Part Six

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Ships

PARTS OF A SHIP

·         Bow: the front end of the ship

·         Stern: the back end of the ship

·         Port side: the left hand side of the ship when you are in the ship facing forward

·         Starboard side: the right hand side of the ship when you are in the ship facing forward

·         Hull: the outside of the ship – the underside

·         Deck: floor

·         Gunwale: the top edge of the side of the ship

·         Beam: the widest part of the ship

·         Amidships: the centre of the ship

·         Athwartships: across the centre of the ship

·         Centreline: an imaginary line down the centre of the ship from the bow to stern

·         Keel: along the underside of the hull, down the centreline

·         Freeboard: the height of the ship from the waterline to the top of the side

·         Draft: the amount of the ship from the waterline to the lowest part of your boat in the water (how deep in the water the ship is)

·         Cabin: the enclosed (or partially enclosed) living area of the ship

·         Headway: movement through the water in a forward direction

·         Galley: kitchen

·         Bulkhead: walls

·         Hatch: opening in the deck to allow access to the areas below

TYPES OF SHIPS USED

·         anywhere from a small sloop to a large warship

·         generally they gave preference to those with the greatest speed

·         kept their ships in good order, careening them regularly to keep the hulls smooth and clear of seaweed and other marine life ® essential in order to maintain their speed advantage

·         Two favourite were the sloop and the schooner – speed and shallow draft of enabled them to hide in shallower coastal waters where larger warships could not enter

·         Pirates could not build their ships to order like the merchants and military did

·         Most pirate ships were vessels they had captured and altered to their purposes

1.       BARK (BARQUE)

·         Name applied to any small vessel (before the 1700s)

·         Later applied to any small ship having 3 masts

·         Fast ship with a shallow draft

·         Favourite of Caribbean pirates

·         Could hold a crew of about 90 men

2.       BRIGANTINE

·         originally a small ship carrying both sails and oars

·          favourite of Mediterranean pirates from whence it got its name (The Italian word brigantino meant brigand’s ship)

·         Later referred to a two-masted sailing ship with its fore-mast square-rigged and fore-and-aft sails on its main mast

·         word eventually was split into brig and brigantines: each word meaning a different class of ship

·         brig was reserved for a re-rigged ship with much greater sailing power

·         was more of a captain’s ship for a pirate

·         150 tonne, 80 foot vessel could carry around 100 pirates, mount 10 cannons, and a cargo space about twice as big as the sloop

·         choice of ship for battle or combat rather than the quick, hit and run type piracy tactics that were practiced with the sloops and schooners

3.       CARAVEL

·         small ship meant for trading

·         Originally lateen-rigged

·         later developed into a square-masted ship

·         used by the Spanish and Portuguese for exploration

·         Around 80 feet long.

4.       CARRACK

·         the largest ship (before the galleon came along)

·         often reached 1,200 tonnes

·         Spanish and Portuguese used them for trading voyages to India, China, and the Americas

·         three-masted with square-rigged sails on the fore and main masts and lateen-rigged on the mizzen

·         very high fore and aft castles

·          carried an immense amount of power

·         easily fend off pirates

5.       DHOW

·         meant to be trading ships

·         single mast

·         lateen-rigged

·          ranged from 150 to 200 tonnes

·         Arab pirates arming her with cannons would use these ships

6.       FRIGATE

·         The name frigate comes from the Italian word fregata, which may have come from the Latin word fabricata, meaning something built

·         Venetians called a frigate a small oared boat around 35 feet long and 7 feet wide.

·         The English adopted the word for a larger ship, which may have carried oars

·         Around 1700, the English limited it to mean a class of warship only second in size to the Ship-of-the-Line (battleship)

·         three-masted with a raised forecastle and quarterdeck

·         anywhere from 24 to 38 guns on her deck

·          faster than the Ship-of-the-Lines

·         used for escort purposes and sometimes used to hunt pirates

·         Only a few pirates were ever in command of a frigate, as most of them would usually flee.

