Roman Quinquereme and Claw by Glen McGuire - FINISHED - 1/500 - BOTTLE

[Glen McGuire]

The concept for this project was inspired by @Ian_Grant's amazing build of a working quadrireme.  I have been following that build for a long time and it has been an object of utter fascination for me.  While I don’t have a fraction of the mechanical engineering skills required to do what Ian is doing, I did think it would be a cool idea to put a quadrireme or quadrireme-type ship in a bottle.

 

In choosing a ship for a project, I am drawn to ones that are unique and/or have an interesting story - ships that have historical significance but might be a bit off the beaten path.  I also want to pick something that offers an opportunity for an interesting presentation.  So after deciding I wanted to do a quadrireme type of ship, I started digging around and stumbled upon something called the “Claw of Archimedes.”

 

Brief History
Archimedes was a Greek mathematician who lived in the city of Syracuse from 287 to 212 BC.  Many consider him to be the greatest mathematician of ancient history and credit him with laying the foundation for calculus, approximating the value of Pi, and a host of other mathematical achievements.  In addition, he was also a renowned inventor.  During the second Punic war between Rome and Carthage (218 to 201 BC), King Hiero of Syracuse tasked Archimedes with devising a defense for the seawalls of Syracuse.  The king’s particular concern was an amphibious assault from Roman quinqueremes under the command of Marcus Claudius Marcellus.

 

Archimedes solution was to build a mechanical contraption which became known as the Claw of Archimedes.  The Greek historian Polybius described the claw’s build and performance:

 

“…(the claw) let down an iron hand swung on a chain, by which the man who guided the crane, having fastened on some part of the prow where he could get a hold, pressed down the lever of the machine inside the wall; and when he had thus lifted the prow and made the vessel rest upright on its stern, he fastened the lever of his machine so that it could not be moved; and then suddenly slackened the hand and chain by means of a rope and pulley.”

 

Here's a couple of artist's renderings of how it worked:

 

 

Multiple claws were deployed along the Syracuse seawall and were used effectively during the siege, sinking or damaging many of the Roman quinqueremes and causing much destruction of the fleet and soldiers.  While the Romans eventually breeched the seawall of Syracuse and stormed the city, the claws protracted the battle and were credited with large casualties on the Roman side.  Unfortunately, Archimedes eventually lost his life during the siege despite Roman orders not to kill him.
 

 

[Glen McGuire]

Quadrireme vs Quinquereme
While Ian is building a quadrireme for his project, the Roman ships attacking Syracuse were primarily Quinqueremes.  The tyrant of Syracuse, Dionysius I, is credited with the invention of both types of ships in the early 4th century BC.  Quadriremes were based on biremes and propelled by two banks of oars on each side of the ship.  The quad in the name comes from having 2 oarsmen per oar, thus 4 oarsmen for each vertical pair of oars.   Quinqueremes, on the other hand, have 3 banks of oars on each side.  The quin in the name comes from having 2 oarsmen per oar on the top 2 banks and a single oarsman per oar on the lowest bank.  Quinquereme cut-away illustration below.

 

 

 

According to Polybius, the typical quinquereme was 45m long with a beam of 5m and 90 oars per side.  It had a displacement of about 500 tons and carried a crew of approximately 420 men, including 300 oarsmen and 120 marines.  Here are a couple of examples of the full ship that I will try to model mine after:

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 17, 2023 by Glen McGuire

[Glen McGuire]

SIB Concept
My rendition will have a Roman quinquereme inside a bottle as it approaches a portion of the seawall of Syracuse.  I will have a claw of Archimedes hovering over the top of the seawall.  The claw will be hooked onto the neck of the bottle lifting it up out of the water.  Here’s the usual crude powerpoint drawing of the concept.

 

 

 

So without further ado, here we go!
 

[Landlubber Mike]

Wow, what a cool subject!  I'm in for this one Glen!  So creative!

[Roger Pellett]

You learn something new every day!  Never heard of the Archimedes claw although he certainly knew lots about making ships float, or in this case sink.  If these Galleys weighed 500 tons.  Building a muscle powered mechanical device to lift even a fraction of this weight is remarkable.

 

Roger

[Ian_Grant]

Glen, you have surpassed yourself with this idea. Very interesting history; I had never heard of the claw nor did I know that Archimedes was killed in a siege. I do remember, though, spending a lunchtime hour puzzling my way through his geometric approximation of pi in a "History of Science" course in first-year engineering. Greek mathematicians were very clever and it amazes me how much they were able to calculate; another example is Eratosthenes's calculation of the circumference of earth which was only about 2% in error. Surprisingly perhaps, his math was very simple compared to Archimedes's calculation.

