Yeah, bronze ships never really caught on. ;^) If anyone could have made that work though, would have been the Romans. :^D Much of the length of the German limes barriers were wood palisade type construction, with large square wood forts now and again. In Herculaneum, the pyroclastic flow tended to carbonize wood, so there are Roman-era wood doors that still swing on their hinges, that kind of thing, plus the upper storeys of some of the buildings, all of which vanished in Pompeii. Due to fire (and barbarian hordes) the Romans used a lot of brick and prefab ceramic roof tiles, ductwork, etc.
I’ve wondered what Roman grain ships looked like and if any sunken ones have been found.