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For other uses, see Brig (disambiguation).
Brig

The Brig Lady Washington
Type Naval vessel
Place of origin Mediterranean
Specifications
Weight Tonnages up to 480
Length 75–165 ft (23–50 m)
Crew Varies, 12 to 16 to sail
Speed Varies per conditions, up to 11 knots (20 km/h) reported

In nautical terms, a brig is a vessel with two square-rigged masts. See also Nautical terms Rigging Tall ship List of US state ships This is a glossary of nautical terms; some remain current many date from the 17th-19th century Square rig is a generic type of sail and rigging arrangement in which the primary driving sails are carried on horizontal Spars which are perpendicular or square During the Age of Sail, brigs were seen as fast and maneuverable and were used as both naval war ships and merchant ships. The Age of Sail was the period in which International trade and Naval warfare were dominated by Sailing Ships lasting from the 16th to the mid While their use stretches back before the 1600s the most famous period of the brig was during the 1800s when they were involved in famous naval battles such as the Battle of Lake Erie. The Battle of Lake Erie, sometimes referred to as the Battle of Put-in-Bay, was fought on September 10, 1813 in Lake Erie off the coast Because they required a relatively large crew and were difficult to sail into the wind (the latter trait is common to all square-rigged ships), brigs were phased out of use by the arrival of the steam boat. A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving a Propeller They are not to be confused with a brigantine which has different rigging. In Sailing, a brigantine is a vessel with two masts only the forward of which is Square rigged Originally the brigantine was a small ship carrying both oars and

Contents

Rigging

In sailing, a full-rigged brig is a vessel with two square rigged masts (fore and main). Sailing is the art of controlling a Sailing vessel. By changing the Rigging, Rudder and dagger or centre board a Sailor manages the force Square rig is a generic type of sail and rigging arrangement in which the primary driving sails are carried on horizontal Spars which are perpendicular or square The mast of a sailing ship is a tall vertical or near vertical Spar, or arrangement of Spars which supports the Sails Large ships have several masts [1] The main mast of a brig is the aft one. To improve maneuverability, the mainmast carries a small fore-and-aft sail (also called a gaff sail). A fore-and-aft rig is a Sailing rig consisting mainly of Sails that are set along the line of the Keel rather than perpendicular to it Gaff rig is a Sailing rig (configuration of sails in which the Sail is four-cornered Fore-and-aft rigged controlled at its peak and usually [2]

Brig sails are named after the masts to which they are attached: the mainsail; above that the main topsail; above that the main topgallant sail; and occasionally a very small sail, called the royal, is above that. A mainsail is the most important sail raised from the main (or only mast of a sailing vessel A topsail is a Sail set above another sail on square-rigged vessels further sails may be set above topsails On a Square rigged Sailing vessel a topgallant sail is the square-rigged sail or sails immediately above the Topsail or topsails A royal is a small Sail flown immediately above the topgallant on Square rigged Sailing ships It was originally called the "topgallant royal" Behind the main sail there is a small fore-and-aft sail called the boommainsail (it is similar to the main sail of a schooner). In Sailing, a boom is a Spar (pole along the foot (bottom of a Fore and aft rigged Sail, that greatly improves control of the angle A schooner (ˈskuːnɚ is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts Schooners were first used by the On the foremast is a similar sail, called the trysail. The mast of a sailing ship is a tall vertical or near vertical Spar, or arrangement of Spars which supports the Sails Large ships have several masts A trysail is small Fore-and-aft Sail used in very high winds or in storms to maintain control to avoid ship damage and to keep the bow to the wind Attached to the respective yards of square-rigged ships are smaller spars, which can be extended, thus lengthening the yard, thus receiving an additional sailing wing on each side. A yard (abbreviation yd) is a unit of Length in several different systems including English units Imperial units and United These are called studding sails, and are used with fair and light wind only. A studding sail or studsail is a Sail used to increase the sail area of a Square rigged vessel in light winds The wings are named after the sails to which they are fastened, i. e. the main studding sails, main top studding sails, and the main top gallant studding sails, etc. [3]

The brig’s foremast is smaller than the main mast. The mast of a sailing ship is a tall vertical or near vertical Spar, or arrangement of Spars which supports the Sails Large ships have several masts The fore mast holds a fore sail, fore top sail, fore top gallant sail, and fore royal. Between the fore mast and the bowsprit are the fore staysail, jib, and flying jib. The bowsprit, or boltsprit, of a Sailing vessel is a pole extending forward from the vessel's prow A staysail is a fore-and-aft rigged Sail whose luff can be affixed to a stay running forward (and most often but not always downwards from a A jib (also spelled jibb) is a triangular Staysail set ahead of the foremost mast of a sailing boat A jib (also spelled jibb) is a triangular Staysail set ahead of the foremost mast of a sailing boat All the yards are manipulated by a complicated arrangement of cordage named the running rigging. Running rigging is the term for the Rigging of a sailing vessel that is used for raising lowering and controlling the Sails - as opposed to the Standing This is opposed to the standing rigging which is fixed, and keeps mast and other things rigid. On a Sailing boat standing rigging generally refers to lines wires or rods which are more or less fixed in position while the boat is under sail [3]

