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Warmatrix

War Matrix - Pentekonter

Iron Age 1100 BCE - 550 BCE, Weapons and technology

Pentekonter
Pentekonter
The pentekonter ('fifty-oared') was one of the earliest types of Mediterranean war galleys. It had a mast and square sail, but its primary power source was its group of rowers. This ship took the idea of one man per oar, one oar per row to its extreme. It housed 50 rowers, 25 to each side, the maximum that could be stuffed into a galley with this system. More rowers would have made the ship so long that it would have become difficult to turn and also somewhat fragile.
A pentekonter was about 30 meters long and 2 meters wide, with a draft of about ¾ meters. It was powered by 50 rowers and carried a crew of 5 men to handle the sails and rudder. Displacement was about 15 - 20 tons. It had no full deck, just an aisle between the rowers running from the foredeck to the aft. Like all ancient galleys, it was steered by rudders that hung from the sides.
The ship had a very low freeboard and thus could not cope with high waves, so it sailed only during calm weather and not far from the coast. At night it was easily pulled up onto a beach, so that the crew could camp on shore.
Pentekonters attacked mostly by ramming, as the cramped quarters could house only a few warriors. The ram was made of wood, reinforced with bronze and fitted to the prow of the ship, just below the waterline. A pentekonter ramming at full speed and the right angle was well able to sink an enemy ship of comparable size with one blow.
The pentekonter appeared around 800 BCE, very soon after earlier, shorter galley types that used 20 or 30 rowers. It was superseded by the bireme, which stacked two rowers above each other, providing more power without increasing the length of the ship. Later designs like the trireme went to three rowers per row and beyond.