Jong (Javanese multi-plank ocean-going ship)
Jong (gran navío de Java de múltiples capas de tablones)
- Date
- siglos XIV-XV · confidence medium
- Place
- Jepara, Central Java, Indonesia
- Credited to
- Javanese shipwrights (Majapahit and north-coast ports)
- Field
- Movement
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
A large cargo ship with a hull of several layers of teak planks joined by wooden dowels, three to four masts with matting sails and quarter rudders. Portuguese and Chinese chronicles describe it as larger than European ships in the Indian Ocean.
No complete jong survives; its tonnage (between 400 and over 1,000 tons depending on the source), the number of hull layers and its exact shape are debated.
What it led to
- the spice trade between the Moluccas, Malacca and India
- South-East Asian maritime trade networks before the Portuguese
- the Javanese shipbuilding tradition at Jepara