What were the first ships ever made and who made them?

Question

As in boats or ships or whatever.

Answer 1

Noah, made an Ark!

Answer 2

uh, the nina, the pinta, the santa maria in 1492?

christopher columbus?

Answer 3

Well... (to quote a former President) "It all depends on what your definition of is - is..."  When does a boat become a yacht? or When does a yacht become a ship?

Assuming of course you have not accepted Noah's Ark as the correct answer... (which by the way was taller than a 3-story building and had a length of 300 cubits or 450 feet; and a width was 50 cubits or 75 feet) and this to me, at least, certainly qualifies as a ship.  

However, if that doesn't - well, lets say - float your boat; then you might consider 6300 BC dugout canoes have been discovered as well as Chinese Junkets.  In the time around 3000 BC we know that the Egyptians used boats (ships) to transport people and goods on the Nile.  Even to this day - one can not sail upstream on the Nile... because of its narrow banks and the fact that strong winds always blow from north to south - while its strong current always flows from south to north.  So the clever Egyptians sailed upstream, by hoisting large sails on boats, and then drifted and rowed back down the river.

In 1200 B.C. the Greeks were all over the Mediterranean. They made very big cargo ships (some in fact, recently discovered - intact - in great condition - at the bottom of the sea.  By 500 B.C., sailing ships were being built with two  masts. These ships were about 100 - 150 feet long and could carry 100-300 tons.  Around 100 B.C. Roman ships were the largest merchant ships; they were 180- 200 feet long and 45 feet wide. They could hold 1,000 people plus a 1,000 tons of cargo. These Roman ships were unique as they were designed to carry people in addition to cargo.  No other boat prior to this were designed to just carry passengers - other than crew.  

In the 1000's - the Vikings took their place in the Atlantic ocean. Vikings rode on their famous long ships. They were about 80 feet long and 17 feet wide.

The first "power" boats (or ships) were powered by steam

with big wheels mounted either on the sides (side-wheeler) or at the rear (stern-wheeler)... And though American Robert Fulton gets credit for the first "successful" steamboat... the French, English, Scots, and even other Americans and Europeans had actually had working steamboats in the very late 1700's. What Fulton did "first", was make the steamboat a succesful business venture. In 1803 America, (the year of the Louisiana purchase) travel from New Orleans to St Louis was a 3 - 4 month journey across land. (no sail or human powered vessel could travel upstream on the Mississippi as the current downstream was too strong... So, imagine if you will... Robert Fulton's steam powered sternwheeler arriving in New Orleans promising to take you, your family, and all your belonging to St. Louis in 6 days...  WOW! A true miracle of its time.

Answer 4

(um,er,rah) that ig'nert ma#@%! what said the nina and pinta and them, is leaving out this dude who built one a couple years earlier, when a flood happened, but he might not have been number 1