Editing Ship (section)

==History==
{{Further|Maritime history|Sailing ship}}
For most of history, transport by ship{{snd}}provided there is a feasible route{{snd}} has generally been cheaper, safer and faster than making the same journey on land. Only the coming of railways in the middle of the 19th century and the growth of commercial aviation in the second half of the 20th century have changed this principle. This applied equally to sea crossings, coastal voyages and use of rivers and lakes.<ref name="Adams 2013">{{cite book |last1=Adams |first1=Jonathan |title=A maritime archaeology of ships : innovation and social change in medieval and early modern Europe |date=2013 |location=Oxford, UK |isbn=978-1-84217-297-1 |edition=1st}}</ref>{{rp|15}}

Examples of the consequences of this include the large [[grain trade]] in the Mediterranean during the [[Classical antiquity|classical period]]. Cities such as Rome were totally reliant on the delivery by sailing and human powered (oars) ships of the large amounts of grain needed. It has been estimated that it cost less for a sailing ship of the Roman Empire to carry grain the length of the Mediterranean than to move the same amount 15 miles by road. Rome consumed about 150,000 tons of Egyptian grain each year over the first three centuries AD.<ref name="Casson 1995">{{cite book |last1=Casson |first1=Lionel |title=Ships and seamanship in the ancient world |date=1995 |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |location=Baltimore |isbn=0-8018-5130-0}}</ref>{{rp|297}}<ref name="Jett 2017">{{cite book |last1=Jett |first1=Stephen C. |title=Ancient ocean crossings : reconsidering the case for contacts with the pre-Columbian Americas |date=2017 |publisher=The University of Alabama Press |location=Tuscaloosa |isbn=978-0-8173-1939-7}}</ref>{{rp|147}}{{efn|The distance by sea from Alexandria (the main Egyptian grain port during the Roman Empire) to Civitavecchia (the modern port for Rome) is {{convert|1142|nmi}}.<ref>{{cite web |title=Alexandria – Civitavecchia distance is 1142 NM – SeaRoutes |url=https://classic.searoutes.com/routing/4294967629/4294968202?speed=20&panama=true&suez=true&kiel=true&rivers=block&roads=block |website=m.classic.searoutes.com |access-date=16 June 2022 |language=en }}{{Dead link|date=September 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>}}

Until recently, it was generally the case that ships were the most advanced representations of the technology available to the societies that produced them.{{r|Adams 2013|p=1}}

===Prehistory and antiquity===
{{See also|Ships of ancient Rome}}

==== Asian developments ====
[[File:Atlas pittoresque pl 096.jpg|thumb|[[Fiji#Early settlement|Fijian]] voyaging [[outrigger boat]] with a [[crab claw sail]]]]
[[File:Borobudur ship.JPG|thumb|One of the sailing vessels depicted in [[Borobudur]] temple, c.&nbsp;8th century AD in [[Java]], [[Indonesia]]]]
The earliest attestations of ships in [[maritime transport]] in [[Mesopotamia]] are [[model ship]]s, which date back to the 4th millennium BC. In archaic texts in [[Uruk]], [[Sumer]], the ideogram for "ship" is attested, but in the inscriptions of the kings of [[Lagash]], ships were first mentioned in connection to [[maritime trade]] and [[naval warfare]] at around 2500–2350 BCE.{{Citation needed|date=June 2022|reason=These clay models are surely boats. The interpretation of texts needs an RS.}}

[[Austronesian peoples]] originated in what is now [[Taiwan]]. From here, they took part in the [[Austronesian Expansion]]. Their distinctive maritime technology was integral to this movement and included [[catamaran]]s and [[outrigger ship|outriggers]]. It has been suggested that they had sails some time before 2000 BCE.<ref name="Horridge 2006">{{cite book |last1=Horridge |first1=Adrian |editor1-last=Bellwood |editor1-first=Peter |title=The Austronesians : historical and comparative perspectives |date=2006 |location=Canberra, ACT |isbn=978-0731521326}}</ref>{{rp|144}} Their [[crab claw sail]]s enabled them to sail for vast distances in open ocean.  From Taiwan, they rapidly colonized the islands of [[Maritime Southeast Asia]], then sailed further onwards to [[Micronesia]], [[Island Melanesia]], [[Polynesia]], and [[Madagascar]], eventually colonizing a territory spanning half the globe.<ref name="Doran1974">{{Cite journal |last=Doran |first=Edwin Jr. |date=1974 |title=Outrigger Ages |url=http://www.jps.auckland.ac.nz/document//Volume_83_1974/Volume_83%2C_No._2/Outrigger_ages%2C_by_Edwin_Doran_Jnr.%2C_p_130-140/p1 |journal=The Journal of the Polynesian Society |volume=83 |issue=2 |pages=130–140 |access-date=2019-09-29 |archive-date=2020-01-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200118071139/http://www.jps.auckland.ac.nz/document/Volume_83_1974/Volume_83,_No._2/Outrigger_ages,_by_Edwin_Doran_Jnr.,_p_130-140/p1 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="Mahdi1999" />

