web hosting short URLs photo sharing

A wide variety of vessels were used by pirates, but the sloop was the preferred one since it had good speed and a small draft which allowed it to travel in shallow waters. Speed was important for a pirate ship for two important reasons: a) it allowed the pirates to quickly overtake an opponent, and b.) it also allowed the pirates a quick escape if needed. A shallow draft enabled the pirates to hide in relative safety in shallower coastal waters where larger warships could not enter.

Sloops were generally small and fast with their sails running parallel with the hull (fore-and-aft rigged), and due to their size the number of crew and guns were limited. Another common type was a brigantine which typically consisted of a square-rigged (sails perpendicular to the hull) foremast and upper mainmast and fore-aft rigged lower mainmast. Similarily, a brig featured a the same foremast setup but had the opposite rigging configuration on the mainmast compared to a brigantine. In addition, fully square-rigged ships were also used by pirates, generally these were the larger merchant or warship type vessels which allowed the possibility of much more crew (in the hundreds) and guns. On the otherhand, these were often slower and had deeper drafts but they were more seaworthy than smaller types allowing them to ride storms and deal with the rough Atlantic open waters. Each type had its pros and cons and it depended on the pirates which type of vessel they preferred to use.

On the otherhand, pirates did not have much of a choice as to what their vessel would be (except Stede Bonnet for one, who actually bought a sloop with his own money) because they relied on whichever one they could find at the time. Some pirates started their career by mutiny, so in a way they were able to choose their ships. If a plundered vessel was more suited to the pirates' needs then they could simply transfer to the new one, or keep the new one as a consort in addition to the original pirate ship. The captured vessels were usually renovated by their new owners by modifying the interior by clearing cargo spaces to make more room (for guns and crew) and increasing the number of (or adding) gunports. More crew space was always needed since pirate ships tended to be overcrowded because of the extra men that were needed to take another ship.

Pirate ships were well cared for since they had to be seaworthy and as fast as possible. They had to be careened often which required the vessel to be carefully beached during high tide which allowed the hull to be out of the water during low tide. At this time, the vessel's crew cleaned the lower hull of barnicles and weeds which would slow it down while sailing. The regular cleaning also helped to protect against worms, wood rot, and other molds from growing on the hull. Since the vessel and the crew would be extremely vulnerable at this time, the careening process took place in a well secluded area where the pirates would feel safe from possible attack.

Below are a few pirate ships sorted alphabetically by their captain's surname, and where possible some of the ships' data or other comments are given . Also, not all ships are listed for the captains posted here, only the more published and recognized vessels are here: