The ships of 1522

Ship roster

From shallow-water canoes to towering ocean carracks, every hull has its own history, carrying capacity, crew, armament, and way of working the wind.

Known vessels
42
Mystery vessels
1
Atakebune game sprite

Vessel 01

Atakebune

One of the great late-sixteenth-century Japanese warships, carrying castle-like fighting works for soldiers and missile troops.

Hold
170
Crew
36
Cannons
6
Drive
Oars + sail
Brigantine game sprite

Vessel 02

Brigantine

A quick, handy two-master from a family of rigs long favored for scouting, dispatch work, coastal trade, and the occasional less lawful errand.

Hold
115
Crew
23
Cannons
14
Drive
Sail
Caravel game sprite

Vessel 03

Caravel

The small, weatherly Iberian explorer whose shallow draft and lateen rig opened unfamiliar coasts to Portuguese and Spanish mariners.

Hold
120
Crew
15
Cannons
8
Drive
Sail
Carrack game sprite

Vessel 04

Carrack

The great ocean carrier of the early Age of Discovery, combining high castles, heavy stores, and the endurance needed for the route around Africa.

Hold
480
Crew
48
Cannons
26
Drive
Sail
Coastal Pinnace game sprite

Vessel 05

Coastal Pinnace

A small pinnace suited to coasting, scouting, and carrying messages, the kind of useful tender a larger fleet always finds work for.

Hold
30
Crew
8
Cannons
4
Drive
Sail
Dhow game sprite

Vessel 06

Dhow

A lateen-rigged Indian Ocean trader, shaped by generations of mariners who timed their voyages to the reversing monsoon winds.

Hold
10
Crew
1
Cannons
0
Drive
Sail
Dugout Canoe game sprite

Vessel 07

Dugout Canoe

A great paddled dugout like those Mesoamerican mariners used for fishing and coastal commerce long before European ships reached their shores.

Hold
16
Crew
3
Cannons
0
Drive
Oars
Felucca game sprite

Vessel 08

Felucca

A light lateen craft long at home on the Nile and eastern Mediterranean, fast to handle and able to trade from the smallest landing places.

Hold
20
Crew
3
Cannons
0
Drive
Sail
Fishing Barque game sprite

Vessel 09

Fishing Barque

A sturdy coastal working boat whose handy lug sail and useful hold descend from the fishing craft that kept Europe's ports supplied.

Hold
18
Crew
3
Cannons
0
Drive
Sail
Fusta game sprite

Vessel 10

Fusta

A light one-masted Mediterranean galley, built for speed under oars and quick coastal fighting rather than the cargo or artillery of larger warships.

Hold
42
Crew
12
Cannons
2
Drive
Oars + sail
Galleass game sprite

Vessel 11

Galleass

A great broad-beamed galley enlarged into a floating gun platform, sacrificing the ordinary galley's speed for heavy artillery and a powerful fighting crew.

Hold
160
Crew
60
Cannons
36
Drive
Oars + sail
Galleon game sprite

Vessel 12

Galleon

A sixteenth-century development of the carrack, with a longer hull and lower forward works that made a steadier gun platform and convoy escort.

Hold
420
Crew
54
Cannons
32
Drive
Sail
Great Carrack game sprite

Vessel 13

Great Carrack

A carrack built on flagship scale, the sort of towering royal roundship used to carry soldiers, cannon, and prestige across an ocean.

Hold
260
Crew
89
Cannons
50
Drive
Sail
Heavy Caravel game sprite

Vessel 14

Heavy Caravel

A caravel strengthened into a fighting ship, keeping the Iberian type's nimble hull while carrying more iron and ordnance.

Hold
130
Crew
29
Cannons
18
Drive
Sail
Holk game sprite

Vessel 15

Holk

A broad northern cargo carrier, descended from the capacious roundships that linked the North Sea and Baltic ports.

Hold
250
Crew
16
Cannons
4
Drive
Sail
Hyeopseon game sprite

Vessel 16

Hyeopseon

A light Joseon fleet companion used for scouting, messages, and support alongside the heavier Panokseon of Admiral Yi Sun-sin's navy.

Hold
65
Crew
18
Cannons
4
Drive
Oars + sail
Javanese Jong game sprite

Vessel 17

Javanese Jong

A towering island merchant, built with a deep cargo hull, canted sails, and twin quarter rudders for the long monsoon passages of Southeast Asia.

Hold
600
Crew
39
Cannons
8
Drive
Sail
Kancabash game sprite

Vessel 18

Kancabash

A workmanlike Ottoman coastal trader with a hooked bow, built to carry cargo between the Marmara, the Aegean, and the Black Sea.

Hold
240
Crew
20
Cannons
8
Drive
Sail
Kelulus game sprite

Vessel 19

Kelulus

A swift Malay oar-and-sail vessel whose narrow double-ended hull, tanja sail, and shallow draft suit straits, coasts, and sudden attacks.

Hold
65
Crew
11
Cannons
0
Drive
Oars + sail
Kobaya game sprite

Vessel 20

Kobaya

A swift Japanese oared fighting boat whose wooden screens shelter warriors during reconnaissance, pursuit, and sudden attacks.

Hold
65
Crew
8
Cannons
0
Drive
Oars
Lancaran game sprite

Vessel 21

Lancaran

A two-masted Malay fighting vessel built to maneuver under oars in confined straits while carrying enough sail and ordnance for longer patrols.