Austronesian sails were made from woven leaves, usually from [[Pandanus|pandan]] plants.<ref name="Kirch2012" /><ref name="Gallaher2014" /> These were complemented by paddlers, who usually positioned themselves on platforms on the [[outrigger]]s in the larger boats.<ref name="Doran1974" /><ref name="Doran1981" /> Austronesian ships ranged in complexity from simple [[dugout canoe]]s with outriggers or lashed together to large edge-pegged plank-built boats built around a keel made from a dugout canoe. Their designs were unique, evolving from ancient rafts to the characteristic double-hulled, single-outrigger, and double-outrigger designs of Austronesian ships.<ref name="Mahdi1999" /><ref name="Doran1981" />

In the 2nd century AD, people from the [[Nusantara (archipelago)|Indonesian archipelago]] already made large ships measuring over 50 m long and standing 4–7 m out of the water. They could carry 600–1000 people and 250–1000 ton cargo. These ships were known as ''kunlun bo'' or ''[[K'un-lun po|k'unlun po]]'' (崑崙舶, lit. "ship of the [[Kunlun (mythology)|Kunlun]] people") by the Chinese, and ''kolandiaphonta'' by the Greeks. They had 4–7 masts and were able to sail against the wind due to the usage of [[tanja sail]]s. These ships may have reached as far as [[Ghana]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Phantom Voyagers: Evidence of Indonesian Settlement in Africa in Ancient Times|last=Dick-Read|first=Robert|publisher=Thurlton|year=2005}}</ref>{{Rp|41}}<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Manguin |first=Pierre-Yves |date=1993 |title=Trading Ships of the South China Sea. Shipbuilding Techniques and Their Role in the History of the Development of Asian Trade Networks |journal=Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient |pages=253–280}}</ref>{{Rp|262}}<ref name=":112">{{Cite journal |last=Christie |first=Anthony |date=1957 |title=An Obscure Passage from the "Periplus: ΚΟΛΑΝΔΙΟϕΩΝΤΑ ΤΑ ΜΕΓΙΣΤΑ" |journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London |volume=19 |pages=345–353 |doi=10.1017/S0041977X00133105 |s2cid=162840685 }}</ref>{{Rp|347}} In the 11th century, a new type of ship called [[Djong (ship)|djong]] or jong was recorded in [[Java]] and [[Bali]].<ref>{{Cite journal |date=2008 |editor-last=Hauser-Schäublin |editor-first=Brigitta |editor2-last=Ardika |editor2-first=I Wayan |title=Burials, Texts and Rituals: Ethnoarchaeological Investigations in North Bali, Indonesia |journal=Göttinger Beiträge zur Ethnologie |doi=10.17875/gup2008-416 |isbn=978-3-940344-12-0 |issn=2512-6814|doi-access=free }}</ref>{{rp|222, 230, 267}}<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Jákl |first=Jiří |date=2020 |title=The Sea and Seacoast in Old Javanese Court Poetry: Fishermen, Ports, Ships, and Shipwrecks in the Literary Imagination |journal=Archipel |volume=100 |issue=100 |pages=69–90 |doi=10.4000/archipel.2078 |s2cid=229391249 |issn=0044-8613|doi-access=free }}</ref>{{rp|82}} This type of ship was built using wooden dowels and treenails, unlike the ''kunlun bo'' which used vegetal fibres for lashings.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Manguin |first=Pierre-Yves |year=2021 |title=The assembly of hulls in Southeast Asian shipbuilding traditions: from lashings to treenails |journal=Archaeonautica |volume=21 |issue=21 |pages=137–140 |doi=10.4000/archaeonautica.2397 |s2cid=251869471 |issn=0154-1854|doi-access=free }}</ref>{{Rp|138}}

