| Main Purpose: | Coastal / Harbor work |
|---|---|
| Length: | 9.9 m |
| Breadth: | 3 m |
| Capacity: | 50 |
| Armament: | 2 Swivels, 1 Gun |
Cockboat, wherry, joliwat, shallop, great boat, longboat, barge, yawl, cutter, launch, skiff, pinnace, galley, gig, jolly boat, whaleboat, dinghy, and even an early life boat . . . All were types of boats carried by ships at one time or another under different names by different nations. They were equipped with gaffsails, lateen sails, lugsails, spritsails and even square sails carried on one or two masts. A ship's coxswain was a man of no small skill because he had to be able to rig and maintain the ship's boats no matter what type they might be. Some boats were in general service among the various navies, some were used only for specific purposes and some were carried in place of authorized equipment.
In the early 17th century, boats were generally towed behind the ship. This had some peril associated since the boats could damage each other or break their tethers and disappear unnoticed. In the second half of the century, boats began to be stowed on-board. The French would remove the thwarts and nest smaller boats inside larger ones so that all three boats normally carried on a ship of the period could fit into the space of one. The Spanish, amongst other nations, took to this practice as well. The English, however, believed that making the thwarts removable weakened the boat. They did, however, use the practice of turning a smaller boat upside down and placing it in a larger boat. As they added more boats to the inventory of a ship, the British were forced to find a way to accommodate them. In the second quarter of the 18th century, they built gangways on either side of the waist that connected the quarterdeck to the forecastle. Booms, comprised of spare spars and masts, were then stretched from the forecastle to a support called the gallows which was erected just in front of the mainmast. The largest boat, the longboat, launch, or barge, was cradled directly on the deck, possibly with a small skiff inverted and stored atop. Then the pinnace or other boat was stowed on the "boat booms" with possibly another boat stored atop. Prior to battle the boats were hoisted out and towed astern on a towing harness and tether. If left in the waist they would become a major source of splinters and captains would often order their gunners to fire at boats still shipped.
The long boat was just that. It was the largest and most heavily built boat carried by a ship. Some longboats were monsters. A longboat 52 feet in length was carried by the Prince in 1618 although not stowed on-board. The Sovereign of the Seas carried a longboat 50 feet 10 inches long. Longboats were generally scaled to the ship they served with one-third to one half the length of the ship's keel providing the size for the boat. Longboats gradually reduced in size until by the mid 18th century, longboats rarely exceeded 36 feet, averaging 32, and carried a crew of about 30 men. The longboat was generally equipped with a single mast and bowsprit which could be removed for stowage. It was usually cutter rigged with a mainsail, foresail, and jib. The reason for the long boat's size has to do with her original purpose which was to, "carry forth and weigh the sheet anchor." To do this, the longboat was equipped with a small windlass and had a movable davit at the stern. The longboat was a general utility boat. It was used for carrying landing parties, cutting out parties, watering parties along with a large number of water casks, and ferrying a large variety of supplies from the shore to the ship. As the main utility boat, it had to be able to operate in any weather under sail or oars.
The launch started its use as a ship's boat as early as 1661. With a wider stern and a midsection that was more square with a flatter bottom than a longboat's, the launch was particularly suited to carrying heavy cargo and was originally designed as a dockyard craft. A launch was generally between 25 and 30 feet in length and five to eight feet wide. The launch was considered less suited to the open sea but in the launch of HMS Bounty, Captain William Bligh sailed 3,600 miles in forty-one days with eighteen men.
The pinnace is a confusing craft. To begin with, a boat called a pinnace and a small two or three masted ship called a pinnace existed at the same time. To compound matters, a pinnace looked exactly like a barge. In the mid 17th century, the only way to tell the difference was to count oars. A pinnace never shipped more than eight oars and a barge never less than ten. When originally established as a ship's boat in 1618, the pinnace was between 22 to 35 feet long. By 1781, pinnaces were only being issued to the British navy in lengths of 26, 28, and 30 feet. To confuse matters even further, the Admiralty issued an order in 1740 that all eight-oared boats were to be 28 feet long although small sloops of around 200 tons were allowed to carry one only 24 feet in length. Early pinnaces were roughly equal in proportion to the longboat. In the mid 18th century smaller pinnaces had a length to width ratio of about 4:1. The larger pinnaces had a length to width ratio of 6:1. By the beginning of the 19th century, the ratio was standardized and about 4.5:1. The pinnace was generally fitted with two masts and lateen rigged but the length to width ratio shows the pinnace was meant to be rowed. The pinnace was a light craft and was used primarily to carry men and their equipment to and from shore.
At the beginning of the 1700s, the barge started to develop its own look. Captains, admirals and even some shore-bound dignitaries wanted a larger craft to ferry them around. Barges which had shipped around 10 oars and were roughly 30 feet in length in the mid 1600s suddenly shot up to 50 feet in length and shipped 20 oars. By the same order of 1740 that made pinnaces 28 feet long, all 10 oared boats were directed to be 32 feet long. By 1800, all ships of more than 32 guns were authorized a barge of 32 feet and all with 64 guns or more were authorized to also carry a pinnace of 28 feet.
