Sources for learning about Sailing ships

[shamguy4]

What are some good sources to learn all about sailing ship anatomy? Specifically the ships pirates used?
Fine... I'll say it. Pirate ships! Although i don't think there really is such a thing. Pirate ships are just regular merchant ships that were commandeered by pirates.


From port to starboard to the galley, I don't fully know all the parts of a ship... thats as far as I go. Oh, and rat ropes.

I'm writing a fantasy novel that has a futuristic versions of these ships that can also fly. I have flying vessels with pirates aboard and I want it to have that "pirate" feel. So I need some knowledge on these stuff.

Any books, novels, or videos on this stuff would be greatly appreciated!

 

[alexvss]

One Piece is one of the best stories ever written, and it's about pirates.

When I'm researching, I always go to TV Tropes. They're awesome. Check out their article for pirates.

The most-watched movie in South Korea is Admiral: Roaring Currents. It's about medieval-period ship fights against Japan. Maybe it'll help.

Captain Philips is a movie about an American ship being kidnapped by modern Somali pirates.

 

[The Judge]

First of all you'll need to be clear what era and what part of the world you're talking about -- ships vary from age to age and place to place, so if you're describing them in detail I'd suggest you find out precisely what you want and work from that.

Wikipedia can give an overview on both the designs of the many different ships of the world and their terminology. Closer to home we have a few threads in Writing Resources which can point you in the right direction:

• Sailing/Nautical Terms
• Sailing References
• Resource for Late Renaissance/Early Modern Ships

(And I think it's ratlines not rat ropes.)

 

[Kerrybuchanan]

For a start, it's ratlines rather than rat ropes. Also there are very few if any ropes on any ship (they are are made of rope, but they all have other names, such as lines, sheets, halyards, painters, etc.).

Can't help much with pirate ships of any era, but if there's any other sailing information you'd like, I can try to help. I'm a modern day sailor, so I might be able to help with terminology that's still in use, or with navigational terms that might live on into the skies in some distant future.

 

[shamguy4]

I'm a modern day sailor, so I might be able to help with terminology that's still in use, or with navigational terms that might live on into the skies in some distant future.

Definitely share all your wisdom! What it's like to set up the ship to sail and what words you use often and what they mean...

 

[goldhawk]

I have never sailed but I have learned a few things over the years. I assume you're talking about tall ships. Not only is terminology important but tactics is also. On screen you see two tall ships shooting at each other but they don't show that the ships may have spent hours getting into position to shoot. No commander would engage unless they had an advantage or were forced to. Movies like Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World show some of this maneuvering. And they talking about terms like "weather gage" and "lee gage". A good introductory movie.

 

[hitmouse]

I have never sailed but I have learned a few things over the years. I assume you're talking about tall ships. Not only is terminology important but tactics is also. On screen you see two tall ships shooting at each other but they don't show that the ships may have spent hours getting into position to shoot. No commander would engage unless they had an advantage or were forced to. Movies like Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World show some of this maneuvering. And they talking about terms like "weather gage" and "lee gage". A good introductory movie.

Better yet read the Aubrey-Maturin novels by Patrick O’Brien upon which that film was based. Probably the best novels about sailing and period naval life, and a good technical education.

 

[DLCroix]

Something like that?
Captain Harlock is the obligatory reference, but also Robotech or rather Macross as they know him from your pastures; From these I learned my first concepts of azimuth, row spin, reflex defense, closure, ram loading, etc.
You don't really need that much, what you should at least handle are the concepts of beam, draft, length. For example, if your ships fly, the idea of windward or leeward only influences the sum of the azimuth, it is not as decisive as in ancient times.

**

Now, in more traditional sailing, the most instructive book is Cabo Trafalgar, by Perez Reverte. I imagine that it must be translated, but it shows you the differences between a two English bridges and a two Spanish bridges (both with 74 guns), a sloop, and I suggest you the mast's class, it is very clear to you. It also explains the details of the battle In a way that does not appear in Patrick O'Brien's novels, although also notice the differences of time, Trafalgar refers to 1805 or thereabouts. On the other hand, a Spanish galleon in the Running Wild style I doubt that it had more than thirty pieces; that is, fifteen per side, it was smaller than a sloop and slower and obviously it is the grandfather. Much later those of two and even three bridges will appear. The Santisima Trinidad had a whopping 120 pieces, it was horrendous when she unloaded all that.

