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The Brighton hog boat , or Hoggie was an example of a local variant of the traditional fishing boat design . The Hog boat was a tubby little vessel that seems to nave been built in Brighton , Hove and Shoreham . Although they were used principally for fishing , hog boats were also used to run other cargoes up the local rivers . The hoggie was a small round little tub , with a deck which was taken up for the most part by hatches. Lee boards were fitted and the bowsprit drooped in a curious fashion . The sprit was very much shorter than usual , being fixed well up the mast instead of almost at deck level .
Length 28 ft
Breadth 12 ft
The Smack shown is the type that brought home the fish to Market for most of the 19th Century and even in small numbers up to the Second World War .The usual Smack was ketch rigged , but the boats varied from Port to Port . Some boats had a topsail on the Mizzen mast , while others might have a bowsprit carrying a jib . Large numbers of these boats could be seen operating in fleets out of places like Brixham , Grimsby and Lowestoft . The sails were usually red ochre in colour , which made them a picturesque sight in large numbers .
Length 66 ft.
Beam 18 ft 6 ins
Depth 9 ft 6 ins
The 19th Century brig , with all its variants , was a very popular ship in the shipping world . It was smaller than the ship or barque and so was cheaper to operate . It could be used in all the smaller coastal ports that the coasts of those days seem to have every few miles. The brig had a fine lined hull and brigs like this could be seen in any port in the world. The Royal Navy retained some brigs right up to the beginnings of the 20th century and they remained as training ships well into the century
Length 125 ft. 8 ins
Beam 26 ft.
Depth 12 ft. 9 ins
Tonnage 234 tons
The Humber Keel was a bit of a mixture . The sails were almost a relic of the Middle ages , while the hull was double ended , flat floored rather boxy type of affair , very good for carrying the maximum amount of cargo on the Yorkshire rivers and canals . A small cabin was located in the extreme stern . Lee boards were fitted and the mast could be lowered so that bridges could be negotiated . A heavy rail was carried round the stern and on this were carried a lifebelt or two , plus navigation lights .
Length 61 ft. ( 18.3 m)
Beam 15 ft 6 ins
Depth 7 ft
Tonnage 90 - 100 tons
Crew 1 man and a boy , plus dog
The Norfolk Wherry is another type of coastal and inland cargo carrier . The Wherry was evolved for the Norfolk Broads , the lakes and rivers that criss cross Norfolk , and the outlet to the sea at Yarmouth . The large Gaff sail could be hoisted by one man using the windlass before the mast . Most of the hull was taken up by the hold , which could hold upto 30 tons of cargo . The mast could be lowered to negotiate bridges . In adverse or quiet weather the wherry had to be poled along which required very strong men indeed . The Broads village of Potter Heigham used to be a centre for wherries , but there are very few left . on these boats , no lee boards were fitted .
Length 60 ft
Beam 12 ft
Depth 3 ft
Crew 2
The Fore and Aft Schooner is a rig that is fairly modern , being popular still for some trades in the Pacific where sailing ships are still employed in small numbers . The chief advantage of this rig was that it was very economical with man power . It became very popular , and some very large schooners were built , the largest being the " Thomas W Lawson " which boasted 7 masts, all the same height , with gear and sails that were more or less interchangeable . A crew of 16 was able to handle this ship if 5,200 tons .
Length 146 ft
Beam 35 ft
Depth 12 ft 8 ins
Tonnage 475 tons
After the Napoleonic War , Europe took some years to return to something approaching normal , and then Sailing ship owners found they had a serious competitor in the new fangled steam ships , and ways had to be found to make them cheaper to operate . the longer a ship was the faster it would go , so by piling on as much sail as possible a very fast ship was created . The ships , especially the high speed "Clipper" ships , were best on long runs , where the steam ships could not compete because of the need for frequent re -coaling . The race to England with the first of the years tea crop gave many exciting races and people backed their favourite ships with as much enthusiasm as they back a football team today . Ships came in a variety of shapes and sizes with usually three , sometimes four masts . The largest ever built was the steel hulled German ship " Preussen " which had 5 masts . She was 438 ft. long and of 5.081 tons .
Typical Length 245 ft
Typical Beam 35 ft
Typical Depth 20 ft
Tonnage 1,053 tons
There was a time when all the best or worst melodramatic villians , when plotting their villainy , used to twirl their ample mustachios and say " Once aboard the lugger and the girl is mine "- or words to that effect . Whether the girls were afraid of the villians or the discomfort aboard the lugger and never been revealed . Luggers were popular craft , as they were built to live in any weather and they all had a reputation of being fast , whether being pursued by furious Fathers or contraband seeking Customs officers . Despite all of the foregoing , luggers were built for fishing duties and as such they were used round most of the coasts of Britain and France . The luggers differed considerably according to their local and were from a few tons to 200 tons. Early sailing lifeboats were rigged with Lug Sails and so were technically luggers . A south coast lugger is shown in the drawing .
Length 46 ft
Beam 12 ft
Depth 4 ft
The barge in the drawing comes from an engraving by E.W. Cook and this barge differs from the traditional barge in several ways , so that it represents a barge of 1827 - 1830 . Later barges tended to have simpler sail plans , needing either fewer crew or making fewer demands on the existing crew . The configuration shown was called a " swimhead " or swimmie . All types of Thames Barges were equipped with lee-boards .
Length 77 ft
Beam 16 ft
Depth 6 ft
Crew 2
Tonnage 140 tons
The difference between a Ship and a Barque is that the Barque had fore and aft sails on the mizzen mast . Some ships in later life were converted to Barques as they were easier to operate . A Barque in which the foremast was square rigged and the remaining were rigged with fore and aft sails was called a Barquentine . Barques seem to have been slightly more popular than ships and more were built . They varied considerably in size and as far as tonnage was concerned , the largest sailing vessel ever built was a Barque - the " France " , 418 ft. long and of 5,600 tons .
Length 265 ft
Beam 40 ft
Depth 24 ft 9 ins
Tonnage 2,039 tons
Anyone who has read "The Riddle of the Sands" by Erskine Childers , described as "one of the greatest spy stories ever written , will have read , in detail , about the sailing of such a yacht . The "Dulcibella" in the story was a rebuilt Lifeboat , but even so she would have looked much like the boat shown .
Length 29 ft
Beam 8 ft
Draught 3 ft 6 ins
The Yorkshire Billyboy was a modification and development of the Humber keel . On the whole , the hull was somewhat larger and especially deeper . with bulwarks to give greater freeboard . The hull was well rounded at the stern , with a cabin and small hatchway. Lee boards were usually fitted .
Length 75 ft
Beam 18 ft
Depth 8 ft
Crew 1 man and his family
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Material Copyright © 2000 Colin
Munro