View source for Schooner

{{short description|Sailing vessel}}
{{other uses|Schooner (disambiguation)}}

[[Image:Lewis R. French NHL.jpg|thumb|[[Lewis R. French (schooner)|''Lewis R. French'']], a gaff-rigged schooner]][[File:Oosterschelde Kieler Foerde.jpg|thumb|''[[Oosterschelde (ship)|Oosterschelde]]'', a topsail schooner]]  [[File:Orianda sailing in Naples.jpg|thumb|''[[Orianda]]'', a staysail schooner, with [[Bermuda rig|Bermuda mainsail]]]]

A '''schooner''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|k|uː|n|ər}} {{respell|SKOO|nər}})<ref>{{cite AV media  |people= Roslyn Flaherty  |date= August 2, 2021|title= 'I was never scared': Passenger aboard historic schooner captures video as it sank in Maine river|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoFUuPabTgA&ab_channel=NEWSCENTERMaine |publisher=NEWSCENTERMaine|via=[[YouTube]]|access-date=February 4, 2024 |time= 00:25}}</ref> is a type of [[sailing ship|sailing vessel]] defined by its [[fore-and-aft rig]] on all of two or more [[mast (sailing)|masts]] and the [[foremast]] generally being shorter than the [[mainmast]]. The most common variants are [[gaff rig|gaff-rigged]] and [[staysail]] schooners, with the topsail schooner carrying a square topsail on the foremast, and [[Bermuda rig|Bermuda]] and [[junk rig|junk-rigs]] being rarities.<ref name="Janes dictionary">{{cite book |last1=Palmer |first1=Joseph |title=Jane's Dictionary of Naval Terms |date=1975 |publisher=Macdonald and Jane's Limited |location=London |isbn=0-356-08258-X}}</ref>{{rp|211}}<ref name="Cunliffe 2016">{{cite book |last1=Cunliffe |first1=Tom |title=Hand, Reef and Steer: Traditional Sailing Skills for Classic Boats|date=2016 |publisher=Adlard Coles |isbn=978-1472925220 |edition=second}}</ref>{{rp|26}}{{r|MacGregor 1982|p=100}}<ref name="MacGregor 1997">{{cite book |last1=MacGregor |first1=David R. |title=The Schooner, Its Design and Development from 1600 to the Present |date=1997 |publisher=Chatham Publishing |location=London |isbn=1-86176-020-5}}</ref>{{rp|48}}

== Name==
The term "schooner" first appeared in eastern North America in the early 1700s.<ref>{{cite web |title=schooner |url=https://www.dictionary.com/browse/schooner |website=Dictionary.com |access-date=4 June 2019}}</ref> The term may be related to a [[Scots language|Scots]] word meaning to skip over water,<ref name=britannica/> or to skip stones.<ref>{{cite web |title=schooner |url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/schooner |website=Online Etymology Dictionary |access-date=4 June 2019}}</ref>

== History ==
The exact origins of schooner rigged vessels are obscure, but by early 17th century they appear in paintings by Dutch marine artists. The earliest known illustration of a schooner depicts a yacht owned by the mayors (Dutch: burgemeesters) of [[Amsterdam]], drawn by the Dutch artist Rool in 1600. Later examples show schooners in Amsterdam in 1638 and [[New Amsterdam]] in 1627. Paintings by [[Willem van de Velde the Younger|Van de Velde]] (1633–1707) and an engraving by [[Jan Kip]] of the Thames at Lambeth, dated 1697, suggest that schooner rig was common in England and [[Holland]] by the end of the 17th century. The ''Royal Transport'' was an example of a large British-built schooner, launched in 1695 at Chatham.<ref name="Leather 1970">{{cite book |last1=Leather |first1=John |title=Gaff Rig |date=1970 |publisher=Adlard Coles Limited |location=London |isbn=0-229-97489-9}}</ref>{{rp|233}}<ref name="MacGregor 1982">{{cite book |last1=MacGregor |first1=David R. |title=Schooners in Four Centuries |date=1982 |publisher=Argus Books Ltd. |location=Hemel Hempstead |isbn=0-85242-774-3}}</ref>{{rp|13}}<ref name=Marquardt>{{cite book |last1=Marquardt |first1=Karl Heinz |title=The global schooner: origins, development, design and construction 1695–1845 |date=2013 |publisher=Conway Maritime |isbn=9780851779300 |pages=7–13 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SxRUAAAAMAAJ |access-date=4 June 2019}}</ref>

