Corsair Longship

The main ship the vikings used for their seafaring activates are the longship. The vikings had other types, but this appears to be the most relevant. Now, these ships were much more suited for long distance and raiding than the triremes. The longship appears to be the main ship used for commerce, war and exploration. This means that while a trireme may beat one in single combat, it is a much better ship for solo missions and raids. After all – its transport usage requires higher cargo capabilities than triremes and thus it is better suited for carrying back loot. Exploration missions require more supply and sleeping capabilities than triremes. Keep in mind that these ships were able to carry vikings from Scandinavia to Greenland and North America. This is something that is not possible for triremes – a class of ship that had water leak into the lower oar holes and needed to be taken ashore every single night.   Longships were know for having narrow, long and shallow draft hulls. The result was a ship that was seemingly unmatched in lightness, speed, agility and stability. Keep in mind when I said shallow, I meant it. Snekkja class longships only had a draught of only 1.6 feet. Both sails and oars were used to move the ship. Sails were more common at sea and for long trips. When near the coast, in combat or needing to accelerate rapidly, the crew would switch to the oars. Chests were used instead of benches, as this saved space and allowed for storage of personal equipment at the same time.   Jan, Bill (2003). "SCANDINAVIAN WARSHIPS AND NAVAL POWER IN THE THIRTEENTH AND FOURTEENTH CENTURIES". War at Sea in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance: 35–52 – via JSTOR.   Byron Heath (2005). Discovering the Great South Land. Rosenberg Publishing. pp. 26–. ISBN 978-1-877058-31-8. Retrieved 2 July 2013.   The Viking Ship Museum, The five Skuldelev ships