Hi! I just did a serious research on this vessel and was unable to find very much on it. What I did find leads me to believe that the Tongkang would be far better as a Caravel replacement. Read on for the Civpedia entry that I have written.
#PRTO_Tongkang
^
^[Tongkangs] are slow moving, unwieldy boats used to transport goods and supplies along rivers and amongst islands. If it ends a turn in an $LINK<ocean=TERR_Ocean> square, it is in danger of sinking.
#DESC_PRTO_Tongkang
^
^[Tongkang] (This Malay word means "bumboat" or "lighter") aka the Timber Tongkang, built only in Singapore and south-east Johore in Kota Tinggi and Mersing. Also spelt as tongkan and tonkang, these slow, very beamy and unwieldy boats usually sailed with great caution and no regard for time. Operated by Chinese Ching Kang Hokkiens and Indians, because of their bigger size, these boats mainly plied inter-island. Before bridges were built across the Singapore River, these large tongkangs could enter Boat Quay to unload or load goods. When bridges were later built, the decks were too low to allow tongkangs to pass beneath, and these lighters moored at Kallang, Rochore River, or the city waterfront. This vessel replaces the $LINK<Caravel=PRTO_Caravel> for Asian Flavor Civilizations.
The above paragraph (minus the last sentence) actually follows this brief history:
[B][/B]
[B][U]History
[/U][/B]Bumboats were in use from the 1600s in Europe, when these were scavengers' boats, primarily dirt and waste carriers, but these vessels also ferried fresh and provisioned foodstuffs to and from ships off-shore. Sometimes called junk-boats, and strictly speaking are not junks, in the present meaning of the word, bumboats in the Asian region have adapted design variations of the original wooden European-style lighters. In its evolution, the lighters in Singapore are different and also called [I]twakows[/I] and [I]tongkangs[/I]. Before the arrival of motor power, the earlier version of bumboats had sails, others were powered by oars or guided by long poles up the rivers. With "painted eyes" and familiar faces, these lighters were vital to the movements of commercial activity on the Singapore River for more than a hundred and fifty years. The "Clean Rivers Campaign" in 1983, shifted them to Pasir Panjang.
So you see, the vessel fits into the timeframe of the tail end of Caravels but no mention of their being armed is evident. I thought about setting it up as an Asian flavor Privateer but could not find anything to suggest that the boats were used by pirates, though I'm sure it was possible. I then decided to set them up as replacements for Caravels, though they would probably be more like Cogs than Caravels.
Anyway, I thought that you might like to know. This IS a great unit and it is in my MOD. Thx so much for making it. Cya! :)
