Acalchimalli

An Acalchimalli (𐐈𐐿𐐰𐑊𐐽𐐨𐑋𐐰𐑊𐑊𐐨, lit. "Shield Ship") was a type of large sailing ship with multiple decks, three masts, and an array lateen-rigged sails. They were most often seen in the military fleets of Aztapamatlan and gained the name Acalli Acalcuachpanime Chichiltic, the Red-Sailed Ships, as the sails of these warships were stained in cochinil dye. This red pigment was prized for the intensity and purity of its color and made expensive by the labor intensive process of cultivating and harvesting the cochinil insect from which the dye is made, making the red pigmentation of the sails of state ships the ultimate show of wealth and power of the Cuauhtlatollo leadership of Aztapamatlan. The earliest Acalchimalli were an outgrowth of the largest and heaviest Japundakta ships of the earlier eras, which were themselves capable of long distance oceanic travel as demonstrated by the great migration of the Purépecha to the southern lands of modern day Zacapican. The Acalchimalli had one more mast and one more deck than the typical Japundaktas, and also had a broader and sturdier construction, with a fortified quarterdeck and in later times a gunnery forecastle. These evolutions were almost entirely military in nature, designed to accommodate more weapons, troops and supplies to sustain military campaigns, as well as to increase the strength and durability of the hull so as to survive greater damage in naval combat.

Construction

Acalchimalli were built with different woods for different components in one of two expansive shipyard facilities, one in Tecolotlan and the other in the then-capital Angatahuaca. Their keels, which must be the strongest part of the ship, were made of the native Mixtepemec Oak harvested from the great mountains of the hinterland. The long, straight trunks of the Pewen tree are used for the masts. A wide variety of hardwoods, mainly oaks and acacias, are used for the hull and the decks. Acalchimalli hulls, like the Japundakta before them, were carvel-built, giving the very large ships advantages compared to the narrow hulled ships of the Ona and Iakan people of what is today Anamictlan which were almost always clinker-built as best suited their small size. The construction of a single Acalchimalli would involved hundreds of specialized artisans and craftsmen working for several months, and would require the financial support of one or more of the Cuauhtli houses, the elite patrician class of the Heron republic. It was for this reason than the overwhelming majority of the Acalchimalli were funded by the Cuauhtlatollo, the republic's leadership which drew wealth from the body of all the Cuauhtli houses which made it up.

The aft sections of the Acalchimalli were always squared off, leading into the rectangular construction of the quarterdeck. Its three masts bear the lateen, gaff or settee sails, always arranged in a fore-and-aft rig which clearly distinguish the ships of the Heron from the square rigged vessels of the Belisarians. In this way, the Acalchimalli ships were not unlike the crab-claw sailing ships of Malaio and the Ozeros sea region. This would lead to some confusion from outside observers as Acalchimalli would easily be mistaken for the Ozerosi trading ships with which the Belisarians and many other cultures were much more familiar. This was one of the reasons for which all Aztapaman ships came to be called Red Sailed ships, as the striking and distinctive coloration of their sails made them unmistakable and would be the easiest way to differentiate them from Ozerosi ships, which was often an important distinction as Acalchimalli were warships first and foremost and as such were almost always heavily armed and often laden with Heron marines, while many Ozerosi ships of the age were primarily mercantile although some were likewise well armed.

Armament

From the beginning of their use in the 15th century, the Acalchimalli were armed primarily with gunpowder weaponry. The first Acalchimalli were armed with an arsenal of tlemitl, gunpowder rockets made with iron casings which were launched from wooden racks and spread fire and shrapnel when they exploded, setting fire to decks and sails, cutting rigging and the flesh of crewmen on an enemy ship. These were fired in large volleys, with racks usually placed upon the quarterdeck as this offered a greater vantage point and more possible firing arcs. By firing several rockets at once, the crew of an Acalchimalli could increase the likelihood of hitting their mark, especially in rough conditions when it would be otherwise nearly impossible to hit a mark. Crew of the warships often wielded atlatl which would allow them to lob javelins with greater accuracy and range compared to javelins thrown by hand, and greater penetration compared to arrows cast from bows. This was often the case even after the introduction of handheld firearms, as in many cases, the atlatl could be more deadly than the inaccurate and cumbersome early firearms. Heron marines were armed with hooked tepozcololli swords and the broad cleaver-like {[wp|Khanda (sword)|tepozmacahuitl}}, while regular crewmen would often be armed with tepoztli hand axes. Gunpowder pistols would see gradual adoption by the crews of Acalchimalli vessels often the 16th and 17th centuries.

The development of naval cannons, those guns capable of being mounted in the confines of ships, created the quintessential Acalchimalli with three tiers of guns aboard beginning in the 16th century. Two full decks were armed with the heaviest canons, while an array of smaller guns, sometimes swivel guns, would be mounted within the quarterdeck and forecastle. This arrangement of guns was primarily useful for attacking other ships with a broadside volley, firing all the guns on one side of the ship at once to maximize the damage dealt to whatever ship was caught in the volley. The Acalchimalli-based canons used many of the same ammunition as their land based counterparts, beyond the conventional cannonball, including the use of canister shot to clear the decks of a ship at close range. Heron naval gunners also began to use chain shot, two halves of a cannonball linked with a chain, to cut through sails and rigging and immobilize a sailing ship. Warships armed with cannon set up for broadsides were often insufficient for attacking land-based fortifications, however. The stone walls of any serious fortifications could resist far more than the hull of the ship, and could house larger guns in greater number. In order to battle such a fortification, Bomb Acalchimalli with only two masts were built with a housing for a large mortar in the forward section of the vessel, which would fire explosive shells in a parabolic arc and would be much better suited to fire upon stone fortifications and other land-based targets.