By Oars The top speed when using oars for propulsion doesn’t matter much for travel because crews can’t sustain it for long, despite one trip being done at 8 knots (which we can have our swaggering hero achieve because he’s Read More …
Category: Volume 2
What’s a Privateer?
A privateer is not a ship type but any ship operated by private individuals, or a group of them, for profit. They are given the right, via a letter of marque, to engage in acts of war on the seas Read More …
Sloop vs. Sloop-of-war
Sloop To most of us, a sloop is basically a sail boat, having a single mast that is fore-and-aft rigged. If there are two masts, it’s called a cutter instead (and is typically larger). There are other minor variations on Read More …
Galleons, Ships-of-the-Line
Galleons The galleon has two features that distinguish it from other round ships: masts and prow. Like other round ships, it has a mainmast and foremast, but the rear mizzenmast is lateen-rigged. It sometimes has a fourth, even smaller rear Read More …
What’s a Round Ship?
Designed for carrying cargo and passengers, the round ships are also used for war and are what we’ve seen in every pirate movie. The round ships primarily use sails for power. When there’s no wind, or an unfavorable one, oars Read More …
Brigs, Frigates, and Fire Ships
Brigs The brig is a two-masted, square-rigged ship that has a single gun deck. It is fast, highly maneuverable, and can be used as a merchant ship, war ship, or scouting vessel. Pirates frequently employ them. A brig is arguably Read More …
What’s a Long Ship?
While we could invent a new ship, there’s little reason to, for several reasons. We aren’t likely to engineer something that would stay afloat if constructed, but a large variety of ship types are available to us already. Within each Read More …
Ship Rates in the British Navy
Ship Rates In the British Navy, ships were rated based on the number of guns and personnel. This is something authors can mention but screenwriters might find hard to work into a conversation without being obvious about it. In either Read More …
What’s a Mast, Yard, and Sail?
A few basic terms are helpful to know. This is not an exhaustive list of nomenclature, just what we need to know to understand the differences between vessels. Masts A mast stands vertically from any ship that has sails. There Read More …
Travel By Water
If you’re a landlubber like me, you have little to no idea how long it takes a ship to sail from one place to another. That will change by the end of this chapter, but we have considerable leeway in Read More …