The type was further developed in [[British North America]] starting around 1713.<ref name=britannica>{{cite web |last1=Wallenfeldt |first1=Jeff |title=Schooner |url=https://www.britannica.com/technology/schooner |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |access-date=4 June 2019}}</ref> In the 1700s and 1800s in what is now [[New England]] and [[Atlantic Canada]] schooners became popular for coastal trade,<ref>{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Schooner |short=x}}</ref> and being fast and versatile.<ref name="asa">{{cite web |title=What's in a Rig – The Schooner |url=https://asa.com/news/2015/12/09/whats-in-a-rig-the-schooner/ |website=American Sailing Association |date=9 December 2015 |access-date=4 June 2019}}</ref> Three-masted schooners were introduced around 1800.<ref name="Marquardt" />

The schooner rig was used in vessels for a wide range of purposes. Its good ability to windward was valuable to [[privateer]]s, [[blockade runner]]s, slave ships, smaller naval craft, [[pilot boat]]s, and [[opium clipper]]s. [[Packet boat]]s (built for the fast conveyance of passengers and goods) were often schooners. Fruit schooners were noted for their quick passages,  taking their perishable cargoes on routes such as the [[Azores]] to Britain. Some very large schooners with five or more masts were built in the United States from circa 1880–1920 for the bulk cargo trade, such as coal and timber. In yachting, schooners predominated in the early years of the [[America's Cup]]. In more recent times, schooners have been used as sail training ships.

The fishing vessels that worked the [[Grand Banks of Newfoundland]] were schooners, and held in high regard as an outstanding development of the type. This part of North American eastern seaboard is where the term "schooner" first began to be used as a classification for a particular type of vessel. In merchant use, the ease of handling in confined waters and smaller crews relative to [[square rig]]ged vessels contributed to the schooner's popularity, especially in the 19th century. Some schooners worked on deep sea routes. In British home waters, schooners usually had cargo-carrying hulls that were designed to take the ground in drying harbors (or, even, to unload dried out on an open beach). The last of these once-common craft had ceased trading by the middle of the 20th century. 

Schooners were popular on both sides of the Atlantic in the late 1800s and early 1900s. By 1910, 45 five-masted and 10 six-masted bulk-cargo schooners had been built in [[Bath, Maine]], and in towns on [[Penobscot Bay]], including the ''[[Wyoming (schooner)|Wyoming]]'', which is considered the largest wooden ship ever built.<ref name="Guinness">{{cite web |title=Largest wooden sailing ship ever |url=https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/725436-largest-wooden-sailing-ship-ever |website=Guinness World Records |access-date=1 September 2024}}</ref> The [[Thomas W. Lawson (ship)|''Thomas W. Lawson'']] was the only seven-masted schooner built.

== Rig types ==
The rig is rarely found on a hull of less than 50 feet [[length overall|LOA]], and small schooners are generally two-masted. In the two decades around 1900, larger multi-masted schooners were built in [[New England]] and on the [[Great Lakes]] with four, five, six, or even seven masts.<ref name="Leather 1970"/>{{rp|239–242}} Schooners were traditionally gaff-rigged, and some schooners sailing today are reproductions of famous schooners of old, but modern vessels tend to be [[Bermuda rig]]ged (or occasionally [[Junk rig|junk-rigged]]).<ref>[https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=junk+rigged+schooner&id=0BAB054A96800A4B3DBEB9F079E4AAA8FDFA811B&form=IQFRBA&first=1&scenario=ImageBasicHover Images of junk-rigged schooners]</ref> While a [[sloop]] rig is simpler and cheaper, the schooner rig may be chosen on a larger boat to reduce the overall mast height and keep each sail smaller, and thus easier to handle and [[reef (sail)|reef]]. Two-masted schooners display a variety of sails filling the gaps between them, such as a gaff sail on the foremast (even with a Bermuda mainsail), or a main [[staysail]], often with a [[fisherman's staysail|fisherman]] staysail to fill the gap at the top in light airs.

