Ships

Here is a sampling of ships from the various eras. [Click on the images for a bigger picture.]

Barque [Bark] - small ship with three masts, fisrt two square rigged, the last mast being fore and aft rigged

Bertone - a broad, round sailing ship with three square rigged masts, able to carry about 60 crew, used in the Mediterranean in the 16th and 17th centuries

Brig - a two masted ship, square rigged on both masts, in the 18th century it would have been roughly the same as a Brigantine, but the two ship types showed more variance in the 19th century

Brigantine -  the choice of many pirate crews, able to mount 10 cannon and carry 100 crew

Camara - narrow boats used in first century BC and earlier, holding 25-30 men

Caramusal - 16th to 19th century Turkish merchant ship, similar to a galleon, carrying four sails and a cargo capacity of up to 900 tons

Caravel - 14th to 17th century cargo ship, the Mediterranean version was lateen rigged on two masts, while the Spanish and Portuguese versions were three masted with the first two masts square rigged and the mizzen lateen rigged

Carrack - 16th to 17th century vessel, three masted with the first two square rigged and the mizzen lateen rigged, carrying up to 1,200 tons of cargo, larger than a caravel with higher forecastles and aftcastles, used by the Spanish and Portuguese in their long voyages to the East Indies

Dau - identical to Mtepe, early predecessor of Dhow

Dhow - 150 to 200 ton merchant with a single lateen sail used by Arab pirates in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean

Dutch Flute - early 17th century ship, cheap to build, with large cargo hold, easy prey for pirates

Fellucca - a narrow ship of Arab origin, using a lateen sail or oars, deeper water versions would have had up to two masts and a deck

Flyboat - 16th to 19th century Dutch vessel, flat bottomed, one to two masts square rigged, carrying up to 600 tons of cargo

Frigate - name used for a variety of ships from small oared boats to three masted sailing ships, formalized by the English in the late 17th century to mean a vessel smaller than a ship of the line, carrying 24-38 guns on a single deck with three fully rigged masts, their speed made them better suited to convoy duty and hunting pirates.

Fuste [Fusta] - possibly developed from the Tartan it was a fast ship using both sail and oars, a favorite of the Barbary and Salé pirates

Galeota [Galiot, Galliot] - predecessor of the Xebec used one large lateen sail and oars, common in the Mediterranean
 

Galleass - similar to a Xebec, two to three lateen rigged masts, about 150 feet long, 25 feet wide with a single bank of oars, favored by the Genoese and Venetians in 16th and 17th centuries (six in the Spanish Armada of 1588)

Galleon [Galeón, Nao, Navío - favored ship of the Spanish during the 16th through 18th centuries, 100-150 feet long, 40-50 feet wide, carrying about 600 tons (although some were bigger). Generally, three masted and square rigged with a lateen sail on the mizzenmast and two to three gun decks

Galley - any number of types of vessels used around the world, generally referring to ships with single or multiple banks of oars, originated in the Mediterranean, they were not rough water ships due to their length and low sides

Gallivat [Galleywat] - 18th century ship propelled by 40-80 oarsmen and 1-2 sails, used by the Angrian pirates in the Indian Ocean

Grab - 18th century Indian Ocean vessel, 150-300 ton, two masts, with long overhanging prow and oars, form of galley

Hemiola - 4th to 1st century BC vessel, galley with two banks of oars, name derives from the fact that the top bank of oars behind the mast could be swiftly removes (thus one and a half banks of oars),

Merchant - commercial vessel of the late 17th and early 18th century, not as big as an East Indiaman, this ship mounts 16 cannon
 

Naval Sloop - bigger and more heavily armed than a standard sloop, this ship would have been the equal of any pirate manned sloop
 

Naval Snow - comparable to a brigantine would have had a crew of 80 and mounted 8 cannon
 

Schooner - a fast ship with a shallow draft, capable of up to 11 knots, could carry up to 75 crew and mounted 8 cannon and 4 swivel guns
 

Sloop - another fast ship, capable of up to 11 knots, could carry up to 75 crew and mounted 14 cannon

Xebec - three masted, square rigged on foremast, and lateen on main and mizzen, shallow draft, frequently used by 18th and 19th century corsairs in the Mediterranean
 

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