Pentekonters were a type galley[3][note 1] that could be found in the Realms.[4]
Description[]
On average, from bow to stern these ships measured 60 feet (18 meters) in length,[3][2][4] had a beam (width) of 15 feet (4.6 meters), and required a depth of at least 2 feet (0.61 meters) in order to float.[2] They had large, square sails and were always outfitted with a sharply pointed ram, just below the surface of the water.[3] Their prows were rounded, making them look sluggish, but they were deceptively fast ships.[4]
These ships had two banks of oars,[3][4][note 1] which enabled greater speeds to be achieved when necessary.[4] The second bank of oars was stationed in hollowed outriggers attached to the hull, a level below the raised deck, which helped pentekonters to maintain stability.[3][4][note 1] They held enough space to carry up to 10 tons (9,100 kilograms) of cargo, but lacked any specialized quarters for passengers.[1]
Each pentekonter could be manned by a crew of sixty individuals,[3][1] all rowers,[1] but could easily fit an extra fifty warrior passengers in place of cargo.[3][1] The bare minimum of rowers necessary to sail a pentekonter was twenty, with the other forty acting as a skeleton crew.[1]
History[]
On Ches 30, in the Year of the Gauntlet, 1369 DR, as part of the Twelfth Serôs War, Iakhovas sneaked a horde of his sahuagin and wererats into Waterdeep Harbor by means of a modified penekonter to enact a surprise raid. The ship had a hole made in its hull, allowing its sahuagin crew to submerge themselves in the water every four hours. Whenever this occurred someone else had to take the rower's place, as they had to be submerged for an equal amount of time before they returned to full strength. To compensate for this hole in the hull, the hollowed outriggers were modified. This consequently caused the ship to be submerged within the water at a lower depth than a standard pentekonter.[4]
Appendix[]
Notes[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Within the supplement Of Ships and the Sea (1997), penekonters are described as being a type of bireme, but historically they were monoremes (a ship with a single row of oars) and lacked any such hollowed outriggers. This misinformation is carried over in the description of a pentekonter in the novel Rising Tide (1999).
Appearances[]
External Links[]
Pentekonter article at Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Keith Francis Strohm (September 1997). Of Ships and the Sea. (TSR, Inc), p. 14. ISBN 0786907061.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Keith Francis Strohm (September 1997). Of Ships and the Sea. (TSR, Inc), p. 13. ISBN 0786907061.
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 Keith Francis Strohm (September 1997). Of Ships and the Sea. (TSR, Inc), p. 8. ISBN 0786907061.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 Mel Odom (March 2013). Rising Tide. (Wizards of the Coast), chap. 4, loc. ?. ISBN 978-0-7869-6396-6.