Pirate-era Sloop cross-section?

[drfeh]

I really want to find some sort of cross-section diagram of what the interior of an 18th century sloop would look like. The closest I've come so far was courtesy of another thread on this forum:

https://pyracy.com/index.php?showtopic=12831

Unfortunately the scan is just small enough I can't make out any of the legend text, and there's no indication what book the image was pulled from.

Does anyone know? And if not, does anyone know of an alternate source that might have something akin to this that I could browse or buy?

You can find all sorts of cross-sections of the big ships, but there seems to be precious little detail available on what a Sloop was like below decks. So for that matter if anyone knows good websites or books describing such things, that'd be swell too. The Captain's Cabin doesn't seem like it could have been very spacious (if it exists at all).

[Morgan Dreadlocke]

That be page 42 of "Pirates, Terror on the high seas from the Caribbean to the South China Sea" David Cordingly consulting editor.

[Story]

Sloops could be cramped vessels, shallow draft and broad-beamed. Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre's cross-cut view of a sloop-sized slave ship, circa late 18th century, shows this pretty well.

https://www.1st-art-gallery.com/thumbnail/1...8th-Century.jpg

Since there's not allot to sloops, cross sections should show pretty much the same thing, starting from bottom up.

1. The hold, with ballast at the bottom and topped with kegs of water, wine, consumable liquid either for crew survival or cargo.

2. The orlop, where you'd find magazines or general cargo. That'd be where the slaves are, above.

3. The gundeck, which in a sloop would also be the main deck.

This is a pretty good treatise on what to find

http://www.mexconnect.com/en/articles/249-...s-and-corvettes

and

http://blindkat.hegewisch.net/pirates/nautical_lexicon.html

By comparison, a galleon's cross section

http://blindkat.hegewisch.net/pirates/gall...rosssection.gif

from

http://blindkat.hegewisch.net/pirates/pirateships.html

Included just for inspiration's sake, some model kits of late 18th century men-o'-war cross sections

http://www.naturecoast.com/hobby/oc16800.htm

http://im.quirao2.com/qimage/p/gde/p8/hist...onstitution.jpg

[William Brand]

When designing the Mercury I borrowed on several different sloop examples, especially the 1711 Sloop Ferret. Like the Ferret, the Mercury began life as a single mast, Bremuda style sloop, but it was later converted to a Brig Sloop.

[drfeh]

Thank you all so very much for the pictures and links, and especially for identifying the book! I ordered it and will hopefully have a copy in my hands next week to luxuriate in some oversize full-color illustration goodness.

[Commodore Swab]

I always thought it would be fun to build a model sloop with a hull of about 4 feet (naturally the mast, bowsprit etc wouldbe much larger) and "arm" her with 6 or 8 cannon (also same scale) then make her into a RC boat that could sail tack and engage. Albiet reloading wouldn't be possible so the shots would have to be carefully used. It would be even more fun to have several built and engage each other, all firing blanks of course)

[Tartan Jack]

What's the fun of blanks?

As for sloops, it is surprising that so little info and picts are readily accessible, esp. when they were BY FAR the most common used general type by pirates in the GAoP.

[gunner Gordon]

There is another book that talks about the royal navy's purpose built sloops to combat the pirates in their own waters, heavily constructed and very well armed, they also experimented with long retractable drop keels in order to chase into even shallower waters.

[Coastie04]

I always thought it would be fun to build a model sloop with a hull of about 4 feet (naturally the mast, bowsprit etc wouldbe much larger) and "arm" her with 6 or 8 cannon (also same scale) then make her into a RC boat that could sail tack and engage. Albiet reloading wouldn't be possible so the shots would have to be carefully used. It would be even more fun to have several built and engage each other, all firing blanks of course)

Why just a sloop? Check out this model based on the Lady Washington. Fully functional, including an American flag that can be lowered while hoisting a pirate flag, and cannons that can fire (I believe talcom powder).

The website with construction details and more pictures is RC Tall Ship

Coastie

[Commodore Swab]

Tis a might bit small don't ye think? And only 1 cannon blowing nothing but air and some powder . . .

I figured I would want to use black powder of course you only get one shot so you need to build it with lots of cannon then you can have more shots before you must return to port.

[Mission]

When designing the Mercury I borrowed on several different sloop examples, especially the 1711 Sloop Ferret. Like the Ferret, the Mercury began life as a single mast, Bremuda style sloop, but it was later converted to a Brig Sloop.

Do an image search for 'sloop cross section' and guess what the third entry is?

We are the information we have been looking for.

(Say, where is the cockpit in this thing, anyhow?)

[Captain Jim]

We were bound to eventually become the go-to source for pyraty stuff. These pages, over the seven years I've been here, have become a treasure trove.