| Main Purpose: | Versatility |
|---|---|
| Length: | 16 m |
| Breadth: | 5.5 m |
| Capacity: | 50 |
| Armament: | 6 Swivels, 8 Guns |
The sloop design, like the cutter, evolved from the bezaan jacht. This type of craft was commonly used by the Dutch early in the 17th century, with one of the earliest known draughts dated 1657. (For more information on the bezaan jacht, see the article on the cutter.) The sloop and the cutter are remarkably similar but the sloop seems to have been the earlier development. In a painting of Charles II's arrival at Rotterdam in 1660, a bowsprit rigged example remarkably similar to what would be later called a Bermuda Sloop and identified as belonging to the Prince of Orange is depicted. Charles became enamored of the craft after sailing on it, so in 1661 the Prince of Orange had another craft identical to his own built and presented to Charles, who promptly named it Bezan after its rig.
It is interesting to note that Captain John Smith, of Pocahontas fame, related in his The Generall Historie of Virginia, New England & the Summer Isles, published in 1624, that a skilled Dutch boatbuilder, who had been shipwrecked at Bermuda while enroute to the Williamsburg colony, was forcibly detained by the Governor of the island since the island's colony was in dire need of boats. The Dutch were also the first to put the sloop to naval use. In a sketch included in the Journal of a Voyage to New York, 1679-80, by Dankaerts and Sluyter, a sloop is depicted carrying not only an ensign but a naval jack as well. One of the earliest British sloops in naval service was the Sharke, sister ship to the Ferret which was later refitted with two masts. Built in Deptford, England, in 1711, the Sharke was 64 feet long, 21 feet wide, had a draught of 8 feet, and weighed 113 tons. She originally carried 8 three-pounder cannon but was later refitted to carry four-pounders.
Naval service was not the only early adaptation of the sloop. In 1691 Thomas Tew, a Rhode Islander, and George Dew arrived at Bermuda, when Governor Isaac Richier was about to commission two sloops to sail to Gambia to attack a French trading station. Tew bought an interest in the sloop Amity, a vessel of 70 tons, 8 guns, a crew of 45, from her owners Gilbert, Hall, Stone, and others. Dew was given command of the other sloop (name unknown). Bad weather forced Dew to return. Tew and his crew, not wanting to attack a factory single-handedly, turned to piracy and changed course to the straits of Bab-el-Mandeb where they attacked an Arab ship, yielding 30,000 pounds of treasure per man. After a remarkably profitable career, Tew was killed aboard his beloved Amity in June of 1695.
Although the Bermuda sloop was the most widely known early version of the sloop in the late 17th and early 18th century, it was developed from an earlier 1670s or so design called the Jamaican sloop. The Jamaican sloop was lightly narrower of beam and did not have the characteristic slight rake to the mast of the Bermuda sloop. These early sloops varied from 30 to 70 feet in length and 25 to over 100 tons. Sloops were particularly seaworthy, although slightly narrower than a cutter, and were used as general cargo vessels in the Caribbean and along the entire Atlantic seaboard of North America.
This brings us to our second major sloop design. In the second quarter of the 18th century, building sloops became a major industry for the Virginia colony. Slaves taught by their counterparts from Bermuda started building and tinkering with sloops for Virginia's growing plantations to deliver their goods to Northern markets. While it would not be unusual for Virginia sloops to closely resemble its Bermudan cousin, the poop on the Bermuda sloop is higher while the rake on the mast of the Virginia sloop was a little more pronounced. In 1745, the British navy bought into service its first American-built sloop, the Mediator. Built in Virginia in 1741, she was 61 feet long, 20 feet wide, had a draught of 9 feet and weighed 104 tons. Mediator carried 10 four-pounders and 18 swivel guns. In Howard Chapelle's The Search for Speed Under Sail, 1700-1855, he notes, "These sloops apparently sailed well and were not lacking in carrying capacity." Mediator was unusual in that she also carried a square topsail and at least two jibs.
In 1749, a Mr. Sylvanus Cobb acquired the armed sloop York and became a privateer for the British government of Nova Scotia. General Cornwallis was to describe Cobb as a man who, "knows every Harbour and every creek in the Bay [of Fundy], a man fit for any bold enterprise." In 1753 Cobb assisted with the settlement of the community of Lunenburg by helping transport and protect the 1500 settlers until they could establish themselves. In April of 1755, with the beginning of the Seven Years War, Cobb took two French prizes which provided him with the princely sum of 120 pounds. Recognizing the value of the sloop for privateering, other nations adopted it for this purpose. Fredrik Chapman, the brilliant Swedish naval architect, designed a privateer sloop of 62 feet in length with an armament of 8 three-pounders and 2 six-pounder bow chasers and used the sloop design for many of the vessels he developed for the Swedish Inshore Fleet.
