Ships of Westeros; Oars vs Rowers

[Alden Rothack]

Do the ships of westeros have 200, 400 or 800 oars or rowers, because 100 is about the most you can do with one man to an oar

[Alester Florent]

King Robert's Hammer, which is the largest ship in service with the Royal Fleet (and probably the biggest galley in Westeros) has 400 oars. Assuming three banks of oars, the layout per side is probably 67/67/66.  and chances are she has multiple men to an oar.

This is a big galley by historical standards. Some estimates even have the tessarakonter, probably the largest galley of all time and not really practical for battle, at between 300-600 oars (though others suggest upwards of 2,000).

[Alden Rothack]

8 minutes ago, Adelstein said:

King Robert's Hammer, which is the largest ship in service with the Royal Fleet (and probably the biggest galley in Westeros) has 400 oars. Assuming three banks of oars, the layout per side is probably 67/67/66.  and chances are she has multiple men to an oar.

I'd say shes a five minimum (Heptareme)

8 minutes ago, Adelstein said:

This is a big galley by historical standards. Some estimates even have the tessarakonter, probably the largest galley of all time and not really practical for battle, at between 300-600 oars (though others suggest upwards of 2,000).

Possibility a lot more but a similiar number of oars to Lord Tywin

[Alester Florent]

8 minutes ago, Alden Rothack said:

I'd say shes a five minimum (Heptareme)

Possibility a lot more but a similiar number of oars to Lord Tywin

Isn't three the maximum number of usable tiers on a galley (assuming historical design?) I know that there is some debate over precisely how polyremes were laid out. 

[Corvo the Crow]

1 hour ago, Alden Rothack said:

I'd say shes a five minimum (Heptareme)

Possibility a lot more but a similiar number of oars to Lord Tywin

Stannis' ship of 300 is 3 decks.

 

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Shuffling along the gallery, they passed before a row of tall arched windows with commanding views of the outer bailey, the curtain wall, and the fishing village beyond. In the yard, archers were firing at practice butts to the call of "Notch, draw, loose." Their arrows made a sound like a flock of birds taking wing. Guardsmen strode the wallwalks, peering between the gargoyles on the host camped without. The morning air was hazy with the smoke of cookfires, as three thousand men sat down to break their fasts beneath the banners of their lords. Past the sprawl of the camp, the anchorage was crowded with ships. No craft that had come within sight of Dragonstone this past half year had been allowed to leave again. Lord Stannis's Fury, a triple-decked war galley of three hundred oars, looked almost small beside some of the big-bellied carracks and cogs that surrounded her.

 

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They reached Oldtown on a cold damp morning, when the fog was so thick that the beacon of the Hightower was the only part of the city to be seen. A boom stretched across the harbor, linking two dozen rotted hulks. Just behind it stood a line of warships, anchored by three big dromonds and Lord Hightower's towering four-decked banner ship, the Honor of Oldtown. Once again the Cinnamon Wind had to submit to inspection. This time it was Lord Leyton's son Gunthor who came aboard, in a cloth-of-silver cloak and a suit of grey enameled scales. Ser Gunthor had studied at the Citadel for several years and spoke the Summer Tongue, so he and Qurulu Mo adjourned to the captain's cabin for a privy conference.

Hightower flagship is 4 decked though we don't know oar number.

[Alden Rothack]

1 hour ago, Adelstein said:

Isn't three the maximum number of usable tiers on a galley (assuming historical design?) I know that there is some debate over precisely how polyremes were laid out. 

1-2-2 would be the standard for a three deck '5'

[Alden Rothack]

27 minutes ago, Corvo the Crow said:

Stannis' ship of 300 is 3 decks.

 

 

Hightower flagship is 4 decked though we don't know oar number.

400 most likely probably 1-2-2-3 arrangement making it a septareme.