In China, miniature models of ships that feature steering oars have been dated to the [[Warring States period]] (c.&nbsp;475–221 BC).<ref name="tom 1989 103 104" /> By the [[Han dynasty]], a well kept naval fleet was an integral part of the military. Centre-line rudders, mounted at the stern, started to appear on Chinese ship models starting in the 1st century AD.{{efn|The Chinese rudder has some substantial differences from the [[pintle]] and gudgeon-hung rudder that was adopted from Northern Europe into the Mediterranean some time after the middle of the 12th century. Chinese ships of this time did not even have a stern post on which to mount a rudder. Elsewhere, Arab shipwrights used a stern-post mounted rudder which would have been known to Mediterranean mariners before their adoption of the pintle and gudgeon system, but the Arab system used rope lashings between the sternpost and the rudder, not the metal of the Northern European system. The Arab system had no significant adoption in the Mediterranean and had the disadvantage of needing frequent inspection.<ref name="Mott 1997">{{cite book |last1=Mott |first1=Lawrence V. |title=The development of the rudder: a technological tale |date=1997 |publisher=Texas A&M university press |location=College Station |isbn=0890967237}}</ref>{{rp|7, 120-125}}}}<ref name="tom 1989 103 104" /> However, these early Chinese ships were fluvial (riverine), and were not seaworthy.<ref name="Pham2">{{cite book |last1=Pham |first1=Charlotte Minh-Hà L. |url=https://www.academia.edu/10065854 |title=Training Manual for the UNESCO Foundation Course on the Protection and Management of Underwater Cultural Heritage in Asia and the Pacific |date=2012 |publisher=UNESCO Bangkok, Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau for Education |isbn=978-92-9223-414-0 |location=Bangkok |chapter=Unit 14: Asian Shipbuilding (Training Manual for the UNESCO Foundation Course on the Protection and Management of the Underwater Cultural Heritage)}}</ref>{{rp|20}}<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Maguin|first=Pierre-Yves|date=September 1980|title=The Southeast Asian Ship: An Historical Approach|journal=Journal of Southeast Asian Studies|volume=11|issue=2|pages=266–276|doi=10.1017/S002246340000446X|jstor=20070359|s2cid=162220129 }}</ref> The Chinese only acquired sea-going ship technologies in the 10th-century AD [[Song dynasty]] after contact with Southeast Asian ''k'un-lun po'' trading ships, leading to the development of the [[junk (ship)|junks]].<ref name="Johnstone 1980" /><ref name="Pham2" />{{rp|20–21}}

==== Mediterranean developments ====
[[File:Maler der Grabkammer des Menna 013.jpg|thumb|Egyptian sailing ship, c.&nbsp;1422–1411 BC]]
[[File:Phoenician ship.jpg|thumb|A [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] ship carved on the face of the [[Ship sarcophagus|"Ship Sarcophagus"]], c.&nbsp;2nd century AD]]

The earliest historical evidence of boats is found in Egypt during the 4th millennium BCE<ref name="Britannica - History of ships"/> The [[Ancient Greece|Greek]] [[historian]] and [[geographer]] [[Agatharchides]] had documented ship-faring among the early [[Ancient Egypt|Egyptians]]:  ''"During the prosperous period of the [[Old Kingdom]], between the [[30th century BC|30th]] and [[25th century BC|25th centuries BC]], the [[Nile River|river]]-routes were kept in order, and [[Ancient Egypt|Egyptian]] ships sailed the [[Red Sea]] as far as the [[myrrh]]-country."''<ref>{{Cite book |author=[[Agatharchides]] |others=in [[Wilfred Harvey Schoff]] (Secretary of the [[Philadelphia Civic Center|Commercial Museum of Philadelphia]]) with a foreword by W.P. Wilson, Sc. Director, [[University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology|The Philadelphia Museums]]. |title=[[Periplus of the Erythraean Sea]]: Travel and Trade in the Indian Ocean by a Merchant of the First Century, Translated from the Greek and Annotated |publisher=Longmans, Green, and Co. |year=1912 |location=New York |pages=50; 57 (for quote)}}</ref> [[Sneferu]]'s ancient cedar wood ship [[Praise of the Two Lands (ship)|Praise of the Two Lands]] is the first reference recorded (2613 BC) to a ship being referred to by name.<ref>Anzovin, item # 5393, p. 385 ''Reference to a ship with a name appears in an inscription of 2613 BC that recounts the shipbuilding achievements of the fourth-dynasty Egyptian pharaoh Sneferu. He was recorded as the builder of a cedarwood vessel called "Praise of the Two Lands."''</ref>

The [[ancient Egypt]]ians were perfectly at ease building sailboats. A remarkable example of their [[shipbuilding]] skills was the [[Khufu ship]], a vessel {{convert|143|ft|m}} in length entombed at the foot of the [[Great Pyramid of Giza]] around 2500 BC and found intact in 1954.

