A half-century ago, thanks to its dominance of East-West trade, Venice was a wealthy independent superpower. Its trading ships were unlike any others. Its navy ruled the Mediterranean. All of those ships were built in one place – the Venetian shipyard called the Arsenale.
Biennale Recap
This morning we took a vaporetto to the Giardini Biennale to see the Biennale d’Arte di Venezia. We decided to walk back to Piazza San Marco. Along the way, we’ll pass the Arsenale.
If you’re into modern art, you won’t want to miss the Biennale di Venezia. If not, but you’re in Venice and open to new experiences, you might want to check it out. Otherwise, maybe just stay in town, eat pasta, and take a gondola ride.
I’m not sure why, but I’m glad we went to the Biennale. Even though I still don’t know what I was supposed to hear with my ear pressed up to the white circle on “The Box,” I have to admit, it was interesting.
A wide path follows the water’s edge all the way from the Giardini to the Doge’s Palace. It’s a nice walk. Halfway between the Biennale and the Doge’s Palace, a majestic-looking gateway marks the entrance to the Arsenale. (Pronounced “ar-sen-AL-eh”).
Half a century ago, no place in the world came close to having the shipbuilding capability of the Arsenale. But it was more than just a place where ships were built. It was the source of Venice’s tremendous wealth and power.
Ships for the 4th Crusade
The shipbuilding capabilities of the Arsenale were well-known. In the 13th century, leaders of the 4th Crusade came to Venice to procure warships. They negotiated with the Venetian Doge to provide 100’s of warships in a year’s time.
A year later, the Crusaders showed up with only half of what they’d agreed to pay. They probably didn’t believe Venice could really build so many ships in a year. But Venice delivered.
Shipbuilders in the Arsenale built all of those warships. Arsenale forges produced the ships’ cannons. The Arsenale’s rope department provided miles of rope. Other departments provided the sails and rigging. The Arsenale was a shipbuilding factory like no other.
How were they able to build so many ships so fast? They did it the same way Henry Ford built Model T’s. They used an assembly line, 500 years before Mr. Ford “invented” it.
A Shipbuilding Factory Like No Other
Venetian shipbuilders divided pre-production into three stages — framing, planking, and cabins. Specialists in each stage focused on the specialized skills required for their stage. That way, they continuously improved the skills required for their areas of expertise.
Venetian ship designers made parts standardization a priority. Interchangeable parts could be used on different types of ships. Arsenale shops built all of the parts and delivered them to ship assembly areas.
On Ford’s famous Model T assembly line, workers didn’t have to move around in the factory. Cars in assembly moved instead. It was heralded as a break-through manufacturing concept. But the Venetians had done it 500 years before Ford.
In the Arsenale, ships in assembly moved from stage to stage via canals in a ship assembly line. Workers stayed put. Venetian engineers designed the layout of the Arsenale to minimize unnecessary effort.
High walls surrounded the Arsenale to keep out prying eyes. Inside, it was essentially a small city where 16,000 people designed and built ships for war and trade.
Warships Need Cannons
Arsenale engineers designed and built ships’ cannons, including those called bombards. “Bombard” is a word meaning “big, humungous cannon”. Bombards fired 500-pound granite balls.
Venetian trading ships were called galleys. Galleys were long and thin, and powered by both sails and oars. Load one up full of cannons and you’ve got a war galley. Venetian war galleys ruled the Mediterranean.
Arsenale engineers developed a larger warship called a galleass. A galleass wasn’t as quick as a galley, but it had both cannons and bombards. The strategy may have been to build a warship so big that the enemy would run away when saw one coming. (That’s just my guess, based on what I’d do).
The most famous battle involving these kinds of ships was the Battle of Lepanto. It was whopper.
To be continued…
