Forts and Cannon of Oman.

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

In terms of opposition there were two types of craft employed by Ottoman naval forces ...The first was a Mediterranean style of rowed and sail driven ship and another...a Galleon style..below; From https://hist21bsection3.wordpress.co...orized/page/7/

I Quote''This picture demonstrates the Ottoman Empire’s Navy during the 1517’s. We can tell from the illustration that the Ottoman Navy was currently in battle and on board they would carry artillery in imitations of their adversary, such as cannons and gunpowder. The army occupied Egypt’s territory and sent down it’s fleet to the Red Sea to confront the Portuguese and restore lost Asian Trade. The Ottoman forces pushed the Portuguese from Aden at the entrance of the Red Sea, but the warfare between them remained indecisive. When other European powers entered the Indian Ocean,the Ottoman Empire withdrew their aggressive strategy.''Unquote.

It has to be said that although there was some Ottoman artillery they weren't much match for the Portuguese and the main armament was bows and arrows.

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Some lightweight controversy exists over the question of the Caravel...a much lighter vessel with a Lanteen sail (which actually needed more sailors to operate it) This was a good vessel for exploration because of its shallower draft..ideal for sailing up rivers etc... I will place it here as it was also a workhorse and a for runner to the Carrack but please consider http://nautarch.tamu.edu/shiplab/01G...%20History.htm for a much fuller explanation.

[fernando]

Meddling into the navigation of the middle ages, there were ships Egyptian, Fenitian, Greek, Roman, etc. As types we had Isócoros, triacôntoros, pentacôntoros, tessaracôntoros, trieres, liburnas, dromos, quelandios, panfílios, galleys, cáravos, galeaças, galeotas, bergantins, fustas, hólcares, urcas, esnécares, drácares, azurrachas, pecarezas, caravelas, etc. (Sorry, too hard to translate ).
It is written that, at same time of the galley, Romans and Byzantines used a type of Latin embarcation designated as Carabus, a term apparently derived from the Moorish cáravo, of which the Portuguese took knowledge in the whereabouts of the Gibraltar straight, and from which they built up, in smaller proportions, the caravela type. This was an open mouth low draft ship, equipped with both with sailing rig and rowing oars. In the year 1255, a charter granted by King Dom Afonso III mentioned the name of caravela, by then a ship also used for fishing purposes, hence its other name pescareza. From here to its adaptation for discoveries in the African coast and later battling in the Indic, took no time, as already mentioned. It is true that its design provided for gross artillery mounted on its low board decks, as is also true that its inconvenience was the need for a large crew; the thing is, its sail yards was rather long (longer than its masts) and it required a large and experienced crew for the delicate manoeuvre of tacking and board flipping the lateen sails, which constituted a handicap for ships of such dimension. On the other hand, large crews were no problem for large naus (fairly translated as carracks) where artillery power was diminute but their cargo capacity was speechless. Pyrard de Laval gives us a exuberant description of the characteristics and life aboard these giant ships (1600-1610) that one finds hard to believe; yet he was not Portuguese, but a Frenchman, with no need to exuberate in other's favor. He says that their dislocation could go from 1500 to 2000 tons and they could not navigate in waters with less than 10 braces (22 meters). They had four decks the height of a man. The bow and stern castles were so big they resembled actual castles. They could carry an artillery force of 35 to 40 pieces of bronze (no iron), plus some small pieces, like ‘esperas’ and ‘pedreiros’, mounted in the crow’s nests, as these were large enough to lodge ten men.
Their masts were so high that, both main and mizzen had to be made with two parts, as there was no trees with such length. Their sail yards could have 24 braces length (over 50 meters) requiring 200 men to put them up, with the help of two capstans …

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

AS A FORM OF VISUAL INTERPRETATION OF THE ETHNOGRAPHIC SCENERY OF THE DAY AND IMAGINING BEING ABOARD SOME OF THESE SHIPS ETC I POST THE PICTURES BELOW..

The map is important as it illustrates the fabled land of Prester John (Dutch made by the Family Ortelius)) for the Portuguese who searched for three things in the Indian Ocean... in no particular order; Slaves, Gold and Silver, and Spices. The fourth thing they sought were mercenaries whom they thought existed in the Kingdom of Prester John which though it had existed several centuries earlier in Ethiopia it had disappeared by the time the Portuguese arrived by ship. Somewhat ironically a land based expedition arrived from Portugal at more or less the same time in Ethiopia and it is interesting to consider what would have transpired had the ships been unable to get there. One of the first choke points applied was to restrict Mamluke activity in the mouth of the Red Sea...This had a dramatic effect causing huge pressure on the Mamluke treasury starved of its Chinese trade and without funding virtually bankrupt thus vulnerable to the Ottoman Empire.

The longboat/ship with oars down each side is Venetian and since they were fighting against Portuguese you can see the immediate problem being so close to the waterline and armed primarily with bows and arrows...thus vulnerable to long range ships artillery as well as the danger of closing with the enemy ...making them very susceptible at all ranges to the 5 deck Portuguese ... apparently grenades caused them a lot of problems...

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Having set the scenery..I hope... It is now time to look at some of the Omani Forts in detail and I first chose Nizwa Fort.This is an interesting fortification being at the centre of the capital of the interior and on top of its own water supply...with as its main defence a gigantic round tower also acting as a dungeon. This enormous roundel gives it automatic all round defence and superb fields of fire and observation. It is reinforced not only to enable cannon to fire from its walls but also so that it can absorb fire . I have no evidence that cannon fired at or from the Fort however the weapon at one side of the gate below is apparently Portuguese ...Whereas some cannon were deployed from positions just outside the fort proper e.g. Barka they were on a secondary wall usually tri angular and massively built and able to retreat into the fort in the advent of a too powerful assault and fire from their secondary positions.

Nizwa Fort is examined at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nizwa_Fort

Below is the pictorial...Please note that two cannon are displayed outside the door... The one on your left is Portuguese whilst on your right is an 18th C Swedish Iron "Finbanker" on a repro British carriage; Interesting that Finspang in Sweden made these mainly for export and purchased by the Dutch and Portuguese may have been captured by the British in Indian Ocean waters and sold to Oman....It was an 18 pounder.

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

There is a vast selection of Cannon to view at http://www.alamy.com/stock-photo/bronze-cannon.html

[estcrh]

Ibrahiim, thanks for putting this info together all in one place, this is a good history lesson.