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Stamps of Ukraine, 1999

Baidak ( Russian: байда́к, Belarusian: байда́к, Ukrainian: байда́к) was a wooden sailing ship, [1] similar to a cog. It had a flush-laid flat bottom approximately 3–4 metres wide, which narrowed to tapered ends, and one 5 metre mast. Measuring approximately 15–20 (or 36–60) metres in length, a baidak could carry a load of approximately 200 tons. It could be operated by oars [2] or sail.

Baidaky were in use from the 16th–19th centuries in the territory of present-day Ukraine, primarily for cargo delivery on the Dnipro and Don rivers, [3] however, they were also frequently used by the Zaporizhian Cossacks [4] for their military campaigns to the Black Sea.

References

  1. ^ D.Yavornytskyi, History of Zaporizhean Cossacks, vol.1, Lviv, 1990, pages 278-280, in Ukrainian
  2. ^ "The Viking "drakkar" and the Kozak "chaika", The Ukrainian Weekly, July 10, 2005, No. 28, Vol. LXXIII
  3. ^ I.V.Bohatyryov, Building ships to the Black sea in the period of tsar Peter, "Sudostroenie" Magazine, 1990, N 1, page 52
  4. ^ Adrian Kashchenko, Nad Kodatskym Porogom

See also