xebec

After a week or so of smooth sailing, they were becoming accustomed to life aboard the hundred-and-thirty foot long 'xebec' .

The 'xebec' , as in most ship types, possesses origins difficult to trace.

They were the final aria in the long opera which had first joined keel and canvas in the 'xebecs' and dhows of the Mediterranean.

The Forte, however, having received intelligence that no other British ship than the Seahorse was cruising in the Archipelago, despatched a squadron, composed of two frigates, two corvette, two mortar-vessels, and some 'xebecs' , upon the service in view.

Captain John Frankford, commanding the 18-gun privateer Belvedere out of Philadelphia, had several spirited engagements with French 'xebecs' and privateers off the Spanish coast in the spring of 1799 during the Quasi-War with France.

Ships in the game include ships of the line, sloops, 'xebecs' , frigates, gun platforms, and bombards.

The awkward 'xebecs' would never be able to outmanoeuvre the British vessels.

The frigates easily outgunned the pirates but had trouble blockading their swift, shore-hugging 'xebecs' .

The officers of the 'xebecs' knew they couldn't outmaneuver or outrun the British so they decided to scuttle their craft, toss their armament overboard and escape on foot to the north.

Acclaimed naval artist Tony Gibbons illustrates every type of sailing warship from ships of the line, frigates, and sloops to privateers’ schooners, bomb ketches, and 'xebecs' .

Many embraced Mohammedonism to escape slavery and at least some joined the 'xebecs' , the swift three masted boats used by the pirates.