A xebec ( or ), also spelled zebec, was a

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

sailing ship A sailing ship is a sea-going vessel that uses sails mounted on masts to harness the power of wind and propel the vessel. There is a variety of sail plans that propel sailing ships, employing square-rigged or fore-and-aft sails. Some ships c ...

that was used mostly for trading. Xebecs had a long overhanging

bowsprit The bowsprit of a sailing vessel is a spar extending forward from the vessel's prow. The bowsprit is typically held down by a bobstay that counteracts the forces from the forestays. The word ''bowsprit'' is thought to originate from the Middle L ...

and aft-set mizzen mast. The term can also refer to a small, fast vessel of the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries, used almost exclusively in the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

Description

Xebecs were ships similar to

galley A galley is a type of ship that is propelled mainly by oars. The galley is characterized by its long, slender hull, shallow draft, and low freeboard (clearance between sea and gunwale). Virtually all types of galleys had sails that could be used ...

s primarily used by

Barbary pirate The Barbary pirates, or Barbary corsairs or Ottoman corsairs, were Muslim pirates and privateers who operated from North Africa, based primarily in the ports of Salé, Rabat, Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli. This area was known in Europe ...

s, which have both

lateen A lateen (from French ''latine'', meaning "Latin") or latin-rig is a triangular sail set on a long yard mounted at an angle on the mast, and running in a fore-and-aft direction. The settee can be considered to be an associated type of the same o ...

sails and oars for propulsion. Early xebecs had two masts while later ships had three. Xebecs featured a distinctive hull with pronounced overhanging bow and

stern The stern is the back or aft-most part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter rail to the taffrail. The stern lies opposite the bow, the foremost part of a ship. Ori ...

, and rarely displaced more than 200

ton Ton is the name of any one of several units of measure. It has a long history and has acquired several meanings and uses. Mainly it describes units of weight. Confusion can arise because ''ton'' can mean * the long ton, which is 2,240 pounds ...

s, making them slightly smaller and with slightly fewer guns than

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...

s of the period.

Use by Barbary corsairs

These ships were easy to produce and were cheap, and thus nearly every corsair captain (''Raïs'') had at least one xebec in his fleet. They could be of varying sizes. Some ships had only three guns while others had up to forty. Most xebecs had around 20-30 cannons, and the overwhelming majority had

swivel guns The term swivel gun (or simply swivel) usually refers to a small cannon, mounted on a swiveling stand or fork which allows a very wide arc of movement. Another type of firearm referred to as a swivel gun was an early flintlock combination gun wit ...

equipped. After the 18th century, galleys became increasingly outdated and xebecs became the preferred ships of Barbary pirates thanks to their heavy and effective use of wind power, reduced need for slaves to row, ability to carry more cannons than a galley, and overall cheapness, speed, and maneuverability. Xebecs were generally faster than contemporary ship types until the introduction of

steamships A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move (turn) propellers or paddlewheels. The first steamships ...

. Corsairs built their xebecs with a narrow floor to achieve a higher speed than their victims, but with a considerable

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...

in order to enable them to carry an extensive sail-plan. The

rig of the xebec allowed the ship to sail close hauled to the wind, often giving it an advantage in pursuit or escape. The use of oars or sweeps allowed the xebec to approach vessels who were becalmed. When used as corsairs, the xebecs carried a crew of between 90 to 400 men. The use of

square rig Square rig is a generic type of sail and rigging arrangement in which the primary driving sails are carried on horizontal spars which are perpendicular, or square, to the keel of the vessel and to the masts. These spars are called ''yards'' and ...

among pirates was initially rare, although after the 1750s a mix between lateen and square rigs became much more widespread.