Hold
95
Crew
27
Cannons
6
Drive
Oars + sail
Large Junk game sprite

Vessel 22

Large Junk

An ocean-going Chinese junk, joining a capacious hold with battened sails and internal bulkheads refined over centuries of maritime trade.

Hold
360
Crew
36
Cannons
24
Drive
Sail
Lateen Barque game sprite

Vessel 23

Lateen Barque

A practical coastal trader whose divided lateen sail plan can be shortened by a small crew when a sudden squall comes down.

Hold
60
Crew
9
Cannons
4
Drive
Sail
Mediterranean Galley game sprite

Vessel 24

Mediterranean Galley

The oared warship that still ruled much of the sixteenth-century Mediterranean, able to advance in a calm or drive straight into the wind.

Hold
90
Crew
27
Cannons
12
Drive
Oars + sail
Medium Junk game sprite

Vessel 25

Medium Junk

A versatile Chinese junk, large enough for regional commerce yet handier in shoal water and river mouths than the great ocean carriers.

Hold
170
Crew
20
Cannons
12
Drive
Sail
Nusantaran Outrigger game sprite

Vessel 26

Nusantaran Outrigger

An island Southeast Asian outrigger whose stabilizing float lets a narrow, swift hull carry sail safely through reef passages and open water.

Hold
130
Crew
8
Cannons
0
Drive
Sail
Ocean Dhow game sprite

Vessel 27

Ocean Dhow

A broad-beamed, two-masted monsoon trader built to carry useful cargo between Arabia, East Africa, and western India.

Hold
125
Crew
10
Cannons
2
Drive
Sail
Panokseon game sprite

Vessel 28

Panokseon

A broad-decked Joseon warship whose sturdy hull and elevated fighting platform were well matched to Korea's shallow, strongly tidal coasts.

Hold
150
Crew
38
Cannons
20
Drive
Oars + sail
Penjajap game sprite

Vessel 29

Penjajap

A lean Malay raiding craft whose shallow hull, tanja sail, and bank of oars make it quick enough for scouting, pursuit, and sudden coastal attacks.

Hold
45
Crew
14
Cannons
2
Drive
Oars + sail
Polynesian Voyaging Canoe game sprite

Vessel 30

Polynesian Voyaging Canoe

A double-hulled ocean canoe descended from the vessels that carried Polynesian navigators, families, and provisions between distant islands.

Hold
42
Crew
4
Cannons
0
Drive
Sail
Portuguese Carrack game sprite

Vessel 31

Portuguese Carrack

A great Portuguese nau of the India run, built to survive the Cape route and return with a hold rich in Asian spices and wares.

Hold
440
Crew
42
Cannons
22
Drive
Sail
Royal Lancaran game sprite

Vessel 32

Royal Lancaran

A great three-masted command lancaran, richly finished but entirely practical, with the crew, guns, and oar power expected of a sultan's flagship.

Hold
160
Crew
43
Cannons
10
Drive
Oars + sail
Sampan game sprite

Vessel 33

Sampan

A light East Asian river and coastal craft, shallow enough for creeks and crowded harbors where a deeper ocean ship could never work.

Hold
25
Crew
3
Cannons
0
Drive
Sail
Sekibune game sprite

Vessel 34

Sekibune

A lean Japanese war vessel built to carry warriors swiftly along the coast beneath a single sail and long banks of oars.

Hold
110
Crew
14
Cannons
0
Drive
Oars + sail
Small Cog game sprite

Vessel 35

Small Cog

A round-bellied descendant of the medieval North Sea cog, with high sides and a simple square rig built for cargo rather than haste.

Hold
70
Crew
7
Cannons
2
Drive
Sail
Small Junk game sprite

Vessel 36

Small Junk

A compact junk in the old East Asian coastal tradition, with a shallow hull and easily managed battened sail suited to a modest crew.

Hold
80
Crew
9
Cannons
4
Drive
Sail
Spanish Nao game sprite

Vessel 37

Spanish Nao

An Iberian ocean-going roundship of the kind called a nao, built to carry stores and cargo through the long Atlantic and Indies passages.

Hold
180
Crew
17
Cannons
8
Drive
Sail
Square-Rigged Caravel game sprite

Vessel 38

Square-Rigged Caravel

An ocean-going caravel carrying square canvas for stronger following winds while retaining the handy hull of its lateen-rigged forebears.

Hold
100
Crew
11
Cannons
4
Drive
Sail
Turtle Ship game sprite

Vessel 39

Turtle Ship

A roofed Joseon warship of the late sixteenth century, remembered for fighting in Admiral Yi Sun-sin's fleets among Korea's narrow tidal seas.

Hold
90
Crew
60
Cannons
30
Drive
Oars + sail
Umi-bune game sprite

Vessel 40

Umi-bune

A light Japanese coastal trader whose shallow hull, square sail, and stern oars are well suited to the island passages of the Inland Sea.

Hold
55
Crew
4
Cannons
0
Drive
Oars + sail
Urca game sprite

Vessel 41

Urca

A broad northern European cargo carrier built to move an exceptional hold with a relatively small crew.

Hold
520
Crew
31
Cannons
12
Drive
Sail
Xebec game sprite

Vessel 42

Xebec

A lean Mediterranean sailing vessel whose lateen canvas and narrow hull made the type prized by traders, naval scouts, and corsairs alike.

Hold
85
Crew
23
Cannons
16
Drive
Sail

Uncharted

Mystery extra ship

One more vessel waits beyond the ordinary shipyard roster. Its design, history, and means of discovery remain a mystery.