Usciere

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Usciere (Italian), also Huissier (French) or Hussiers is an old type of ship in the Mediterranean , especially at the time of the Crusades . The ship, which was based on the model of ancient Roman horse transporters, was spacious and wide and was sails with two Latin sails on two masts. The roughly 40 m long and 15 m wide ships were mostly built as two-deckers and were mainly used to transport animals or logs. Similar to today's roll-on / roll-off ships , the Usciere's / Hussiers had closable openings in the ship's hull at the stern and on the sides of the ship, which ensured that the animals or the logs could be loaded and unloaded. First of all, the lowest deck had to be loaded and the openings closed watertight from the outside, as they were below the surface of the water when loaded and in rough seas.

As a pure horse transporter, the ships could take up to 100 horses. Often, however, horses were transported on just one deck. The other deck was used to transport wagons or, in the event of war, military equipment. The Sicilian version of the Usciere also had a landing stage. When transporting the crusaders to the war in the Holy Land, the Usciere's could accommodate up to 40 knights with horses, followers and equipment.