To a sailor, a ship is one which has three masts each of which is square-rigged. Other vessels are barques, sloops, xebecs and so on. In Kydd’s day, the Royal Navy was a mighty force with many hundreds of ships and tens of thousands of men.

Although Lloyd’s List abandoned the convention of calling ships “she” in 2002 (later reinstated!), the Royal Navy proudly continued to honour this tradition. There are many theories as to why ships have been referred to as female since the very earliest mariners sailed the seas. Perhaps it is something to do with the love a sailor has for his ship, or the innate beauty of the lines of a tall ship

Ship losses during the Revolutionary War from 1793 to 1802

Configuration and rating of ships of the Royal Navy

The Full-rigged ship of the eighteenth century