View source for Cutlass

{{Short description|Short sword used by sailors on sailing ships}}
{{About|the sword|other uses|Cutlass (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2014}}
{{Infobox weapon
| name = Cutlass
| image = MuseeMarine sabre p1000456 noBG.jpg
| image_size = 300
| alt =
| caption =
| type = [[Sword]] (short sabre, single-edged)
| origin = [[Europe]]
<!-- Type selection -->| is_ranged =
| is_bladed = Yes
| is_explosive =
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| is_UK = <!-- Service history -->
| service = 17th, 18th, 19th, and early 20th century
| used_by = [[Sailor]]s, [[Piracy|pirates]], and [[privateer]]s
| wars = <!-- Production history -->
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| variants = <!-- General specifications -->
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| length = {{convert|28|to|32|in|cm|abbr=on}} ([[leadcutter sword|leadcutter cutlasses]] were up to {{convert|36|in|cm|abbr=on}} in length).
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| passengers = <!-- Ranged weapon specifications -->
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| action =
| rate = 123 rounds/min
| velocity = {{cvt|123|m/s|ft/s}}
| range = {{cvt|123|m|yd}}
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| sights = <!-- Artillery specifications -->
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| traverse = <!-- Bladed weapon specifications -->
| blade_type = Single-edged
| hilt_type = Cup hilted guards, half-basket cup guards, and branch guards were commonly seen with cylindrical hilts and wire-wrapped hilts which are common and found on most cutlasses.
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| haft_type = <!-- Explosive specifications -->
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}}
A '''cutlass''' is a short, broad [[sabre]] or slashing [[sword]] with a straight or slightly curved [[blade]] sharpened on the cutting edge and a [[hilt]] often featuring a solid cupped or [[Basket-hilted sword|basket]]-shaped [[Hilt#Guard|guard]]. It was a former common naval weapon during the [[Age of Sail]].

==Etymology==
The word "cutlass" developed from the 17th-century English use of ''coutelas'', a 16th-century French word for a [[machete]]-like mid-length single-edged blade (the modern French for "knife", in general, is ''couteau''; in 17th- and 18th-century English the word was often spelled "cuttoe"). The French word ''coutelas'' may be a convergent development from a Latin root, along with the Italian ''coltellaccio'' or ''cortelazo'',<ref>{{cite journal|last=Wedgwood|first=Hensleigh|author-link=Hensleigh Wedgwood|title=On False Etymologies|journal=Transactions of the Philological Society|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b3924121;view=1up;seq=76|year=1855|issue=6|pages=66}}</ref> meaning "large knife".
In Italy, the ''cortelazo'' was a similar short, broad-bladed sabre popular during the 16th century.<ref name= "Ossian">Ossian, Rob, [http://www.thepirateking.com/historical/cutlass.htm The Cutlass] (accessed Jan. 25, 2015)</ref>
The root ''coltello'', for "knife", derived ultimately from the Latin ''cultellus'' meaning "smaller knife", which is the common Latin root for both the Italian and French words.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=cutlass|title=Cutlass &#124; Etymology, origin and meaning of cutlass by etymonline}}</ref>

In the [[English-speaking Caribbean]], the word "cutlass" is also used as a word for [[machete]].<ref>John Klein, [https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/10/what-is-a-machete-anyway/280705/ "What Is a Machete, Anyway?"], ''The Atlantic'', Oct 21, 2013 (accessed Jan 25 2015)</ref><ref>Teresa P Blair, ''A–Z of Jamaican Patois (Patwah),'' Page 49 [https://books.google.com/books?isbn=1481752359 Google Books Result]</ref>

==History and use==

[[File:Grand Turk(37).jpg|thumb|Cutlasses aboard the [[Frigate#Age of sail|frigate]] [[Étoile du Roy|''Grand Turk'']] ]]
[[File:Francoislollonais.JPG|thumb|[[François l'Olonnais]] with a cutlass]]

===Origin===
The cutlass is a 17th-century descendant of the edged short sword, exemplified by the medieval [[falchion]].