Use by European powers

Some victorious xebecs of the Spanish Navy, about 1770 (see

Antonio Barceló Antonio Barceló y Pont de la Terra (1 January 1717, in Palma, Majorca – 30 January 1797, in ''idem'') (in Catalan Antoni Barceló i Pont de la Terra) was a Spanish mariner, lieutenant general (equivalent to Admiral) of the Spanish Royal Arma ...

campaigns... in the Spanish version of the page of Wikipedia): * ''Andaluz'', 30 guns (4 × 8-pounders) * ''Africa'', 18 guns (4-pounders) * ''Atrevido'', 20 guns * ''Aventurero'', 30 guns (3 × 8-pounders) * ''Murciano'', 16 guns, 4 pedreros (light

) * ''San Antonio'' Notable xebecs of the French Navy include four launched in 1750: * ''Ruse'', 160 tons, 18 guns * ''Serpent'', 160 tons burthen, 18 guns * ''Requin'', 260 tons burthen, 24 guns * ''Indiscret'', 260 tons burthen, 24 guns In the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, a large

polacre A polacca (or ''polacre'') is a type of seventeenth- to nineteenth-century sailing vessel, similar to the xebec. The name is the feminine of "Polish" in the Italian language. The polacca was frequently seen in the Mediterranean. It had two or th ...

-xebec carried a

on the

foremast The mast of a Sailing ship, sailing vessel is a tall spar (sailing), spar, or arrangement of spars, erected more or less vertically on the centre-line of a ship or boat. Its purposes include carrying sails, spars, and derricks, and giving necessa ...

sail A sail is a tensile structure—which is made from fabric or other membrane materials—that uses wind power to propel sailing craft, including sailing ships, sailboats, windsurfers, ice boats, and even sail-powered land vehicles. Sails may ...

s on the other masts, a

, and two

headsail A sail plan is a description of the specific ways that a sailing craft is rigged. Also, the term "sail plan" is a graphic depiction of the arrangement of the sails for a given sailing craft.> In the English language, ships were usually describe ...

s. The square sail distinguished this form of a xebec from that of a

felucca A felucca ( ar, فلوكة, falawaka, possibly originally from Greek , ) is a traditional wooden sailing boat used in the eastern Mediterranean—including around Malta and Tunisia—in Egypt and Sudan (particularly along the Nile and in protect ...

which is equipped solely with

sails. The last of the xebecs in use by European navies were fully square-rigged and were termed xebec-frigates. The British brig-sloop ''Speedy'''s (14 guns, 54 men) defeat of the Spanish xebec-frigate '' El Gamo'' (32 guns, 319 men) on 6 May 1801 is generally regarded as one of the most remarkable single-ship actions in naval history. It was the foundation of the legendary reputation of the ''Speedy''s commander, Lord Cochrane, which has in turn provided the inspiration for sea fiction such as

Patrick O'Brian Patrick O'Brian, Order of the British Empire, CBE (12 December 1914 – 2 January 2000), born Richard Patrick Russ, was an English novelist and translator, best known for his Aubrey–Maturin series of sea novels set in the Royal Navy during t ...

's ''

Master and Commander ''Master and Commander'' is a 1969 nautical historical novel by the English author Patrick O'Brian, first published in 1969 in the US and 1970 in the UK. The book proved to be the start of the 20-novel Aubrey–Maturin series, set largely in th ...

''.

Etymology

Xebec is also written as ''xebeck'', ''xebe(c)que'', ''zebec(k)'', ''zebecque'', ''chebec'', ''shebeck'' (); from (

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...

: ''xebec'', french: chabec, now ''chebec'', es, xabeque, now ''jabeque'', pt, enxabeque, now ''xabeco'', it, sciabecco, ''zambecco'', ''stambecco'', mt, xambekk, el, σεμπέκο, ' lij, sciabécco, ar, شباك, ' and tr, sunbeki). Words similar in form and meaning to ''xebec'' occur in Catalan, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Arabic and Turkish. The Online Etymology Dictionary regards the

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

''shabbak'' (meaning "a small

warship A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is built and primarily intended for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the armed forces of a state. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster a ...

") as the source form; however, the Arabic root means 'a net', implying the word originally referred to a fishing boat.

References

External links