sloop-of-war
Small sailing warship
A sloop-of-war was a small warship of the age of sail, typically carrying ten to eighteen guns on a single deck.
The term designated a naval rating rather than a specific hull design—brigs, cutters, and actual sloops all served as sloops-of-war.
These vessels handled patrol, convoy escort, and messenger duties, tasks too minor for larger ships of the line.
Authorized civilian warship
- frigateMedium-sized naval warship
- brigantineTwo-masted mixed-rig vessel
- corvetteLight, fast warship
- brigShipboard detention quarters
schooner · cutter · ketch · gunboat · Admiralty · blockade · convoy · cannon
Along a vessel's length
- square-riggedSails perpendicular to hull
- tonnageShip's weight capacity
- draftPreliminary version of text
- hullOuter covering or frame
keel · bowsprit · gaff · boom · ratlines · shrouds · magazine · capstan
Regular surveillance route
- dispatchSend with speed
- escortOne who accompanies another
- reconnaissanceInformation-gathering before action
- messengerOne who delivers communications
anti-piracy · cruising · pursuit · interception · surveying
privateer
Authorized civilian warship
- frigateMedium-sized naval warship
- brigantineTwo-masted mixed-rig vessel
- corvetteLight, fast warship
brig · schooner · cutter · ketch · gunboat · Admiralty · blockade · convoy · cannon · broadside
fore-and-aft
Along a vessel's length
- square-riggedSails perpendicular to hull
- tonnageShip's weight capacity
- draftPreliminary version of text
hull · keel · bowsprit · gaff · boom · ratlines · shrouds · magazine · capstan · anchor
patrol
Regular surveillance route
- dispatchSend with speed
- escortOne who accompanies another
- reconnaissanceInformation-gathering before action
messenger · anti-piracy · cruising · pursuit · interception · surveying
sloop-of-warmerchant ship
Vessel for transporting goods
cargo vessel · merchantman · barge · canoe · dinghy
sloop-of-warship of the line
Large armed sailing vessel
first-rate · man-of-war · battleship · capital ship · seventy-four
sloop, war, wars, warring, warred, warlike, warrior, warriors, warfare