Early Virginia Watercraft (as Defined by Authorities)
Shallop—A nondescript type of small boat, from the French “chaloupe,” open or half-decked, sometimes with one or two masts for use if needed. It was the most popular boat used in the colony for collecting corn from the Indians, fishing, oystering, and exploring.
Pinnace—“An old name in English marine nomenclature.” A light sailing vessel from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century, decked and having one or more masts, from twenty to thirty tons Burden. The pinnaces Virginia, Discovery, and the two built at Bermuda, Deliverance and Patience were sea-going vessels.
Barge—“A term applied to numerous types of vessels throughout the ages.” In Virginia it meant a ship’s boat, or a flat bottom freight boat used on inland waterways and for loading and unloading ships.
Bateau—The Chesapeake Bay bateau in colonial times was a double-ended boat having a V-bottomed hull, built in lengths to forty or fifty feet, and was primarily a rowing or poling boat used for rivers and creeks.
Scow—A large flat-bottomed vessel having broad, square ends and straight sides, sometimes flat-decked. Probably from the Dutch term “schouw.”
Flat—An old form of boat, simple to build, with flat bottom, ends boarded over, used for heavy freight and ferrying, sometimes having a mast.
Skiff—A light swift open boat, generally double-ended for rowing, but sometimes equipped for sailing.
Frigate—Originally a light vessel propelled by both sails and oars with flush decks. A “frigott” was constructed at Cape Comfort by Captain Argall in 1613. Later the term was applied only to a type of warship.
Punt—A small flat-bottomed, open boat, usually with a seat in the middle, and a well or seat at one, or each end for use in shallow waters, propelled by oars or poles.
Yawl—A small sailing vessel rigged like a sloop with a small additional mast in the stern.
Canoe—The evolution of the Chesapeake Bay canoe and the Chesapeake Bay bugeye from the Indian dugout canoe, is one of the most interesting developments in the history of shipbuilding in America.
Piragua or Periagua—A large dugout canoe fitted with sails.
Tobacco Boat—The double dugout canoe generally referred to as the tobacco boat, was “invented” by the Reverend Robert Rose, rector of St. Ann’s Parish in Albemarle. The boats were from fifty to sixty feet in length, from four to five feet in width, clamped together with cross beams and pins, two pieces running lengthwise over these, with a capacity of from five to ten hogsheads of tobacco. The first mention of this boat was in Rose’s diary for March 14, 1749. (2) The James River bateau or tobacco boat was invented by Anthony J. Rucker in 1771, and is mentioned in Jefferson’s Notes on Virginia. The bateaux were made of boards from forty to sixty feet long and flat-bottomed. They were constructed so that either end could be poled against the river bank and the hogshead rolled aboard. Each craft required a crew of three, one to steer and one each for the sideboards, the full length of the gunwales.
Sloop—A craft with a single mast and fore-and-aft rig, in its simplest form a mainsail and jib. It is said to have appeared in the colony from England before 1630, and became the most common colonial rig. It was the fast-sailing craft for coastwise and West Indies trade. It became very popular as a pleasure boat.
Schooner—A two or more masted vessel, fore-and-aft rigged. The essentials of the schooner are two fore-and-aft sails and a headsail (jib), any other sails being incidental. This type of rig was not known until the last quarter of the seventeenth century, appearing in America by 1700, or shortly after. During the second half of the eighteenth century, the schooner displaced the sloop as the principal colonial coasting vessel, and during the Revolution emerged as the most distinctly American type.
Pilot Boat—In 1661, the General Assembly passed an Act creating the office of Chief Pilot of the James River. A specific type of vessel evolved for use as pilot boats—fast, weatherly boats, somewhat on the mold of the already developing clipper schooner, about 1745. This boat soon acquired schooner rig and all the characteristics of a clipper schooner. This trim craft, distinguished for speed and sea worthiness, proved ideal for yachting. Almost all schooner yachts until about 1870, were built on the lines of pilot boats. The best known example was the victory of the yacht America in 1851.
Brig—A seagoing vessel having two masts and square rigged.
Brigantine—A seagoing vessel having two masts, one square rigged, the other fore-and-aft.
Snow—A seagoing vessel having two masts similar to a brig, and an additional mast abaft the mainmast which carried a spanker or driver (a gaff-headed trysail).
Ship—A sailing vessel having three or more masts, square rigged, the largest seagoing vessel of the period. A term frequently applied to any vessel.
Bark or Barque—A sailing vessel having three or more masts, square rigged, the after mast, fore-and-aft rigged. A term frequently applied to any vessel.
Barkentine—A sailing vessel with three or more masts, the fore mast square rigged, the other masts being fore-and-aft.
Galley—A long, single or partially decked vessel of light draft, fitted for rowing and having one or two masts to raise for use when needed. They ranged in size from forty to seventy-five feet in length, and were used as warships by Virginia during the Revolution when they carried from one to twelve guns.
The planters and shipbuilders of Virginia had a wide choice in the selection of timber for building their boats and ships:
Virginia yielding to no known place in the known world for timbers of all sorts, commodious for strength, pleasant for sweetness, specious for colors, spacious for largeness, useful for land and sea, for housing and shipping. For timber, we have the oak, ash, poplar, black walnut, pines and gum trees.
Frequently several kinds of wood were used in the construction of a boat, and the color combinations of the natural woods, with the use of turpentine and pitch, was pleasing enough to some shipbuilders. For others, however, the vessels were painted in bright colors, often a combination of several colors. The larger vessels were usually built of white oak, but due to the rapid growth of the tree, Virginia oak was not as good or lasting as the oak grown in England. Ships built from the American live oak, helped much to improve the reputation of colonial vessels.
As a general rule, vessels built in the colony were without ornamentation of any kind, utility being the watchword, and speed important. It has been reported, however, that a few billet heads and figureheads were placed on ships, and carved figureheads imported from Boston by a planter appeared on his vessels.