The little boats are indeed supposed to be tug boats. I added them because the ship is going upriver and there is another boat, a little down, sailing south on a broad reach. So the ship couldn't be sailing into Arassalath and needed external propulsion. Ships would use small boats (which they usually had multiple of) to move them along rivers, if the wind/current was wrong or they could not be towed from land. They would also sometimes use them in harbors to get off the dock, not setting sails until they were in less congested water. Feel free to get rid of the dinghies if you want but then I think it will look even more strange. Perhaps it would be more believable if the boats were longer and had more spots for oars.

As for the wheel, I would not say that only "primitive" ships used this design although it cannot be denied that they were rare by the 19th century. This setup is occasionally referred to as the "captain's coffin." Most importantly, the tall ship on which I have sailed had one so I decided it would be fun to give this ship one as well. I will also add that, according to the crew of that ship, you always steer from the side of the wheel instead of standing directly behind it (like on a modern yacht), even if the wheel is mounted on a post without any mechanism.

The thing that I consider strange about this ship is what it is doing there in the first place. It seems maybe too big to go up a river and it can't even dock. Not to mention the irritating presence of unsecured cargo on deck. But I was just an artist at the time and it was not for me to question why the ship was placed there.