Man O War Ship
The admiral had his day cabin located on this deck at the stern of the vessel.
Man o war ship. It was typically heavily armed and often avoided by the pirates. Highly versatile and powerful ships capable of trade diplomacy and combat the man of war was the most prominent of armed ships from the 16th to 19th century. The man of war now evolved into the ship of the line. The term often refers to a ship armed with cannon and propelled primarily by sails as opposed to a galley which is propelled primarily by oars.
Of course sometimes such ship were used to transport treasure or acted as escort to merchant ships. Although the term never acquired a specific meaning it was usually reserved for any grand imposing armed ship boasting multiple gun decks. The sailing man of war emerged during the 16th century. The term man o war itself was not a strict naval classification.
By the middle of the 17th century warships were carrying increasing numbers of cannon on their broadsides and tactics evolved to bring each ship s firepower to bear in a line of battle. The man o war is a naval ship that was designed for combat and not for merchant service. Three of the man of war s small boats sat on cradles attached to the beams which crossed over the open space. Also man o war or simply man was a royal navy expression for a powerful first rate ship of the line warship or frigate from the 16th to the 19th century.