Schooner types are defined by their rig configuration. Most have a [[bowsprit]] although some were built without one for {{clarification needed span|text=crew safety,|reason=This claim is repeated at the Adventure's page, without explanation *how* it aids crew safety (and why that is an issue, considering how prevalent bowsprits on schooners are and were for centuries).|date=July 2025}} such as ''[[Adventure (schooner)|Adventure]]''.

[[File:Margaret Todd under sail (4005478541).jpg|thumb|Four-masted schooner, ''[[Margaret Todd (schooner)|Margaret Todd]]'']]

Some specific types of schooner include:

* [[Grand Banks]] fishing schooner: includes a gaff [[topsail]] on the main mast and a [[fisherman's staysail]]; in winter [[topmast]]s and their upper sails are taken down.<ref name="nsm">{{cite web |title=Sailing Ship Rigs |url=https://maritimemuseum.novascotia.ca/research/sailing-ship-rigs |website=Maritime Museum of the Atlantic |date=14 February 2013 |publisher=Nova Scotia Museum |access-date=4 June 2019}}</ref> ''[[Bluenose]]'' was one such example.
* Topsail schooner/Square topsail schooner: includes a square topsail on the foremast, to which may be added a [[Topgallant sail|topgallant]]. Differing definitions leave uncertain whether the addition of a [[Course (sail)|fore course]] would make such a vessel a [[brigantine]].<ref name="nsm"/> A version with raked masts and known for its great speed, called the [[Baltimore Clipper]] was popular in the early 1800s.
* Four- to seven-masted schooners: these designs spread the sail area over many smaller sails, at a time when sails were hoisted by hand, though mechanical assistance was used as the ships, sails, and gaffs became too large and heavy to raise manually. These were used for coastal trade on the Atlantic coast of North America, the West Indies, South America, and some trans-Atlantic voyages.<ref name="nsm"/>
* Tern schooner: a type of three-masted schooner that was common between 1880 and 1920.<ref name="nsm"/> These had three masts of equal height and no square sails. The name signifies "three of a kind". The simple rig was driven by the need to keep crew sizes to a minimum. They had a range of hull types, with centre-boards being common, especially in those with shallow draft.   {{r|MacGregor 1982|p=53-60}}  [[Wawona (schooner)|''Wawona'']], the largest of this type built, sailed on the [[West Coast of the United States]] from 1897 to 1947.

== Uses ==
[[File:Bluenose vs. Gertrude L. Thebaud, Wallace R. MacAskill, 26 October, 1938.webm|thumb|Fishing schooners ''Bluenose'' and ''Gertrude L.'' in a race]]

Schooners were built primarily for cargo, passengers, and fishing.

The Norwegian polar schooner ''[[Fram (ship)|Fram]]'' was used by both [[Fridtjof Nansen]] and [[Roald Amundsen]] in their explorations of the poles.

[[America (yacht)|''America'']], namesake of the [[America's Cup]], was one of the few schooners ever designed for racing. This race was long dominated by schooners. Three-masted schooner [[Atlantic (yacht)|''Atlantic'']] set the [[transatlantic sailing record]] for a [[monohull]] in the 1905 [[Kaiser's Cup]] race. The record remained unbroken for nearly 100 years.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/02/sports/othersports/schooner-breaks-centuryold-record-for-crossing-the.html| title= YACHT RACING; Schooner Breaks Century-Old Record for Crossing the Atlantic  | newspaper= The New York Times| first=Nancy | last=Ramsey | date=2005-06-02 | access-date=2010-04-25}}</ref> ''[[Bluenose]]'' (1921–1946) was both a successful fishing boat and a racer.

== See also ==

* [[List of schooners]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== External links ==

* [http://www.nsschooner.ca/ Nova Scotia Schooner Association]

{{Rating system of the Royal Navy}}

{{Sailing vessels and rigs}}

{{Warship types of the 19th & 20th centuries}}

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[[Category:Schooners|*]]
[[Category:Merchant sailing ship types]]
[[Category:Naval sailing ship types]]
[[Category:Sailing rigs and rigging]]
[[Category:Dutch inventions]]
[[Category:Ship designs of the Dutch Republic]]
[[Category:Pirate ships]]
[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]