{{otheruses|Brig (disambiguation)}}

{{Infobox Weapon

|is_vehicle=yes

|type=Naval vessel

|origin=[[Mediterranean]]

| name = Brig

| image = [[Image:Ladyport.jpg|250px]]

| caption = The Brig '' [[Lady Washington]]''

| length = 75–165 ft (23–50 m)

| weight = Tonnages up to 480

| speed = Varies per conditions, up to {{convert|11|kn|km/h|0}} reported

| crew = Varies, 12 to 16 to sail

}}

In [[Glossary of nautical terms|nautical terms]], a '''brig''' is a vessel with two [[square rig|square-rigged]] masts. During the [[Age of Sail]], brigs were seen as fast and maneuverable and were used as both naval war ships and merchant ships. They were especially popular in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Brigs fell out of use with the arrival of the [[steam ship]] because they required a relatively large crew for their small size and were difficult to sail into the wind. They are not to be confused with a [[brigantine]] which has different rigging.

The word ''brig'' in its most popular present day usage, referring to a [[military prison]] on board a [[United States Navy]] or [[United States Coast Guard|Coast Guard]] vessel, or at an American [[naval base]], derives from the US Navy's use of brigs as [[prison ships]].

==Rigging==

In [[sailing]], a full-rigged '''brig''' is a vessel with two [[square rig]]ged [[mast (sailing)|masts]] (fore and main).<ref name="Sand">{{cite web|title=Schooner In The Sand|url=http://www.michigan.gov/documents/hal_mhc_mhm_schooner_tg_07-09-2002_92621_7.pdf| date=JANUARY 2002 |accessdate= 2007-01-12}}</ref> The main mast of a brig is the aft one. To improve maneuverability, the mainmast carries a small [[fore-and-aft]] sail (also called a [[gaff rig|gaff]] sail).<ref name="NJ">{{cite web|url=http://www.njscuba.net/artifacts/ship_sailing_ship.html| title=Sailing ships |accessdate= 2007-01-12}}</ref>

Brig sails are named after the masts to which they are attached: the [[mainsail]]; above that the main [[topsail]]; above that the main [[topgallant sail]]; and occasionally a very small sail, called the [[royal sail|royal]], is above that. Behind the main sail there is a small fore-and-aft sail called the [[spanker (sail)|spanker]] or [[Boom (sailing)|boom]] mainsail (it is similar to the main sail of a [[schooner]]). On the [[foremast]] is a similar sail, called the [[trysail]]. Attached to the respective [[yard (sailing)|yards]] of square-rigged ships are smaller spars, which can be extended, thus lengthening the yard, thus receiving an additional sailing wing on each side. These are called [[studding sail]]s, and are used with fair and light wind only. The wings are named after the sails to which they are fastened, i.e. the main studding sails, main top studding sails, and the main top gallant studding sails, etc.<ref name="Man">{{cite web| title=Man on the Ocean|author=R.M. Ballantyne| url= http://www.athelstane.co.uk/ballanty/manocean/ocean10.htm |accessdate= 2007-01-12}}</ref>

The brig’s [[foremast]] is smaller than the main mast. The fore mast holds a fore sail, fore top sail, fore top gallant sail, and fore royal. Between the fore mast and the [[bowsprit]] are the fore [[staysail]], [[jib]], and [[flying jib]]. All the yards are manipulated by a complicated arrangement of cordage named the [[running rigging]]. This is opposed to the [[standing rigging]] which is fixed, and keeps mast and other things rigid.<ref name="Man"/>

==Hull material==

A brig is “generally built on a larger scale than the [[schooner]], and often approaches in magnitude to the full-sized, three-masted [[ship]].”<ref name="Man">{{cite web| title=Man on the Ocean|author=R.M. Ballantyne| url= http://www.athelstane.co.uk/ballanty/manocean/ocean10.htm |accessdate= 2007-01-12}}</ref> Brigs vary in length between 75 and 165 ft (23–50 m) with tonnages up to 480.<ref name="Texas">{{cite web|url=http://www.texasnavy.com/glossary2.htm|title=The Texas Navies |accessdate= 2007-01-12}}</ref> Historically most brigs were made of wood, although some latter brigs were built with hulls and masts of steel or iron (such as the brig ''Bob Allen''<ref name="Bob">{{cite web|url=http://www.tallshipstock.com/BOB%20ALLEN%201.txt|title=Bob Allen |accessdate= 2007-01-12}}</ref>).<ref name="NJ"/> A brig made of pine in the nineteenth century was designed to last for about twenty years (many lasted longer).<ref name="NJ"/>

