Brigantine
<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>
<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>
| Brigantine | |
|---|---|
| 300px
Brigantine Experiment of Newburyport, 114 tons, built at Amesbury in 1803
|
|
| Type | Sailing rig |
| Place of origin | Mediterranean |
In sailing, a brigantine is a two-masted vessel with foremast fully square rigged and her mainmast rigged with both a fore-and-aft mainsail (a gaff sail) and a square topsail, and possibly a topgallant sail.[1]
Contents
Mediterranean brigantines
In the Mediterranean Basin during the 13th century, a brigantine referred to a sail- and oar-driven war vessel.[2] It was lateen rigged on two masts and had between eight and twelve oars on each side. Its speed, maneuverability and ease of handling made it a favourite of Mediterranean pirates. Its name is derived from the Italian word brigantino, which in turn is derived from brigante[3] (meaning brigand). Other than in names, this vessel has no relation to the later brigantines developed in Northern Europe.[4]
17th century and onwards
By the 17th century the term was adapted by Atlantic maritime nations. The vessel had no lateen sails but was instead square-rigged on the foremast and had a gaff-rigged mainsail with square rig above it on the mainmast.[5] The main mast of a brigantine is the aft one.
By the first half of the 18th century the word had evolved to refer not to a kind of vessel, but rather to a particular type of rigging: two-masted, with her foremast fully square-rigged and her mainmast rigged with both a fore-and-aft mainsail (a gaff sail) and square topsails and possibly topgallant sails.[6]
The brigantine was the second most popular rig for ships built in the American colonies before 1775[7] (the most popular type of vessel being a sloop). The brigantine was swifter and more easily maneuvered than a sloop or schooner, and was hence employed for purposes of piracy, espionage, and reconnoitering, and as an outlying attendant upon large ships for protecting a ship, or for supply or landing purposes in a fleet.
The brigantine could be of various sizes, ranging from 50 to 200 tons burden. The brigantine was generally larger than a sloop or schooner but smaller than a brig.[8]
The last sailing true brigantine in the world is the Eye of the Wind.[9]
Modern terminology
The definition given above describes the international usage of the term brigantine. In modern[when?] American terminology, the term brigantine now usually means a vessel with the foremast square rigged and the mainmast fore-and-aft rigged, without any square sails. Historically, this rig used to be called a schooner brig or hermaphrodite brig.[10]
Differences from brig
The word brig is an 18th-century shortening of the word brigantine, but came to mean a different type of rigging. It is the gaff-rigged mainsail on a brigantine which distinguishes it from the brig, which is principally square rigged on both masts.
See also
Notes
- ↑ http://sailing-ships.oktett.net/brigantine.html
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ (Italian)'Brigantino' at etimo.it
- ↑ http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/154838.html
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ http://sailing-ships.oktett.net/brigantine.html
- ↑ http://www.gaspee.info/history/shipsdescribed/brigentineDescribed.htm
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ http://sailing-ships.oktett.net/brigantine.html
- ↑ http://universalium.academic.ru/85396/brigantine
External links
The dictionary definition of brigantine at Wiktionary- The dictionary definition of hermaphrodite brig at Wiktionary
