CATALOGUE OF THE WATERCEAFT COLLECTION. 235 



The General Admiral was a sliip-rigged vessel and carried a large 

 area of canvas. She was a beautiful as well as a powerful vessel, 

 and was considered a triumph of architectural skill. She was one 

 of the last great wooden frigates built in' the United States, since 

 the engagement of the Monitor .^nd Merrimack a few years later 

 revolutionized the construction of war vessels and led to the substi- 

 tution of iron and steel for wood. 



Gift of William H. Webb. Cat. No. 160,139 U.S.N.M. 



Model of a viking ship. 



The original was exhumed at Gokstad, near Sandef jord, Norway, 

 in 1880 ; supposed to have been buried as early as the ninth century. 

 Vessels of this class and size were commanded by chieftains or 

 vikings ; they carried crews of 50 to 70 men — this one had TO men — 

 and were used chiefly for war purposes. When a chieftain died it 

 was the ancient Norse custom to bury his ship with him, also other 

 material that he had used. 



It is a wooden (oak), clinker built, keel vessel, with long, sym- 

 metrically sharp ends, with wave-shaped water lines; stem and 

 sternpost rise from keel with long, easy curve like the forward end 

 of a sled runner and extend vertically some distance above the bow 

 and stern; rising, slightly hollow, floor; flaring sides; straight on 

 top in center, curving sharply upward at ends; low, movable deck 

 laid in small sections and resting on timbers extending from side 

 to side and terminating in knees which the planks are fastened to; 

 row of 16 port holes on a side for oars; wooden shutters or valves 

 on inside for closing the holes; 15 shields on a side hung outboard: 

 rudder hung to starboard side of quarter; mast stepped in middle; 

 no sail (a square-headed lugsail was probably carried). 



The model is equipped with various things found with the ship, as 

 follows : 



Sharp-ended boat used for going to and from the larger vessel 

 when she lay at anchor off the shore ; sled made of wood and hand- 

 somely carved; two bedsteads; gang planlv; verge boards or tent 

 supports ; side pieces to a seat of honor ; implements the application 

 of which is unknown, probably used for winding cords on them; 

 wooden ladle ; tiller ; an ax of oak " excellently well made, of 

 strongly marked iron-age type " ; sliding covers to oar ports ; two 

 tables ; two wooden plates ; bottom of flat candlestick. 



Dimensions of shif. — Length, 79 feet 4 inches ; length of keel. 66 

 feet; beam, 16 feet 2 inches; depth, top of gunwale to bottom, 5 feet 

 7 inches; draft, amidships, 3 feet 7 inches; draft at ends of keel, 

 3 feet 2 inches ; freeboard, 2 feet 11 inches ; area of uppermost water 

 line, 630 square feet; area of middle rib, 24 square feet; displace- 



