ACADIAN-CAJUN-L Archives

From:
Subject: Re: Ships dimensions
Date: Fri, 9 Mar 2001 06:27:31 EST

I am interested in finding drawings or sketches of the 18th century sailing
ships used during the Acadian expulsion.

Here is a list of the known types, classes and/or names of those that are
known.

CLASSIFICATION, TYPE, OR DESCRIPTION OF THE VESSELS USED.

It is difficult to find detailed information on all of the types, or
classification of ships used during the mid-eighteenth century. The general
classifications of type and rig that were popular with the colonists are
easily listed, as they are often given in the records. But some allowances
must be made for the ignorance of the recorder, for the listing of a single
vessel as a "bark", a "ship" and a "brigantine" in a single paper is not at
all uncommon. Generally speaking, there were seven classifications of vessels
in the colonial records. Ships, Sloops, Pinks, Brigantines, Shallops, Ketches
and Barks, and all of them are noted in these records up until 1717, when
Schooners were added to the list as a separate class. The types, or class, of
the colonial vessels correspond in design and appearance with their
counterparts in England. The largest classification of vessels in the lists,
are Sloops from twenty five to seventy tons burden. The next in popularity,
were Brigantines, from 30 to 150 tons.
The rigging of a Brigantine at this time is open to argument, they were
sometimes rigged as Brigges, and possibly as Schooners before a distinction
was made for the Schooner's rigging.
Following are descriptions and illustrations of the different types of
sailing vessels that made up the fleet, or convoy, of ships used for the
Acadian expulsion of 1755:



BARK: Barks were square-sterned vessels, usually flush decked, and like the
Pinks had no special rig. The name "Bark" was not applied to the rig, but to
the hull type. The name was very loosely applied in colonial records, and is
often used in place of ship or vessel. Most of the colonial Barks seem to
have been Brigantines, although some were rigged as Ships or Ketches.
A bark was a three masted vessel square-rigged except for the mizzenmast,
which is fore-and-aft rigged. This vessel was also called a Barque. (See pp
181, 267 and 273 - THE BOOK OF OLD SHIPS - drawn by Gordon Grant - text by,
Henry Brundage Culver - Garden City Publishing Co, Inc. - 1924) also (Howard
I. Chapelle in "THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN SAILING SHIPS")



BRIGGE or BRIGANTINE: A brigge or brigantine was a two masted square-rigged
vessel that had square sails on the foremast only, and fore-and-aft rigged on
the mainmast. (See p. 229 and 239 - THE BOOK OF OLD SHIPS - drawn by Gordon
Grant - text by, Henry Brundage Culver - Garden City Publishing Co, Inc. -
1924) The Brig and Snow came into use in the early part of the eighteenth
century. Both were two masted, and were square rigged on both masts. There
were only minor differences in their rigging, and in time the word Snow went
out of use.
A brig carried a cross jack yard instead of a main yard, which
differentiated it from the snow, which carried a square mainsail in addition
to its fore and aft mainsail that was rigged on a try-sail mast. Brigs were
fast and were a favorite of privateers and pirates. (Henry B. Culver - THE
BOOK OF OLD SHIPS - Illustrations by Gordon Grant - Garden City Publishing -
p. 229-30)


CORVETTE: A corvette was a warship equipped with sails and a single tier of
guns, and ranking next below a frigate. (See p. 249 - THE BOOK OF OLD SHIPS -
drawn by Gordon Grant - text by, Henry Brundage Culver - Garden City
Publishing Co, Inc. - 1924)


FRIGATE: A frigate was originally a light and swift vessel of the
Mediterranean, propelled by both oars and sails. A frigate was also an
old-style war vessel used from 1650 to 1840, a frigate was smaller than a
ship of the line, but larger than a corvette. (See p. 173 and 225 - THE BOOK
OF OLD SHIPS - drawn by Gordon Grant - text by, Henry Brundage Culver -
Garden City Publishing Co, Inc. - 1924)
Originally a frigate had a short deck, forward and aft, at about the same
level, and a lower long deck amidship. Later they were constructed to have a
continuous platform running from end to end of the ship without a break. This
type of construction was called "frigate fashion".
A frigate was a term used to describe smaller types of warships that had
from 24 to 50 cannons that were carried on these flush decks. They were
designed for speed and were particularly efficient as commerce destroyers.
(Henry B. Culver - THE BOOK OF OLD SHIPS - Illustrations by Gordon Grant -
Garden City Publishing - p. 173)


