Free Ship Plan: Gokstad Viking Longship

Found Intact in a Grave in Gokstad, Norway

Viking Longship Was Still Intact

Viking longships were used by Scandinavian mariners for everything from commerce to exploration to warfare. With roots in the stone age, longship design reached its zenith between the 9th and 13th centuries. Longships sported a series of oars nearly the entire length of the boat, and a rectangular sail.

Our Viking longship plan comes from Ancient and Modern Ships by Sir George Charles Vincent Holmes, published in 1906. Holmes took the plans from Transactions of the Institution of Naval Architects, Vol. xxii, from a paper by noted naval architect Colin Archer. This particular smaller Viking longship was discovered in 1880 in a grave at Gokstad near Sandefjord at the entrance of the Fjord of Christiana. Built entirely of oak, she was 77 ft. 11 inches in length, extreme breadth 16 ft. 7 inches, depth from top of keel to gunwale 5 ft 9 inches.

Books Available From The Model Shipwright

Souvenirs de Marine François-Edmond Pâris, ship plans
Selected Plates from
Souvenirs de Marine by
François-Edmond Pâris


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