18th century
-
Spontoon
A half-pike topped with a spearhead and crossbar, carried as a naval officer’s badge of rank and combat weapon. It combined ceremonial function with practical use as a thrusting weapon during boarding actions. Officers used it both to direct crew and to fight when close action was joined.
-
Duck’s Foot Pistol
A multi-barreled flintlock pistol with four splayed barrels fired simultaneously from a single lock, designed to spray shot across a group of attackers at once. It was associated with ship captains and guards needing to deter a crowd of assailants, such as a mutinous crew or a rush of boarders, with a single shot. Its…
-
Whaleboat
The whaleboat was a light, narrow, double-ended open boat, originally built for whale hunting, that American irregular privateersmen adapted for fast hit-and-run raids on Loyalist and British shipping during the Revolutionary War, a campaign later called “whaleboat warfare.”
-
Polacre
The polacre was a Mediterranean sailing vessel with a distinctive mixed rig, using square sails on some masts and lateen sails on others, often applied to xebec hulls used by Barbary corsairs. This hybrid rig offered speed advantages across a range of wind conditions.
-
Snow
The snow was a two-masted, square-rigged vessel closely resembling a brig but with a small supplementary trysail mast, popular as a merchant ship in the 18th century. Its frequent capture by pirates, who then armed it with additional guns, made it a recurring vessel type in piracy accounts of the era.