5 ms·

What am I missing here? The key is that the boat was made from wood?

by dddw 5y ago

gerikson 5y ago
Looks more like the Dutch were able to source different kinds of wood and integrate them into a production of many ships.
vanderZwan 5y ago
It's literally explained at the end of the abstract: > Our research illustrates the compatibility of dendrochronological studies with musealisation of shipwreck assemblages, and the results demonstrate that the VOC successfully coped with timber shortages in the early 17th century through diversification of timber sources (mainly Baltic region, Lübeck hinterland in northern Germany, and Lower Saxony in northwest Germany), allocation of sourcing regions to specific timber products (hull planks from the Baltic and Lübeck, framing elements from Lower Saxony), and skillful woodworking craftmanship (sapwood was removed from all timber elements). These strategies, combined with an innovative hull design and the use of wind-powered sawmills, allowed the Dutch to produce unprecedented numbers of ocean-going ships for long-distance voyaging and interregional trade in Asia, proving key to their success in 17th-century world trade. They solved a logistics problem (timber shortage), the issue of lumber from different regions having different qualities (using it for different parts of the ship), and had wind-powered proto-industrialization (wind-powered sawmills). Of course, the paper ends with reinforcing the idea that the VOC was the key to the Dutch economy, totally ignoring the part where grain trade with the Baltics was a much more significant source of income than the VOC ever was, but that not as flashy as colonialist exploitation bringing in the spices and inventing capitalism I guess.
- hyperpallium2 5y ago
  > Dutch East India Company (Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, or VOC)
  - vanderZwan 5y ago
    Thanks, I did not realize that bit of context was lost in the copy/paste as I'm Dutch, and VOC can only refer to one thing in my country ;)
    - skrebbel 5y ago
      Actually there's also a Dutch VC firm named VOC Capital. They even copied the logo, just in case you're not sure that they really named themselves after the blackest page in Dutch history. I love it.
    - Naga 5y ago
      Since you might be interested, I've studied history at the university level in English, and it's generally referred to the VOC in English as well to prevent confusion with the English/British East India Company, at least in academic texts.
- tankenmate 5y ago
  Also, if you look at the maps with the distribution of the sources of the timber it has areas of concentration that map quite closely to the southern remnants of the Hanseatic League (die Hansa in German) cities / trading stations. And some of the wood used has a time frame that sits right in the middle of the peak of the Hanseatic League power (1370-1438). The Dutch-Hanseatic War of 1438-1441 lead to the end of the Hanseatic League's de facto monopolisation of Baltic trade.
szszrk 5y ago
I understood it more like "it was a very clever, well organized import/forwarding trade operation". They diversified their wood sources, chose different sources for different parts produced, which made difference during general wood shortage. Also company created some clever tools like wind sawmill and ship designs.
- pjmlp 5y ago
  The wind-powered sawmills is a good example of how building in the past were actually more advanced that one thinks about them.
fiedzia 5y ago
Pretty much. From several types woods coming from many sources to be precise. I don't know much about ships, but I remember from one visit in museum that England used to cut down oak forests for their fleet and ship building process relied on all trees being of the same type.
- redis_mlc 5y ago
  The lumber was binned for quality and good specimens had a seal added denoting ownership by the Navy to prevent pilfering.
  - maxk42 5y ago
    Hey redis_mic - don't know why but it looks like all your comments after this one have been auto-deleted. May want to bring that up with moderators.
Someone 5y ago
Better hull shape, better craftsmanship, sourcing materials from far away, industrial production (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_history_of_the_Netherlands_(1500–1815) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_history_of_the_Nether...: “The shipbuilding district of Zaan, near Amsterdam, became one of the world's earliest known industrialized areas, with around 900 wind-powered sawmills at the end of the 17th century. By the early 17th century Dutch shipyards were producing a large number of ships to a standard design, allowing extensive division of labour, a specialization which further reduced unit costs”)

What am I missing here? The key is that the boat was made from wood?

by dddw 5y ago

What am I missing here? The key is that the boat was made from wood?