GOELETTE: - It is sometimes difficult to differentiate between closely
related types of vessels and perhaps no fine distinction can be made between
the two masted rig the French called a goelette and that which was commonly
designated as a schooner. The word Goelette comes from the Breton word for
sea gull (gwelon or goelan). (See p. 257 - THE BOOK OF OLD SHIPS - drawn by
Gordon Grant - text by, Henry Brundage Culver Garden City Publishing Co, Inc.
- 1924)
Emile Lauvriere, in his "LA TRAGEDIE D'UN PEUPLE" - Histoire du Peuple
Acadien - des origines a nos jours - 1923- Editions - Bossard - 43 Rue
Madame, 43 - Paris - Tome I - 12th edition Chapter XIV "LE 'GRAND
DERANGEMENT'" pp 457-513, in referring to some of the vessels used in the
expulsion, refers to the sloop Dove, as "la goelette Dove", schooner
Racehorse as "la goelette Race Horse" and and schooner Ranger as "la goelette
Ranger". And, following a long list of other vessels he refers to one as
"Une Goelette". I am not sure if he means that this vessel was named "une
Goelette", or he is referring to an unknown schooner by the French name
goelette, or an unknown sloop as a goelette.


MAN-O-WAR: Any naval vessel armed for active hostilities. (See p. 153 - THE
BOOK OF OLD SHIPS - drawn by Gordon Grant - text by, Henry Brundage Culver
Garden City Publishing Co, Inc. - 1924)


SCHOONER: Schooners were small vessels that evolved in New England. Schooners
were a constructed with a square stern and fitted with two masts bearing a
sloop sail on each, a bowsprit and a jib. These sails were set fore and aft
of the masts and parallel to the keel. In later years schooners were designed
with as many as seven masts. The schooner was very economical to operate,
requiring fewer men to her sail, than any other sailing vessel. Schooners
were used in shallow waters and narrow harbors for coastal trade, but could
also be used in the open sea. (See p. 253 - THE BOOK OF OLD SHIPS - drawn by
Gordon Grant - text by, Henry Brundage Culver Garden City Publishing Co, Inc.
- 1924)


SHIP: Ships were full rigged sailing vessel with three or more masts, with
square rigging on all three masts with a spanker on the mizzen as well. A
full rigged ship was best for long voyages, where square sails could be set
in the trade winds and left untouched for days. Except for the jibs and a
little steering sail at the stern, called a spanker, all sails on a ship
where square sails and were set afthwartship on three masts. Only a craft so
rigged could be properly called a ship. (See p. 243 - THE BOOK OF OLD SHIPS -
drawn by Gordon Grant - text by, Henry Brundage Culver Garden City Publishing
Co, Inc. - 1924)


