A brigantine is a two-masted sailing vessel with a fully
square-rigged foremast and at least two sails on the main mast: a square
topsail and a
gaff sail mainsail (behind the mast).
The main mast is the second and taller of the two masts.
Older usages are looser; in addition to the rigorous definition above (attested from 1695), the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' has about 1525 definitions of "a small vessel equipped both for sailing and rowing, swifter and more easily manœuvred than larger ships" and "(loosely) various kinds of foreign sailing and rowing vessels, as the galleon, galliot, etc."
Modern American definitions include vessels without the square sails on the main mast.
Mediterranean brigantines
In the
Mediterranean Basin during the 13th century, a brigantine referred to a sail- and oar-driven war vessel.
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 ', which in turn is derived from ' "
brigand
Brigandage is the life and practice of highway robbery and plunder. It is practiced by a brigand, a person who usually lives in a gang and lives by pillage and robbery. Oxford English Dictionary second edition, 1989. "Brigand.2" first recorded u ...
". Other than in names, this vessel has no relation to the later brigantines developed in
Northern Europe.
17th century and onwards
By the 17th century, the term was adopted 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. The mainmast 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
A fore-and-aft rig is a sailing vessel rigged mainly with sails set along the line of the keel, rather than perpendicular to it as on a square rigged vessel.
Description
Fore-and-aft rigged sails include staysails, Bermuda rigged sails, gaf ...
mainsail (a
gaff sail) and square
topsails and possibly
topgallant sails.
The brigantine was the second-most popular rig for ships built in the British colonies in North America before 1775
The most popular type of vessel was the
sloop. The brigantine was swifter and more easily maneuvered than a sloop or schooner, hence was employed for 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 30 to 150 tons burden.
The brigantine was generally larger than a
sloop or
schooner, but smaller than a
brig
A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the latter part ...
.
The last sailing true brigantine in the world is the ''
Eye of the Wind''.
Modern terminology
The definition given above describes the international usage of the term brigantine. In modern 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 was called a schooner brig' or hermaphrodite brig.
In Europe, the distinction is typically still made. The training ship
''Zebu'', which circumnavigated the Earth as part of Operation Raleigh, is an example of a schooner brig.
Differences from brig
The word brig is an 18th-century shortening of the word brigantine, but came to mean a different type of rigging. The gaff-rigged mainsail on a brigantine distinguishes it from the brig, which is principally square-rigged on both masts. In addition to the different sail configuration, the brigantine's mainmast is made from two parts and equal to that of a schooner, a quite long mast and a top mast. The mainmast of a brig is made from three parts and equal to that of a fully rigged ship - a mast, topmast, and topgallant mast. With the advent of modern (metal) pole masts, this last difference typically no longer exists.
See also
*
Snow (ship)
*
Brig (ship)
A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the latter part ...
References
External links
El bergantín goleta "Jaime Soberano segundo"
{{Authority control
Sailing rigs and rigging
Sailing ship types
Sailing ships
Ship types
Pirate ships
Tall ships