The oldest discovered sea faring hulled boat is the [[Late Bronze Age]] [[Uluburun]] shipwreck off the coast of Turkey, dating back to 1300 BC.<ref>{{cite journal |title=The Uluburun shipwreck: an overview |journal=International Journal of Nautical Archaeology |volume=27|issue=3|page=188 |first = Cemal |last = Pulak |year=1998 |doi=10.1111/j.1095-9270.1998.tb00803.x}}</ref>

By 1200 B.C., the [[Phoenicia]]ns were building large merchant ships. In world maritime history, declares Richard Woodman, they are recognized as "the first true seafarers, founding the art of pilotage, [[cabotage]], and navigation" and the architects of "the first true ship, built of planks, capable of carrying a deadweight cargo and being sailed and steered."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Woodman |first=Richard |title=The History of the Ship |publisher=Lyons Press |year=1987 |location=New York |pages=16 |quote=Cabotage refers to navigation along the coastline}}</ref>

===Medieval and early modern periods===
==== Asian developments ====
[[File:Japanese-Tokugawa-Ship-Ataka-Maru.png|thumb|right|A Japanese [[atakebune]] from the 16th century]]
During the 15th century, China's [[Ming dynasty]] assembled one of the largest and most powerful naval fleets in the world for the [[Ming treasure voyages|diplomatic and power projection voyages]] of [[Zheng He]]. Elsewhere in Japan in the 15th century, one of the world's first iron-clads, "Tekkōsen" ([[:ja:鉄甲船|鉄甲船]]), literally meaning "iron ships",<ref>{{Cite book |last=Turnbull |first=Stephen |title=Samurai Warfare |publisher=Cassell & Co |year=1996 |isbn=1-85409-280-4 |location=London |pages=102}}</ref> was also developed. In Japan, during the [[Sengoku era]] from the 15th century to 17th century, the great struggle for feudal supremacy was fought, in part, by coastal fleets of several hundred boats, including the [[atakebune]]. In Korea, in the early 15th century during the [[Joseon]] era, "[[Turtle ship|Geobukseon]]"(거북선), was developed.

The empire of [[Majapahit]] used large ships called [[Jong (ship)|jong]], built in northern Java, for transporting troops overseas.<ref>{{cite book |title=Empire of the Winds: The Global Role of Asia's Great Archipelago|last=Bowring|first=Philip|publisher=I.B. Tauris & Co. Ltd|place=London, New York|date=2019|isbn=9781788314466}}</ref>{{rp|115}} The jongs were transport ships which could carry 100–2000 tons of cargo and 50–1000 people, 28.99–88.56 meter in length.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Averoes|first=Muhammad|date=2022|title=Re-Estimating the Size of Javanese Jong Ship|journal=HISTORIA: Jurnal Pendidik Dan Peneliti Sejarah|volume=5|issue=1|pages=57–64|doi=10.17509/historia.v5i1.39181|s2cid=247335671|url=https://archive.org/details/size-of-javanese-jong|doi-access=free}}</ref>{{Rp|60–62}} The exact number of jong fielded by Majapahit is unknown, but the largest number of jong deployed in an expedition is about 400 jongs, when Majapahit attacked Pasai, in 1350.<ref name=":23">Hill (June 1960). "[[iarchive:hikayat-raja-raja-pasai/page/2/mode/2up|Hikayat Raja-Raja Pasai]]". ''Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society''. '''33''': p. 98 and 157: "Then he directed them to make ready all the equipment and munitions of war needed for an attack on the land of Pasai – about four hundred of the largest junks, and also many barges (malangbang) and galleys." See also Nugroho (2011). p. 270 and 286, quoting ''Hikayat Raja-Raja Pasai'', 3: 98: "''Sa-telah itu, maka di-suroh baginda musta'idkan segala kelengkapan dan segala alat senjata peperangan akan mendatangi negeri Pasai itu, sa-kira-kira empat ratus jong yang besar-besar dan lain daripada itu banyak lagi daripada malangbang dan kelulus''." (After that, he is tasked by His Majesty to ready all the equipment and all weapons of war to come to that country of Pasai, about four hundred large jongs and other than that much more of malangbang and kelulus.)</ref>

