18th-19th century
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Robert Surcouf
The “King of the Corsairs,” a French privateer whose capture of the East Indiaman Kent in 1800 made him a national hero and a wealthy man.
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Combination Flintlock Pistol-Dagger
A hybrid weapon combining a single-shot flintlock pistol with a folding or fixed blade beneath the barrel, allowing a fighter to stab after firing a single shot. Such combination weapons were produced for naval officers, boarding parties, and privateersmen who needed backup after a pistol’s one shot was spent. They were less common than standard…
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Jingal
A large-caliber Chinese matchlock or flintlock wall gun, often mounted on a swivel or forked rest, used aboard Chinese war junks and by coastal militias of the 18th and 19th centuries. Its heavy shot gave it more range and stopping power than a standard musket. Chinese pirate fleets of the South China Sea, which mounted…
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Long Tom
A colloquial name given to an unusually long-barreled cannon, typically mounted amidships on a pivot so it could be trained to either side of the ship. Its extended barrel gave superior range and accuracy compared to standard broadside guns, valuable for opening an engagement or for a pursuit before boarding. Fast privateer and pirate vessels…
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Carcass (Incendiary Shell)
An incendiary artillery shell filled with a slow-burning flammable compound, fired from a mortar or cannon to set fire to an enemy ship’s rigging, sails, or hull. It was used mainly by naval and privateer vessels equipped with the specialized ordnance needed to fire it. Its purpose was to destroy rather than simply disable a…
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Penjajap
The penjajap was a fast, agile raiding vessel used in Malay and Sulu waters, generally smaller than the largest lanong warships but effective for hit-and-run raids on coastal shipping and villages.
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Lugger
The lugger, rigged with distinctive four-cornered lugsails, was fast and easy to handle with a small crew, making it a favorite of Channel privateers and smugglers operating between England and France. Guernsey- and Jersey-based privateers used luggers extensively during the 18th-century wars.
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Smack
The smack was a small single-masted fishing and coastal trading vessel that, due to its innocuous appearance, was sometimes used by smugglers and opportunistic small-scale pirates to approach targets without raising alarm.
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Cutter
The cutter was a small, single-masted vessel carrying a large spread of sail relative to its hull, prized for exceptional speed. Its swiftness made it useful both to smugglers and light pirate craft and to the naval and revenue patrol vessels that pursued them.
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Niger Delta War Canoe
Large war canoes, some carrying dozens of paddlers and mounted with small cannon, were built and maintained by the “canoe house” trading institutions of Niger Delta city-states such as Bonny and Calabar. These vessels were used for both trade escort and coastal raiding along the West African coast during the era of Atlantic maritime commerce.