Currently, a ship is called a military ship. Tankers, bulk carriers, bulk carriers, passenger liners, container ships, icebreakers and other representatives of the technical fleet of civilian or merchant fleets are not included in this category. But once, at the dawn of shipping, when humanity was still filling the white spaces on the routes with the vague outlines of new islands and even continents, any sailing ship was considered a ship. On board each of them were guns, and the team consisted of desperate fellows, ready for anything for the sake of profit and romance of distant wanderings. Then, in these turbulent centuries, there was a division into types of ships. The list, taking into account modern additions, would be very long, so you should focus on sailboats. Well, maybe you can add some rowing vessels.
Galleys
To get on them is an unenviable share. Such a punishment in ancient times awaited inveterate criminals. And in ancient Egypt, and in Finnish, and in Greece, they were already. Over time, other types of ships appeared, but galleys were used until the Middle Ages. Those convicts served as the main driving force, but they were sometimes helped by sails, straight or triangular, mounted on two or three masts. According to modern concepts of the vessel, these were not large, their displacement was only 30-70 tons, and the length rarely exceeded 30 meters, but in those days, the size of the ships was not gigantic at all. Rowers sat in rows, according to historians, in no more than three horizontal tiers. The armament of the galleys is represented by ballistas and bow rams, in later centuries these military assets were supplemented by artillery. The course, that is, the speed of movement, was controlled by the overseers, setting the rhythm with special tambourines, and, if necessary, with a whip.
Barkey
The types of sailing ships are little known to our contemporaries, but some of them are still familiar from regularly held parades and international regattas. In Russia, the Sedov and Kruzenshtern barges have been preserved. These ships not only demonstrate their beauty to the whole world, but also contribute to the education of young sailors who practice on them, in the traditions of the Russian Navy.
So, the bark (the name of the species comes from the Flemish word "bark") is a vessel with a number of masts from three to five. All its sails are straight, with the exception of the oblique rigging of the mizzen (aft mast). Barks are rather large vessels, for example, Kruzenshtern has a length of about 115 meters, a width of 14 meters, and a crew of 70 people. Since it was built in 1926, when steam engines were already widespread, its design also includes an auxiliary power plant with a capacity of almost one and a half thousand kilowatts, loaded with two constant-pitch propellers . The speed of the ship today does not seem small, under sail the course of this barge reaches 17 knots. The purpose of the type, in general, is common for the merchant fleet of the XIX century - the delivery of mixed cargo, mail and passengers on sea lines.
Chestplate hoists the sails
In fact, the same barges, but with two masts, are called brigantines. All types of ships vary in their purpose and shipping qualities. Brigantines are distinguished by speed and ease. The sailing equipment is mixed, on the foreground (front mast) the sails are straight, and on the mainsail oblique. Favorite pirate ship of all seas. Historical sources mention the brigantines with the so-called "Bermuda grotto", that is, a triangular sail stretched between the lyktros and the forehand, but not one of the surviving representatives of the species can boast with it. However, these nuances are interesting only to specialists.
Frigates
As the fleet developed, some types of warships appeared, others disappeared, and still others took on a different meaning. An example is a frigate. This concept survived the later types, such as armadillos, dreadnought, and even battleships. True, the modern frigate roughly corresponds to the Soviet concept of a large anti-submarine ship, but it sounds shorter and somehow prettier. In the original sense, it means a three-masted vessel with one artillery deck for 20-30 guns. Starting from the 17th century, the adjective “Dunkirk” was added to the word “frigate” for a long time, meaning that it was primarily used in a separate area of the naval theater of operations adjacent to the Pas de Calais. This type was distinguished by speed. Then, as the radius of autonomy increased, they began to be called simply frigates. Displacement was the average for that time, about 800-1000 tons. The most famous Russian frigate was called the Pallas. In 1855, a glorious expedition was undertaken to the shores of East Asia under the command of Admiral E. V. Putyatin.
