Rowing for Plunder: Pirate Galleys (1630-1730) | Pirate Ship Types 

Imagine traveling back in time to be a pirate and live the Hollywood pirate dream just to be a rower for years and then get hit by a cannonball from a pirate hunter

The 19th century painting shown at 8:15 is actually showing Danish gunboats from the Napoleonic war attacking a unspecified British ship (probably a brig) and what seems to be oars are indeed oars but they were often used to try to prevent the gunboats from getting close enough to board and thus they were stuck out through the gunports

if i may, mediterranean galleys were also operated standing up. a good oarsman was recognised by having strong thighs not arms

I didnt realize that the sailors rowed standing up vs sitting on a bench on Galley's. Great info mate!

Even in modern days sailships and sailboats have an onboard engine for calm winds and maneuvering in tight conditions. A lot of sailors think using the engine under any circumstance is cheating. Next time I hear that I'll show them this and point out that even back in the day they would break out the oars during many of the same situations you would fire up the engine today.

i like your content keep it up

HMS Surprise did have sweeps in Patrick O'Brians book's but they still used the rowboats in a lot of situations. Using the rowboats does look more dramatic for the film though and the ship used as Surprise in the film (HMS Rose?) didn't necessarily have sweeps.

very interesting video, just what I clicked for!

Such a great video as always and I wold love for you to talk more about pirates of the Caribbean as you “teased” us that’s been my favorite movie since I was born and that’s why I love the pirate era and this channel so much

Good content and much sweet new things to me at least. The oars were indeed massive in the era, more than I had realized. The Spanish half galleys are cool but sadly very forgotten part of history of buccaneers, privateers and pirates. It would be intetesting to know more of them (this as a general remark, video was very much detailed already). The pirates indeed loved oars when they had them, if I remember right pirates of Edward England tried to use them in the battle I just referred to in the Indiaman short comment not long ago in the channel. The oar ships could be the most ingenious ships in the age of sail ironically (like the Swedish and Russian fleets that fought at Svenksund in 1790). Anyways, looking forward for Captain Kidd videos. Cheers!🏴‍☠️

1:35 Stranglethorn Vale!

Just from this picture alone, i always admired the righing that went to those ships and how they manage all of that to work all together. Further more thats just a small vessel in comparison seeing one of thewar class ships is just beyond of this world

Set feet, ROW! Set feet, ROW! Set feet, ROW! Set feet, ROW!

0:12 I knew why I feel that flag of the ship was very familiar 😂 Tonga🇹🇴

So when will you do a video on the accuracy of Mastodon's "Blood and Thunder"??????????

I've been dying to find anything on the design of the Adventure Galley and my sleuthing skills suck, so this ending is freaking awesome!!

9:30 if anyone has watched the Hornblower TV series the ship that is the HMS Indefatigable, was a full sized replica of a ship called HMS Blandford that was exactly the sames as this 20 gun ship of the 1719 establishment. The replica was built for the hornblower series, however it was built on a keel, which was meant to be for a medieval merchant ship in an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie that never was never made. Therefore they already had the dimensions for the keel and therefore built to the lines of a ship they had plans for, that would fit that keel. The major differences is the Replica called the Grand Turk doesn't have tumblehome, it does not carry the right number of guns or the size of guns as were present on the original. It also rides higher out of the water and does not have scuttles for the sweeps as Indefatigable didn't have sweeps. But it's closer to Blandford than to the Indefatigable which was built 64 years later and is a much bigger ship with 44 guns with a main gun deck of 24 pounders, not 6 pounder guns. So there you go you can technically go and see a replica of a Frigate that used sweeps, but doesn't have any sweeps.

I'm eager to listen to your next video series you hint at during the tail end of this one.

Thank you

Thanks for giving me flashbacks to the horrors of Strangethorn Vale ; )

Heave! HO!

Galleys have always been of my interest. The question is, what size and rig are going to best fit it for my piratical needs?

So not to do with pirates but definitely from the same era, and she was a galley, but a merchant galley. The story of the Nottingham Galley, and Boone Island is quite the interesting tale. Figured I'd share with the class as it seemed fitting...

silly pirates. they just needed to install giant hamster wheels.

now I learned how to dock a ship in a windstill port :)

Honestly, adding oars to video game pirate ship designs will give me the perfect excuse for having them as long as I want them. I'll definately use the half galley as an option.

It would be cool in a video game to be able to customize your ship like this instead of “cannon goes brrrrr!” Like, deciding how many oars/cannons preferable for speed vs. power

I don't have anything useful to add. Just commenting and liking for the algorithm. Also thanks for not showing the premiere date a whole week before the video goes live. The suspense was too much.