 

[Montero]

CS Forester's Hornblower novels are full of sailing details for Napoleonic War era
There are also plenty of text books out there covering all periods. Some are ship construction, some are operation of ships - if you are in the UK start with your local library catalogue - may have to order from the online one. Years ago I researched Medieval sailing ships and my main resource was the library. A lot there that you don't expect.
I'd also go round the Naval Museum in Portsmouth Harbour - actually tour the ships from the Mary Rose through the Victory and onto the Warrior. There is the SS Great Britain in Bristol as well. There is a lot to the feel of the ship that may surprise you in terms of ceiling height, light levels, feel of the deck, the equipment.

 

[W Collier]

Second vote for Hornblower. Absolutely fantastic series. Then the Jack Aubrey novels, which for me will always be "the ones that aren't Hornblower."

Last but not least... go sailing! Get to any really big lake, or the coast, and look for a sailing school (usually associated with a yacht club). They'll have classes you can take over a weekend which aren't that expensive, just sailing little dinghies, but that'll be enough to give you a whole new perspective on your academic research.

 

[goldhawk]

The Honorverse series by David Weber has been called Hornblower in space. Very little sailing terminology but an interesting take on space combat. The first of the series, On Basilisk Station, is available free online at the Baen Free Library.

 

[Montero]

You might want to look at Jim Butcher's Cinder Spires - that has flying sailing ships.

Naomi Novak combines dragons with Napoleonic war run a bit like flying sailing ships.

And depending on the period of your ships, port and starboard are larboard and steerboard because there wasn't a rudder at the back, but a steerboard to the right.

 

[sknox]

>Better yet read the Aubrey-Maturin novels by Patrick O’Brien upon which that film was based. Probably the best novels about sailing and period naval life, and a good technical education.

This. Hornblower is good fun but has been criticized for being a bit shallow--romanticizes the sailing.

I second, also, the recommendation that you decide what era. It doesn't have to be the era in which your story is set, but the era you wish to evoke. Things like discipline, career, social order on board, behavior in port, and so on.

Finally, I strongly urge you to read *fiction* books about sailing. That's what you intend to write. You aren't writing fact. You aren't writing a movie. Your models should be in the medium where you intend to work.

Oh, and do get on a boat as often as you can. There's no substitute for simply messing about in boats.

 

[Steve Harrison]

For in-depth Age of Sail knowledge, you can't go past CS Forester, Alexander Kent, Dudley Pope and Patrick O'Brien. MY first novel revolved around an 18th century sailing ship and pretty much everything set aboard the vessel, from tasks to language was picked up from those novels, such that readers thought I had done far more research than I actually had.

 

[paranoid marvin]

I think that as well as getting the specifications for your ship itself, it's worth looking at how life on pirate ships operated. Rather than the strict authoritarian command structure of a Royal Navy ship (for example) a pirate vessel was much closer to a democracy.

 

[CupofJoe]

If you can find it [and want a book to read] The Good Ship by Ian Friel is a fine starter on all things English medieval ships and shipbuilding.

 

[goldhawk]

I think that as well as getting the specifications for your ship itself, it's worth looking at how life on pirate ships operated. Rather than the strict authoritarian command structure of a Royal Navy ship (for example) a pirate vessel was much closer to a democracy.

Yes and no. In a pirate ship, the captain fought the ship but the quartermaster (QM) ran it. The captain was elected by the crew.

The QM represented the ship's owners and decide where the ship went and what prizes it took. He disciplined the crew by docking their pay. Many pirates would prefer a whipping than to losing part of their share.

It was only a limited democracy.

 

[sknox]

Who are the ship's owners on a pirate ship? Asking for a friend.... <g>

 

[goldhawk]

Who are the ship's owners on a pirate ship? Asking for a friend.... <g>

If it's a prize or a mutiny, then the crew. Usually they sell it to venturers in a pirate's port.

 

[Kerrybuchanan]

Definitely share all your wisdom! What it's like to set up the ship to sail and what words you use often and what they mean...

There’s far too much (and before HB or Ursa jump on me, I mean too much sailing stuff in general rather than bragging about my own endless knowledge!), and I don’t know how relevant it would be to pirate ships in space.

I suggest you write the story and contact me as you go if you have specific questions. If I can answer them, I will.

And I’d be happy to read short sections once you’re finished, and make suggestions about terminology, etc.