Watercraft of Tamriel: The Imperial Transport Barge

[Taken from entry no. 27 of J'ain's Ships of Tamriel, Ninth Edition, 3E 430. Reproduced with permission from the publisher.]

Anyone who has been in the eastern seaways of Tamriel is no doubt familiar with the Imperial Transport Barge. However, its widespread use in Morrowind belies its true origins and is merely a humble epilogue for an equally humble vessel. While unremarkable to the uninitiated, the Imperial Transport Barge is almost as old as the Third Empire herself, having been at almost every naval engagement since the Tiber Wars, and even having transported the Nerevarine to Morrowind.

Construction

The design itself is easily recognizable, though its purely functional design tends to hide it behind the ornately carved Imperial Galleons and glittering Aldmeri 'Sunbirds'. Made of sturdy Colovian oak, the ship's planks are nailed together to form clinkered strakes, reinforced by frames both within the ship and without. While outwardly grotesque to the discerning carpenter, this construction nevertheless lends the vessel a longevity that rivals even the Valenwood 'bioships' - in fact, some of the ferries plying Vvardenfell's coasts are just shy of two-hundred years old. Propulsion is provided by a single junk-rigged sail, inspired by Dunmer vessels, and no doubt one of the deciding factors in the vessel's popularity on Vvardenfell. Combined with the simple steering oars, the barge provides a low-maintenance, maneuverable, and easy-to-use midsize vessel for intracoastal and inter-province trade.

This versatility and popularity has certainly made the Imperial Barge perhaps the most-constructed vessel in all Tamriel. However, what used to be its intended use now constitutes a mere fraction of its myriad of tasks in modern Third-Era Tamriel.

History

While naval historians cannot determine the exact details of the barge's initial production, many scholars agree that the pattern seen today was produced sometime during Tiber Septim's conquests, most likely reverse-engineered from various Morrowind freighters taken prize during the Wars. Tapestries and documentation from the era begin to show fleets of 'Morrowind-style transport ships' a few years before the eventual invasion of Morrowind proper. This has led scholars to believe that the ships were specifically designed to handle the complex rivers and waterways of Morrowind and Vvardenfell, facilitating amphibious landings at strategic port cities and beachheads. The vessel was designed perfectly for the task, with the large flush weather deck providing ample space for archers and battlemages to lay down suppressing fire as infantry filed out from sally ports cut into the sides of the ship. A shallow draft and junk rigging allowed for easy landings on almost any shoreline.

Indeed, Tiber Septim's conquest of Morrowind would prove largely successful, thanks in no small part to the fleets of cheap yet reliable troop transports. Despite the rushed production of the vessel from blueprint to keel, the newly-established Empire was not so quick to discard what they had intended to be a disposable landing boat. As a result, the Imperial Transport Barge, as this ship soon came to be known, saw use as an auxiliary vessel in the Imperial Navy. While the grand Galleons of the various fleets would gain most of the glory, the Imperial Transport Barge continues to be the backbone of the Imperial Navy. A single barge can hold half a year's worth of provisions for an Imperial garrison, weapons to outfit the troops, and even a small town's worth of prisoners all in one voyage.

However, when the time came, the Imperial Barge could be quickly and readily converted back to its original use: a troop transport. With just two ships capable of transporting an entire cohort, landing actions could be orchestrated with greater ease. Where it once took a whole squadron to invade a coastal city, it now took as little as one or two Transport Barges.

While peace settled throughout the newly-minted Septim Empire, the Imperial Legion no longer saw much use for invasion fleets, and thus a large number of of these barges were auctioned off to the general public, sold to various trading companies, or simply abandoned at shipbreaking yards. The few that remain, however, still make up over half of the Empire's auxiliary fleet, continuing to ply the seaways carrying provisions, weapons, and troops, always on alert to ferry large invasion forces once more.

However, the last widespread use of the Imperial Transport Barge as an invasion craft seems to have been in 3E 288, during Uriel V's ill-fated invasion of Akavir. Nevertheless, the Imperial Transport Barge is still reproduced almost exactly as it was during the Tiber Wars by various shipyards.

After the Imperial Navy, the East Empire Company is the largest operator of the Imperial Barge, most of which serve as ebony carriers out of Morrowind. However, the rest of the Imperial Barges serve private captains and wherrymen - and quite a few are owned by smugglers and pirates, only adding to the little ship's colored history.

Famous Examples

Famous vessels of this type include Zenithar's Chalice, an East-Empire Company bulk carrier which was wrecked off the coast of Solstheim in 3E 428, supposedly following a previously unheard-of Draugr boarding action. Only one person from the vessel is said to have survived, supposedly having been rescued by the Nerevarine Himself. An even more infamous example, however, would be the Torchbug, captained by the infamous pirate and smuggler Malcolme Reynault. Whether it be due to the ship's maneuverability or just the cunning of her captain, the Imperial Navy have yet to capture the man or the two fugitives he supposedly harbors.

Undoubtedly the most famous Imperial Transport Barge would have to be the Amiel Richton, an Imperial Fleet Auxiliary Vessel serving the garrison forces on Vvardenfell. Constructed in 3E 399 at the shipyards of Niben Bay, the Richton was configured to be a general break-bulk carrier, ferrying troops and supplies to Vvardenfell from the Imperial Legion headquarters in the Imperial City. In 3E 427, the Emperor, for reasons yet unknown, ordered the vessel to transport two passengers under utmost secrecy. Temporarily renamed The Rusty Argonian Blade and flying under the East Empire flag for most of its voyage, the Richton made landing at Seyda Neen, resupplying the small outpost there as well as landing two of Morrowind's most famous heroes: Saint Jiub and the Nerevarine. By 3E 430, the vessel's whereabouts are unknown, with a newer ship now taking the Imperial City/Vvardenfell route, though some have speculated that it is this very ship that is now transporting the Nerevarine to the distant continent of Akavir.

Indeed, the Imperial Transport Barge is a ship with a history bigger than herself. While most examples today are bleached white and encrusted with barnacles, these rickety tubs boast a lineage spanning all the way back to the early days of the Septim Empire, and their ubiquity throughout the Empire - from the docks of the Imperial City to the most extreme waterways of the Empire - is a testament to the versatility and durability of such a humble and simple ship.