A brig is a sailing ship that has two masts.
A brig is a type of ship that has two masts and a sail that can be round or square. These boats emerged in the 16th century and were widely used until the 19th century . Thanks to the surface of their sail , the brigs could reach high speed and travel long distances, being also vessels that were agile to maneuver.
The concept comes from the Catalan brigantí or the French brigantin , according to what is mentioned by the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy ( RAE ). These two terms, for their part, derive from the Italian brigantino .
Brigantines were usually used for freight traffic. In any case, they were also used by pirates since, due to their speed, they could chase or elude any other ship. This use by privateers made many navies decide to incorporate brigs into their fleet, using them mainly in pursuit work.
brig example
A historical example of this type of vessel was the merchant brig Espíritu Santo , which used to sail between South America and Spain at the beginning of the 19th century . It was captained by Francisco Paula de Fernández , although the owner of the ship was called Martín Elordi .
The brig Espíritu Santo remained in history when, within the framework of the Napoleonic Wars , it gave notice of an alleged English fleet that seemed to have intentions of invading the territory belonging to the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata . Given the warning, Viceroy Rafael de Sobremonte y Núñez developed a defensive plan and put it into action immediately; However, ultimately the fleet in question was only carrying out an expedition towards Cape Town .
The supposed threat was nothing more than a fleet commanded by David Baird , a general of Great Britain who carried out more than one campaign in India , participated in the invasions that led to the defeat of his army in the Río de la Plata , was one of the British who fought against Napoleon's Empire and conquered the Cape of Good Hope , a territory located in the southernmost area of the African continent.
In short, Baird was carrying out an expedition to Cape Town , one of the Dutch colonies. It is worth mentioning that there the British admiral Home Riggs Popham would organize an expedition with the intention of invading the Viceroyalty , which led to the well-known English Invasions in 1806 .
Pirates used to use brigantines.
A type of boat
As with other boats and vehicles in general, it is possible to find more than one type of brig. One of the most common is known as the schooner brig . It is a sailing boat that has a minimum of two masts. Another of its characteristics is that the foresail is rigged with square sails, while the other masts (that is, those furthest from the bow ) have gaff sails.
Square sails are also called square or, paradoxically, round , and were used by ancient sailing ships. Its main name refers to its shape, which can be trapezoidal or rectangular. Its work is carried out perpendicular to the direction of the ship, always facing the same direction to the wind. Gaff sails , for their part, are trapezoidal and asymmetrical, with the aft edge generally longer than the high luff.
Among the most notable brigantine-schooners in history we can mention the Juan Sebastián Elcano , the Sant Mus (when the civil war ended they renamed it Baleares ) and the Esmeralda Training Ship . The first two belong to the Spanish Navy , while the last, to the Chilean Navy.