Looks more like the Dutch were able to source different kinds of wood and integrate them into a production of many ships.

vanderZwan 5y ago

It's literally explained at the end of the abstract: > Our research illustrates the compatibility of dendrochronological studies with musealisation of shipwreck assemblages, and the results demonstrate that the VOC successfully coped with timber shortages in the early 17th century through diversification of timber sources (mainly Baltic region, Lübeck hinterland in northern Germany, and Lower Saxony in northwest Germany), allocation of sourcing regions to specific timber products (hull planks from the Baltic and Lübeck, framing elements from Lower Saxony), and skillful woodworking craftmanship (sapwood was removed from all timber elements). These strategies, combined with an innovative hull design and the use of wind-powered sawmills, allowed the Dutch to produce unprecedented numbers of ocean-going ships for long-distance voyaging and interregional trade in Asia, proving key to their success in 17th-century world trade. They solved a logistics problem (timber shortage), the issue of lumber from different regions having different qualities (using it for different parts of the ship), and had wind-powered proto-industrialization (wind-powered sawmills). Of course, the paper ends with reinforcing the idea that the VOC was the key to the Dutch economy, totally ignoring the part where grain trade with the Baltics was a much more significant source of income than the VOC ever was, but that not as flashy as colonialist exploitation bringing in the spices and inventing capitalism I guess.

hyperpallium2 5y ago
> Dutch East India Company (Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, or VOC)
- vanderZwan 5y ago
  Thanks, I did not realize that bit of context was lost in the copy/paste as I'm Dutch, and VOC can only refer to one thing in my country ;)
  - skrebbel 5y ago
    Actually there's also a Dutch VC firm named VOC Capital. They even copied the logo, just in case you're not sure that they really named themselves after the blackest page in Dutch history. I love it.
  - Naga 5y ago
    Since you might be interested, I've studied history at the university level in English, and it's generally referred to the VOC in English as well to prevent confusion with the English/British East India Company, at least in academic texts.
tankenmate 5y ago
Also, if you look at the maps with the distribution of the sources of the timber it has areas of concentration that map quite closely to the southern remnants of the Hanseatic League (die Hansa in German) cities / trading stations. And some of the wood used has a time frame that sits right in the middle of the peak of the Hanseatic League power (1370-1438). The Dutch-Hanseatic War of 1438-1441 lead to the end of the Hanseatic League's de facto monopolisation of Baltic trade.

szszrk 5y ago

I understood it more like "it was a very clever, well organized import/forwarding trade operation". They diversified their wood sources, chose different sources for different parts produced, which made difference during general wood shortage. Also company created some clever tools like wind sawmill and ship designs.

pjmlp 5y ago
The wind-powered sawmills is a good example of how building in the past were actually more advanced that one thinks about them.

fiedzia 5y ago

Pretty much. From several types woods coming from many sources to be precise. I don't know much about ships, but I remember from one visit in museum that England used to cut down oak forests for their fleet and ship building process relied on all trees being of the same type.

redis_mlc 5y ago
The lumber was binned for quality and good specimens had a seal added denoting ownership by the Navy to prevent pilfering.
- maxk42 5y ago
  Hey redis_mic - don't know why but it looks like all your comments after this one have been auto-deleted. May want to bring that up with moderators.

Someone 5y ago

Better hull shape, better craftsmanship, sourcing materials from far away, industrial production (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_history_of_the_Netherlands_(1500–1815) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_history_of_the_Nether...: “The shipbuilding district of Zaan, near Amsterdam, became one of the world's earliest known industrialized areas, with around 900 wind-powered sawmills at the end of the 17th century. By the early 17th century Dutch shipyards were producing a large number of ships to a standard design, allowing extensive division of labour, a specialization which further reduced unit costs”)