Longboat

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A longboat is a type of ship's boat that began wide-use in the 1500s or before. Though the Royal Navy replaced longboats with launches from 1780, examples can be found in merchant ships after that date. The longboat was usually the largest boat carried by each ship. In the early period of use, a ship's longboat was often so large that it could not be carried on board and was instead towed. For instance, a 1618 survey of Royal Navy ships' boats listed a 52 ft 4 in (16 m) longboat used by the First Rate Prince, a ship whose length of keel was 115 ft (35 m). This could lead to the longboat being lost in adverse weather. By the middle of the 17th century, it became increasingly more common to carry the longboat on board, though not universally. In 1697 some British ships chasing a French squadron cut adrift the longboats they were towing in an attempt to increase their speed and engage with the enemy. The longboat was used for transporting heavy weights. The two most important of these were casks of drinking water, and an anchor and its cable. The supply of water to (particularly) sailing ships was so vital that all the boats of a ship would have some capability to carry water, but the longboat had the greatest capacity. The casks carried by a large boat would be "leaguers", which held 150 imperial gallons (680 L). These would be laid in the bilges between the thwarts, filling most of the bottom of the boat and making a load of several tonnes. Anchor handling was of special importance before tugs became widely available. A boat would be used to carry either a stream anchor or a kedge into position so that the ship may be...