 

Just a correction: my galley is a quadrireme not a trireme.

 

It's surprising how little we actually know for certain about these ships. A quadrireme may have had 3 banks of oars with 2 men on one of them (analagous to your quinquireme drawing above), or 2 banks of oars with 2 men apiece. This is because it is thought that the "quad...." or "quinqui...." indicated the basic "unit" of men per "subset" of oars. I opted for two banks of oars to keep my model simpler.

 

There were also "sexteres" which are broadly interpreted as triremes with 2 men per oar.

 

But there are also mentions in surviving texts of "twelves", "sixteens", and even "twenties". To my knowledge no one has any idea what rowing system they employed.

 

As an aside, it is interesting to analyze the effect of multiple men per oar on total power for the ship. Adding a second man on an oar does not double its power because the outermost rower exerts pull over a shorter distance therefore adds less energy. According to Pitassi he generates about 0.8 "manpower" giving 1.8 "manpower" per double-manned oar. (a third man adds only about 0.6 manpower).

 

If you believe a quadrireme had 3 banks of oars having 1-1-2 men, each set of 4 men generates 3.8 manpower.

If you believe a quadrireme had 2 banks of oars having 2-2 men, each set of 4 men generates 3.6 manpower ("only" 5% less but speed was critical in galley battles).

 

Ancient galleys are a fascinating subject. I'm looking forward to your build progress, and can't wait to see the little oars moving! 😉

Edited June 13, 2023 by Ian_Grant
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[Roger Pellett]

I remember a Scientific American article from many years ago examining the design of these large Galleys.  One conclusion suggested that they might have been catamarans- two triremes linked together as a catamaran would allow efficient disposition of six banks of oars.  This would also provide the stability necessary for the large heavy siege towers shown in the pictures.

 

Roger

 

[Glen McGuire]

2 hours ago, Ian_Grant said:

Just a correction: my galley is a quadrireme not a trireme.

I fixed my reference.  Not sure why, but I had it locked in my mind that your were building a trireme. 

 

Thanks for historical context of the ancient galleys or "reme" ships as I've started calling them.  While doing my research, I was also surprised at how many versions of history there are surrounding the details of these types of oar ships.  I decided I to pick the version that made the most sense to me and run with it for this project.   

 

Thanks also for the engineering lesson.  I find it fascinating, but way over my head.  That's why you are able to do what you do and I'll have to stick to what I do!!  😃

 

And just so the right expectations are set in advance, the only way my little oars will move is if I drop the whole thing and they go scattering across the floor!!

 

2 hours ago, Roger Pellett said:

You learn something new every day!  Never heard of the Archimedes claw although he certainly knew lots about making ships float, or in this case sink.

While doing my research on the claw, I also ran across another interesting invention he supposedly devised to defend against the siege.  It was an array of parabolic mirrors mounted atop the seawall that would concentrate the sun's light on the approaching ships and set them on fire - a death ray of sorts.  But some historians insist it's legend rather than fact.

 

 

 

5 hours ago, Landlubber Mike said:

Wow, what a cool subject!  I'm in for this one Glen!  So creative!

Thank you, Mike!  Glad to have you onboard for another ride.  We will see how this thing turns out.  😵

Edited June 13, 2023 by Glen McGuire

[Knocklouder]

Good luck on your build, following  along. 

[GrandpaPhil]

Looking forward to this build!

[Glen McGuire]

Thank you, Phil and Bob for joining the adventure!

[Javelin]

Of course I'm in too.

 

One question though, are you going to have the water level (and ship) in the bottle level with the bottle side, or angled with the bottle and level with the sea surface underneath? 

[Glen McGuire]

2 hours ago, Roger Pellett said:

I remember a Scientific American article from many years ago examining the design of these large Galleys.  One conclusion suggested that they might have been catamarans- two triremes linked together as a catamaran would allow efficient disposition of six banks of oars.

Another ship I ran across in my research was called the "Tessarakonteres", which is similar to what you describe, Roger.  It reportedly was a massive catamaran galley built by Ptolemy IV Philopator of Egypt.  There's an interesting discussion about the ship here:  https://www.thearchaeologist.org/blog/the-hellenistic-giant-galley-tessarakonteres-one-of-the-largest-human-powered-vessels-in-history.  Below is what the site calls a speculative illustration.

 

I nominate this for @Ian_Grant's next servo-powered project.

 

 

[Ian_Grant]

17 minutes ago, Glen McGuire said:

 

I nominate this for @Ian_Grant's next servo-powered project.