For most of the 17th century, the skiff was the smallest boat carried on board ship, both military and civilian. Every nation had their own version of the skiff and they were generally between 20 to 27 feet long. The skiff was a much more nimble craft than the longboat and could be rowed swiftly. The problem with the skiff was that she was not very seaworthy and could usually only be used in fair weather. The skiff was replaced at the beginning of the 18th century by the barge and the yawl.
The yawl was the British navy's first clinker-built boat in 1662. It was first built in Deal, England where merchants used it to service ships, naval and civilian, anchored at the Downs. The yawl looked almost double ended with a curved sternpost. It was probably copied from the Norwegian yole which was generally accepted as being very seaworthy. By 1702 yawls were being carvel-built. Yawls averaged 25 feet in length and carried four to eight oars. They were two-masted and at various times carried sprit, gunter and lateen rigs.
The cutter is not to be confused with the larger version used by the coast guard and revenue agents. The cutter was built with a deeper draught, was wider and shorter than the barge and pinnace. These qualities made the cutter a much better sailor and captains of the latter half of the 18th century soon fell in love with them. The cutter was clinker-built and only cutters meant for foreign service were ever carvel-built. The cutter was originally issued in 1740 to third rate ships and up for use in pressing men. Around 1770, cutters came in sizes from 15 to 28 feet. The cutters issued to frigates, however, were called yawls for some reason. In 1771, it was established that a 74-gun ship could carry two cutters. By 1781 all ships of 20 guns or more were to carry an 18-foot cutter which at that point became called a jolly boat. Cutters usually were rowed with six oars and were fitted with two masts of equal height which were square rigged.
The gig was a light clinker-built boat that ran from 22 to 26 feet in length. They came into use around the 1750s and were often favored by captains for personal use. By 1800, gigs were being issued to brigs and cutters (the ship cutter). Some captains even purchased gigs privately and used them unofficially. The gig was rowed with six oars.
One use of ships boats that emerged in the 18th century was as a gunboat and patrol boat. The arming of ships boats prior to the 18th century was restricted to small arms and sometimes a musketoon placed in the bows. In the 18th century, the ship's longboat and launch were fitted with swivel guns and rowed around the ship in foreign ports to prevent desertions and to protect the ship. These swivels also made the longboat and launch more effective in supporting landing or cutting out operations. In 1737, the Centurion, operating off the coast of Africa, mounted 4 swivels on her longboat and the Burford and Suffolk each mounted six swivels on their launches. By 1750, every ship authorized a longboat was authorized to carry 4 to 6 half-pounder swivels for it. Around 1795, the swivels were replaced by a single carronade, 18- and 24-pounders for longboats belonging to a ship of the line and 12-pounders for smaller ships. In 1808, several variants of a reinforced longboat with a cannon mounted at the bow were made. One carried a long 24-pounder in the bow and a 32-pounder carronade in the stern. You can see it here: Model of a Gunboat c.1808. Another one, designed by Commissioner Hamilton, carried an enormous 48-pounder long gun in the bow and 48-pounder carronade in the stern which can be seen here: Hamilton Gunboat 1808.
This article written by Lawerence D. Davis (Curmudgeon)
Coming Soon...
These tiny craft will undoubtedly be of little interest to merchant captains. The few souls who do give them a try will find them to be stout little vessels � handy and quick under oar or sail power, sturdy for their size, and sporting an almost negligible draft. While these are fine traits, many will feel that their overall combat fragility is too steep a tradeoff, and will prefer a larger, more robust vessel.
A merchant captain in command of a longboat who finds himself in combat is well advised to give up, or to run for the shallows. In fact, a merchant captain in command of a longboat should seriously consider sticking to the shallows as a general rule � longboats such as these, although capable of it, are not the ideal choice for inter-island work.
As a warship, the armed longboat is unique in that its main armament is forward-facing. This makes the tactics of the longboat significantly different than all other vessels, which are required to present their broadsides to the enemy in order to bring the majority of their guns to bear. The fact that a longboat can sail toward an enemy and fire at the same time makes it surprisingly potent for having only a single gun.
In addition, because the gun is firing directly forward on the long axis of the ship, and because of the many structural modifications made to the longboat in order to mount a large gun � and survive its recoil � the armed longboat is able to mount gun calibers rarely seen on vessels smaller than naval frigates. So while an armed longboat may not throw many shots, it does throw a very heavy shot, and if that shot is aimed well, it can punch right through a sloop or schooner's light hull.
The startlingly heavy weight of its gun, and the fact that its gun faces forward, are the only two combat features of the longboat that could be considered advantages. All in all, it is still an extremely fragile vessel, and should not be considered for serious combat duty. As stated above, the true power of an armed longboat is that it represents the power of the navy � it carries a big gun only to put some bite behind its bark.
No vessels in the game are directly comparable to the longboat in terms of size, rig, armament or purpose.
Lavery, Brian (1987) The Arming and Fitting of English Ships of War: 1600-1815. Conway Maritime Press
Gardiner, Robert: Editor (1992) The Line Of Battle: The Sailing Warship 1650-1840. Chartwell Books Inc
Lavery, Brian (1984) The Ship of the Line, Vol II: Design Construction and Fittings. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press
May, W.E. (2000) The Boats of men-of-War: Revised Edition. National Maritime Museum, Great Britain