Editing Schooner

{{short description|Sailing vessel}}
{{other uses|Schooner (disambiguation)}}

[[Image:Lewis R. French NHL.jpg|thumb|[[Lewis R. French (schooner)|''Lewis R. French'']], a gaff-rigged schooner]][[File:Oosterschelde Kieler Foerde.jpg|thumb|''[[Oosterschelde (ship)|Oosterschelde]]'', a topsail schooner]]  [[File:Orianda sailing in Naples.jpg|thumb|''[[Orianda]]'', a staysail schooner, with Bermuda mainsail]]

A '''schooner''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|k|uː|n|ər}} {{respell|SKOO|nər}})<ref>{{cite AV media  |people= Roslyn Flaherty  |date= August 2, 2021|title= 'I was never scared': Passenger aboard historic schooner captures video as it sank in Maine river|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoFUuPabTgA&ab_channel=NEWSCENTERMaine |publisher=NEWSCENTERMaine|via=[[YouTube]]|access-date=February 4, 2024 |time= 00:25}}</ref> is a type of [[sailing ship|sailing vessel]] defined by its [[Rig (sailing)|rig]]: [[fore-and-aft rig]]ged on all of two or more [[Mast (sailing)|masts]] and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schooner also has a square topsail on the foremast, to which may be added a [[Topgallant sail|topgallant]]. Differing definitions leave uncertain whether the addition of a [[Course (sail)|fore course]] would make such a vessel a [[brigantine]]. Many schooners are [[Gaff rig|gaff-rigged]], but other examples include [[Bermuda rig]] and the [[staysail]] schooner.<ref name="Janes dictionary">{{cite book |last1=Palmer |first1=Joseph |title=Jane's Dictionary of Naval Terms |date=1975 |publisher=Macdonald and Jane's Limited |location=London |isbn=0-356-08258-X}}</ref>{{rp|211}}<ref name="Cunliffe 2016">{{cite book |last1=Cunliffe |first1=Tom |title=Hand, Reef and Steer: Traditional Sailing Skills for Classic Boats|date=2016 |publisher=Adlard Coles |isbn=978-1472925220 |edition=second}}</ref>{{rp|26}}{{r|MacGregor 1982|p=100}}<ref name="MacGregor 1997">{{cite book |last1=MacGregor |first1=David R. |title=The Schooner, Its Design and Development from 1600 to the Present |date=1997 |publisher=Chatham Publishing |location=London |isbn=1-86176-020-5}}</ref>{{rp|48}}

== Etymology ==

The term "schooner" first appeared in eastern North America in the early 1700s.<ref>{{cite web |title=schooner |url=https://www.dictionary.com/browse/schooner |website=Dictionary.com |access-date=4 June 2019}}</ref> The term may be related to a [[Scots language|Scots]] word meaning to skip over water,<ref name=britannica/> or to skip stones.<ref>{{cite web |title=schooner |url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/schooner |website=Online Etymology Dictionary |access-date=4 June 2019}}</ref>

== History ==

The exact origins of schooner rigged vessels are obscure, but by early 17th century they appear in paintings by Dutch marine artists. The earliest known illustration of a schooner depicts a yacht owned by the mayors (Dutch: burgemeesters) of Amsterdam, drawn by the Dutch artist Rool and dated 1600. Later examples show schooners in Amsterdam in 1638 and [[New Amsterdam]] in 1627. Paintings by [[Willem van de Velde the Younger|Van de Velde]] (1633–1707) and an engraving by [[Jan Kip]] of the Thames at Lambeth, dated 1697, suggest that schooner rig was common in England and [[Holland]] by the end of the 17th century. The ''Royal Transport'' was an example of a large British-built schooner, launched in 1695 at Chatham.<ref name="Leather 1970">{{cite book |last1=Leather |first1=John |title=Gaff Rig |date=1970 |publisher=Adlard Coles Limited |location=London |isbn=0-229-97489-9}}</ref>{{rp|233}}<ref name="MacGregor 1982">{{cite book |last1=MacGregor |first1=David R. |title=Schooners in Four Centuries |date=1982 |publisher=Argus Books Ltd. |location=Hemel Hempstead |isbn=0-85242-774-3}}</ref>{{rp|13}}<ref name=Marquardt>{{cite book |last1=Marquardt |first1=Karl Heinz |title=The global schooner: origins, development, design and construction 1695–1845 |date=2013 |publisher=Conway Maritime |isbn=9780851779300 |pages=7–13 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SxRUAAAAMAAJ |access-date=4 June 2019}}</ref>