SLOOP: As noted above, according to Howard I. Chapelle in "THE HISTORY OF
AMERICAN SAILING SHIPS", the majority of the colonial sailing vessels were
small. And the largest proportion of vessels in the lists of colonial sailing
vessels are sloops, from twenty five to seventy tons burden.
Sloop rigging during this time was fore-and-after; one mast, carrying a
gaff mainsail, two to three headsails, and a square topsail and "course"
(square lower sail). Below the main deck of the sloop were two short decks or
"platforms", the forward for the accommodation of the galley fireplace, and
in merchant vessels, the crew. Abaft this, in merchantmen, was the cargo
hold, but in men-o-war this space had a portable deck for accommodation of
the large crews that were required in that class of ship.
Aft was the "great cabbin" and after "platform" forming state-rooms or
"bedplaces" for the officers. A large hatch was over the hold and a
ladder-way and sometimes a skylight was over the after platform, which
completed the list of deck openings.
In the stern there was a short raised quarterdeck, formed by the roof of
the "great cabbin." The entrance to the cabin was through a doorway in the
bulkhead at the fore end of the quarterdeck, opening on the main deck, and
covered by a domed hatch. The floor of the "great cabbin" was sunk below the
level of the main deck so that the quarterdeck would not be excessively high.
The sloop was steered by a long tiller on the quarterdeck. And the quarter
deck had open wooden rails. There was usually a figurehead at the stern or a
simple carved billet
The illegal trade business required a sharp and fast vessel. The first
mention of sharp and fast vessels appears to be in 1730s, and were probably
sloops, but soon schooner rigging was adopted.
Colonial shipping vessels were usually small, although, we note that a
lot of the transports used in the expulsion, including the sloops, were
closer to 90 tons burden.
Naval records are vague at times as to ship descriptions. A Naval-Sloop
could be a vessel of almost any rig, as long as it carried her guns on a
single deck, or was commanded by an officer one grade below a Captain in
rank. It seems that a Naval-Sloop is more a description of rank and battery,
than of rig.
In old navies, a Sloop-of-War was a vessel rigged either as a ship, brig,
or schooner, and mounting between 18 and 32 guns; later any war vessel larger
than a gunboat and carrying guns on one deck only. There are no sloop
classification in modern navies. The escort ship Baltimore was designated as
a Sloop/War vessel.
The Royal Navy's brigantine or snow "SWIFT" was called a "sloop" it
measured 60 feet long by 19.2 feet in width, and was 90-1/2 tons.
In most accounts, sloops are described as a single masted fore-and-aft
rigged sailing vessel, having a fixed bowsprit and carrying at least one jib:
and is now used principally as a racing vessel.
There were a considerable number of sloops used as transport vessels
during the expulsion. The Schooners and Sloops used in the expulsion ranged
from a low of 69 tons to a high of 91 tons, and as mentioned above, the term
sloop and schooner may have been used interchangeably when referring to the
type of vessel used in transporting the Acadians.
Emile Lauvriere - in his publication "LA TRAGEDIE D'UN PEUPLE" - Histoire
du Peuple Acadien - des origines a nos jours - 1923- Editions Bossard - 43
Rue Madame, 43 - Paris - Tome I - 12th edition Chapter XIV "LE GRAND
DERANGEMENT" pp 457-513 refers to a number of the two masted rigs that were
commonly designated as schooners, by the French name "goelette", as well as
referring to a sloop as a "goelette".
This author has taken the liberty of using an illustration of a goelette
and changed the rigging to reflect that of a sloop.


SNOW: A snow was a large two-masted square rigged vessel characterized by
having a trysail mast close behind the mainmast. The Snow and the Brig had a
common ancestor, and it was difficult to distinguish between the brigs and
the snows. (See p. 235 - THE BOOK OF OLD SHIPS - drawn by Gordon Grant - text
by, Henry Brundage Culver Garden City Publishing Co, Inc. - 1924) The Snow
and the Brig came into use in the early part of the eighteenth century. Both
were two masted, and were square rigged on both masts. There were only minor
differences in their rigging, and in time the word Snow went out of use.
A shipping or marine ton is equivalent to 100 cubic feet and the gross
tonnage of a vessel refers to the cubic capacity of a vessel, including that
of the hull and superstructure, with the exception of certain spaces, such as
the pilot house, galleys and companion ways.
The net tonnage is the space that remains after the cubic capacity of the
engine rooms ballast tanks and crew's quarters are excluded from the gross
tonnage, and could be used for either cargo or persons. ("THE YOUNG UNITED
STATES" -1783-1830 by Edwin Tunis - "SHIPBUILDING" - pp. 81-87; 134-136)
Therefore, it is fair to say that Lawrence's intention was to ship 2
people in a space measuring 100 cubic feet or a space actually measuring
approximately 5ft-1 inch x 4 feet on the surface and 4 feet x 11 inches high.
Sailing orders were issued to the captains of each vessel, by Lawrence on
August 11, 1755.


Don Landry

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