Sloop

Pirate Ship

Despite it was a small ship, a sloop was certainly the most popular ship among the pirates. That's because they were fast (11 knots), highly maneuverable, and have a shallow hull. The sloops easily sailed over shoals. They were fast even without the wind because of a few pair of oars. That's why a sloop made a perfect fit for any quick pirates' action. It usually had only the main-mast which was fore-and-aft-rigged. Sloop was rarely two masted. There was also at least one jib before mast. A crew usually contains up to 75 men and 14 guns. Length was 60 feet and weight around 100 tons. The naval sloop was a bigger version which was upgraded with more guns for the military purposes.