Quarterdeck has five warships, from a three-decked first rate of 116 guns to a 12-gun cutter, plus a merchant brigantine and two ship's boats, and every one handles and fights differently.
At a glance
| Length | Guns | Broadside | Crew | Best speed | Turn | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First Rate | 57 m | 116 | 1,208 lb | 850 | 9.8 kn | 2.8°/s |
| Seventy-four | 51 m | 74 | 781 lb | 600 | 11.5 kn | 3.0°/s |
| Frigate | 39 m | 40 | 297 lb | 280 | 13.0 kn | 4.0°/s |
| Brig | 31 m | 18 | 108 lb | 120 | 13.5 kn | 5.0°/s |
| Cutter | 20 m | 12 | 36 lb | 60 | 13.2 kn | 6.0°/s |
| Brigantine | 24 m | none | none | 14 | 12.1 kn | 4.6°/s |
Broadside is the weight of shot one side fires at once. Best speed is under full sail with the wind on the most favourable bearing. See Wind and Sail for speeds on every point of sail.
Every ship has a page in the shipyard, with a render, its lines plan, its sail plan and deck plan, an armament card and a polar diagram of its speed off the wind. Each page also has a Sea Trial button that takes that ship to sea on its own.
First Rate
A three-decker: sixteen ports a side on each of three gun decks, 32-pounders below, 24-pounders above them and 12-pounders on top, and more 12-pounders on the quarterdeck and forecastle. Its broadside is more than four times a frigate's. It's slow, it turns slowly and it can't sail close to the wind. Its gun crew is so large that fighting under full sail leaves under half the men its sails need, so a first rate fights under topsails. Its size also makes it the easiest target afloat. It carries a launch.
Seventy-four
The ship of the line: two gun decks of fourteen ports a side, 32-pounders below and 18-pounders above, with 9-pounders on the upper works. It has two thirds of a first rate's broadside, it's faster and handier, and it fights under topsails with full sail handling. It carries a launch.
Frigate
One gun deck of 18-pounders, thirteen a side, and 9-pounders on the quarterdeck and forecastle. Fast, quick in stays and able to sail closer to the wind than the ships of the line, a frigate chooses its fights. It's the ship of the Frigate Duel. It carries a launch.
Brig
Two masts, both square-rigged, with a boom mainsail. It has no gun deck: nine 12-pounders a side on the open deck. It's the fastest of the warships off the wind, and it turns quickly. It carries a jolly boat.
Cutter
The smallest warship: one mast, fore-and-aft rigged, with no yards, and six 6-pounders a side. It sits low in the water, which makes it a hard target. It's the best of all the ships close to the wind, and it turns twice as fast as a first rate. Its jib and mainsail are trimmed on sheets, not braces: see Wind and Sail. It carries a jolly boat.
Brigantine
A merchantman, unarmed, with fourteen men. Its square-rigged foremast and gaff mainsail let it point higher than a brig. It sails only in Sea Trial. It carries a jolly boat.
The boats
The launch and the jolly boat are rowed, not sailed, and nothing fires on them. See Boats and Prizes.
Credits
The carved heads and sterns of the First Rate and the seventy-four are based on a 3D model by Mixmamo.studio (the original), licensed under CC BY 4.0. For Quarterdeck it was cut down to its head and stern, refitted to each hull, recoloured, and given a carved scroll in place of its figurehead.