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 east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

sailing ship A sailing ship is a sea-going vessel that uses sails mounted on Mast (sailing), masts to harness the power of wind and propel the vessel. There is a variety of sail plans that propel sailing ships, employing Square rig, square-rigged or Fore-an ...

that originated in the barbary states (

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

), it was used mostly for trading. Xebecs had a long overhanging

bowsprit The bowsprit of a sailing vessel is a spar (sailing), spar extending forward from the vessel's prow. The bowsprit is typically held down by a bobstay that counteracts the forces from the forestay, forestays. The bowsprit’s purpose is to create ...

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 east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

Description

Xebecs were ships similar to

galley A galley is a type of ship optimised for propulsion by oars. Galleys were historically used for naval warfare, warfare, Maritime transport, trade, and piracy mostly in the seas surrounding Europe. It developed in the Mediterranean world during ...

s primarily used by Barbary pirates, which have both

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

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. O ...

, and rarely displaced more than 200 tons, 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. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and maneuvera ...

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 gun A swivel gun (or simply swivel) is 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 with two barrels that rot ...

s 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

steamship 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 ...

s. Corsairs built their xebecs with a narrow floor to achieve a higher speed than their victims, but with a considerable beam in order to enable them to carry an extensive

sail-plan A sail plan is a drawing of a sailing craft, viewed from the side, depicting its sails, the spars that carry them and some of the rigging that supports the rig. By extension, "sail plan" describes the arrangement of sails on a craft. A sailing c ...

. 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 which were becalmed. When used as corsairs, the xebecs carried a crew of between 90 and 400 men. The use of

square rig Square rig is a generic type of sail plan, sail and rigging arrangement in which a sailing ship, sailing vessel's primary driving sails are carried on horizontal spar (sailing), spars that are perpendicular (or wikt:square#Adjective, square) to t ...

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 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 swivel guns) * ''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-xebec carried a

on the foremast,

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 b ...

s on the other masts, a

, and two headsails. The square sail distinguished this form of a xebec from that of a felucca 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 (12 December 1914 – 2 January 2000), born Richard Patrick Russ, was an English novelist and translator, best known for his Aubrey–Maturin series. These sea novels are set in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars and ...

's '' Master and Commander''.

Etymology

Xebec is also written as ''xebeck'', ''xebe(c)que'', ''zebec(k)'', ''zebecque'', ''chebec'', ''shebeck'' (); from (, , now ''chebec'', , now ''jabeque'', , now ''xaveco'', , ''zambecco'', ''stambecco'', , , ' , , ' and ). Words similar in form and meaning to ''xebec'' occur in Catalan, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Arabic and Turkish. The

Online Etymology Dictionary Etymonline, or ''Online Etymology Dictionary'', sometimes abbreviated as OED (not to be confused with the ''Oxford English Dictionary'', which the site often cites), is a free online dictionary that describes the etymology, origins of English la ...

regards the

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

''shabaka'' (meaning "a small

warship A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is used for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the navy branch of the armed forces of a nation, though they have also been operated by individuals, cooperatives and corporations. As well as b ...

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

References

External links