Pirates and Privateers
The History of Maritime Piracy

Cindy Vallar, Editor & Reviewer
P. O. Box 425, Keller, TX  76244-0425

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Mediterranean pirates used galleys from early times through the 1700s. Oars rowed by slaves provided the main means of propulsion, and the sleek narrow hulls sliced through the sea. The more warlike galleys of the Ancient Greeks and Romans -- triremes -- had a long battering ram attached to her bow and up to 170 slaves occupied benches on three tiers to row the galleys.  Painted eyes adorned their prows so those aboard could “see” their prey.

Later galleys, especially those favored by the Barbary Corsairs and Knights of Malta, possessed a single tier for slaves who sat and slept on benches that measured about ten feet by four feet. Up to six men per oar rowed the corsairs’ galleys while the knights used seven. Although similar in design, the Christian galleys had raised forecastles to permit the knights to jump down onto their enemy’s lower deck. Both groups attached battering rams to their prows to smash an enemy vessel, after which they boarded her and fought hand-to-hand to subdue their victims. Whereas corsairs used one lateen sail (a narrow triangular sail attached to a long yard), the knights favored two. Both adorned their sterns with gilded figurines.

Saxons favored flat-bottomed ships that allowed them to navigate shallow rivers to launch surprise attacks. Vikings, who strengthened the keels of their longboats, also used this technique. Swift and maneuverable, they could also be transported over land. Grace O’Malley, an Irish pirate, and James IV of Scotland still used galleys in the sixteenth century.

The switch from oars to sails began in medieval times. In the beginning, pirates converted merchant ships to meet their needs. Around 1400, English pirates favored nefs with “castles” or high fighting decks at the prow and stern. Early privateers used small ships such as the barque (50-100 tons, 40-50 men, and three masts). Later they switched to larger merchant ships (usually 100-300 tons). Even with the extra space, they remained crowded because they carried extra crews to man the captured prizes. The longer, sleeker hulls made the ships more maneuverable.

Ketches, with a square sail on the mainmast, were popular in the Caribbean.  The only direction these coastal vessels couldn’t sail was directly into the wind. The bowsprit measured almost half as long as the hull, whose planks were butted tightly together rather than overlapped to reduce friction between ship and water.

Caribbean pirates also favored the sloop, the main small vessel of the 17th and 18th centuries.  The single-mast ship with fore-and-aft rigging was most common in North American waters. Compared to her size, she carried a lot of sail. In the 1600s, a sloop often had a crew of 75 and carried fourteen small guns. A century later “sloop” referred not to a specific type of vessel but to an assortment of vessels having one, two, or three masts. Pirates preferred sloops built in Jamaica because they were more seaworthy and faster. Those built of red cedar were sturdy enough to carry extra guns. The cutter is a variation of the sloop.

In the mid-eighteenth century, schooners became popular. By using square sails at the top of their masts, they could sail close to the wind. Pirates who sailed North American waters particularly favored these ships. Her narrow hull combined with her large spread of sail gave her speed. When the wind favored her, she made about twelve knots. Insufficient hold space limited her cruising range and ability to store cargo. Most schooners weighed up to 100 tons, and carried 75 men and eight small guns.

Brigantines, which navigated coastal American waters, combined square-rigged foremasts and fore-and-aft-rigged mainmasts with a square-rigged topsail to take advantage of winds from various directions. Often they measured 80 feet in length, weighed 150 tons, and carried 100 men and twelve guns. The snow was a variation of this trading vessel.

Asian pirates favored the junk, a flat-bottomed vessel already in use when Marco Polo visited China in 1298. Derived from the Portuguese translation of djong (an Indonesian word), the junk’s versatility allowed it to be used as a merchant ship, a warship, or a pirate ship. Armed with ten to thirty large guns (including a lantaka or swivel gun), they proved formidable fighting ships. They had a single deck with small compartments below that served as living quarters for the captain and his family. The crew often slept in the hold. Junks had one rudder, but up to four masts with bamboo sails. Most pirate junks of the 17th century through the 19th, though, had two or three masts. Some of the largest junks’ keels measured over 100 feet while their beams measured twenty feet. The average length, however, was around 45 feet. Gunpowder and weapons occupied a fair portion of her cargo space. Smaller junks had crews numbering a few dozen men, but the larger ones often had more than 200 aboard. Oftentimes pirate crews outnumbered those aboard the Imperial Navy’s warships. Still in use today, these seaworthy vessels are well suited to the South China Sea.