Editing Sloop-of-war (section)

==Rigging==
A sloop-of-war was quite different from a civilian or mercantile [[sloop]], which was a general term for a single-masted vessel rigged in a way that would today be called a [[gaff rig|gaff cutter]] (but usually without the square topsails then carried by cutter-rigged vessels), though some sloops of that type did serve in the 18th century British [[Royal Navy]], particularly on the [[Great Lakes]] of North America.

In the first half of the 18th century, most naval sloops were two-masted vessels, usually carrying a [[ketch]] or a [[Snow (ship)|snow]] rig. A ketch had main and [[mizzen]] masts but no foremast. A snow had a foremast and a main mast immediately abaft which a small subsidiary mast was fastened on which the spanker was set.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Underhill |first1=Harold A. |title=Sailing Ships Rigs and Rigging |date=1955 |publisher=Brown Son & Fergusson |isbn=978-0-85174-176-5 |pages=6 |edition=2nd |url=https://www.skipper.co.uk/catalogue/item/sailing-ship-rigs-and-rigging}}</ref>

=== Ship sloop ===
The first three-masted, i.e., "[[Full-rigged ship|ship rigged]]", sloops appeared during the 1740s, and from the mid-1750s most new sloops were built with a three-masted (ship) rig. The third mast afforded the sloop greater mobility and the ability to back sail.

===Brig sloop===
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[[File:Brig3.png|upright=1.2|thumb|Configuration of typical brig-sloop]]

In the 1770s, the two-masted sloop re-appeared in a new guise as the ''[[brig]] sloop'', the successor to the former snow sloops. Brig sloops had two masts, while ''ship sloops'' continued to have three (since a [[brig]] is a two-masted, square-rigged vessel, and a ship is a square-rigger with three or more masts, though never more than three in that period).

In the Napoleonic period, Britain built huge numbers of brig sloops of the {{sclass|Cruizer|brig-sloop|4}} (18 guns) and the {{sclass|Cherokee|brig-sloop|4}} (10 guns). The brig rig was economical of manpower – important given Britain's chronic shortfall in trained seamen relative to the demands of the wartime fleet. When armed with [[carronade]]s (32-pounders in the ''Cruizer'' class, 18-pounders in the ''Cherokee'' class), they had the highest ratio of firepower to tonnage of any ships in the Royal Navy, albeit within the short range of the carronade. The carronades also used much less manpower than the long guns normally used to arm frigates. Consequently, the ''Cruizer'' class were often used as cheaper and more economical substitutes for [[frigate|frigates]], in situations where the frigates' high cruising endurance was not essential. A carronade-armed brig, however, would be at the mercy of a frigate armed with long guns, so long as the frigate maneuvered to exploit its superiority of range. The other limitation of brig sloops as opposed to post ships and frigates was their relatively restricted stowage for water and provisions, which made them less suitable for long-range cruising. However, their shallower draught made them excellent raiders against coastal shipping and shore installations.

===Bermuda sloop===
[[File:Royal Navy - Bermuda Sloop2.jpeg|thumb|upright=1.2|1831 painting of a three-masted Bermuda sloop of the [[Royal Navy]], entering a [[West Indies]] port.]]
The Royal Navy also made extensive use of the [[Bermuda sloop]], both as a [[cruiser]] against French [[privateers]], slavers, and smugglers, and also as its standard ''advice'' vessels, carrying communications, vital persons and materials, and performing [[reconnaissance]] duties for the fleets.

Bermuda sloops were found with gaff rig, mixtures of gaff and square rig, or a [[Bermuda rig]]. They were built with up to three masts. The single masted ships had huge sails and harnessed tremendous wind energy, which made them demanding to sail and required large, experienced crews. The Royal Navy favoured multi-masted versions, as it was perennially short of sailors at the end of the 18th century, and its personnel received insufficient training (particularly in the Western Atlantic, priority being given to the continuing wars with France for control of Europe). The longer decks of the multi-masted vessels also had the advantage of allowing more guns to be carried.