So did these things actually exist or was it just the chinese

>>282762
No, the Chinese did not have ships the size of fucking cities.

At best they were twice the size of contemporary European ships.

>>282762

WE WUZ PRIVATEERS N SHIT

Is there any upper level on how large a wooden ship can be built in practise?

>>282776
ofcourse

>>282762
The ridiculous notion of such gigantic ships were made up by mostly whites

>>282776
Yes, HMS Orlando was in fact smaller than the claimed size of treasure ships and it was unstable as fuck with the hull at constant danger of splitting open.

A ship as supposedly big as these would crack open like an egg.

>>282784
Tessarakonteres were over 400ft long

>>282762
Size seems totally implausible: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_longest_wooden_ships

File: Chinese Naval ship.jpg (730KB, 1174x1300px) Image search: [Google]

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>>282762
1) The ship in the picture is too big
2) Though Santa Maria is really small.

Either way it did exist based on the drydocks schemes archaeologists found on it. Though it could be that the archaeologists have just found drydocks of the Fuchuan, which are large, dedicated warships of the Ming Navy (pictured)

That said, Xbox Hueg ships are par on course in East Asia. Just look at the fucking Nihon Maru of Japan's

Furthermore they were meant to be glam palaces to dazzle the people of the Spice Route into trading with China. So they weren't practical hence the scrapping of that fleet due to war costs with the Mongols.

>>282787
Supposedly.

Columbus' ships are a terrible comparison. They weren't particularly big. They weren't made for shipping or navy purposes, so they were far smaller than most of the ships at the time.

>>282762
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_ship_Nuestra_Se%C3%B1ora_de_la_Sant%C3%ADsima_Trinidad

Length: 61.3 m (201 ft)
Half the size did exist

>>282762
>or was it just the chinese over compensating and making things up?

>ASIANS COULDNT POSSIBLY BUILD ANYTHING BETTER THAN EUROPEANSSSSS

>WEEEE WUZ ROMANS N SHEET NIIIIIGGAAAAAA

>>282784
Junks weren't built the same way, wouldn't that have influenced it?

>>282762
What about ancient Egyptian ships? I remember watching document about huge, ships that had many decks.
Basically luxury ships for pharaohs.

Same with romans that had a few floating palaces.

if the ships were as big as they claim, why is the replica that China is building so much smaller?
http://www.china.org.cn/english/culture/180033.htm

checkmate chinabos.

File: seawise_5.jpg (75KB, 550x355px) Image search: [Google]

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BIG

>>282776
100 meters seems to have been close to the structural limit of wood, by that point clippers started to be reinforced with large steel braces to make sure the hull doesn't buckle on rough seas.

it could also start hogging which means the middle will rise up with the rear and front will bend down. Buoyancy = essentially water displacement which is biggest at the wide center of the ship and lower to the rear and front. However most of the weight is located in the rear and the front due to those large superstructures. The large size can also result in the front rising up on a wave while the rear end wants to move in a totally different direction.

It's possible those really large ships were just showcase piece displayed on a river though. Ships like HMS victory and Grace Dieu were around 60 meter/ 200 feet and I reckon that's the ideal size for a large wooden ship.

The width could also cause some problems so a picture like >>282796 shows better dimensions.

>>282762
WE WUZ ADMIRALZ N' SHIETT

>>282811
Who had the biggest ships at the time in Europe? I seem to remember that French had a Couple of three-deckers carrying around 120 cannons towards the end of the age of sail

>>283377
What time?

>>283395
around the time that chinese ship from OP would have been built, and generally any ship from 1300s-1800s

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>>283401
A 500 year time period is really really large way to non specific. I mean this ship was built within 500 years of Zheng He.

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>>283417
i more meant wooden ships as that seems a good comparison.

like soleil royal from 1600s (model in pic related) It was 60m long - 200ft, and i dont think european warships got much bigger, but i am not sure, so i ask

>>283432
That's almost 200 years after the ships in the OP.

>>283443
dude, i know, thats why i ask because i dont know about euro ships around the time of op

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>>283445
Probably https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_Dieu_(ship)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_von_Danzig_(ship)

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3270065/The-ship-sank-France-s-buried-mud-English-river-pride-Henry-V-s-fleet-wrought-bloody-mayhem-oldest-enemy.html

Which was around 60 meters long. It was really a thing they only made once and then they dropped the design in favor of slightly smaller ships. Once we get to the early 16th century so 1500-1520 the length once again shoots up to 50-60 meter though many were built of 30-40 meters too.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Grace_%C3%A0_Dieu

>>282865

Absolutely and it would also depend on the use. Historically these massive Chinese junks were used only in coastal waters, in the open ocean these ships would have been ripped apart.

>>283508
And I believe this is where the argument that these ships (if they existed) weren't actually part of Zheng He's fleet comes from. It seems logical that such ships would not be used for the actual voyages given the risks of sailing them in rough coastal conditions, let alone deeper seas