==Development of the brig==

The word "brig" has been used in the past as an abbreviation of [[brigantine]] (which is the name for a principally fore-and-aft two-masted rig with a square rigged [[foremast]]). The brig actually developed as a variant of the brigantine. By re-rigging a brigantine with two square sails instead of one it gained greater sailing power. The square-rigged brig's advantage over the fore-and-aft rigged brigantine was "that the sails, being smaller and more numerous, are more easily managed, and require fewer men or 'hands' to work them."<ref name="Man"/> The variant was so popular that the term "brig" came to exclusively signify a ship with this type of rigging.<ref name="Pirate">{{cite web|url=http://groups.msn.com/6nb38spqtrspsianegph7fjk07/ships.msnw| title= Pirate Ships |accessdate= 2007-01-12}}</ref> By the 1600s the British royal navy defined "brig" as having two square rigged masts.<ref>{{cite web|title= Brig or Brigantine|url= http://www.mariner.org/exploration/index.php?type=shiptype&id=3 |accessdate= 2007-01-13}}</ref>

==Historic usage==

Brigs were used as small warships carrying about 10 to 18 guns.<ref name="Texas"/> Due to their speed and maneuverability they were popular among pirates (though they were rare among American and Caribbean pirates).<ref name="Man"/><ref name="Pirate"/> While their use stretches back before the 1600s, one of the most famous periods for the brig was during the 1800s when they were involved in famous naval battles such as the [[Battle of Lake Erie]]. In the early 1800s the brig was a standard cargo ship. It was seen as "fast and well sailing", but required a large crew to handle its rigging.<ref name="Tre">{{cite web|title=The "Stockholm Brig" Tre Kronor| url=http://www.abc.se/~pa/bld/sth-brig.htm |accessdate= 2007-01-12}}</ref> While brigs could not sail into the wind as easily as fore and aft rigged vessels such as schooners, a trait that is common to all square-rigged ships, a skilled brig captain could "maneuver it with ease and elegance; a brig could for instance turn around almost on the spot".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sailing-ships.oktett.net/brig.html|title=Brig |accessdate= 2007-01-12}}</ref> The need for large crews in relation to their relatively small size led to the decline of the production of brigs. They were replaced in commercial traffic by gaffsail schooners (which needed fewer personnel) and [[steam boat]]s (which did not have the windward performance problems of square rigged ships).<ref name="Tre"/>

The ''Telos'', built in [[Bangor, Maine]] in 1883, was reportedly the last brig to join the American merchant marine, and was "considered to be the finest vessel of her class ever constructed in Maine". She was wrecked on Aves Island, off [[Bonaire]] in the Caribbean, in 1900.<ref>''New York Times'' June 17, 1900, p. 10</ref>

==Historic examples==

[[Image:battle small.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Painting of the brig USS Niagara in the [[Battle of Lake Erie]].]]

*The brig [[USS Argus (1803)|USS ''Argus'']] used during the [[First Barbary War]] and the [[War of 1812]].

*The brig [[USS Oneida (1810)|USS ''Oneida'']] used during the [[War of 1812]]. [[James Fenimore Cooper]] was a midshipman aboard the ''Oneida'' while under construction.

*The cargo hauling brig [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/mgw:@field(DOCID+@lit(wd0363)) ''Farmer''] owned by [[George Washington]].

*The cargo hauling brig [http://freespace.virgin.net/r.cadwalader/maritime/era/fleetwin.htm#topfleetwing ''Fleetwing''].

*The brig ''Leonora'' of Captain [[Bully Hayes]].

*The brig [[USS Niagara (1813)|USS ''Niagara'']] captained by commander [[Oliver Hazard Perry]] in the [[Battle of Lake Erie]], a pivotal victory for the United States in the [[War of 1812]].

*The brig USS ''Oregon'' used in the [[U.S. Exploring Expedition]].

*The cargo brig ''[[Pilgrim (brig)|Pilgrim]]'', whose 1834 trading voyage from [[Boston, Massachusetts]] to [[California]] is described in the book ''[[Two Years Before the Mast]]''.

*The brig ''Rebecca'' captained by [[Robert Jenkins (master mariner)|Robert Jenkins]] whose boarding triggered the [[War of Jenkins' Ear]].

*The brig [[USS Reprisal (1776)|USS ''Reprisal'']] that fought in the [[American Revolution]].

*The brig [[USS Somers (1842)|USS ''Somers'']], sunk in the [[Mexican-American War]].

