Baltic cog combat

There are numerous possibilities for cog combat in and around the Northern seas of Europe, especially in the Baltic. As to how extensively the cog was used above other ship types of the period is any body’s guess but the cog was the main trading and transport ship of the 13th century and any skirmish or naval game involving the Hanseatic League would almost certainly have to include these ships.
In the mid 13th century, German merchants began to form powerful guilds to protect their interests. At first these were located in individual cities but eventually they spread to form one large all powerful guild which was eventually named in 1267 as the Hanseatic League (Hanse means trade). The League was a purely economic arrangement. It held little territory and had no actual military cause beyond protecting its own interests. With time it would develop strategic military interests, engage in national politics and eventually succumb to internal dissention in the 17th century but in the 13th century its ships were only interested in protecting themselves.

Several maritame ‘nations’ existed in the Baltic region. These include Denmark, Sweden, Norway, at the larger end of the scale and the Russians, Finns, Rugians and Poles in the middle of the scale and the various Livonian, Estonian and Oeselian pagan tribes at the lower end. The German states, and the Order of Teutonic Knights could fit in any category since Germany’s naval resources were scattered amongst various smaller powers and the Hanseatic League.
As to who was using which type of ship is a matter of conjecture, but its probably safe to assume that the Scandinavians and Germans (and possibly the Russians) would have used cogs for trading and transporting troops and possibly early carracks as war ships. Every one else would have used the typical Scandinavian raiding ship which would resemble a Viking ship, low in the water with a single mast and little protection against missile weapons. I’m not sure about the Rugians, but they started out as raiders, like the Vikings but quickly developed into a Danish and later German ally. I would guess they had Scandinavian type ships, maybe a few cogs but no carracks.

In the early 13th century the Hanseatic League helped to finance and supply the Catholic German Crusade against the Livonians. Every year cogs laden with pilgrims, military supplies and crusaders would sail from Lubeck for Riga. Sometimes these ships would be engaged by pagan raiders, especially from the island of Oesel. The Oeselians had single masted raiders, and these were often at a disadvantage in close quarters, but were still able to gang up on the Germans when the opportunity arose. Henry of Livonia’s eye witness account of the Crusade mentions several examples of Oeselians attacking German cogs on the Dvina estuary as well as large scale raids against the Island of Gotland.

The German crusaders were heavily armoured and armed, but the Hanseatic cogs which carried them were basically 'up armoured' trade ships and not built for naval combat. They did however have the advantage of sitting high in the water and being difficult to board from a Scandinavian type raider.
Another organisation of independent traders using the later, larger cogs were the Vitual brothers, also known as the Vitalians. Hired by the Duke of Mecklenburg to fight against Denmark in 1392, the Victual Brothers were a group of independent privateers based in the Baltic Sea who later went on to become pirates.