Treasure ship

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Early 17th century Chinese woodblock print, thought to represent Zheng He's ships.

A Treasure ship is the name for a type of vessel that the Chinese admiral Zheng He commanded on his nine voyages. Treasure ships were mammoth ships with nine masts, four decks, and were capable of accommodating more than 500 passengers, as well as a massive amount of cargo. At the time, these ships were by far the largest marine craft the world had ever seen.

Zheng He's fleet included 300 ships, including 62 treasure ships, with some reaching 146 m (600 ft) long and 55 m (180 ft) wide. On the ships, there were over 28,000 people, including navigators, explorers, sailors, doctors, workers, and soldiers. They're known to have sailed at least as far as East Africa, but some historians believe the fleet went on to reach the New World, landing on islands off the Florida coast several decades before Christopher Columbus.

After Zheng He's voyages, the treasure ships were decommissioned, and sat in harbors until they rotted away (many were ordered to be burned by Confucian scholars). Chinese craftsmen of the time forgot the technology of building such large vessels.

[edit] Appearances In Games

WizKids' Pirates of the Spanish Main constructible strategy game contains two Treasure Ship game pieces: the Baochuan, a convention-exclusive game piece available in 2005 as a tie-in to the Pirates of the South China Seas expansion; and the Guichuan, a promotional game piece available in late 2005 as an incentive to buy the Pirates of Davy Jones' Curse expansion.