders for steering, which were usually quite large and designed for use at low speeds in the shallow water typical of most canals and lakes. These rudders, according to the legend, were developed by someone studying fish tails. Chinese junks were sailing in the open sea from the fifth or sixth century AD. The first imperial treasure fleets - ocean-going junks dispatched to discover new lands and acquire valuable goods - were commissioned in the Yuan Dynasty. The emperors of the Ming Dynasty extended the fleets. They reached their peak in the early 15th century under Admiral Zheng He, whose unrivaled armada required enormous investment by the emperor and included some of the largest wooden ships ever built. These were said to be 400 ft long and 150 ft wide. The junk's design originally evolved to suit local conditions. South of the Yangtze, the coast of China is deeply indented with numerous islands and sheltered harbors that provide refuge from summer typhoons. This area produced a craft that rarely had to beach, so it had sharp bows and a deep bottom.
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