Man on the Ocean, Robert Michael Ballantyne [best classic novels txt] 📗

in two in the middle, cross-wise, the front portion would be in all respects a sloop with a square top-sail; the stern part would also be a sloop, minus the bowsprit and the triangular sails _before_ the mast. Schooners sometimes carry a large square-sail, which is spread when the wind is "dead aft." They are much used in the coasting-trade; and one of their great advantages is that they can be worked with fewer "hands" than sloops of the same size.


THE BRIG.

Advancing step by step in our investigation of the peculiar rig and build of ships, we come to the _brig_. This species of craft is usually, but not necessarily, larger than those that have been described; it is generally built on a larger scale than the schooner, and often approaches in magnitude to the full-sized, three-masted ship.

The distinctive features of the brig are, that it has _two_ masts, both of which are _square-rigged_. It is a particularly serviceable species of craft, and, when of large size, is much used in foreign trade.

The advantage of the square-rig over the fore-and-aft rig is, that the sails, being smaller and more numerous, are more easily managed, and require fewer men or "hands" to work them. Thus, as we increase the size of our vessel, the more necessity is there that it should be square-rigged. The huge main-sail of the sloop and schooner could not be applied to large vessels; so that when men came to construct ships of several hundred tons burden, they were compelled to increase the _number_ of masts and sails, and diminish the size of them; hence, probably, brigs were devised _after_ schooners. The main-mast of a brig is the aft one.

The sails are named after the masts to which they are fastened,--namely, the _main-sail_; above that the _main-top-sail_; above that the _main-top-gallant-sail_; and sometimes a very small sail, named the _royal_, is spread above all. Behind the main-sail there is a small fore-and-aft sail similar to the main-sail of a schooner, which is called the _boom-main-sail_. On the fore-mast is a similar sail, which is called the _try-sail_. Attached to the respective yards of square-rigged ships there are smaller poles or arms, which can be pushed out at pleasure, and the yard lengthened, in order to receive an additional little sailor wing on each side. These wings are called _studding-sails_ or _stun-sails_, and are used only when the wind is fair and light. They are named after the sails to which they are fastened; thus there are the _main-stun-sails_, the _main-top-stun-sails_, and the _main-top-gallant-stun-sails_, etcetera. The fore-mast of a brig is smaller than the main-mast. It carries a _fore-sail_, _fore-top-sail_, _fore-top-gallant-sail_, and _fore-royal_. Between it and the bowsprit are the _fore-stay-sail_, _jib_, and _flying-jib_. The three last sails are nearly similar in _all_ vessels. All the yards, etcetera, are hoisted and shifted, and held in their position, by a complicated arrangement of cordage, which in the mass is called the running-rigging, in contradistinction to the standing-rigging, which, as we have said, is _fixed_, and keeps the masts, etcetera, immovably in position. Yet every rope, in what seems to a landsman's eye a bewildering mass of confusion, has its distinctive name and specific purpose.

Brigs and schooners, being light and handy craft, are generally used by pirates and smugglers in the prosecution of their lawless pursuits, and many a deed of bloodshed and horror has been done on board such craft by those miscreants.


THE BRIGANTINE.

The rig of this vessel is a mixture of that of the sloop and brig. The brigantine is _square_-rigged on the fore-mast, and sloop-rigged on its after or mizzen mast. Of its two masts, the front one is the larger, and, therefore, is the main-mast. In short, a brigantine is a mixed vessel, being a brig forward and a sloop aft.

Such are our coasting-vessels; but it must be borne in mind that ships of their _class_ are not confined to the coast. When built very large they are intended for the deep ocean trade, and many schooners approach in size to full-rigged "ships."


CHAPTER ELEVEN.


VESSELS OF LARGE SIZE.

We now come to speak of ships of large size, which spread an imposing cloud of canvas to the breeze, and set sail on voyages which sometimes involve the circumnavigation of the globe.


THE BARQUE.

This vessel is next in size larger than the brig. It does not follow, however, that its being larger constitutes it a barque. Some brigs are larger than barques, but _generally_ the barque is the larger vessel. The difference between a barque and a brig is that the former has _three_ masts, the two front ones being square-rigged, and the mizzen being fore-and-aft rigged. The centre mast is the main one. The rigging of a barque's two front masts is almost exactly similar to the rigging of a brig, that of the mizzen is similar to a sloop. If you were to put a fore-and-aft rigged _mizzen-mast_ into the after part of a brig, that would convert it into a barque.

The term _clipper_ simply denotes that peculiar sharpness of build and trimness of rig which insure the greatest amount of speed, and does not specify any particular class. There are clipper sloops, clipper yachts, clipper ships, etcetera. A clipper barque, therefore, is merely a fast-sailing barque.

