Editing Sailing ship (section)

=== 1700 to 1850 ===
[[File:H.M.S. Mars and the French '74 Hercule off Brest, 21st April 1798.jpg|thumb|1798 sea battle between a French and British [[man-of-war]]]]
[[File:Portrait of an American Clipper Ship.jpeg|thumb|A late-19th-century American [[clipper]] [[Full-rigged ship|ship]]]]
[[File:Preussen - StateLibQld 70 73320.jpg|thumb|The five-masted {{ship||Preussen|ship|2}} was the largest sailing ship ever built.]]
[[File:FMIB 37320 Schooner Sept-Mats nord-americain.jpeg|thumb|[[Schooner]]s became favored for some coast-wise commerce after 1850—they enabled a small crew to handle sails.]]
Sailing ships became longer and faster over time, with ship-rigged vessels carrying taller masts with more square sails. Other sail plans emerged, as well, that had just fore-and-aft sails ([[schooner]]s), or a mixture of the two ([[brigantine]]s, [[barque]]s and [[barquentine]]s).<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h-QvjRbK0DAC|title=A Short History of the Sailing Ship|last1=Anderson|first1=Romola|last2=Anderson|first2=R. C.|date=2003-09-01|publisher=Courier Corporation|isbn=9780486429885|language=en|access-date=2019-06-20|archive-date=2023-10-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231027232129/https://books.google.com/books?id=h-QvjRbK0DAC|url-status=live}}</ref>

==== Warships ====
{{See|Warship#The Age of Sail|Naval tactics in the Age of Sail}}
[[Cannons]] were introduced in the 14th century, but did not become common at sea until they could be reloaded quickly enough to be reused in the same battle. The size of a ship required to carry a large number of cannon made oar-based propulsion impossible, and warships came to rely primarily on sails. The sailing [[man-of-war]] emerged during the 16th century.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=__f6BQAAQBAJ&pg=PA63|title=How Britannia came to Rule the Waves|last=Kingston|first=William H. G.|date=2014-12-29|publisher=BoD – Books on Demand|isbn=9783845711935|pages=123–82|language=en|access-date=2019-06-20|archive-date=2023-10-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231027232639/https://books.google.com/books?id=__f6BQAAQBAJ&pg=PA63#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref>

By the middle of the 17th century, warships were carrying increasing numbers of cannon on three decks. [[Sailing ship tactics|Naval tactics]] evolved to bring each ship's firepower to bear in a [[line of battle]]—coordinated movements of a fleet of warships to engage a line of ships in the enemy fleet.<ref name=":1" /> Carracks with a single cannon deck evolved into [[galleon]]s with as many as two full cannon decks,<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hIKUhgBcSacC&pg=PA216|title=Archaeology and the Social History of Ships|last=Gould|first=Richard A.|date=2011-04-29|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9781139498166|pages=216|language=en|access-date=2019-06-20|archive-date=2023-10-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231027232640/https://books.google.com/books?id=hIKUhgBcSacC&pg=PA216#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> which evolved into the man-of-war, and further into the [[ship of the line]]—<nowiki/>designed for engaging the enemy in a line of battle. One side of a ship was expected to shoot [[Broadside (naval)|broadside]]s against an enemy ship at close range.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n1hALgEACAAJ|title=Nelson's Navy: The Ships, Men and Organisation 1793–1815|last=Lavery|first=Brian|date=2012|publisher=Conway|isbn=9781844861750|language=en}}</ref> In the 18th century, the small and fast [[frigate]] and [[sloop-of-war]]—<nowiki/>too small to stand in the line of battle—evolved to [[convoy]] trade, scout for enemy ships and [[blockade]] enemy coasts.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4RZhDwAAQBAJ|title=French Warships in the Age of Sail 1626–1786|last1=Winfield|first1=Rif|last2=Roberts|first2=Stephen S.|date=2017|publisher=Pen & Sword Books Limited|isbn=9781473893535|language=en|access-date=2019-06-20|archive-date=2023-10-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231027232640/https://books.google.com/books?id=4RZhDwAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}</ref>

==== Clippers ====
{{Main|Clipper}}
The term "clipper" started to be used in the first quarter of the 19th century. It was applied to sailing vessels designed primarily for speed. Only a small proportion of sailing vessels could properly have the term applied to them.<ref name="Gardiner and Greenhill 1993"/>{{rp|33}}

