Cog

The cog was the dominant warship and merchant vessel of northern European waters from the twelfth to the fifteenth century — a broad-beamed, high-sided single-masted sailing ship with a straight sternpost rudder that replaced the older steering oar, yielding far greater ocean maneuverability. The Hanseatic League built its commercial empire on the cog's vast cargo capacity: a large cog carried two hundred tonnes of grain, salt fish, or timber along Baltic and North Sea routes. In wartime the high freeboard proved decisive — soldiers on raised fore- and aftercastles rained arrows and crossbow bolts onto the lower decks of attacking galleys. The Battle of Sluys in 1340 saw English cogs demolish a French fleet in exactly this fashion. In the game the cog is a versatile naval unit capable of transporting troops and engaging in combat, with superior freeboard over low-sided galleys, but slower than oared warships in calm conditions.