==== European developments ====
{{Further|Medieval ships}}
{{anchor|carvel to N Europe}}
[[File:Nao Victoria.jpg|thumb|Replica of Magellan's ''[[Victoria (ship)|Victoria]]''. [[Ferdinand Magellan]] and [[Juan Sebastián Elcano]] led the first expedition that [[circumnavigated]] the globe in 1519–1522.]]
Until the late 13th or early 14th century, European shipbuilding had two separate traditions. In Northern Europe{{efn|In this context, this Northern European tradition refers to the Atlantic coast of Europe, extending through the North Sea and into the Baltic.}} [[Clinker (boat building)|clinker construction]] predominated. In this, the hull planks are fastened together in an overlapping manner. This is a "shell first" construction technique, with the hull shape being defined by the shaping and fitting of the hull planks. The reinforcing {{Nautical term|frame}}s (or ribs) are fitted after the planks.{{r|Adams 2013|p=65–66}} Clinker construction in this era usually used planks that were cleft (split radially from the log) and could be made thinner and stronger per unit of thickness than the sawn logs, thanks to preserving the radial integrity of the grain.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Bjerg |first1=Line |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sNYKEAAAQBAJ&dq=cleft+plank+on+boat&pg=PA306 |title=From Goths to Varangians: Communication and Cultural Exchange between the Baltic and the Black Sea |last2=Lind |first2=John H. |last3=Sindbæk |first3=Søren Michael |date=2013 |publisher=Aarhus Universitetsforlag |isbn=978-87-7124-425-0 |pages=306 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Gawronski |first1=Jerzy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QphLDwAAQBAJ&dq=cleft+plank+on+boat&pg=PA320 |title=Ships And Maritime Landscapes: Proceedings of the Thirteenth International Symposium on Boat and Ship Archaeology, Amsterdam 2012 |last2=Holk |first2=André van |last3=Schokkenbroek |first3=Joost |date=2017-09-25 |publisher=Barkhuis |isbn=978-94-92444-29-5 |pages=320 |language=en}}</ref>{{r|Adams 2013|pp=53–54}} 

An exception to clinker construction in the Northern European tradition is the bottom planking of the [[Cog (ship)|cog]]. Here, the hull planks are not joined to each other and are laid flush (not overlapped). They are held together by fastening to the frames{{efn|More technically, these bottom planks were fastened to the {{Nautical term|floor}}s.}} but this is done after the shaping and fitting of these planks. Therefore, this is another case of a "shell first" construction technique.{{efn|This less well-known Northern European method may be a continuous tradition going back to the  Romano-Celtic period. "Romano-Celtic" is the term given to the shipbuilding tradition found during the Roman occupation of Celtic parts of Europe. This translates to archaeological sites in Britain, arguably including finds in continental Europe. This method certainly continued into the 17th century as the "bottom-based" construction method used in Dutch shipyards.}}{{r|Adams 2013|p=65–66}}

These Northern European ships were rigged with a single mast setting a [[Square rig|square sail]]. They were steered by rudders hung on the {{Nautical term|sternpost}}.<ref name="Adams 2013" />{{rp|69}}

In contrast, the ship-building tradition of the Mediterranean was of [[Carvel (boat building)|carvel construction]]{{snd}}the fitting of the hull planking to the frames of the hull. Depending on the precise detail of this method, it may be characterised as either "frame first" or "frame-led". In either variant, during construction, the hull shape is determined by the frames, not the planking. The hull planks are not fastened to each other, only to the frames.{{r|Adams 2013|p=69}}

These Mediterranean ships were rigged with [[lateen]] sails on one or more masts (depending on the size of the vessel) and were steered with a side rudder. They are often referred to as "round ships".{{r|Adams 2013|p=68-69}}

Crucially, the Mediterranean and Northern European traditions merged. Cogs{{efn|It is possible that the terminology used in the Mediterranean was not precise enough to differentiate between clinker-built ships and cogs, with the same word being applied to both.}} are known to have travelled to the Mediterranean in the 12th and 13th centuries. Some aspects of their designs were being copied by Mediterranean ship-builders early in the 14th century. Iconography shows square sails being used on the mainmast but a lateen on the mizzen,{{efn|Square sails had disappeared from the Mediterranean after the end of the [[Classical antiquity|classical period]].}} and a sternpost hung rudder replacing the side rudder. The name for this type of vessel was "coche" or, for a larger example, "carrack". Some of these new Mediterranean types travelled to Northern European waters and, in the first two decades of the 15th century, a few were captured by the English, two of which had previously been under charter to the French. The two-masted rig started to be copied immediately, but at this stage on a clinker hull. The adoption of carvel hulls had to wait until sufficient shipwrights with appropriate skills could be hired, but by late in the 1430s, there were instances of carvel ships being built in Northern Europe, and in increasing numbers over the rest of the century.{{r|Adams 2013|p=69-72}}

This hybridisation of Mediterranean and Northern European ship types created the [[full-rigged ship]], a three-masted vessel with a square-rigged foremast and mainmast and a lateen sail on the mizzen. This provided most of the ships used in the [[Age of Discovery]], being able to carry sufficient stores for a long voyage and with a rig suited to the open ocean. Over the next four hundred years, steady evolution and development, from the starting point of the [[carrack]], gave types such as the [[galleon]], [[fluit]], [[East Indiaman]], ordinary cargo ships, warships, [[clipper]]s and many more, all based on this three-masted square-rigged type.{{r|Reid 2020|p=29, ''passim''}}