Hull material

A brig is “generally built on a larger scale than the schooner, and often approaches in magnitude to the full-sized, three-masted ship. A schooner (ˈskuːnɚ is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts Schooners were first used by the A ship /ʃɪp/ is a large vessel that floats on water Ships are generally distinguished from Boats based on size ”[3] Brigs vary in length between 75 and 165 ft (23–50 m) with tonnages up to 480. [4] Historically most brigs were made of wood, although some latter brigs were built with hulls and masts of steel or iron (such as the brig Bob Allen[5]). [2] A brig made of pine in the nineteenth century was designed to last for about twenty years (many lasted longer). [2]

Development of the brig

The word "brig" has been used in the past as an abbreviation of brigantine (which is the name for a principally fore-and-aft two-masted rig with a square rigged foremast). In Sailing, a brigantine is a vessel with two masts only the forward of which is Square rigged Originally the brigantine was a small ship carrying both oars and The mast of a sailing ship is a tall vertical or near vertical Spar, or arrangement of Spars which supports the Sails Large ships have several masts The brig actually developed as a variant of the brigantine. By re-rigging a brigantine with two square sails instead of one it gained greater sailing power. The square-rigged brig's advantage over the fore-and-aft rigged brigantine was "that the sails, being smaller and more numerous, are more easily managed, and require fewer men or 'hands' to work them. "[3] The variant was so popular that the term "brig" came to exclusively signify a ship with this type of rigging. [6] By the 1600s the British royal navy defined "brig" as having two square rigged masts. [7]

Historic usage

Brigs were used as small warships carrying about 10 to 18 guns. [4] Due to their speed and maneuverability they were popular among pirates (though they were rare among American and Caribbean pirates). [3][6] In the 1800s the brig was a standard cargo ship. It was seen as "fast and well sailing", but required a large crew to handle its rigging. [8] A skilled captain on a brig could "maneuver it with ease and elegance; a brig could for instance turn around almost on the spot". [9] The need for large crews is what caused the decline of the production of brigs. They were replaced in commercial traffic by gaffsail schooners (which needed less personnel) and steam boats (which did not have the windward performance problems of square rigged ships). A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving a Propeller [8]

Historic examples

Painting of the brig USS Niagara in the Battle of Lake Erie.
Painting of the brig USS Niagara in the Battle of Lake Erie. The Battle of Lake Erie, sometimes referred to as the Battle of Put-in-Bay, was fought on September 10, 1813 in Lake Erie off the coast

Note that while the famous ghost ship Mary Celeste is sometimes called a brig, she was probably a brigantine. In modern English, the term ghost ship has come to denote at least one of three separate (though occasionally overlapping definitions all of which involving in one respect The Mary Celeste (sometimes incorrectly spelled Marie Celeste was a Brigantine discovered in the Atlantic Ocean unmanned and under sail

Brigs in fiction

Modern recreations

The recreation of the brig USS Niagara
The recreation of the brig USS Niagara

See also

References

  1. ^ Schooner In The Sand (JANUARY 2002). See also Nautical terms Rigging Tall ship List of US state ships The Lady Nelson was a vessel used in the exploration of the coast of Australia in the early years of the 19th century TS Royalist is a Brig owned and operated as a Sail training ship by the Sea Cadet Corps of the United Kingdom. The Pilgrim was a sailing Brig (180 tons 865 feet long engaged in the California Hide trade of the early 19th century In the 18th and the earlier part of the 19th centuries a sloop-of-war was a small sailing Warship (also known as one of the Escort types with a single gun deck A snow (pronounced "snoo" or snaw, is a sailing vessel Retrieved on 2007-01-12. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 475 - Basiliscus becomes Byzantine Emperor, with a coronation ceremony in the Hebdomon palace in Constantinople
  2. ^ a b c Sailing ships. Retrieved on 2007-01-12. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 475 - Basiliscus becomes Byzantine Emperor, with a coronation ceremony in the Hebdomon palace in Constantinople
  3. ^ a b c d e R. M. Ballantyne. Man on the Ocean. Retrieved on 2007-01-12. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 475 - Basiliscus becomes Byzantine Emperor, with a coronation ceremony in the Hebdomon palace in Constantinople
  4. ^ a b The Texas Navies. Retrieved on 2007-01-12. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 475 - Basiliscus becomes Byzantine Emperor, with a coronation ceremony in the Hebdomon palace in Constantinople
  5. ^ a b Bob Allen. Retrieved on 2007-01-12. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 475 - Basiliscus becomes Byzantine Emperor, with a coronation ceremony in the Hebdomon palace in Constantinople
  6. ^ a b Pirate Ships. Retrieved on 2007-01-12. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 475 - Basiliscus becomes Byzantine Emperor, with a coronation ceremony in the Hebdomon palace in Constantinople
  7. ^ Brig or Brigantine. Retrieved on 2007-01-13. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 532 - Nika riots in Constantinople. 888 - Odo Count of Paris becomes King of the Franks
  8. ^ a b c The "Stockholm Brig" Tre Kronor. Retrieved on 2007-01-12. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 475 - Basiliscus becomes Byzantine Emperor, with a coronation ceremony in the Hebdomon palace in Constantinople
  9. ^ Brig. Retrieved on 2007-01-12. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 475 - Basiliscus becomes Byzantine Emperor, with a coronation ceremony in the Hebdomon palace in Constantinople

External links

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