Research Information System
Osmanli Bilimi Arastirmalari, vol.23, no.1, pp.127-135, 2022 (Scopus)
© 2022 Istanbul Universitesi. All Rights Reserved.Although the types of the Ottoman ships in the age of sail are well known to historians, sources on their technical characteristics are notably limited when compared to their counterparts in western Europe. While Ottoman archives usually offer rich inventory accounts, harbor logs and fiscal records, direct technical evidence such as plans, sketches or hull lines drawings are scarce. A recent research of Russian archives has provided new evidence of 18th and 19th century Ottoman ships. This study presents a multi-view hull lines drawing of an 18th century cargo ship kept at the Russian Navy Archives in St. Petersburg. Notes on the drawing suggest that the ship serving the Ottoman navy was captured by Russian forces and then documented through a detailed scaled drawing. The drawing can arguably be the oldest actual plan of a çekeleve or a sacoleva type ship of the period.