The transition from clinker to carvel construction facilitated the use of artillery at sea since the internal framing of the hull could be made strong enough to accommodate the weight of guns. It was easier to fit gunports in a carvel hull. As vessels became larger and the demand for ship-building timber affected the size of trees available, clinker construction became limited by the difficulty of finding large enough logs from which to cleave planks. Nonetheless, some clinker vessels approached the size of contemporary carracks.{{efn|An example is the [[Newport medieval ship]].}} Before the adoption of carvel construction, the increasing size of clinker-built vessels necessitated greater amounts of internal framing of their hulls for strength{{snd}}something that somewhat lessened the conceptual change to the new technique.{{r|Adams 2013|pp=55, 58-60}}

===19th and 20th centuries===
[[File:Trafalgar-Auguste Mayer.jpg|thumb|Painting of the [[Battle of Trafalgar]] by [[Auguste Étienne François Mayer|Auguste Mayer]].<ref>[http://www.musee-marine.fr/cartel2.php?id=55 Auguste Mayer's picture as described by the official website of the Musée national de la Marine (in French)] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111018092350/http://www.musee-marine.fr/cartel2.php?id=55 |date=October 18, 2011}}</ref>]]
[[File:Amerigo vespucci 1976 nyc aufgetakelt.jpg|thumb|[[Italy|Italian]] [[full-rigged ship]] [[Italian training ship Amerigo Vespucci|''Amerigo Vespucci'']]  in [[New York Harbor]]]]
[[File:RMS Titanic 3.jpg|thumb|[[RMS Titanic|RMS ''Titanic'']] departs from Southampton. Her [[Sinking of the Titanic|sinking]] led to [[Changes in safety practices following the RMS Titanic disaster|tighter safety regulations]].]]
Parallel to the development of warships, ships in service of marine fishery and trade also developed in the period between antiquity and the Renaissance.

Maritime trade was driven by the development of shipping companies with significant financial resources. Canal barges, towed by draft animals on an adjacent [[towpath]], contended with the [[railway]] up to and past the early days of the [[Industrial Revolution]]. Flat-bottomed and flexible [[scow]] boats also became widely used for transporting small cargoes. Mercantile trade went hand-in-hand with exploration, self-financed by the commercial benefits of exploration.

During the first half of the 18th century, the [[French Navy]] began to develop a new type of vessel known as a [[ship of the line]], featuring seventy-four guns. This type of ship became the backbone of all European fighting fleets. These ships were {{convert|56|m|ft}} long and their construction required 2,800 oak trees and {{convert|40|km|mi}} of rope; they carried a crew of about 800 sailors and soldiers. During the 19th century the [[Royal Navy]] enforced a ban on the [[History of slavery|slave trade]], acted to suppress [[piracy]], and continued to map the world. Ships and their owners grew with the 19th century [[Industrial Revolution]] across Europe and North America, leading to increased numbers of oceangoing ships, as well as other coastal and canal based vessels.<ref name="j900">{{cite book | last=Woodman | first=Richard | title=Masters Under God | publisher=History Press Limited | publication-place=Stroud, Gloucestershire | date=2009 | isbn=978-0-7524-4820-6 | oclc=604940166 | page=}}</ref><ref name="h973">{{cite book | last=Aldcroft | first=Derek Howard | title=Transport in the Industrial Revolution | publisher=Manchester University Press | publication-place=Manchester | date=1983 | isbn=978-0-7190-0839-9 | pages=1–28}}</ref>

Through more than half of the 19th century and into the early years of the 20th century, [[steamship|steam ships]] coexisted with sailing vessels. Initially, steam was only viable on shorter routes, typically transporting passengers who could afford higher fares, and mail. Steam went through many developmental steps that gave greater fuel efficiency, thereby increasingly making steamships commercially competitive with sail. Screw propulsion worked better than [[Paddle wheel#Ship propulsion|paddle wheels]], but relied, among other things, on the invention of an effective [[Stuffing box|stern gland]] for the [[propeller]] shaft. Higher boiler pressures of {{convert|60|psi}} powering [[Marine steam engine#Compound|compound]] engines, were [[SS Agamemnon (1865)|introduced]] in 1865, making long-distance steam cargo vessels commercially viable on the route from England to China{{snd}}even before the opening of the [[Suez Canal]] in 1869. Within a few years, steam had replaced many of the sailing ships that had served this route. Even greater fuel efficiency was obtained with triple-expansion steam engines{{snd}}but this had to wait for higher quality steel to be available to make boilers running at {{convert|125|psi}} in [[SS Aberdeen (1881)]]. By this point virtually all routes could be served competitively by steamships. Sail continued with some cargoes, where low costs were more important to the shipper than a predictable and rapid journey time.<ref name="Corbett">{{cite book |last=Corbett|first=E C B |editor1-first=Robert |editor1-last= Gardiner |editor2-first=Dr Basil |editor2-last=Greenhill |date=1993 |title=The Advent of Steam – The Merchant Steamship before 1900 |publisher=Conway Maritime Press |pages=83–105 |chapter=4: The Screw Propeller and Merchant Shipping 1840–1865 |isbn=0-85177-563-2}}</ref>{{rp|99-100, ''passim''}}<ref name="Jarvis">{{cite book |last=Jarvis |first=Adrian |editor1-first=Robert |editor1-last= Gardiner |editor2-first=Dr Basil |editor2-last=Greenhill |date=1993 |title=The Advent of Steam – The Merchant Steamship before 1900 |publisher=Conway Maritime Press |pages=158–159 |chapter=9: Alfred Holt and the Compound Engine |isbn=0-85177-563-2}}</ref><ref name="Griffiths">{{cite book |last=Griffiths|first=Denis|editor1-first=Robert|editor1-last= Gardiner|editor2-first=Dr. Basil|editor2-last= Greenhill|title=The Advent of Steam – The Merchant Steamship before 1900 |publisher=Conway Maritime Press Ltd |date=1993 |pages=106–126|chapter=Chapter 5: Triple Expansion and the First Shipping Revolution |isbn=0-85177-563-2}}</ref>{{rp|106–111}}<ref name="Gardiner and Greenhill 1993">{{cite book |last1=Gardiner |first1=Robert J |last2=Greenhill |first2=Basil |title=Sail's Last Century : the Merchant Sailing Ship 1830–1930 |date=1993 |publisher=Conway Maritime Press |location=London |isbn=0-85177-565-9}}</ref>{{rp|89}}

The [[Second Industrial Revolution]] in particular led to new mechanical methods of [[marine propulsion|propulsion]], and the ability to construct ships from metal triggered an explosion in ship design.<ref name="o576">{{cite book | last=Fox | first=Stephen | title=Transatlantic | publisher=Harper Collins | date=2004 | isbn=978-0-06-095549-6}}</ref> These led to the development of long-distance commercial ships and [[Ocean liner]]s, as well as technological changes including the [[Marine steam engine]], screw propellers, triple expansion engines and others.<ref name="c052">{{cite book | last=Morton | first=Thomas D. | title=Reeds Vol 9: Steam Engineering Knowledge for Marine Engineers | publisher=Thomas Reed | date=2008 | isbn=978-0-7136-6736-3}}</ref><ref name="i606">{{cite book | last=Munro-Smith | first=Ross | title=Ships and naval architecture | publisher=Institute of Maritime Engineering, Science and Technology | publication-place=London | date=2020 | isbn=978-1-85609-896-0 | page=}}</ref> Factors included the quest for more efficient ships, the end of long running and wasteful maritime conflicts, and the increased financial capacity of industrial powers created more specialized ships and other maritime vessels. Ship types built for entirely new functions that appeared by the 20th century included [[Research vessel|research ships]], [[Platform supply vessel|offshore support vessels]] (OSVs), [[Floating production storage and offloading]] (FPSOs), [[Cable layer|Pipe and cable laying ships]], drill ships and [[Survey vessel]]s.<ref name="Witherby179">{{cite book | title=21st century seamanship | publisher=[[Witherby Publishing Group]] | publication-place=Livingston | date=2015 | isbn=978-1-85609-632-4 | page=179}}</ref>

The late 20th century saw changes to ships that included the decline of ocean liners as air travel increased. The rise of [[container ships]] from the 1960s onwards dramatically changed the nature of commercial merchant shipping, as containerization led to larger ship sizes, dedicated container routes and the decline of general cargo vessels as well as tramp steaming.<ref name="b084">{{cite book | last=Levinson | first=Marc | title=The Box | publisher=Princeton University Press | publication-place=Princeton Oxford | date=2016-04-05 | isbn=978-0-691-17081-7}}</ref> The late 20th century also saw a rise in [[cruise ships]] for tourism around the world.<ref name="u899">{{cite book | last1=Dowling | first1=Ross | last2=Weeden | first2=Clare | title=Cruise Ship Tourism, 2nd Edition | publisher=CABI | publication-place=Wallingford Boston, MA | year=2017 | isbn=978-1-78064-608-4}}</ref>

