Gundelo

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Gunboat Philadelphia , National Museum of American History

A Gundelo , also Gundelow or Gundalo , is a type of sailing ship originating from North America . The name is derived from the Italian gondola . Resembling a sloop , they were used as cargo ships under sails , but also, especially during the American War of Independence , as warships on rivers.

history

The first gundelos appeared as simple open barges in the New Hampshire area in the mid-17th century . They were either stomped or rowed . In the 18th century some of them were given a deck and sails. Developed further in the 20th century, the ship was finally equipped with a closed deck, cabins and latin sails that could be lowered to get under bridges. The sails now served as an auxiliary drive, as Gundelos went downstream at low tide and upstream at high tide, depending on the tides . The ships could load up to 50 tons, were up to 23 meters long and 6 meters wide. When fully loaded, they only had a draft of around 1.5 meters. Since leeboards prevented the drift , a keel was not required.

use

Gundalos transported cargo between the high seas , which the shallow rivers could not navigate, and the growing cities of the region.

Gundelos used as a river warship had a cannon and a rotating gun on each side of the ship . They often had a by a topmast extended mast on which two square sails and a Stag jib were attached. However, some ships were also rigged with latin sails. The most famous gundelo is the Philadelphia , the only surviving gunboat from the Revolutionary War. It sank during the Battle of Valcour against the British in Lake Champlain in October 1776 and was raised in 1935.

literature

  • Dudszus, Henriot, Krumrey, The big book of ship types , transpress VEB Verlag für Verkehrwesen , Berlin, 1987, ISBN 9783344003128 .
  • John R. Bratten, The gondola Philadelphia and the Battle of Lake Champlain , Publisher: Texas a & M Univ Pr., 2002, ISBN 9781585441471 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Gundelo Homepage, What is a Gundalow?
  2. ^ John R. Bratten, The gondola Philadelphia and the Battle of Lake Champlain , p. 22.
  3. ↑ Dudszus, Henriot, Krumrey, The Big Book of ship types

Web links