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Brigantine
The Brigantine is a two-masted vessel, with a main and a foremast, a bowsprit, and square sails. Its mainsail is a large gaff sail, and sometimes it also carries a square mainsail. In this case it is called a square-rigged brigantine (bergantín redondo).
Brigantines were very versatile vessels, able to sail in a variety of conditions. They were used for a wide range of purposes, such as coastal patrol, transport, mail, dispatch, and combat actions. They were noted for their balance between destructive power and high speed, agility in maneuvering, and suitability for transport. A brigantine had room for about a hundred men and could carry up to 24 pieces of artillery; it also displaced up to 150 tons.
Although they are less common today, the legacy of brigantines lives on through historic ships and the models that are still built today.
Characteristics
The main and the foremast are the most distinctive elements of a brigantine.
Square sails are used on both the main and the foremast, which allows them to make the most of wind blowing perpendicular to the vessel.
Generally, the brigantine had a large mainsail, which could be square or gaff-rigged (more triangular). If it had both, it was called a square-rigged brigantine.
The bowsprit is also a characteristic feature of this vessel. It is a long wooden spar, with a slight upward inclination from the horizontal. which projects forward from the bow, and which serves to support the headsails (jibs) and to secure the stays of the foremast and its topmasts.
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History
The warship called the brigantine originally appeared in the 13th century in the Mediterranean Sea, and referred to a warship propelled by lateen sails and oars. Because of its speed and maneuverability it was one of the favorite vessels of Mediterranean pirates, and it owes its name to this, being derived from brigante (bandit).[1]
The modern brigantine was an oarless adaptation of the Mediterranean brigantine, which appeared during the 16th century and was widely used until the 19th century. It was characterized by the large sail area it was able to spread for its displacement, which reached up to 600 t, its speed, its agility in maneuvering, and its suitability for transport.
Brigantines were used mainly for merchant traffic, but also as privateer vessels, because their great speed allowed them to escape ships of the line and frigates and to overtake any transport; for this reason it became one of the vessels most prized by pirates. For this same reason, navies incorporated the brigantine into their fleets, having it carry up to a dozen pieces of artillery on deck for scouting duties and the fight against piracy.
Brigantines were an essential part of Spanish naval history. A notable example was the brigantines used during the siege and capture of Tenochtitlan. After the defeat of the Noche Triste, Martin Lopez built thirteen brigantines that cost about 6,000 pesos, paid out of his own pocket. Martín López himself was Captain of one of the vessels during the Battle of Tenochtitlan, where his performance, recorded by several chroniclers including Andrés de Tapia and Bernal Díaz del Castillo,[2] was decisive. The success of the brigantines at that time was due to the Mediterranean naval technology[3] with which they were built, specifically, to their ability to carry between 25 and 30 people, and the capacity to mount cannons on each vessel.[4]
Derivatives of the Brigantine
- The Brigantine-schooner (bergantín-goleta): a vessel with two or more masts that carries a rig combining that of the brigantine and that of the schooner, generally square sails on the foremast and fore-and-aft sails on the remaining masts. By their rig, for example:
- The Juan Sebastián Elcano (A-71), of the Spanish Navy
- The training ship Esmeralda of the Chilean Navy
- The barque (bricbarca): with three or more masts, the first two square-rigged and the rest fore-and-aft rigged, an arrangement usual in corvettes.
- The training ship Cuauhtémoc of the Mexican Navy.
- The training ship Guayas of the Ecuadorian Navy
- ARC Gloria of the Colombian Navy (training ship and flagship of the Naval Academy). Built in Spain in 1968, it is the smallest and oldest of four sister sailing ships: Simón Bolívar, Guayas, Cuauhtemoc, and Gloria itself. The Gloria is a brigantine-barque (barque) type sailing ship, with a length of 67 m, a beam of 10.6 m, a displacement of 1,300 t, and a crew of ten officers, 37 non-commissioned officers, 70 cadets, three marines, and ten civilians.
See also
- Ship
- Merchant brigantine Espíritu Santo (1805)
- ARC Gloria Brigantine-barque type sailing ship (1968)
References
- ↑ Spinelli, Anna (2003). Tra l'inferno e il mare. Breve storia economica e sociale della pirateria (in italiano). Fernandel.
- ↑ Historia verdadera de la conquista de la Nueva España, de Bernal Díaz del Castillo, Cap 99: Cómo echamos los dos bergantines al agua Red Inka Radio (in Spanish)
- ↑ Federico Navarrete, ¿Quién conquistó México?, Mexico, Debate, 2019, p. 92 (in Spanish)
- ↑ Los bergantines de Tlaxcala llegan a Texcoco Mayra Rodríguez Hernández. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) (in Spanish)
External links
- Historia de las embarcaciones menores de la Real Armada.Historia de Bergantines Santiago Gómez and Gerardo Etcheverryy - Todo a Babor. (in Spanish)
- El bergantín goleta "Jaime Soberano segundo" (in Spanish)
