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CogShip Europe Transporting 13th,11th,15th,17th Century | Large Cargoes | Hanseatic League | Structures Baltic Sea ships |
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In the 11th century the Viking's stronghold in northern Europe began to slip. As their reign of terror subsided, maritime trade resumed in northern Europe, and with it arose the need for sailing vessels capable of transporting large cargoes. By the 13th century the cog had taken its place as the major cargo vessel in northern Europe. Developed over many centuries, the cog was clinker-built like Viking ships. It had a flat bottom, high sides, and a large carrying capacity. The flat bottom was constructed of planks fit edge-to-edge. As the sides of the hull rose, the planks overlapped each other in clinker-building fashion. Cogs had one tall mast that carried a single, square sail, and elevated decks at the bow and stern. The raised structures at the bow, called the forecastle, and the stern, called the sterncastle, permitted sailors to hurl stones or spears and to shoot arrows downward at other ships. The cog's steering system consisted of an innovative rudder, attached like a hinge at the center of the stern and controlled by a tiller. This revolutionary control system remains the standard on ships to this day (Cog, Ship Europe Transporting 13th,11th,15th,17th Century, Large Cargoes, Hanseatic League, Structures Baltic Sea ships). 
The Hanseatic League was a trading association of German merchants and cities that was active from the middle of the 12th century to the middle of the 17th century. At the height of its power, the Hanseatic League held a virtual monopoly on trade in the North and Baltic seas. During much of this period, the Hanseatic League depended on the cog, a multipurpose ship that served well as both a cargo ship and a war ship. The cog had a roomy cargo hold covered by elevated decks at the bow and stern. The raised structures permitted sailors to hurl stones or spears and to shoot arrows downward at other ships. From the 13th to the 15th century, the cog dominated trade between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea ports of the Hanseatic League, an alliance of merchants and cities in northern Europe. Until 1962 almost all of what maritime historians knew of cogs came from the official seals of Hanseatic towns and their coins. Archaeologists excavated a 14th-century cog in Bremen, Germany, in 1962. The ship measured 23 m (77 ft) and could carry 130 tons of cargo. In the 15th century the cog gave way to the hulk, a similarly constructed large sailing vessel characterized by a single mast and a rounded bow and stern. |
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Cog | Ship Europe Transporting 13th,11th,15th,17th Century | Large Cargoes | Hanseatic League | Structures Baltic Sea ships |
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