Why in the past were European ships built with high wooden "castles" fore and aft?

to have better view
to manage the deck more easily
to improve ship defense
to improve ship stability
These were built to better resist boarding, commonly used in the naval warfare (especially by pirates). Boarders needed to attack these castles with great difficulty, while archers or harquebusiers could sweep the enemy decks.
globalquiz.org
0
Correct this question
0
Very interesting!
reach: rather globalhistorymilitarynaval warfarenavysea battlesshipstechnology

Answers by country

to have better view
to manage the deck more easily
to improve ship defense
to improve ship stability
answers
flagEgypt
15%
0%
76%
7%
13
flagAustria
10%
10%
70%
10%
10
flagthe Netherlands
5%
12%
64%
17%
39
flagGermany
18%
4%
61%
15%
123
flagGreece
11%
3%
61%
23%
26
flagSouth Africa
0%
25%
58%
16%
12
flagRepublic of Ireland
20%
16%
56%
8%
25
flagIsrael
20%
10%
50%
20%
10
flagCanada
12%
7%
46%
28%
39
flagNew Zealand
16%
5%
45%
32%
71
flagSingapore
18%
9%
45%
27%
11
flagthe United Kingdom
15%
6%
44%
31%
243
flagPoland
14%
10%
42%
31%
17466
flagAustralia
16%
8%
42%
30%
49
flagthe United States
15%
9%
37%
35%
564
flagSweden
12%
12%
37%
37%
16
flagFrance
36%
9%
36%
18%
11
flagIndia
12%
15%
32%
36%
136
flagthe Philippines
18%
7%
25%
48%
27
flagUnknown
12%
12%
25%
50%
16