the.com/sailingship
the original wind-powered hardware that ran on rope, prayer, and absolutely zero apologies.
means A vessel propelled mainly by sails catching the wind, as opposed to one driven by oars, steam, or engines.
from A straightforward English compound of "sailing" and "ship." "Sail" descends from Old English "segl," with cousins across the Germanic languages (Dutch "zeil," German "Segel"), and "ship" from Old English "scip," also widely shared in Germanic tongues. The combined term "sailing ship" really only became necessary once steamships arrived in the 19th century — before that, a ship was simply a ship, since wind was the only way to move one. The label is essentially a retronym, born the moment the engine made distinction worth drawing.
- crew size
- large ships needed hundreds just to manage sails
- speed record
- clippers hit 20+ knots chasing tea profits
- scurvy fix
- limes finally beat sailors' deadliest enemy
- rope lengths
- a single ship carried miles of rigging
- naming rule
- renaming a ship was considered cursed bad luck
hms victory — nelson's flagship at the battle of trafalgar, 1805, still afloat in portsmouth
cutty sark — british tea clipper launched 1869, fastest sailing ship of her era, preserved in london
uss constitution — american frigate launched 1797, still commissions ceremonial sails in boston harbor