Four-master and Two Three-masters Anchored near a Fortified Island from The Sailing Vessels, by Pieter Bruegel the Elder c.1560 (x)
Around 1530, there was a lively trade from Hamburg in northern Germany with Iceland, Shetland and the Faroe Islands, often using the smaller trade caravans. Interestingly, the number of people on board varied. For Iceland, it was not unusual to have more than 25 people on board. On ships sailing to Shetland and the Faroe Islands, there were fewer people on board, usually 15-20.
This difference in the number of people on board was mainly due to the number of merchants on board. The size of the crews was relatively similar on all ships, as regardless of the size of the ship, 10 to 15 people were needed to steer the ship. A typical crew consisted of:
– Skipper (schipper). He was the captain, the leader of the ship, often also one of the merchants, and (partly) shipowner.
– Helmsman (sturman), the one who steered the ship and had navigational knowledge.
– Chief boatswain (hovetbosman), the leader of the sailors.
– Schimman, the officer responsible for rigging and other technical things.
– Cook (koch).
– Carpenter (tymmerman), responsible for repairs to the ship.
– Gunner (buchsenschut), responsible for the defense of the ship.
– Barber (bartscher), who had medical knowledge, but lacked on most ships.
– 2-4 sailors (bosman).
– 1-2 ship boys (putker), young sailors in training.
Besides these, ships transported merchants and their servants, falcon catchers, priests, and passengers from the islands which used the regular traffic to travel to and from the European mainland.
