Schooners

__ Schooners__

Schooners are a type of sailing vessel, first used by the Dutch in the 16th or 17th century. They started to develop more in North America during the 18th century. The Encyclopaedia Britannica states that the first ship called a ‘schooner’ was made and launched in 1713 from Gloucester, Massachusetts. According to Walter William Skeat. A schooner has a series of complicated masts, which are managed by the ship's crew. by Connor and Chris

Schooners were more widely used in the United States than in any other country. Two masted schooners were and are most common. They were popular in trades that required speed and windward ability, such as slaving, privateering,blockade running and offshore fishing. They also came to be favoured as pilot vessels, both in the United States and in Northern Europe. In the Chespeake bay area several distinctive schooner types evolved, including the Baltimor clipper and the pungy. By Joel

Schooners out-number square riggers in America. The reasons for this are that they could sail closer to the wind and they could be sailed with a smaller crew. Schooners have carried every conceivable cargo.

They were used for coastal work, ocean voyages and on the Great Lakes, In the late 1800's there were over two thousand schooners on the Great Lakes, hauling everything from lumber to apples. Over the years schooners have been used as pleasure craft, cargo carriers, privateers, slavers, fishing boats and pilot boats. By Nathaniel