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Reconstruction of the Mortella shipwreck

The information obtained from documentary sources, the geographical proximity of the Mortella 2 and 3 wrecks, and the similarity of the material found, in particular the artillery and anchors, allow us to conclude that both vessels were related to the same historical event, and thus identify them with the documented ships from Boscaina and Ferrara. The dendrochronological and petrological study confirms the relationship between the two ships, highlighting the same origin for the basalt cannonballs found.

The hypotheses for the restitution of the Mortella 3 wreck are those of a ship of 550 to 570 metric tons net weight (maximum weight that could be loaded). It is situated in the lower range of the average tonnage of this type of ship, the average size of which was 700 tons at the beginning of the 16th century. The ship had two decks and three masts and its dimensions have been estimated, based on the remains and treatises of the period, at 37 m long by 10.50 m wide, with a keel length of 26 m and a first-deck recess of 4.30 m. The ship’s keel length was 26 m and the first deck recess was 4.30 m.

  1. Firstly, the dimensions indicated reflect a width/keel length/total length ratio expressed by a ratio of the order of 1:2.48:3.50, which means that the shape of the vessel was particularly stretched for a merchant ship.
  2. Its transverse shape was particularly rounded, as can be seen from a study of the “figurehead” of its master pair, whose profile is closer to the shape recommended by the Iberian builders than to that illustrated by the Venetians.
  3. The third peculiarity of Mortella 3 is the marked inclination of its main beam.

Mortella ships belong to the most important Mediterranean merchant ship typology of the Renaissance, called nave in Italian (plur. navi). They were especially used by the Genoese as the main means of transport for trade and were built in private shipyards. In the absence of Genoese sources, the main textual information on the constructive characteristics of navi comes from Venice, provided by Venetian authors such as Michele da Rodi and Zorzi Trombetta da Modon for the 15th century, or Teodoro de Nicolò and the Ragusan Nicolò Sagri for the 16th century.

In those centuries, the characteristics of the navi can be summarised as follows:

  1. They were equipped with two or usually three masts, although very rarely they could have four. The foremast and mainmast were fitted with square sails, while the mizzenmast had a lateen sail. They usually had two or three decks (coperte), including the upper deck (tolda). They were usually armed with several pieces of artillery for defence.
  2. Navi were the largest merchant ships in the Mediterranean. Manlio Calegari calculated that, in 1509, the average net tonnage (maximum weight that could be loaded) of a Genoese navi was 14,000 cantari, or just under 670 metric tons, which corresponds to 930 m3 of net tonnage (maximum volume that could be loaded). The smallest units were over 8.000 cantari, i.e. 380 metric tons net tonnage and 530 m3 net tonnage.
  3. Between 3.000 and 8.000 cantari (140-380 t) Genoese ships were classified as barche (sing. barca). This term can be rather confusing, as it can also refer to smaller ships. The larger barche had similar construction characteristics to the navi, but with two or three masts and two decks.