In the late 17th and early 18th centuries, Pirates sailed the seas in a variety of vessels. Once a ship was captured -- or acquired honestly, as some were -- it was modified for added speed, space, cannon and crew. This meant the typical pirate ship out-gunned and out-manned the merchant ships it encountered in the Mediterranean, Baltic and West Indies where pirates liked to hunt for contraband.
A single-masted ship used in the Atlantic and the Caribbean, a sloop's large bowsprit and variety of riggings fore and aft made it easy to maneuver. It was between 30 and 60 feet in length and could carry up to 70 men. Though armed with as many as 15 cannons and weighing 100 tons, the sloop sat high in the water which meant it could enter waters too shallow for warships to follow.
Pirates, particularly in the Caribbean, valued the schooner for its speed. Weighing 100 tons with two masts rigged fore and aft, its narrow hull moved quickly through the water at 11 knots. A schooner typically carried up to 75 men and had about ten guns on board. It's maneuverability made negotiating shoals and shallow water easy. Though some schooners might have more than two masts for added speed, they were not ideally suited to traveling long distances.
Another pirate favorite in the Atlantic and Mediterranean, the brigantine was bigger than both the sloop and the schooner. It weighed 150 tons and was 80-feet long. It carried twelve guns and over 100 men. Quick and agile in the water, the brigantine could also be equipped with oars, an added advantage when there were no winds to fill its sails. Unlike the smaller ships, the brigantine was suitable for extended battles.
Also known as a frigate, the three-masted, square-rigged man-o-war was more seaworthy and overpowering than smaller ships. Edward Teach, also known as the famous Blackbeard, made his flagship the 200-ton "Queen Anne's Revenge." Known as "La Concorde" before he stole it from the French, it was over 100 feet long and equipped with 40 guns. Another famous pirate, Captain Kidd, sailed the "Adventure Galley," also a man-o-war, which he had been given to command when employed as a privateer.
