Koch (boat)
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The koch (Russian: коч, IPA: [ˈkotɕ] ⓘ) was a special type of small one- or two-mast wooden sailing ships designed and used in Russia for transpolar voyages in ice conditions of the Arctic seas, popular among the Pomors.
Because of its additional skin-planking (called kotsa) and Arctic design of the body and the rudder, it could sail without being damaged in the waters full of ice blocks and ice floes. The koch was the unique ship of this class for several centuries.
Development
The development of koch began in the 11th century, when the
In the 19th century the anti-ice floe protective features of koch were adopted to the first modern icebreakers, and in fact koch may be regarded as the most ancient form of icebreaker, though wooden and relatively small.
Construction
The koches were traditionally built shell-first, with overlapping planks, following the once-widespread Northern European
The
Special Arctic design features included the rounded lines of the ship's body below the
Besides the anti-icebound equipment, the captains of kochs had the traditional set of navigation instruments, including a sundial and a magnetic compass with floating vetromet ("wind-marker", a wooden 32-point compass rose with 16 major winds). Other tools and means of navigation were the detailed charts and sailing directions, the stars, and the pilot's marks on the familiar shores.
Classification
There are two main classifications of koch subtypes. The first, a mixed classification, distinguishes between three subtypes of kochs depending on both their place of origin (Siberian and Mangazeyan) and their sea-worthiness (morskiye, that is "seafaring"). The second classification does not pay any attention to minor shipbuilding differences and divides all kochs into two categories according to the main spheres of their maritime operations: river/sea, and morskiye (seafaring) for long-range sea voyages.
The following is added from Fisher.[1] He claims that the koch had a square sail and only one mast. The largest koches were 60 feet long and 20 feet wide(sic), with a draft of 5 or 6 feet and a crew of 6 to 12. They could hold up to 40 people or 45 tonnes of cargo. They were oval when viewed from the top or side. The flat or rounded bottom made them maneuverable when dodging ice floes, but probably unstable in a severe storm. The square sail and flat bottom meant that they would not sail well without a following wind.
Other boat types used in Siberia include the
See also
- Timeline of Russian inventions and technology records
- Knarr
References
- ^ Raymond H. Fisher, The Voyage of Semon Dezhnev, The Haklyut Society, 1981.
- Glorious beginnings at rusnavy.com
- Navigation in ice conditions. Experience of Russian sailors; by Nataly Marchenko at ris.npolar.no (Svalbard Science Forum)
- Pomor 'shnyaka' (from ckandinavian 'snekke', 'snekkja') reconstruction. The boat's hull is built in the same manner the Kothes were built.