Sloops were often used for exploration as well. In 1775, the Spanish sloop, Sonora, carried Don Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra Mollineda and a group of explorers to anchorage at the mouth of Tomales Bay at the southern end of the bay which now bears hi Sloops became an important part of the American colonies, particularly when they began their struggle for independence. Many armed schooners of note sailed under the American flag at that time. There was the 12 gun Providence, the 10 gun Independence, the 10 gun Sachem, the 10 gun Hornet, and the little 4 gun Mosquito. Strangely, despite broad success by the class in the war for independence, sloops were not widely accepted by the newly formed U.S. Navy. But soon after the war, the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service, predecessor to our modern Coast Guard, was founded and among the first vessels to be built for use was the Argus. She was 48 feet in length, 16 feet wide, and had a draught of only six feet which would allow her to follow a smuggler into any creek, river, or estuary. Built in 1791 at New London, Connecticut, she was armed only with swivel guns, and, "probably ten muskets with bayonets, twenty pistols, two chisels, one broad axe" according to a journal of second mate Nathaniel Nichols, who kept a journal from 1791-1795.
However, one of the most universally recognized names ever given to any vessel was given to a sloop captured from the British by Benedict Arnold in May of 1775. She was built at Fort St. Johns (now St. Jean sur Richelieu) and captured there when Arnold took the fort. Carrying only 8 guns, probably three-pounders, she had a displacement of about 55 tons, a length of about 46 feet, and a beam of about 17 feet. Not much more is known about this little craft. Why, then, is she so famous? Her original name, George III, greatly offended General Arnold so he renamed her - and after the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, she became the first USS Enterprise.
This article written by Lawerence D. Davis (Curmudgeon)
Coming Soon...
Many captains will tell you that the sloop is the most perfect vessel ever conceived by man. Beautiful, fast, agile, and shallow, with a relatively simple rig and a fair armament, the sloop can take on almost any role and perform it well. For its size, the sloop truly is the jack of all trades.
Traders � especially those dealing with "sensitive" material � love sloops for their speed and shallow draft. They are able to negotiate shortcuts over shoals and reefs, and have guns enough to protect themselves without requiring too many crewmen.
Pirates and privateers love sloops for their fore and aft rig, which allows them to chase down � and sometimes escape from � larger, square-rigged vessels. And although the armament is acceptable, these marauders enjoy the sloop's ability to quickly close with a victim and deposit scores of bloodthirsty sailors on their decks.
Navies clued in to the utility of sloops surprisingly quickly, and soon national navies were using sloops as fleet pickets, scouts, fast couriers for critical documents and personnel, and squadron support vessels. Upon realizing that the sloop was the favorite vessel of pirates and smugglers, the Navy and coast guard adopted the sloop � and its purpose-built warship cousin, the Cutter � for pirate-hunting and anti-smuggling duties. After all, if the navy uses the same ship as the pirate, then the naval captain can pursue anywhere the pirate tries to escape.
The British Navy in the Caribbean uses sloops somewhat less frequently than their foreign counterparts, owing to their preference for home-grown Cutters in combat-heavy roles.
The most similar vessel to a sloop is its warship cousin, the Cutter. However, the Cutter is restricted in most nations for official naval use only.
Captains who enjoy the sloop's overall size and fore-and-aft rig but who are looking for something even shallower should consider the smaller schooners.
Larger schooners offer appropriately larger cargo capacities, but tend to be somewhat more fragile for their size, and mount fewer guns.
A small step up in size and armament, ketches are similarly versatile vessels, but sporting a square rig instead of fore-and-aft.
Lazlo, Veres and Woodman, Richard (1999) The Story of Sail. Cassell Wellington House.
Chapelle, Howard I. (1967) The Search for Speed Under Sail, 1700-1855. Bonanza.
Kemp, Peter: Editor (1980) Encyclopedia of Ships and Seafaring. Reference International Publishers.
Gardiner, Robert: Editor (1992) The Line Of Battle: The Sailing Warship 1650-1840. Chartwell Books Inc.
Landry, Peter (2000) "Historical Biographies." Retrieved 3/16/04 from: www.blupete.com
Polnaszek, Jennifer (2004) "Bermuda Genealogy & History." Retrieved 3/16/04 from: rootsweb.com/~bmuwgw
Tew, Jerome (2004) "Thomas Tew the Pirate." Retrieved 3/16/04 from: www.irmh.com