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Cog Sailing Ship
A single-masted broad-beamed sailing ship widely used in the North Sea and Baltic region in the late 12th century, characterized by high sides, a fla…
Timeline
- 1101–1150Frisian and Dutch coasts · FrisiaThe cog ship type first appeared in Frisian and Dutch coastal fishing and short-sea transport; its broad flat-bottomed design suited sandbanks and estuary channels, and its single square sail made it easy to sail in the variable winds of the North Sea.
- 1185North Sea trade routes · Baltic SeaIn the 1180s Hanseatic cities such as Lübeck and Hamburg used cogs for bulk cargo, sailing to England, Scandinavia, and the Baltic coast, becoming the core ship type of North Sea commercial expansion.
- 1201–1400Baltic Sea · Baltic SeaAfter the 13th century the cog's form was standardized among Hanseatic cities, some being armed to take part in maritime conflicts, until more advanced ship types gradually replaced it in ocean trade in the 15th century.
Sources
- The Ship in the Medieval Economy, 600-1600 — Richard W. Unger (1980)
- The Hanse in Medieval and Early Modern Europe — Justyna Wubs-Mrozewicz and Stuart Jenks (eds.) (2013)