A balinger, or ballinger was a type of small, sea-going vessel. It was swift and performed well under both sail and oars. It was probably developed in Bayonne for hunting whales. The ships were used in the conquest of

Anglesey Anglesey (; cy, (Ynys) Môn ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms a principal area known as the Isle of Anglesey, that includes Holy Island across the narrow Cymyran Strait and some islets and skerries. Anglesey island ...

in 1282. They were also in use in the 15th and 16th centuries.Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea, p. 55 They were distinguished by their lack of a

forecastle The forecastle ( ; contracted as fo'c'sle or fo'c's'le) is the upper deck of a sailing ship forward of the foremast, or, historically, the forward part of a ship with the sailors' living quarters. Related to the latter meaning is the phrase " be ...

, and by carrying either a square sail, or a sail extended on a sprit on a single mast. They were generally less than 100 tons, with a shallow draught, and the earlier vessels at least carried 30 or more oars for use in sheltered areas or for close fighting. They were mainly used for coastal trade, but could also be used as transports, carrying around forty soldiers. A number were employed in the early

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

for this purpose. A statute of 1441 referring to

pirate Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

raids on the south coast of England contained a request from the House of Commons of England asking King Henry VI to provide "eight ships with four stages, carrying one with the other 150 men each. Every great ship was to have in its company a barge, with 80 men, and a ballinger, with 40; and there were also to be four pinnances, with twenty-five men in each." An even earlier reference comes in July 1387, when merchants William Terry, John Tutbury and Peter Stellar of Hull, and Walter Were of

Grimsby Grimsby or Great Grimsby is a port town and the administrative centre of North East Lincolnshire, Lincolnshire, England. Grimsby adjoins the town of Cleethorpes directly to the south-east forming a conurbation. Grimsby is north-east of L ...

were reported to have "equipped a ship, ballinger and barge at their own expense to arm themselves 'against the king's enemies'." A yet earlier reference appears in the Calendar of Patent Rolls for December 1374, when Thomas Rede, master, and the quartermasters and constable of the ballinger of Fulston were (with others) to be arrested by the constable of Dover Castle.Calendar of Patent Rolls, Edward III, vol. 16, p. 60 Despite their long history there are no confirmed illustrations of a balinger in contemporary medieval sources while a confirmed archaeological example has yet to be discovered. Speculation suggests that it may have resembled a modern Thames barge in overall size but with a square rig.

Notes

References

*''The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea'', Oxford

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edited by Peter Kemp. * *''The British Admirals: With an Introductory View of the Naval History of England'', Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green & Longman,

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and Robert Bell *''Shaping the Nation: England 1360-1461'', Oxford

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by Gerald Harriss, *''Medieval Merchants: York, Beverley, and Hull in the Later Middle Ages'', Cambridge,

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edited by H.C. Maxwell Lyte {{Sailing Vessels and Rigs Ship types Tall ships