Editing Brig (section)

==Historic usage==
[[File:Joseph Heard - The Merchant Brig Rimac In Two Positions.jpg|thumb|''Rimac'', a brig built by [[Brocklebank Line|Brocklebank]] in [[Whitehaven]] in 1834 for trade between [[Peru]] and [[Liverpool]]{{r|MacGregor 1984|p=75}}]]
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 17th century, one of the most famous periods for the brig was during the 19th century when they were involved in famous naval battles such as the [[Battle of Lake Erie]]. In the early 19th century 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 |access-date= 2007-01-12}}</ref>
[[File:The opium clipper Lanrick.jpg|thumb|The opium clipper ''Lanrick'' with the main topsail aback (to reduce speed)]]

Brigs were seen as more manoeuvrable than schooners. [[James Cook]] requested  the conversion of the schooner HMS ''Grenfell'' to a brig, with the justification of the better control that he would have with a brig versus a schooner. The ability to stop the ship quickly (by backing sails) was particularly important for a vessel doing survey work.<ref name="Beaglehole 1974">{{cite book |last1=Beaglehole |first1=J C |title=The Life of Captain James Cook |date=1974 |publisher=A and C Black |location=London |isbn=9780713613827}}</ref>{{rp|82}} The windward ability of brigs (which depends as much on hull shape as the rig) could be comparable to or better than contemporary schooners. The author and naval officer [[Frederick Marryat]] characterised brigs as having superior windward performance to the schooners of that time. Marryat is considered, by maritime historians, to be an authoritative source on such matters.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Batchvarov |first1=Kroum |title=The Merchant Ship in the British Atlantic, 1600–1800: Continuity and Innovation in a Key Technology |journal=International Journal of Nautical Archaeology |date=3 July 2021 |volume=50 |issue=2 |pages=403–406 |doi=10.1080/10572414.2021.1987716}}</ref> 
 
A brig's square-rig also had the advantage over a fore-and-aft–rigged vessel when travelling offshore, in the trade winds, where vessels sailed down wind for extended distances and where "the danger of a sudden [[jibe]] was the large schooner-captain's nightmare".<ref>Chapelle: The History Of American Sailing Ships, 1935, p.209</ref> This trait later led to the evolution of the [[barquentine]]. 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.