# Brigantine > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Brigantine > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Brigantine.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brigantine > Source revision: 1328590490 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Two-masted sailing vessel}} {{Distinguish|Brig}} {{About|the sailing vessel category|the adjective Brigantine|House of Braganza|the city|Brigantine, New Jersey|the kind of medieval armor|Brigandine}} {{Infobox weapon |is_vehicle=yes |type=Sailing rig |origin=Atlantic maritime nations | name = Brigantine | image = Brigantine copperEtch.png | image_size = | caption = Brigantine ''Experiment'' of Newburyport, 114 tons, built at Amesbury in 1803 | length = | weight = | speed = | crew = }} A '''brigantine''' is a two-masted sailing vessel with a fully [square-rig](/source/square-rig)ged foremast and at least two sails on the main mast: a square [topsail](/source/topsail) and a [gaff sail](/source/Gaff_rig) mainsail (behind the mast).{{Cite web |url=http://sailing-ships.oktett.net/brigantine.html |title=Brigantine (Archived copy) |year=2000 |first=Fredrik |last= Sandström |access-date=2013-11-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140209121341/http://sailing-ships.oktett.net/brigantine.html |archive-date=2014-02-09 |url-status = dead}} The main mast is the second and taller of the two masts. Older usages are looser; in addition to the rigorous definition above (attested from 1695), the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' includes two {{Circa|1525}} definitions: "a small vessel equipped both for sailing and rowing, swifter and more easily manœuvred than larger ships" and "(loosely) various kinds of foreign sailing and rowing vessels, as the [galleon](/source/galleon), galliot, etc."{{Cite OED|brigantine|id=23300}} Modern American definitions include vessels without any square sail(s) on the main mast. ==Mediterranean brigantines== In the [Mediterranean Basin](/source/Mediterranean_Basin) during the 13th century, a brigantine referred to a sail- and oar-driven war vessel.{{cite book |last1= Haalmeijer |first1=Hans |title=Aken, tjalken en kraken: zeilschepen van de Lage Landen : de binnenvaart. |trans-title=Barges and others: sailing ships of the Low Countries: inland navigation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=szDVygAACAAJ|year=2006|publisher=De Alk |language=nl |isbn=978-90-6013-274-6}} It was [lateen rigged](/source/lateen) on two masts and had between eight and twelve oars on each side. Its speed, maneuverability, and ease of handling made it a favourite of Mediterranean pirates. Its name is derived from the Italian word ''{{lang|it|brigantino}}'', which in turn is derived from ''{{lang|it|brigante}}''{{cite web |language=it |url=http://www.etimo.it/?term=brigantino |title='Brigantino' |work=Dizionario Etimologico Online |access-date=February 8, 2019}} "[brigand](/source/brigandage)". Other than in names, this vessel has no relation to the later brigantines developed in [Northern Europe](/source/Northern_Europe).{{Citation needed|date=September 2021}} ==17th century and onwards== [[File:Brigantine.png|thumb|sup|A brigantine [sail plan](/source/Sail-plan) ]] By the 17th century, the term was adopted by Atlantic maritime nations. The vessel had no lateen sails, but was instead [square-rigged](/source/square_rig) on the foremast and had a gaff-rigged mainsail with square rig above it on the mainmast.{{cite book |title=The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea |editor-first=Peter |editor-last=Kemp |year=1994 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780192115539 |location=Oxford |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/oxfordcompaniont00kemp }} The mainmast of a brigantine is the aft one. By the first half of the 18th century, the word had evolved to refer not to a kind of vessel, but rather to a particular type of rigging: two-masted, with her foremast fully square-rigged and her mainmast rigged with both a [fore-and-aft](/source/Fore-and-aft_rig) mainsail (a [gaff sail](/source/Gaff_rig)) and square [topsail](/source/topsail)s and possibly [topgallant](/source/Topgallant_sail) sails. The brigantine was the second-most popular rig for ships built in the British colonies in North America before 1775, after the [sloop](/source/sloop).{{cite web |url=http://www.gaspee.info/history/shipsdescribed/brigentineDescribed.htm|title=Brigentines Described|website=www.gaspee.info|access-date=19 March 2018}} The brigantine was swifter and more easily maneuvered than a sloop or schooner, hence was employed for piracy, espionage, and reconnoitering, and as an outlying attendant upon large ships for protecting a ship, or for supply or landing purposes in a fleet. The brigantine could be of various sizes, ranging from 30 to 150 tons burden. The brigantine was generally larger than a [sloop](/source/sloop) or [schooner](/source/schooner), but smaller than a [brig](/source/brig). ==Modern terminology== [[File:HermaphroditeBrig.png|thumb|right|A modern brigantine [sail plan](/source/Sail-plan) or "hermaphrodite brig"]] [[File:SS Columbia Full Sail.jpg|thumb|right|The [steamship](/source/steamship) ''[Columbia](/source/SS_Columbia_(1880))'', an example of a late 19th-century brig-rigged vessel]] The definition given above describes the international usage of the term brigantine. In modern American terminology, the term brigantine usually means a vessel with the foremast square rigged and the mainmast [fore-and-aft rigged](/source/Fore-and-aft_rig), without any square sails. Historically, this rig used was called a "schooner brig" or "hermaphrodite brig".{{cite web |url=http://universalium.academic.ru/85396/brigantine |title=brigantine |website=Universalium Academic |access-date=19 March 2018}} In Europe, the distinction is typically still made. The training ship [''Zebu''](/source/Zebu_(ship)), which circumnavigated the Earth as part of Operation Raleigh, is an example of a schooner brig. == Differences from brig == The word brig is an 18th-century shortening of the word brigantine, but to mean a different type of rigging. The gaff-rigged mainsail on a brigantine distinguishes it from the brig, which is principally square-rigged on both masts. In addition to the different sail configuration, the brigantine's mainmast is made from two parts and equal to that of a schooner, a quite long mast and a top mast. The mainmast of a brig is made from three parts and equal to that of a fully rigged ship - a mast, topmast, and topgallant mast. With the advent of modern (metal) pole masts, this last difference typically no longer exists. ==See also== *[Snow (ship)](/source/Snow_(ship)) *[Brig (ship)](/source/Brig_(ship)) ==References== {{Reflist}} == External links == {{Commons category}} {{Wiktionary}} * [http://www.navegar-es-preciso.com/news/el-bergantin-goleta-jaime-soberano-segundo/ El bergantín goleta "Jaime Soberano segundo"] {{in lang|es}} {{Sailing Vessels and Rigs}} {{Authority control}} Category:Brigantines Category:Sailing ship types Category:Sailing ships Category:Ship types Category:Pirate ships Category:Tall ships --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Brigantine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brigantine) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brigantine?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.