*[[HMS Beagle]] was built as a brig (1820) for the Royal Navy. She was deployed as a survey vessel to survey the coasts of South America, Australia, and Africa. A mizzen mast was added prior to the 5 year voyage with Charles Darwin to increase the maneuverability in the shallow coastal waters that she would explore.

* [[Jean Lafitte]]'s pirate brig, the ''[[Pride]]'' from 1803 to 1814.

Note that while the famous ghost ship ''[[Mary Celeste]]'' is sometimes called a brig, she was probably a brigantine.

==Brigs in fiction==

*The brig ''Lightning'' in [[Joseph Conrad]]'s “''The Rescue''”

*The brig ''Sea Hawk'' in "''The Pirate of the Mediterranean''" by [[William Henry Giles Kingston]].

*The brig ''Interceptor'' in the film ''[[Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl]]'' (portrayed by the brig ''[[Lady Washington]]'').

*The brig ''Enterprise'' in the film ''[[Star Trek Generations]]'' (also portrayed by the brig ''[[Lady Washington]]'').

*The brigs ''Porta Coeli'' and ''Amélie'' appear in the [[Horatio Hornblower]] series by [[C. S. Forester]] (which was later adapted to films and television).

*The brig ''HMS Sophie'' in ''[[Master and Commander]]'' by [[Patrick O'Brian]].

*The brig ''Molly Swash'', in [[James Fenimore Cooper]]’s book “''Jack Tier''”.

*The brig ''Hellebore'' in the ''[[Nathaniel Drinkwater]]'' series by [[Richard Woodman]].

*The brig ''Isle of Skye'' in [[Iain Lawrence]]'s “''The Wreckers (High Seas Trilogy)''”.

*The brig ''Seahawk'' in [[Avi]]'s novel [[The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle]].

*The brig ''Blue Bird'' in [[Evert Taube]]'s song "''Balladen om briggen Blue Bird av Hull''".

*The brig ''Grampus'' in [[Edgar Allan Poe]]'s novel [[The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket]].

*The pirate ship of [[Captain Hook]], the brig [[Jolly Roger]] from [[James M. Barrie]]'s [[Peter Pan]].

*The pirate ship, the brig ''Speedy'' from [[Jules Verne]]'s [[The Mysterious Island]].

*The ship ''Constanzia'' from [[Jules Verne]]'s [[A Drama in Mexico]].

*The brig ''Arkham'' in [[H. P. Lovecraft]]'s [[At the Mountains of Madness]].

==Modern recreations==

[[Image:Brig Niagara on Bay.jpg|200px|right|thumb|The recreation of the brig USS ''Niagara'']]

*The brig ''[[Lady Washington]]''

*The brig ''Bob Allen''<ref name="Bob"/>

*The brig ''Tre Kronor''<ref name="Tre"/> <ref name="Tre Kronor">{{cite web|title=The "Stockholm Brig" Tre Kronor Homepage| url=http://www.briggentrekronor.se |accessdate= 2008-06-17}}</ref>

*The [[U.S. Brig Niagara (replica)]]

*The brig [[Lady Nelson#Modern replica|''Lady Nelson'']]

*The brig [[TS Royalist]]

*The brig [[Pilgrim (brig)|''Pilgrim'']]

*The brig [http://www.barefootholidays.com/order.html?title=Brig+Unicorn+Day+Sail ''Unicorn'']

*The brigs [http://www.tallships.org/document.asp?cat=693&doc=6823 ''Stavros S Niarchos'' and ''Prince William'']

==See also==

*[[brig sloop]]

*[[Snow (ship)]]

==References==

{{reflist}}

==External links==

* [http://museum.gov.ns.ca/mma/AtoZ/rigs.html "Sailing Ship Rigs" Infosheet Guide to Classic Sailing Rigs ''Maritime Museum of the Atlantic'']

*[http://museum.gov.ns.ca/mma/AtoZ/rigs.html Comparison of rigging on different sailing vessels]

*[http://www.brigniagara.org/ The brig ''Niagara'' museum]

*[http://sailtraining.org/ The American Sail Training Association]

*[http://www.historicalseaport.org/ Grays Harbor Historical Seaport Authority]

*[http://www.maritimeheritage.net Maritime Heritage Network], an online directory of maritime history resources in the [[Pacific Northwest]].

{{commonscat|Brig (ship)|Brig}}

{{Wiktionary}}

{{Sailing Vessels and Rigs}}

[[Category:Sailboat types]]

[[Category:Sailing vessels and rigging]]

[[Category:Sailing]]

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