Early examples were the schooners and brigantines, called [[Baltimore Clipper|Baltimore clippers]], used for blockade running or as privateers in the [[War of 1812]] and afterwards for smuggling [[opium]] or [[Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves|illegally transporting slaves]]. Larger clippers, usually ship or barque rigged and with a different hull design, were built for the [[California Gold Rush|California trade]] (from east coast USA ports to San Francisco) after gold was discovered in 1848 {{endash}} the associated shipbuilding boom lasted until 1854.<ref name="MacGregor 1993">{{cite book |last1=MacGregor |first1=David R |title=British and American Clippers: A Comparison of their Design, Construction and Performance |date=1993 |publisher=Conway Maritime Press Limited |location=London |isbn=0-85177-588-8}}</ref>{{rp|pages=7, 9, 13.14}}

Clippers were built for trade between the United Kingdom and China after the [[East India Company]] lost its monopoly in 1834. The primary cargo was tea, and sailing ships, particularly tea clippers, dominated this long-distance route until the development of [[SS Agamemnon (1865)|fuel efficient steamships]] coincided with the opening of the [[Suez Canal]] in 1869.<ref name="MacGregor 1983">{{cite book |last=MacGregor |first=David R. |date= 1983|title=The Tea Clippers, Their History and Development 1833-1875 |url= |location= |publisher=Conway Maritime Press Limited |isbn=0-85177-256-0}}</ref>{{rp|pages=9–10, 209}}

Other clippers worked on the Australian immigrant routes or, in smaller quantities, in any role where a fast passage secured higher rates of freight{{efn|Freight: the price paid for carrying a cargo}} or passenger fares. Whilst many clippers were [[Full-rigged ship|ship]] rigged, the definition is not limited to any rig.{{r|MacGregor 1993|pp=10-11}}

Clippers were generally built for a specific trade: those in the California trade had to withstand the seas of Cape Horn, whilst Tea Clippers were designed for the lighter and contrary winds of the China Sea. All had fine lines,{{efn|The fineness of a ship's hull is best described by considering a rectangular cuboid with the same length, breadth (beam) and depth as the hull of the ship. The more material that you have to carve away to get the shape of the ship's hull, the finer the lines.}} with a well streamlined hull and carried a large sail area. To get the best of this, a skilled and determined master was needed in command.{{r|MacGregor 1993|pp=16-19}}

==== Copper sheathing ====
{{Main|Copper sheathing}}
During the Age of Sail, ships' hulls were under frequent attack by [[shipworm]] (which affected the structural strength of timbers), and [[barnacle]]s and various marine [[weed]]s (which affected ship speed).<ref>McKee, A. in Bass (ed.) 1972, p.235</ref> Since before the common era, a variety of coatings had been applied to hulls to counter this effect, including pitch, wax, tar, oil, sulfur and arsenic.<ref name=":02">{{Cite book|last1=Telegdi|first1=J.|last2=Trif|first2=L.|last3=Romanski|first3=L.|title=Smart composite coatings and membranes : transport, structural, environmental and energy applications|publisher=Elsevier|year=2016|isbn=9781782422952|editor-last=Montemor|editor-first=Maria Fatima|location=Cambridge, UK|pages=130–1|oclc=928714218}}</ref> In the mid 18th century [[copper sheathing]] was developed as a defense against such bottom fouling.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fuBEAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA276|title=On copper and other sheathing|last=Hay|date=May 15, 1863|journal=The Engineer|location=London|pages=276|language=en|access-date=June 29, 2019|archive-date=October 27, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231027232647/https://books.google.com/books?id=fuBEAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA276#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> After coping with problems of [[Galvanic corrosion|galvanic deterioration]] of metal hull fasteners, [[Galvanic anode|sacrificial anodes]] were developed, which were designed to corrode, instead of the hull fasteners.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g273FGUNIFQC|title=Ships' Fastenings: From Sewn Boat to Steamship|last=Mccarthy|first=Michael|date=2005|publisher=Texas A&M University Press|isbn=9781603446211|pages=131|language=en|access-date=2019-06-29|archive-date=2023-10-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231027232650/https://books.google.com/books?id=g273FGUNIFQC|url-status=live}}</ref> The practice became widespread on naval vessels, starting in the late 18th century,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rogerknight.org/pdf/The%20Introduction%20of%20Copper%20Sheathing.pdf|title=The introduction of copper sheathing into the Royal Navy, 1779–1786|last1=Knight|first1=R. J. B.|website=rogerknight.org|access-date=28 December 2017|archive-date=8 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171208172248/http://www.rogerknight.org/pdf/The%20Introduction%20of%20Copper%20Sheathing.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> and on merchant vessels, starting in the early 19th century, until the advent of iron and steel hulls.<ref name=":4" />