Ship Gallery

The sloop is a pirate's first ship choice. The sloop was first produced in the 1600's by a group of master ship-builders. Its attributes can include high maneuverability and be sailed with a minimal crew of 20 up to 70. The sloop could hold up to 15 cannons, sail up to 10 knots, and amazingly anchor in shallow water because of its 8 foot draft.

 

  





  
  
  

The Brigantine, prized in the Mediterranean Sea region, was perhaps the most popular ship. With 12 guns aboard, a crew of 110+, and 120-150 tons of weight, it made a first class ship for pirates and for trade. A Brigantine was much preferred in battles, their cannons could make a devastating effect and their speed alllowed them to easily overwhelm merchant vessels.

 





 

 The picture above is a schooner. Schooners were one of the pirate's favorite ships because of their good maneuverability and high speeds. They were also useful for escaping enemy ships, and for attacking another ship suddenly.

 They could hold up to 75 crewmen and usually had around 8-12 cannons. Schooners usually had two masts, which were fore and aft rigged.  

 These ships were known as "Galleys" and were used in the 1500's and after. Although for a galley, the sails were not the main sailing power because there were about 30 oars rowed by several men each in total.

Galleys were useful in raiding other ships. The captain would use their manpower to overcome the enemy's ships on sea and then fire a few cannons during an assault. Then they would use their mass amount of pirates aboard to grapple the other ship and overtake them.

 In the Far East, there really was no other real ship until a while except for the Junk. The Junk was a very commonly used ship at that time. The Junk was very easily adaptable to be a military, and a merchant ship at once.

It had a high stern, flat bow, wide breadth, and an adjustable rudder height. Many Junks ranged from 45 to 100 feet, and carried very heavy guns.

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