The schooner rig was used in vessels with a wide range of purposes. On a fast hull, good ability to windward was useful for privateers, blockade runners, slave ships, smaller naval craft and opium clippers. Packet boats (built for the fast conveyance of passengers and goods) were often schooners. Fruit schooners were noted for their quick passages,  taking their perishable cargoes on routes such as the Azores to Britain. Some [[pilot boat]]s adopted the rig.

The fishing vessels that worked the [[Grand Banks of Newfoundland]] were schooners, and held in high regard as an outstanding development of the type. This part of North American eastern seaboard is where the term "schooner" first began to be used as a classification for a particular type of vessel. In merchant use, the ease of handling in confined waters and smaller crew requirements made schooners a common rig, especially in the 19th century. Some schooners worked on deep sea routes. In British home waters, schooners usually had cargo-carrying hulls that were designed to take the ground in drying harbours (or, even, to unload dried out on an open beach). The last of these once-common craft had ceased trading by the middle of the 20th century. Some very large schooners with five or more masts were built in the United States from circa 1880–1920. They mostly carried bulk cargoes such as coal and timber. In yachting, schooners predominated in the early years of the [[America's Cup]]. In more recent times, schooners have been used as sail training ships.

The type was further developed in [[British North America]] starting around 1713.<ref name=britannica>{{cite web |last1=Wallenfeldt |first1=Jeff |title=Schooner |url=https://www.britannica.com/technology/schooner |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |access-date=4 June 2019}}</ref> In the 1700s and 1800s in what is now [[New England]] and [[Atlantic Canada]] schooners became popular for coastal trade, requiring a smaller crew for their size compared to then traditional ocean crossing [[square rig]] ships,<ref>{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Schooner |short=x}}</ref> and being fast and versatile.<ref name="asa">{{cite web |title=What's in a Rig – The Schooner |url=https://asa.com/news/2015/12/09/whats-in-a-rig-the-schooner/ |website=American Sailing Association |date=9 December 2015 |access-date=4 June 2019}}</ref> Three-masted schooners were introduced around 1800.<ref name="Marquardt" />

Schooners were popular on both sides of the Atlantic in the late 1800s and early 1900s. By 1910, 45 five-masted and 10 six-masted schooners had been built in [[Bath, Maine]] and in towns on [[Penobscot Bay]], including the ''[[Wyoming (schooner)|Wyoming]]'' which is considered the largest wooden ship ever built.<ref name="Guinness">{{cite web |title=Largest wooden sailing ship ever |url=https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/725436-largest-wooden-sailing-ship-ever |website=Guinness World Records |access-date=1 September 2024}}</ref> The [[Thomas W. Lawson (ship)|''Thomas W. Lawson'']] was the only seven-masted schooner built.

== Rig types ==

The rig is rarely found on a hull of less than 50 feet [[length overall|LOA]], and small schooners are generally two-masted. In the two decades around 1900, larger multi-masted schooners were built in [[New England]] and on the [[Great Lakes]] with four, five, six, or even, seven masts.<ref name="Leather 1970"/>{{rp|239–242}} Schooners were traditionally gaff-rigged, and some schooners sailing today are reproductions of famous schooners of old, but modern vessels tend to be [[Bermuda rig]]ged (or occasionally [[Junk (ship)|junk-rigged)]].<ref>[https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=junk+rigged+schooner&id=0BAB054A96800A4B3DBEB9F079E4AAA8FDFA811B&form=IQFRBA&first=1&scenario=ImageBasicHover Images of junk-rigged schooners –]</ref> While a [[sloop]] rig is simpler and cheaper, the schooner rig may be chosen on a larger boat so as to reduce the overall mast height and to keep each sail to a more manageable size, giving a mainsail that is easier to handle and to reef. An issue when planning a two-masted schooner's rig is how best to fill the space between the masts: for instance, one may adopt (i) a gaff sail on the foremast (even with a Bermuda mainsail), or (ii) a main staysail, often with a fisherman topsail to fill the gap at the top in light airs.