7.       FUSTE (FUSTA)

·         favourite of the Barbary corsairs

·         small ship

·         had both sail and oars

·         fast, long, and had a low profile

8.       GALIOT (GALLIOT)

·         long, and sleek with a flush deck

·         carried anywhere from 2 to 10 small cannons

·          powered by oar

·         Carried 50 to 130 men.

·         used by Barbary and Corsair pirates

9.       GALLEON

·         large ships meant for transporting cargo

·         sluggish behemoths, not able to sail into or near the wind

·         Spanish treasure fleets used these ships

·         Not as easy a target you would expect ® could carry heavy cannon (direct assault difficult)

·         two to three decks

·         Most had three masts, the foremast being square-rigged, lateen-rigged on the mizzenmast, and a small square sail on her high-rising bowsprit

  10.   GALLEY

·         date back to ancient times

·         used until the Russo-Swedish War of 1809

·          one deck and mainly powered by oars

·         costly to maintain and fell into disuse

·          used in a few large-scale raids

11.   JUNK

·         flat bottom with no keel, flat bow, and high stern

·          width is about 1/3 of its length

·         has a rudder, which can be lowered or raised, providing excellent steering capabilities

·         two or three masts, with square sails, which were made from bamboo, rattan or grass

·         capable of operating in any sea and is a very sea-worthy vessel

12.   LONGBOAT

·         Much like a rowboat, except they were very long

·         Carried on ships and used for coming and going to the ship

·         Normally rowed, but often had a removable mast and sail

13.   MAN-OF-WAR (SHIP-OF-THE-LINE)

·         the “heavy-guns” of the fleet

·         resembled galleons in design, but sported heavy firepower with an average of 65guns

·         around 1,000 tonnes

·         had three masts, which were square-rigged, except for the lateen sail on her aft-mast

·         Only the three major sea powers of the time – Spain, England and France – had an extensive use of these ships

14.   MERCHANT (PINK)

·         There are two classifications of pink

·          first was a small, flat-bottomed ship with a narrow stern

·         primarily used in the Mediterranean as a cargo ship

·          In the Atlantic, the word was used to describe any small ship with a narrow stern

·         Generally square-rigged and used as merchantmen and warships

15.   SCHOONER

·          narrow hull, two masts

·         less than 100 tonnes

·         generally rigged with two large sails suspended from spars reaching from the top of the mast toward the stern

·         shallow draft, which allowed her to remain in shallow coves waiting for her prey

·         very fast and large enough to carry a plentiful crew

·         favourite among both pirates and smugglers

·         came into widespread use around the last half of the 18^th century

·          could reach 11 knots in a good wind

16.   SHEBEC (XEBEC)

·          favoured among Barbary pirates

·         fast, stable and large

·         could reach 200 tonnes

·         4 to 24 cannons

·         carried 60 to 200 crewmen

·         pronounced overhanging bow and stern

·         three masts, which were generally lateen-rigged

·         In addition to sails, she was rowed

17.   SLOOP

·          Fast and agile

·         shallow draft

·         could be as large as 100 tonnes

·         generally rigged with a large mainsail, which was attached to a spar above to the mast on its foremost edge and to a long boom below

·         used mainly in the Caribbean and Atlantic

·         Today’s sailing yacht is essentially a sloop

·         top speed that could occasionally exceed 11 knots

·         favourable ship for pirates and smugglers alike

·         could carry around 75 pirates and 14 cannons

·         often the ship of choice for hunting in the shallower channels and sounds

18.   TARTAN

·         applies to an Arabic ship that was fast, manoeuvrable, and narrow

·         one mast with a lateen mainsail and a small foresail on bowsprit

·         carried 30 oars

·         used in Mediterranean by Barbary and Corsair pirates

List of References for this page... 

·        Ships

www.geocities.com/captcutlass/Ship.html

View other Your Work entries...     Val's Journal      Jodie's Journal

...or view other Ed Pack pages...     Introduction     Part One     Part Two     Part Three     Part Four

Part Five     Part Six     Part Seven     Part Eight     Part Nine     Part Ten     Part Eleven     Part Twelve

...or view additional Ed Pack pages...     English     Mathematics     Science/ Society and the Environment     Filler Activities

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