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Golden Age of Piracy: Caribbean 1655 (OOC)

Somewhat rare. Perhaps one could be obtained when sold out of the service, but I'm not too familiar with the fate of decommissioned vessels in the 1600s. Corvettes, however, were common among privateers, and were essentially lightly armed, fully rigged ships with frigate lines. They usually had an armament of ~22 guns, and were referred to as a "sloop of war." Basically, the frigate's smaller cousin.

Letters of marque or an equivalent can be given by a governor, so I'd say it's possible.

Golden Age of Piracy: Caribbean 1655 (OOC)

It was difficult because the crews of frigates were highly trained and would obliterate or scare away most pirates. Figures such as blackbeard and Bartholomew Roberts were the exception, because they already had a powerful ship through some stroke of luck.

On that note, a brig taking a frigate was nearby unheard of. The only instance of a brig capturing a frigate in open battle was the capture of the Spanish frigate El Game by the brig HMS Speedy. Underhanded tactics such as cutting-out expeditions may yield better results.

From Wikipedia: "The skirmish is notable for the large disparity between the size and firepower of El Gamo and her opponent, the British brig Speedy; the former was around four times the size, had much greater firepower and a crew six times the size of Speedy, which had a reduced crew of 54 at the time of the engagement."

It can be done, but you gotta be some of the best out there. :p

Golden Age of Piracy: Caribbean 1655 (OOC)

Since I'm the only non-pirate here, I'll do it more formally with a proper "Aye sir!" ;D

Yeah, pirates having frigates were very rare. The only pirate with one that I recall was Blackbeard; the Queen Anne's Revenge was an old decommissioned frigate, and was being used as a slave ship by the time Teach captured it.

Golden Age of Piracy: Caribbean 1655 (OOC)

Not sure about which specifics to get into, but brigantines were considered unweatherly and top-heavy, and generally undesireable to take out into deep sea. They tended to easy pitch over and sink in storms. They were second only to frigates for coastal warfare and escorts, though.

Merchantmen, or East Indiaman, were "heavily" armed trading vessels. They often looked like ships-of-the-line, and indeed, tried their best to look like one. They would pierce additional gun ports to give the appearance of a fierce warship, and often had a large number of guns. They never stood up against a proper warship however; the crew of such ships were generally ill trained, and the guns aboard were pretty much 6-pounder popguns. It was a pretty big deal if an East Indiaman did anything besides surrender.

Not too familiar with Spanish galleons and the like, but vessels such as the sloop, barque, and the brigantine were pirate favorites.

Golden Age of Piracy: Caribbean 1655 (OOC)

Haha, sounds good. They're my favorite type of ship, I can go for hours talking about them. :p

They were also commonly used as escorts, forgot to mention that.

Golden Age of Piracy: Caribbean 1655 (OOC)

No problem!

Generally, frigates were in the middling class of warships --In between the lightly armed sloops and privateers that took merchant ships and terrorized shipping, and the slow, heavily armed ships-of-the-line that dished it out in line combat. Frigates usually operated independently or in small squadrons, often acting as patrol ships, scouts ahead of the combat line, or as merchant raiders. They were the most versatile warship of the day, and probably the first example of a multi-role military unit. Hope that clarifies their role somewhat.

Golden Age of Piracy: Caribbean 1655 (OOC)

Just an FYI I think you got frigates and ships-of-the-line a little blurred. The picture you've got for the frigates is a classic 74, which isn't a frigate. At this time period, frigates only went up to ~28 guns, maybe ~32 at best with light guns (6-pounder to ~12-pounders, I believe.) It wasn't until late 1700s that we got massively armed, 44-gun, 32-pounder heavy frigates that beat speed records, but they were never really regarded as ships-of-the-line, and never really stood in the line of battle. Ships-of-the-line were in their own class and type of ship, and could easily blow your average frigate (with the exception of the latter type that I described which could go toe-to-toe with the smaller fourth-rates) out of the water. Frigates are fairly weatherly, I think you're thinking of the ships-of-the-line, which handle pretty horribly. ;D

I'll have my CS as soon as I can.

The Transreality War: Ship-Based Sci-Fi Multiverse RP

They've got some pretty big problems. The guild used to be much bigger than it is now. :I

The Transreality War: Ship-Based Sci-Fi Multiverse RP

Finally, RPG back up. Dem servers, wow.

The Transreality War: Ship-Based Sci-Fi Multiverse RP

Kilo6 said
Thanks! Really like the artwork by the artist too.(Spice and Wolf..... oh the feels....)

One of the best franchises out there. ;D