Various types of schooners are defined by their rig configuration. Most have a [[bowsprit]] although some were built without one for crew safety, such as ''[[Adventure (schooner)|Adventure]]''.

[[File:Margaret Todd under sail (4005478541).jpg|thumb|Four-masted schooner, [[Margaret Todd (schooner)|Margaret Todd]]]]

Examples of some specific types of schooner include:

* [[Grand Banks]] fishing schooner: includes a gaff [[topsail]] on the main mast and a [[fisherman's staysail]]; in winter [[topmast]]s and their upper sails are taken down.<ref name="nsm">{{cite web |title=Sailing Ship Rigs |url=https://maritimemuseum.novascotia.ca/research/sailing-ship-rigs |website=Maritime Museum of the Atlantic |date=14 February 2013 |publisher=Nova Scotia Museum |access-date=4 June 2019}}</ref> ''[[Bluenose]]'' was one such example.
* Topsail schooner/Square topsail schooner: includes square topsails.<ref name="nsm"/> A version with raked masts and known for its great speed, called the [[Baltimore Clipper]] was popular in the early 1800s.
* Four- to seven-masted schooners: these designs spread the sail area over many smaller sails, at a time when sails were hoisted by hand, though mechanical assistance was used as the ships, sails, and gaffs became too large and heavy to raise manually. These were used for coastal trade on the Atlantic coast of North America, the West Indies, South America, and some trans-Atlantic voyages.<ref name="nsm"/>
* Tern schooner: a type of three-masted schooner that was common between 1880 and 1920.<ref name="nsm"/> These had three masts of equal height and no square sails. The name signifies "three of a kind". The simple rig was driven by the need to keep crew sizes to a minimum. They had a range of hull types, with centre-boards being common, especially in those with shallow draft.   {{r|MacGregor 1982|p=53-60}}  [[Wawona (schooner)|''Wawona'']], the largest of this type built, sailed on the [[West Coast of the United States]] from 1897 to 1947.

== Uses ==

[[File:Bluenose vs. Gertrude L. Thebaud, Wallace R. MacAskill, 26 October, 1938.webm|thumb|Fishing schooners, Bluenose and Gertrude L. Thebaud in race]]

Schooners were built primarily for cargo, passengers, and fishing.

The Norwegian polar schooner ''[[Fram (ship)|Fram]]'' was used by both [[Fridtjof Nansen]] and [[Roald Amundsen]] in their explorations of the poles.

''Bluenose'' was both a successful fishing boat and a racer. [[America (yacht)|''America'']], eponym of [[America's Cup]], was one of the few schooners ever designed for racing. This race was long dominated by schooners. Three-masted schooner [[Atlantic (yacht)|''Atlantic'']] set the [[transatlantic sailing record]] for a [[monohull]] in the 1905 [[Kaiser's Cup]] race. The record remained unbroken for nearly 100 years.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/02/sports/othersports/schooner-breaks-centuryold-record-for-crossing-the.html| title= YACHT RACING; Schooner Breaks Century-Old Record for Crossing the Atlantic  | newspaper= The New York Times| first=Nancy | last=Ramsey | date=2005-06-02 | access-date=2010-04-25}}</ref>

== See also ==

* [[List of schooners]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== External links ==

* [http://www.nsschooner.ca/ Nova Scotia Schooner Association]

{{Rating system of the Royal Navy}}

{{Sailing vessels and rigs}}

{{Warship types of the 19th & 20th centuries}}

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[[Category:Schooners|*]]
[[Category:Merchant sailing ship types]]
[[Category:Naval sailing ship types]]
[[Category:Sailing rigs and rigging]]
[[Category:Dutch inventions]]
[[Category:Ship designs of the Dutch Republic]]
[[Category:Pirate ships]]
[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]