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The author did not bring up the usual comparison of the ships of Zheng He vs Columbus. The chinese ships supposedly dwarf those of the europeans.
by wangyounonce 10y ago
The author did not bring up the usual comparison of the ships of Zheng He vs Columbus. The chinese ships supposedly dwarf those of the europeans.
- jcranmer 10y agoZheng He's ships were larger. While the size of the Chinese ships is very debatable, there's no question that the three ships used by Columbus were smaller--indeed, the smaller caravels were more effective in large part because they were smaller, lighter ships. The European navies very quickly in the Early Modern period became unassailable by any other naval power in the world. The most important innovation seems to be a reliable means of placing cannons on ships, including trading vessels, although the introduction of that lateen sail did greatly expand the sailing opportunities compared to square rigging (it allows you to attain decent speeds traveling into the wind, something you can't do on a junk).