Woodsmen and soldiers in the 17th and 18th centuries used a similar short and broad [[backsword]] called a ''[[Hanger (tool)|hanger]]'', or in German a [[Messer (weapon)|''Messer'']], meaning "knife". Often occurring with the full [[Tang (tools)|tang]] (i.e. slab tang) more typical of daggers than swords in Europe, these blades may ultimately derive through the [[falchion]] (facon, falcon, fauchard) from the [[falx]] or [[seax]].{{Citation needed|date=February 2022}}

In England, about 1685 the rather long straight-bladed sword formerly in use began to be superseded by the "hanger". This weapon had a short and more or less curved single-edged blade with a brass hilt of a rather flat double-shell and knuckle-bow. The grip was generally of wood, bound with wire, but some specimens show a brass grip with spiral grooves. These are probably early models. The length of the blade is usually about {{convert|24|inches|cm}}.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Hopkinson|first=E. C.|date=October 1932|title=The Swords of the British Army|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44226060|journal=Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research|volume=11|issue=44|pages=238–247|jstor=44226060}}</ref>

===History===

Although also used on land, the cutlass is best known as the sailor's preferred weapon, as it was robust enough to hack or cut through heavy ropes, thick canvas, and dense vegetation while being short enough to be used in relatively close quarters combat, such as during [[Boarding (attack)#Boarding in the Age of Sail|boarding]] actions, in the [[rigging]], or below decks. Another advantage to the cutlass was its simplicity of use, as it required less training than that required to master a [[rapier]] or [[small sword]].

Cutlasses are famous for being used by [[Piracy|pirates]], although there is no reason to believe that Caribbean [[buccaneer]]s invented them, as has occasionally been claimed.<ref>
{{cite web|url=http://www.geocities.com/captcutlass/Weap.html|title=Pirate Weapons|work=Brethren of the Coast|quote=According to legend, buccaneers invented the cutlass, but this may not be factual. It is said to have evolved from the long knives used by the early buccaneers to butcher their meat.|access-date=2009-03-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071223184117/http://www.geocities.com/captcutlass/Weap.html|archive-date=2007-12-23}}</ref> However, the subsequent use of cutlasses by pirates is well documented in contemporary sources, notably by the pirate crews of [[William Fly]], [[William Kidd]], and [[Stede Bonnet]]. French historian [[Alexandre Exquemelin]] reports the buccaneer [[François l'Ollonais]] using a cutlass as early as 1667. Pirates used these weapons for intimidation as much as for combat, often needing no more than to grip their hilts to induce a crew to surrender, or beating captives with the flat of the blade to force their compliance or responsiveness to interrogation.<ref>{{cite book |last=Lawson|first=John Davis|title=American State Trials|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.44037|publisher=F.H. Thomas Law Book Co|year=1915|page=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.44037/page/n684 668]|quote=But as soon as they came up the shrouds, they clapped all hands to their cutlasses.  Then I saw we were taken...|location=[[St. Louis]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|editor=John Richard Stephens|title=Captured by Pirates|location=[[New York City]]|publisher=[[Barnes & Noble]]|isbn=0-7607-8537-6|year=2006|page=[https://archive.org/details/capturedbypirate0000unse/page/6 6]|quote=They immediately drew their weapons and, after beating us up severely with their cutlasses, drove us below.|url=https://archive.org/details/capturedbypirate0000unse/page/6}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|editor=John Richard Stephens|title=Captured by Pirates|location=New York City|publisher=Barnes & Noble|isbn=0-7607-8537-6|year=2006|page=[https://archive.org/details/capturedbypirate0000unse/page/9 9]|quote=[N]ine or ten men of a most ferocious aspect armed with muskets, knives, and cutlasses . . .ordered Captain Cowper, Mr. Lumsden, the ship's carpenter, and myself to go on board the pirate, hastening our departure by repeated blows with the flat part of their cutlasses over our backs.|url=https://archive.org/details/capturedbypirate0000unse/page/9}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|editor=John Richard Stephens|title=Captured by Pirates|location=New York City|publisher=Barnes & Noble|isbn=0-7607-8537-6|year=2006|page=[https://archive.org/details/capturedbypirate0000unse/page/40 40]|quote=[T]he man who gave the order commenced beating me severely with the broad side of his cutlass.|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/capturedbypirate0000unse/page/40}}</ref>

