Transporting troops via ship...

[Arravis]

Hey guys, I know this may be an obscure question. I'm trying to find out how many troops you could carry per ton of cargo on a ship? I am using the 3ed edition Arms & Equipment guide for the stats on ships. Unfortunately it only lists its cargo in tons, so I have no idea how many soldiers you could transport per ton of cargo. I know its not the simple way, because storing people (who needs places to sleep, live, etc) isn't as simple as cargo.

The ship I'm looking at carries 150 tons, just trying to guesstimate how many troops it could transport. Anyway, here's hoping someone has a clue, thanks!

-Arravis

 

[Lindeloef]

Any more details on the type of ship? I guess some sort of sailing ship? I without further information I would say 100-150 Passengers total (including crew).

 

[Arravis]

Yeah, sailing ships.

 

[Lindeloef]

Any other informations about it? how many masts does it have, maybe a ship type like brigantine, galleon, etc? Else the 100-150 sounds realistic.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

150 tons, sounds like a Cog, late medieval vessel, crew of about 30, as to soldiers, how far are you going? if only a few hours you could pack them in shoulder to shoulder and carry about 100 or so but if you want them to sleep less and fewer the farther you go because you also have to carry their food.

 

[Bluenose]

From some recent reading I've been doing on the Hundred Years War, an English army (Warenne's in the late 14th century) being transported from Kent to Gascony was carried at about 40 men and 15 horses per ship - most of those ships being cogs with between 100-200 tons cargo capacity. There were additional ships along carrying cargo, I should note. These weren't specialised troop or horse transports, which seem to have been a Mediterranean speciality at this time. For comparison, Gaunt's army for the Great Chevauchee crossed from Kent to Calais, and was closer to 75 men per ship, though only around the same number of horses.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

From some recent reading I've been doing on the Hundred Years War, an English army (Warenne's in the late 14th century) being transported from Kent to Gascony was carried at about 40 men and 15 horses per ship - most of those ships being cogs with between 100-200 tons cargo capacity. There were additional ships along carrying cargo, I should note. These weren't specialised troop or horse transports, which seem to have been a Mediterranean speciality at this time. For comparison, Gaunt's army for the Great Chevauchee crossed from Kent to Calais, and was closer to 75 men per ship, though only around the same number of horses.

So my guesstimate was pretty close So Kent to gascony was what? a weeks sailing? Where as Kent to Calais is a matter of hours.

 

[Bluenose]

So my guesstimate was pretty close So Kent to gascony was what? a weeks sailing? Where as Kent to Calais is a matter of hours.

It was a very close estimate, yes.

As for speeds, it would depend on the sailing conditions. A fast trip from Plymouth to La Rochelle was reckoned as four days, so a week (or a little more) is reasonable for Kent to Gascony. Venice to Jaffa was reckoned as a month for pilgrims, or at least that's the amount of provisions they were charged for. Henry IV left Boston, Lincs on 20th July and arrived in Rixhoft, Poland on 8th August (this was a crusade he went on before becoming king). A channel crossing could be completed in a day, or a night if you were a smuggler .

 

[Arravis]

Thanks for all the information guys! I don't have a particular ship in mind, I'm trying to figure out what kind of ship it would take to transport military units (I have the units divided into groups of 50 men per unit). I suspected a cog would be the best cost/speed ratio for it, but I'm not 100% sure. If anyone can give any advice on transporting military units, it would be appreciated!

-Arravis

 

[UngainlyTitan]

Thanks for all the information guys! I don't have a particular ship in mind, I'm trying to figure out what kind of ship it would take to transport military units (I have the units divided into groups of 50 men per unit). I suspected a cog would be the best cost/speed ratio for it, but I'm not 100% sure. If anyone can give any advice on transporting military units, it would be appreciated!

-Arravis

the number are heavily dependant on the ship technology, we fixed on the cog as it is a typical medieval ship type used for such purposes. On the other hand the 1796 French expedition to Ireland had according to Wikepedia 15-20,000 soldiers, marines and sailors had about 44 ships that averages 450 men or so per ship. though I would not expect the men to be evenly divided like that rather 800 to a 1,000 transport with the other ships having artillery, horses and supplies.