Caravels
“She passed like a caravel ...” - is sung in a famous pop song. It is harmless to study the types of sailing ships before composing texts for future hits. The compliment was somewhat ambiguous. Not every girl wants to be compared with a heavy, large and rather heavy ship. In addition, the nose of the caravel is high, which can also be seen as an unwanted hint.
However, basically this type, of course, has good seaworthiness. He is best known for the fact that Columbus made his expedition to the shores of the New World precisely on three caravels ("Santa Maria", "Pinta" and "Nina"). Externally, they can be distinguished by the mentioned raised tanks (bow superstructures), as well as by sailing equipment. Three masts, forehead with straight, and the rest with Latin (oblique) sails.
Destination - long sea and transoceanic trips.
From the word "caravel" morphologically comes the Russian word "ship". It gave the name to the famous French passenger airliner, very beautiful.
Clippers
For fast sailing, all types of ships are created . Ship names are not always remembered, but there are exceptions. Someone will say the word “cruiser”, and then everyone around will think something - some “Aurora”, others “Varangian”. As for the clippers, there is only one option - “Cutty Sark”. This vessel with a long and narrow hull went down in history for several reasons, but its main and most important quality was speed. Delivering tea from China, quickly delivering mail to distant colonies and fulfilling the Queen's particularly delicate orders was the lot of clippers and their teams. And these ships did their work until the appearance of the ships, and in some cases later.
Galleons
Sifting through the ancient types of warships, one cannot help but recall the Great Armada, which rivaled the British fleet in the 16th century. The main unit of this formidable force was the Spanish galleon. No sailing ship of that time could compare with perfection to it. At its core, this is an improved caravel, with a reduced tank superstructure (the very “bulged nose” has almost disappeared) and an elongated body. As a result, the old Spanish shipbuilders have achieved increased stability, reduced wave resistance and, as a result, increased speed. Maneuverability has also improved. Other types of warships of the 16th century looked shorter and too high next to the galleon (this was a drawback, it was easier to get into such a goal). The outlines of the utah (aft superstructure) took on a rectangular shape, and crew conditions became more comfortable. It was on the galleons that the first latrines (latrines) appeared, hence the origin of the word.
The displacement of these "16th century battleships" ranged from 500 to 2 thousand tons. Finally, they were very beautiful, they were decorated with elaborate carvings, and a majestic sculpture crowned their nose.
Schooners
There are types of large ships that have become "workhorses" designed to transport a wide variety of goods. Among them, schooners occupy a special place. These are multi-masted vessels, characterized in that at least two of their rigs are oblique. They are marseille, staysail, Bermuda or hafel, depending on which masts are equipped with oblique sails. It should be borne in mind that the line between a two-masted brahmselny or marseille schooner and a brigantine is very arbitrary. This type has been known since the 17th century. He achieved the greatest distribution in the merchant American Navy, in particular, Wolf Larsen, the character of Jack London, with his team prey on fur seals on the schooner. Compared with her, other types of ships are more difficult to control (according to J. London, this process is accessible even to a lone sailor). Most often, the schooners were two- and three-masted, but there are cases when the equipment was much more numerous. A peculiar record was set in 1902, when a ship with seven masts was launched (Thomas Double Lawson, Quincy Shipyard).
Other types of ships
Photos of sailing ships arriving at an international regatta from around the world are published in newspapers, magazines and on the pages of websites. Such a parade is always an event, the beauty of these ships is incomparable with anything. Barges, brigantines, corvettes, frigates, clippers, caches, yachts represent all kinds of ships, fortunately preserved to our days. This spectacle distracts from everyday life and takes the viewer into past centuries, full of adventure and romance of distant wanderings. A true sailor must master the art of sailing navigation, as they say in many countries, including ours. Climbing up the cable-stayed shafts, unfolding the sails and breathing in the free wind of the sea, you can take your seats at the modern control panels of dry cargo vessels, bulk carriers and cruise ships. You can safely trust such a sailor the fate of the cargo and the lives of passengers, he will not let you down.