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What were the weapons used by pirates and corsairs?
Their main weapons: daggers, swords, axes, cutlasses, muskets, pistols, spontons, halberds, etc.The dangerous long muskets used by snipers were very effective.
Particularly effective were long muskets of French origin with which they fired at the crew, especially the helmsman, from a long distance.
Pirate weapons ranged from daggers to pistols, but all of them had in common that they were easily handled on the deck of a ship, which gave them an advantage.
Pirate weapons
Short, long or firearms
The weapons used by pirates, privateers, buccaneers, filibusters, were in accordance with the times in which they lived. Especially there were many pirates in the XV, XVI, XVII, XVIII centuries, and they were effective with their desire to assault and rob ships.
These weapons were mainly: daggers, swords, axes, cutlasses, muskets, pistols, spontoons, halberds, etc.
Few firearms
They were fired mainly at the beginning of the boarding, since in the melee there was no time to reload them.
The pirate bladed weapons were knives, swords, spears, boarding axes, spurs, chuzo, halberds, etc. The most commonly used were the easiest to use on board ship.
The main firearms used by the pirates were the pistol, arquebus, arquebus, musket, etc.
Their objective was boarding.
Poor accuracy of firearms
The accuracy of their firearms was very poor at long range, they were single shot, and it took too long to reload them.
On the other hand, when the pirates and corsairs wanted to seize the ship, the cargo and the important passengers, they used weapons that did not damage their future goods.
They used the cannons as much as necessary to break the ship’s sails and prevent it from fleeing, and then proceeded to boarding.
When they reached the ship, they boarded it. With the axes, halberds and chuzos they broke the sail to immobilize it, and after a first shot of arquebuses, pistols and muskets, they moved on to the boarding.
and muskets, they moved on to hand-to-hand combat with bladed weapons such as knives, daggers, cutlasses, swords, etc.
Cannons
They avoided using them
The accuracy of their firearms was very poor at long distance, they were single shot, and it took too long to load them again.
On the other hand, when pirates and corsairs tried to seize the ship, the cargo and the important passengers, they used weapons that did not damage their future goods.
They used the cannons as much as necessary to break the ship’s sails and prevent it from fleeing, and then proceeded to boarding.
When they reached the ship, they boarded it. With the axes, halberds and chuzos they broke the sail to immobilize it, and after a first shot of arquebuses, pistols and muskets, they moved on to the boarding.
and muskets, they moved on to hand-to-hand combat with bladed weapons such as knives, daggers, cutlasses, swords, etc.
+ Cannons
Effective weapons
Daggers and cutlasses at short distances.
The pirates were always heavily armed and kept the weapons they obtained during their raids. Their weapons were the usual weapons of the time, although they preferred weapons that they could use more easily and effectively in their boardings.
Instead of large swords or sabers that need a lot of space to be effective, they preferred short swords or very effective cutlasses.
The cannons used to pivot on a pivot that allowed to control the height of the shot by means of a wedge whose progressive introduction modified the shot.
At the beginning, these bases of the cannons were fixed and made loading difficult. Later, wheels were added to facilitate their displacement and therefore the loading of gunpowder and heavy balls, the projectiles of the time.
The short weapons of the pirates:
Cutlass, dagger, axe …
ALFANJE
Alfanje, is a generic term, although there were of different sizes. It used to be a short, wide and bent sword, generally with only one edge. Widely used in boarding in some of its variants.
+ Alfanje
DAGA
The dagger, is a white weapon, double-edged, with protection in the fist, intermediate in size between a dagger and a sword.
+ Dagger
AXE
The axe was used more than for combat to immobilize the ship once boarded, breaking the sails. In this way, even if they wanted to maneuver the ship, it did not respond to the wind because it had no sails attached and therefore could not flee and get away from the pirates…
+ Weapons
Pirates’ long weapons:
Halberd, sponton, chuzo.
A long, white weapon for attacking at medium distance, without taking so much risk.
+ Weapons
HALBERD
The halberd, was an elongated weapon of about 2 meters long, with a laza point. In the upper part, on one side it had an axe of great surface, and on the other a point with hooks.
+ Weapons
SPONTON
The sponton, was a spear of about 2 meters long, with a leaf-shaped tip or heart.
+ Weapons
CHUZO
The Chuzo, was a spear of small length, tipped with a round iron. Ideal for boarding.
+ Weapons
Firearms of the pirates:
Harquebus, musket, pistol
+ Weapons
ARCABUZ
The arquebus was a muzzle-loading weapon, consisting of a metal tube on a wooden base 1 meter long. It evolved and the method of ignition was improved. It was heavy, with a short range of 50 meters, and little precision. Its great advantage was that it could pierce armor.
+ Weapons
MOSQUET
The musket is an evolution of the arquebus. It was 1.5 meters long, but with a longer range of 100 meters, and with greater accuracy.
The musket was more effective than the arquebus, as well as less heavy. In addition to being able to use it firing from a greater distance, it provided greater security and more time to reload it, if the shot was missed.
+ Weapons
PISTOL
The pistol was of small length, with poor accuracy. Therefore it could only be used at close range. In humid environments such as on board ships, it was a risk if the powder got wet and therefore the shot was not fired.
+ Weapons