Owing to its versatility, the cutlass was as often an agricultural implement and tool as it was a weapon (cf. [[machete]], to which the same comment applies). It was used commonly in [[Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests|rain forest]] and [[sugarcane]] areas, such as the [[Caribbean]] and [[Central America]]. In their most simplified form they are held to have become the machete of the Caribbean.

The [[lead cutter sword|leadcutter sword]] was a weapon modelled on the cutlass, designed for use in shows and demonstrations of swordsmanship in the late [[Victorian era]]. [[Wilkinson Sword]] made these swords in four sizes, no. 1 to no. 4, of increasing weight to suit the strength of the user. The leadcutter was so named because in demonstrations it was used to cut a lead bar in half.<ref>Mark Barton, John McGrath, ''British Naval Swords and Swordsmanship'', pp. 100–102, Seaforth Publishing, 2013 {{ISBN|184832135X}}</ref>  Wilkinson included a mould for the lead bar with each purchase of their swords.<ref>Mike Loades, ''Swords and Swordsmen'', ch. 14, Casemate Publishers, 2011 {{ISBN|1848847033}}</ref>

{{Gallery
|title=Late naval examples
|align=center
|File:HMS Wolverine (1863) cutlass drill.jpg|A cutlass drill on [[HMS Wolverine (1863)|HMS ''Wolverine'']], 1882
|File:Training cutlass-IMG 1111-black.jpg|Training cutlass, late 19th century
}}

===Modern history===
In 1830, after a constable of the London [[Metropolitan Police]] was shot and stabbed while on duty, the [[Home Secretary]] ordered that each police officer in the force "should be issued with a cutlass for his defence"; training in their use was provided at [[Wellington Barracks]]. Initially carried while on night duty,<ref>{{cite book|last=Ingleton|first=Roy|date=1997|title=Arming the British Police: The Great Debate|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7ITxDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT41|location=London|publisher=Routledge|chapter=Chapter 1. Aux armes, citoyens!|isbn=978-0714647418}}</ref> they were soon relegated to being kept in the local [[inspector]]'s office for use in an emergency.<ref name="Evans_2010">{{cite book|last=Evans|first=Donald|date=2010|title=Jack the Ripper: Scotland Yard Investigates|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ce87AwAAQBAJ|location=Cheltenham, Gloucestershire |publisher=The History Press|chapter=Chapter Two: Policing the Metropolis |isbn=978-0750942294}}</ref> Provincial police forces sometimes deployed cutlasses during public disorder, using the hilts and flat edges of the blades to strike rioters, but there is no record of anyone being killed with one.<ref>{{cite book|last=Emsly|first=Clive|date=2021|title=A Short History of Police and Policing|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3L4cEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA110|publisher=Oxford University Press|page=110|isbn=978-0198844600}}</ref> The last recorded issue of police cutlasses was during the [[Tottenham Outrage]], an armed robbery in 1909.<ref name="Evans_2010"/>

