[Icelander]

Longships

Not all longships are dragon ships, though nearly all dragon ships were longships (those few that were not would have been karves). Longship describes a shape of hull while dragon ship refers to a social and tactical role, i.e. the ships that went raiding. A ship could be a dragon ship while it carried out a raid on Ireland and then remove the prow to sail into London as a peaceful merchant.

As the existence of a dragon prow does not make a difference to the GURPS stats of a vehicle, I have chosen to present each type and ignore the consideration of whether or not that is considered a dragon ship.

Snekkja, Danish (54‘)
TL: 3
ST/HP: 63†
Hnd/SR: -2/2
HT: 12f
Move: 0.2/7
EWt: 2t
LWt: 6t
Load: 6500 lbs. (+1500 lbs. ballast)
SM: +6
Occ: 27+3
DR: 3
Range: F
Cost: $6K
Locations: M,O
Draft: 1.6‘
Notes: Listed move is for under sail. When being rowed without a sail, Move is 0.2/4.

The smallest vessel to be termed a longship, the snekkja is swift and handy. Its shallow draft allows it to operate where others ships cannot go and it is relatively cheap for a warship. Unlike some larger longships, a snekkja does not carry a complete fresh team of oarsmen and thus cannot maintain her speed under oars as long. It is also too small to carry supplies for a long trip.

While larger and more seaworthy examples existed in Norway and formed a major part of many invasion fleets to England, those vessels gave up some of the advantages of the design, such as the shallow draft. This then, is a Danish snekkja that is decidedly superior in the more protected waters of the Baltic, but somewhat too light to be taken for long voyages over the Atlantic. It based on the wreck Skuldelev 5, which has been reproduced as the Helge Ask and Sebbe Als.

Optional Modifiers: As a small open-decked craft, any Hnd penalties for weather are increased by 1 and due to its low freeboard; any Hnd penalties for high seas are increased by 2. These penalties are cumulative, if appropriate. Hnd under oars gets a +1 bonus when turn radius might influence it.

Snekkja, Norse (70‘)
TL: 3
ST/HP: 95†
Hnd/SR: -3/3
HT: 12c
Move: 0.2/7
EWt: 6.6t
LWt: 14t
Load: 5.2t (+2.2t ballast)
SM: +7
Occ: 31+4
DR: 3
Range: F
Cost: $14K
Locations: M,O
Draft: 2.25‘
Notes: Listed move is for under sail. When being rowed without a sail, Move is 0.2/3.5.

This is an example of the larger king of snekkja, a vessel that might have been used for longer sea voyages. The longships of William the Conqueror would have been very similar to this ship. It’s based on the Ladby wreck, reproduced as the Imme Gram, but differs from that reproduction in having only 15 pairs of oars (instead of the sixsteen that were chosen for that replica).

Optional Modifiers: As a small open-decked craft, any Hnd penalties for weather are increased by 1 and due to its low freeboard, any Hnd penalties for high seas are increased by 1. These penalties are cumulative, if appropriate. Hnd under oars gets a +1 bonus when turn radius might influence it.

Leidangskip (100‘)
TL: 3
ST/HP: 115†
Hnd/SR: -3/3
HT: 12c
Move: 0.2/6
EWt: 12t
LWt: 35t
Load: 23t
SM: +8
Occ: 45+45
DR: 7
Range: F
Cost: $24K
Locations: M,O
Draft: 3.5‘
Notes: Listed move is for under sail. When being rowed without a sail, Move is 0.15/3.

Unlike the other vessels provided here, this ship is not reconstructed from an archaeological find. Instead, it is a projection of what a standard longship of this size might be like, based on other wrecks and contemporary documentary evidence. This ship would form a standard part of Norwegian coastal defence and warfare, as the ship that each group of men was required to maintain for their own use when called out (similar to an Anglo-Saxon fyrd, but on water).

As such, it has room for twenty oarsmen on each side. It is broader and has a higher freeboard than the faster skeide, being classified as a busse (longship with a broader keel). This makes it able to carry more supplies and men than its more narrow-hulled cousin, but costs it some speed.

Optional Modifiers: Any Hnd penalties for weather or high seas are increased by 1 because of the open-deck and low freeboard of the longship. These penalties are cumulative, if appropriate. Hnd under oars gets a +1 bonus when turn radius might influence it.

Skeide (98‘)
TL: 3
ST/HP: 107†
Hnd/SR: -3/3
HT: 12c
Move: 0.2/7.5
EWt: 9.6t
LWt: 25t
Load: 15.4t
SM: +7
Occ: 61+20
DR: 5
Range: F
Cost: $30K
Locations: M, O
Draft: 3‘
Notes: Listed move is for under sail. When being rowed without a sail, Move is 0.2/4.

The skeide is a narrow-hulled and fast vessel built purely for warfare. It cannot sail long distances without revictualing (research showed that more than 5 days of water for the crew are prohibitively heavy) and while it can survive Atlantic gales, no captain would welcome the chance to prove it. But it is a marvellously fast vessel.

The ship has thirty oars on each side, each one manned by a single man. It does not carry a full replacement crew, but can manage enough extra oarsmen to allow some respite. As with all Viking vessels, though, the primary form of propulsion outside of battle is the sail.

This ship is based on the Skuldelev 2, reproduced as the Havhingsten fra Glendalough (The Sea Stallion from Glendalough), which is the holder of the current speed record for a Viking ship replica (13.4 knots), although claims abound of faster speed achieved by some of the competiors.

Optional Modifiers: Any Hnd penalties for weather or high seas are increased by 1 because of the open-deck and low freeboard of the longship. These penalties are cumulative, if appropriate. Hnd under oars gets a +1 bonus when turn radius might influence it.

Serpent Ship (150‘)
TL: 3
ST/HP: 190†
Hnd/SR: -4/3
HT: 12c
Move: 0.1/4
EWt: 54t
LWt: 118t
Load: 64t
SM: +8
Occ: 140+140
DR: 10
Range: F
Cost: $120K
Locations: M,O
Draft: 5‘
Notes: Listed move is for under sail. When being rowed without a sail, Move is 0.1/2.

A Serpent-Ship is a huge longship that usually serves as the flagship for a Norse leader. They are attested to in writings from the 13th century and purportedly existed as far back as the 10th century. Even so, their heyday was after the Viking Age proper had passed.

There is some dispute about their precise form, in that they appear to have carried as many oars as smaller longships, but unequivocally had a larger crew. This probably means a broader keel, but by how much is not certain. The freeboard was also reputed to be much higher than on other longships, according to one source ‘as high as a merchant vessel’. I have chosen to make this ship very broad and heavy compared to other longships, reasoning that cargo capacity and the ability to serve as a fighting platform for a large number of warriors trumped weatherly lines or a racy keel.

This vessel is meant to represent Ólaf Tryggjason’s flagship Ormr inn langi or a similar vessel for a later king. It carries 34 oars on each side of the ship and two men handle each oar. A full reserve crew stands by and serves as warriors in battle.

Optional Modifiers: Any Hnd penalties for weather are increased by 1 because of the open-deck. Hnd under oars gets a +1 bonus when turn radius might influence it.

© 2008 Garðar Steinn Ólafsson
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