===21st century===
[[File:Colombo.Express.wmt.jpg|thumb|''[[Colombo Express]]'', a 8749 [[Twenty-foot equivalent unit|TEU]] container ship owned and operated by [[Hapag-Lloyd]] of [[Germany]]]]
In 2016, there were more than 49,000 [[merchant ship]]s, totaling almost 1.8 billion [[Deadweight tonnage|deadweight tons]]. Of these 28% were [[oil tanker]]s, 43% were [[bulk carrier]]s, and 13% were [[container ship]]s.<ref name="UNCTAD" /> By 2019, the world's fleet included 51,684 commercial vessels with [[gross tonnage]] of more than 1,000 [[ton (volume)|tons]], totaling 1.96&nbsp;billion tons.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://unctad.org/en/pages/PublicationWebflyer.aspx?publicationid=2563| title = UNCTAD Review of maritime transport 2019, p. 37}}</ref>  Such ships carried 11&nbsp;billion tons of cargo in 2018, a sum that grew by 2.7% over the previous year.<ref>UNCTAD Review of maritime transport 2019, p. 7.</ref>  In terms of tonnage, 29% of ships were [[tanker (ship)|tankers]], 43% are [[bulk carrier]]s, 13% [[container ship]]s and 15% were other types.<ref>UNCTAD Review of maritime transport 2019, p. 29.</ref>

In 2008, there were 1,240 [[warship]]s operating in the world, not counting small vessels such as [[patrol boat]]s. <!--Adding total tonnage before this next sentence would make it clearer!-->The [[United States]] accounted for 3 million tons worth of these vessels, [[Russia]] 1.35 million tons, the [[United Kingdom]] 504,660 tons and [[China]] 402,830 tons. The 20th century saw many naval engagements during the two [[world war]]s, the [[Cold War]], and the rise to power of naval forces of the two blocs. The world's major powers have recently used their naval power in cases such as the [[United Kingdom]] in the [[Falkland Islands]] and the [[United States]] in [[Iraq]].

The size of the world's [[fishing fleet]] is more difficult to estimate. The largest of these are counted as commercial vessels, but the smallest are legion. [[Fishing vessel]]s can be found in most seaside villages in the world. As of 2004, the United Nations [[Food and Agriculture Organization]] estimated 4&nbsp;million fishing vessels were operating worldwide.<ref name="fao25" />  The same study estimated that the world's 29&nbsp;million fishermen<ref>UNFAO 2005, p. 6.</ref> caught {{convert|85800000|t|LT ST|sigfig=3|lk=on}} of fish and shellfish that year.<ref>UNFAO 2005, p. 9.</ref>

In 2023, the number of ships globally grew by 3.4%.<ref name="UNCTAD2024"/> In 2024, new ships are increasingly being built with alternative fuel capability to increase sustainability and reduce carbon emissions.<ref name="UNCTAD2024"/> Alternative ship fuels include [[LNG]], [[Liquefied petroleum gas|LPG]], [[methanol]], [[biofuel]], [[ammonia]] and [[hydrogen]] among others.<ref name="c799">{{cite web | title=WhatsNewNews | website=International Maritime Organization| date=2023-03-09 | url=https://www.imo.org/en/MediaCentre/Pages/WhatsNew-1841.aspx | access-date=2024-11-07}}</ref><ref name="g931">{{cite web | title=Alternative fuels: the options | website=DNV | date=2020-01-01 | url=https://www.dnv.com/expert-story/maritime-impact/alternative-fuels/ | access-date=2024-11-07}}</ref><ref name="x709">{{cite journal | last1=Wang | first1=Qiuwen | last2=Zhang | first2=Hu | last3=Huang | first3=Jiabei | last4=Zhang | first4=Pengfei | title=The use of alternative fuels for maritime decarbonization: Special marine environmental risks and solutions from an international law perspective | journal=Frontiers in Marine Science | publisher=Frontiers Media SA | volume=9 | date=2023-01-04 | issn=2296-7745 | doi=10.3389/fmars.2022.1082453 | doi-access=free | page=}}</ref>

As of 2024, wind power for ships had received renewed interest for its potential to mitigate [[greenhouse gas emissions]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Leicester |first1=John |title=Climate solution: Sails make a comeback in shipping, to dent its huge carbon footprint |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/12/02/climate-clean-shipping-sail-carbon-emissions-environment/ceec3e2e-b06d-11ef-9d23-e5faa22ad216_story.html |access-date=4 December 2024 |agency=Washington Post |date=2 December 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Favino |first1=Caterina |title=Navigating Towards Sustainability: Wind-Powered Cargo Ships and the Future of the Shipping Industry |url=https://earth.org/navigating-towards-sustainability-wind-powered-cargo-ships-and-the-future-of-the-shipping-industry/ |website=Earth.org |access-date=4 December 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Kennedy |first1=Pagan |title=The Climate Crisis Gives Sailing Ships a Second Wind |url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/annals-of-a-warming-planet/the-climate-crisis-gives-sailing-ships-a-second-wind |website=The New Yorker |access-date=4 December 2024}}</ref>