Special:Random — pirates

The HMS Providence of the British Navy was square-rigged for speed. — The HMS *Providence* of the British Navy was square-rigged for speed.

"So...how would a promotion to captain suit you, as well as a vessel to command?"
"Thank you! That would suit me very well indeed, Mr. Beckett! Are you talking about the Fair Wind?"
"No, I'm thinking of something a little...larger. With more cargo capacity. The EITC has recently acquired a brand-new square-rigger named Marlin."

―Cutler Beckett and Jack Sparrow^[src]

Square rig was a generic type of sail and rigging arrangement in which a ship or sailing vessel's primary driving sails were carried on horizontal spars that are perpendicular (or square) to the median plane of the keel and masts of the vessel. These spars were called yards and their tips, outside the lifts, were called the yardarms. A ship mainly rigged as such was called a square-rigger or was described as square-rigged. Single sail square rigs were used by the ancient Egyptians, the Phoenicians, the Greeks, the Romans, and the Celts. Later the Scandinavians, the Germanic peoples, and the Slavs adopted the single square-rigged sail, with it becoming one of the defining characteristics of the Viking ships.

History

"Well, Mr. Beckett, thank you again for the promotion and the drink. I'll be off now, to find the Wicked Wench and take a look at her."
"Here's to your first command, Captain. You'll find your vessel at the EITC berthing docks. She's the largest square-rigger on the southern side."

―Jack Sparrow and Cutler Beckett^[src]

During the Age of Piracy, many ships and sailing vessels were built as square-riggers.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5] They include the Flying Dutchman, a legendary ghost ship that ferried souls who died at sea to the worlds beyond that eventually became a cursed ghost ship under the command of Davy Jones.^[2]^[3] The Santa Catalina was big as a city, a square-rigger with more cannons than one could count.^[6]

Cutler Beckett gave Jack Sparrow command of two square-riggers, including the merchant vessel Wicked Wench that became the pirate ship Black Pearl. — Cutler Beckett gave Jack Sparrow command of two square-riggers, including the merchant vessel *Wicked Wench* that became the pirate ship *Black Pearl*.

When Jack Sparrow was a merchant seaman and first mate for the East India Trading Company, he was summoned by Cutler Beckett, the Director of West African Affairs for the EITC, who had acquired a square-rigger named Marlin, a merchant vessel that was considered a larger vessel with more cargo capacity than the brig the Fair Wind. After Sparrow refused command of the Marlin, upon learning the ship would be used to haul slaves, Beckett made him captain of the Wicked Wench, the largest square-rigger moored on the southern side of the EITC berthing docks in Calabar.^[7] The merchant vessel Wicked Wench eventually became the pirate ship Black Pearl, eventually becoming one of the most legendary square-riggers that sailed the seas.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]

By the quest for the Fountain of Youth,^[4] the HMS Providence of the British Royal Navy was described as being a square-rigged barque built for battle, square-rigged for speed, and equipped for long tours of duty.^[8]