The peculiar characteristics of the clipper build are, knife-like sharpness of the cut-water and bow, and exceeding correctness of cut in the sails, so that these may be drawn as tight and _flat_ as possible. Too much bulge in a sail is a disadvantage in the way of sailing. Indeed, flatness is so important a desideratum, that experimentalists have more than once applied sails made of _thin planks of wood_ to their clippers; but we do not know that this has turned out to be much of an improvement. The masts of all clippers, except those of the sloop or cutter rig, generally rake aft a good deal--that is, they lean backwards; a position which is supposed to tend to increase speed. Merchant vessels are seldom of the clipper build, because the sharpness of this peculiar formation diminishes the available space for cargo very much.


THE SHIP.

The largest class of vessel that floats upon the sea is the _full-rigged ship_, the distinctive peculiarity of which is, that its three masts are _all_ square-rigged together, with the addition of one or two fore-and-aft sails.

As the fore and main masts of a "ship" are exactly similar to those of a barque, which have been already described, we shall content ourself with remarking that the _mizzen-mast_ is similar in nearly all respects to the other two, except that it is smaller. The sails upon it are--the _spanker_ (a fore-and-aft sail projecting over the quarter-deck), the _mizzen-top-sail_ and _mizzen-top-gallant-sail_, both of which are square sails. Above all these a "ship" sometimes puts up small square-sails called the _royals_; and, above these, _sky-sails_.


CHAPTER TWELVE.


WOODEN AND IRON WALLS.

The birth of the British Navy may be said to have taken place in the reign of King Alfred. That great and good king, whose wisdom and foresight were only equalled by his valour, had a fleet of upwards of one hundred ships. With these he fought the Danes to the death, not always successfully, not always even holding his own; for the Danes at this early period of their history were a hardy race of sea-warriors, not less skilful than courageous. But to King Alfred, with his beaked, oared war-ships, is undoubtedly due the merit of having laid the foundation of England's maritime ascendency.

England under the Normans does not seem to have greatly desired to excel in maritime enterprise, but it was otherwise during the Plantagenet period. Henry the Second possessed a most formidable fleet, numbering some five hundred vessels of war. During the reign of his successor a novel artifice in naval warfare was resorted to by the English which merits notice. The English admiral caused a number of barrels of unslaked lime to be placed in his ships. Having brought his fleet to windward of the enemy--the French--he ordered water to be poured on the lime. This of course raised a great and dense smoke, which, being blown by the wind into the very faces of the French, prevented the latter from seeing on what quarter they were being attacked. A panic arose, and spread, among the French vessels, and the victory fell easily to the English.

The navy of Edward the Third numbered eleven hundred ships when he undertook the invasion of France. But the great majority of these were not properly men-of-war--in fact, there were only five fully equipped warships; the rest were for the most part merchant vessels converted into fighting ships and transports for the time being. The navy of King Philip of France, though numerically weaker, far surpassed that of the English king in point of equipment. Of the four hundred ships of which it consisted, no fewer than one hundred had, been built purposely for war, according to the best principles of naval architecture then known. Bows, catapults, javelins, and weapons of a like description were the engines of offence used on both sides, and with these much havoc was wrought at close quarters. The English were victorious, notwithstanding the more scientific equipment of their foes. The French ships were boarded, and the flower of King Philip's naval force must that day have perished.

Henry the Seventh did much for the improvement of the English navy. It was during his reign that the _Great Harry_ was built, which was really the first large ship built directly for the Royal Navy. Hitherto the vessels employed by England for national defence or offence had been supplied by certain maritime towns; but the _Great Harry_ was the property of the people. She was built in 1488, and had port-holes for cannon in the lower deck, being the first vessel thus constructed. The _Great Harry_ was subsequently far surpassed by another of King Henry's ships, the _Grace de Dieu_, which was no less than one thousand tons burden, and carried seven hundred men and one hundred and twenty-two guns, (some writers mention only eighty guns) the largest of which were but eighteen-pounders. The _Grace de Dieu_ was a four-masted vessel, and was built in 1515.

An epoch in England's maritime history, which was in some respects the most brilliant and momentous, now falls to be mentioned; a period when England's name became a synonym on the seas for everything that was most intrepid and successful in maritime enterprise; an era of daring adventure and splendid achievement, which at length established England as the first naval power among the nations of Europe.

Not without long and fierce struggle, however, was this supremacy won. The French, Spanish, and Dutch each and all in turn disputed England's claim to the sovereignty of the seas. It is unnecessary to repeat here the oft-told tale of the defeat of the Spanish Armada, nor yet the almost as familiar story of our frequent naval encounters with the Dutch in the days of Admiral Blake and the great Dutch Admiral Van Tromp. Long and desperate those conflicts were, and nothing but indomitable courage and stubborn perseverance could have secured the victory for the English ships, for in almost every instance our foes were numerically the stronger.

In the thrice famous days of Nelson, it