Karve (ship)

Illustration of two karves equipped for war.

Karves (or Karvi) were a small type of longship with broad hull, somewhat similar to the ocean-going knarr cargo ships.[1] Karves were used for both war and ordinary transport, carrying people, goods or livestock. Because they were able to navigate in very shallow water, they were also used for coasting. Karves had broad beams of approximately 5 m (17 feet), were up to 21 m (70 feet) in length, and allowed for up to 16 oars.[2]

The Tune ship from Norway is an example of a historical Karve ship.

  1. ^ "History and Archaeology of the Ship". Archived from the original on September 1, 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-25.
  2. ^ Karg, Barb; Spaite, Arjean (2007). The Everything Pirates Book. Everything Books. p. 25. ISBN 978-1-59869-255-6.