In 1936, the British [[Royal Navy]] announced that from then on cutlasses would be carried only for [[Ceremonial weapon|ceremonial]] duties and not used in landing parties.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times|title=Royal Navy|department=Official Appointments and Notices|date=1936-10-24|page=17|issue=47514|column=D}}</ref> The last recorded use of cutlasses by the Royal Navy is often said to be on 16 February 1940 during the boarding action known as the [[Altmark Incident]]. However, this is disbelieved by the majority of the [[HMS Cossack (F03)|HMS ''Cossack'']] Association (''Cossack'' was the ship that boarded ''Altmark'') and the authors of ''British Naval Swords and Swordsmanship''. The authors point to another claim, a boarding by [[HMS Armada (D14)|HMS ''Armada'']] in 1952, but disbelieve this one too. In their view, the last use of cutlasses by the Royal Navy was by a shore party in China in 1900.<ref>Mark Barton, John McGrath, ''British Naval Swords and Swordsmanship'', p. 21, Seaforth Publishers, 2013 {{ISBN|184832135X}}.</ref> Cutlasses continue to be worn in the Royal Navy by [[Chief Petty Officer#United Kingdom|Chief Petty Officers]] when escorting the [[White Ensign]] and by Senior or Leading Ratings as part of an escort at a [[court martial|court-martial]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-events/reference-library/~/media/files/navy-pdfs/news-and-events/naval%20publications/br%203/br3book/an39a.pdf|title=RN DRESS TABLES (39A-2)|date=October 2013|website=www.royalnavy.mod.uk|publisher=Royal Navy Digital|access-date=26 March 2014}}</ref>

The cutlass remained an official weapon in the [[United States Navy]] until it was stricken from the Navy's active inventory in 1949. The cutlass was seldom used for weapons training after the early 1930s. The last new model of cutlass adopted by the US Navy was the US M1917 cutlass, adopted during [[World War I]]; it was based on the Dutch M1898 [[klewang]]. Although cutlasses were still being made during [[World War II]] under the US M1941 designation, this was only a slightly modified variant of the US M1917 cutlass.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.angelfire.com/wa/swordcollector/cutlass.html|first=Rick|last=Wagner|title=Focus on the M1917/M1941 Cutlass|publisher=The Swordcollector|access-date=2008-09-19}}</ref> A [[United States Marine Corps|US Marine]] [[Combat engineering|Combat Engineer]] [[United States Marine Corps rank insignia|NCO]] is reported to have killed an enemy combatant with a US M1941 cutlass at the [[Battle of Inchon]] during the [[Korean War]].<ref>{{cite book|first=Bill|last=Gilkerson|title=Boarders Away|volume=1: With Steel|location=[[Lincoln, Rhode Island]]|publisher=Andrew Mowbray Inc|isbn=978-0-917218-50-7|year=1991}}</ref> A cutlass is still carried by the recruit designated as the Recruit [[Chief petty officer (United States)|Chief Petty Officer]] for each recruit division while at the [[Recruit Training Command, Great Lakes, Illinois|US Navy Recruit Training Command]]. In a message released 31 March 2010, the US Navy approved optional wear of a ceremonial cutlass as part of the Chief Petty Officer dress uniform, pending final design approval.<ref>
Press release (2010-03-31). [https://web.archive.org/web/20100404143648/http://www.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=52377 Uniform Changes Include CPO Cutlass, Ball Caps]. [[United States Navy]]. Retrieved 2011-01-11.
</ref> That approval came in January 2011, and the cutlass was made available for ceremonial wear by Chief Petty Officers in August of that same year.<ref>Press release (2011-01-25). [https://web.archive.org/web/20110425025548/http://www.public.navy.mil/bupers-npc/reference/messages/Documents/NAVADMINS/NAV2011/NAV11025.txt NAVADMIN 025/11 - Uniform Board Update]. [[United States Navy]]. Retrieved 2012-03-18.</ref>

==See also==
* Chinese [[butterfly sword]]
* [[Dirk]], another blade weapon specialized for naval hand-to-hand combat
* [[Elgin cutlass pistol]]

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

; Attribution
* {{EB1911|wstitle=Cutlass|volume=7|page=671}}

{{Swords by region}}
{{Pirates}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Wikiquote}}

[[Category:18th-century weapons]]
[[Category:19th-century weapons]]
[[Category:American Civil War weapons]]
[[Category:Early Modern European swords]]
[[Category:Modern European swords]]
[[Category:Piracy]]
[[Category:Single-edged swords]]
[[Category:Victorian-era weapons of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Naval weapons]]