 

 

OMG - LOL ... no way no how... 😅

 

Actually Glen for my next build I want to make an RC full-rigged 3-master.

[Glen McGuire]

54 minutes ago, Javelin said:

One question though, are you going to have the water level (and ship) in the bottle level with the bottle side, or angled with the bottle and level with the sea surface underneath? 

Hmmmm.  Good question, Javelin.  I have not thought that far ahead yet.  But I suppose I should respect the laws of physics and make the water in the bottle level with the sea surface. 

 

I haven't even started yet and things just got more complicated!!  😳

[mtaylor]

Interesting project.  I've not heard of the "claws" before so a plus is learning something new.   I"m in for sure.

[Roger Pellett]

The transverse stability of a floating body is directly proportional to the cube of the breadth  (BxBxB) at the waterline at which it floats.  For most hull forms, beam decreases as draft decreases.  In other words, the hull becomes narrower as you move closer to the keel.

 

It was, therefore, probably not necessary for the Archimedes Claw to completely lift the bow from the water for it to work.  By raising it to the point where the waterplane became narrow enough to reduce stability the hull would tip and fill with water through various openings.

 

Less dramatic, but more likely.

 

Roger

[Glen McGuire]

59 minutes ago, Roger Pellett said:

It was, therefore, probably not necessary for the Archimedes Claw to completely lift the bow from the water for it to work.  By raising it to the point where the waterplane became narrow enough to reduce stability the hull would tip and fill with water through various openings.

I believe you are correct, Roger.  The Greek historian I quoted above (Polybius), also said this about the claw's effect after it hooked onto the bow and lifted it some amount:

 

"The result was that many of the vessels heeled over and fell on their sides: some completely capsized; while the greater number, by their prows coming down suddenly from a height, dipped low in the sea, shipped a great quantity of water, and became a scene of the utmost confusion."

[BANYAN]

Wow, you are certainly not shy of undertaking a complex project Glen; good luck mate.  I look forward to following this one also.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[Ian_Grant]

21 minutes ago, Glen McGuire said:

I believe you are correct, Roger.  The Greek historian I quoted above (Polybius), also said this about the claw's effect after it hooked onto the bow and lifted it some amount:

 

"The result was that many of the vessels heeled over and fell on their sides: some completely capsized; while the greater number, by their prows coming down suddenly from a height, dipped low in the sea, shipped a great quantity of water, and became a scene of the utmost confusion."

"...became a scene of the utmost confusion."    HaHa...that's one way of putting it I guess.

[Ian_Grant]

Glen, this exchange has been so interesting that I have just ordered the Oxford University Press translation of Polybius's "Histories".  I hope it's not dry reading like the "Iliad" but at any rate it's only $17.......

[mtaylor]

19 hours ago, Ian_Grant said:

"...became a scene of the utmost confusion."    HaHa...that's one way of putting it I guess.

Obviously a master of understatement.

[Glen McGuire]

I know I said in my first post above, “Without further ado, here we go.”  But I actually have some further ado before I officially get started on the quinquereme and claw.  I am dedicating this project to my nearest and dearest friend who suffered a massive stroke 5 weeks ago and spent 17 days in ICU.  

 

She has been a big part of my SIB work even though she knows nothing about ships or modeling (you could say she doesn’t know ship from shinola 🙄).  She gave me the bottle for my first scratch SIB, made me redo my “boring” mono-colored shields on the Oseberg, picked out the eyes for my Kraken, and offered great suggestions on a bunch of other things.  She was also my editor for an article I wrote for the USS Constitution Model Shipwright Guild magazine, The Broadside.  She takes everything I do and makes it a lot better.  So this one is for her as she battles thru rehab.

 

And now for real, without further ado, here we go!
 

[Knocklouder]

My thoughts and prays for your friend, my friend. And a extra pray just because she is your friend

  

[mtaylor]

I hope and pray for the best for your friend, Glen.  She sounds like she's a one of a kind jewel.

[Ian_Grant]

Glen, Hope your friend makes a good recovery! The amount of rehab after a stroke is unpredictable - here's hoping she is at the easier end!!

[BANYAN]

Glen, my best wishes to your friend for a fast and full recovery.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[Keith Black]

 Sorry I missed the startup, Glen. This one is going to be epic, a great dedication piece for your friend. 

[gjdale]

I’m late to the party (again) Glen, but I’ve pulled up a chair next to Mark beside the bar. We’ll empty a few more bottles for you while we’re there! Best wishes for your friend’s recovery - she sounds like an awesome friend.

 

Looking forward to following another epic build. 🙂

[GrandpaPhil]

Tell your friend to get well soon!