The Skeleton Closet

What Ship Is That??

Barque

Barque
Barque

A barque has at least three masts, all rigged with at least three square sails each, except for the sternmost one, which is rigged with fore-and-aft sails. Some barques had four masts, and only 6 vessels rated as barques were ever built with 5 masts (between 1890 and 1921).

 

Barquentine

Barquentine
Barquentine
The barquentine - also called a barkentine - has at least three masts. The front-most one is square rigged and the others rigged fore-and-aft.



Brigantine or Brig

Brigantine
Brigantine
A ship with two masts, the front-most is square rigged and the main mast is rigged fore-and-aft with square sails on her main topmast. But there were many variations to this. A brigantine and a brig is the same thing.



Fully rigged ship

Ship
Square Rigger
A vessel that has at least three masts, each of them rigged with at least three square sails each, is called a full-rigged ship, a full-rigger, or a ship.



Ketch

Ketch
Ketch Small and swift - two and sometimes three masts rigged fore and aft depending on the overall size of the vessel. Often used in coastal trade and early sailing regattas.



Schooner

Schooner
Bigger than a ketch and smaller than a barque, the schooner has two or three masts rigged for and aft and may have top sails or top gallants. Some versions were known as topsail schooners and had fore-and-aft sails on all her masts, but also a few (most commonly two) square sails on the fore topmast.



Snow - I have no picture of a snow but a snow rigged ship was similar to a brig, and having two masts with square sails on each. It was distinguished from a brig by having an extra small mast fitted abaft the main lower mast. This was known as the trysail mast and was set with a spanker sail (fore-and-aft triangular sail). The snow rig was at one time common around the coasts of the UK.



Clipper


Clipper

Provably the most famous of all Clippers to come to Australia would be the "Lightning" and "Thermopylae". They were called clippers becuse they "clipped" hours.