Pirate Sword

[John Martin]

I am curios as to whether or not a pirate's sword always looked like this example:

Copyrighted photo has been removed by site admin

I was doing a search and came across that image. Anyhow, they are always portrayed in that style in movies, books, on the internet, and so on. I couldn't find out that much about them and was wondering if this style just developed over time into a pirates sword or if the pirates developed that style or if they just used the cutlass type sword a lot.

[hdwarner]

contact FredlyFX , he is a member here and i think he is knowledgable about swords of that type

[John Martin]

Okay, will do I've found out some more information, but nothing much.

[Copper]

For what it's worth, during the 17th and 18th centuries, the primary sword in use at sea was the cutlass, a relatively short sword, rarely over 2.5 feet long, and fairly heavy. It was for close quarters battle, right in face to face, in heavy slashing attacks. It was not commonly used in thrusting attacks, like a rapier. The blade was thick, around 3/16 to 1/4 inch, and wide, 2 to 2.5 inches. It often had a heavy guard, for punch attacks. It, along with the pike and boarding axe,were the weapons of the common sailor in military service, while officers used a finer instrument, called the marine short sword.

The cutlass primary advantage was the ease of use. If you had a strong arm, you didn't need much skill, you closed quickly with your foe and hacked at him. The weight of the blade did the rest. It could cut through most defenses after a few swings. One good swing with a cutlass was generally all that was needed if you made contact with your target.

This was useful, as close quarter battles at sea nessisarily had to be short. While the boarding party is attacking the vessel, the cannons are still trying to do their best to sink each other. The action had to be quick, to stop the victim's cannon from making your ship into splinters.

They were rarley elegant weapons, turned out in mass by the respective countries in times of war by industries that made more money making other goods, so less care and more metal went into their making.

Hope this helps.

Continuing.......Pirates selected this type of sword, due to the heavy damage it caused in a short amount of time. You see, a large gaping slash (with either the removal of a limb or the victims offal spilling onto the deck) was more impressive than the thrust of a rapier into a body. Much more blood was evident, and as they attacked mostly merchantmen, not military targets, who were already much less inclined to put up a fight to save a cargo that did little to put money into their pockets in relation to the ship owners pockets, they were quickly disheartened. Why die? Most pirates fought as little as they could get away with. Infections from the smallest cuts killed more than those who were killed in actual battle.

Any how, the sword in your link is not an actual cutlass, but more of a marine short sword. I can't tell for sure, it may actually be a saber, but I can't tell the length. Most sabers have more curve in the blade, and are quite long. Cutlasses have much more curve, in the last 1/3 of the blade, showing in the spine (rear) of the blade as well as the belly.

Your sword would be an officer's weapon, though. Rarely found in the hands of a pirate, but a treasure to one who had one!

[Mende]

Definetely not an ordinary cutlass. . .more like an officer's sword ..
My uncle/father/grandparents all had officer's swords. ..and they look way more like you blade.
long and slender .. not thick and rough.

[Feukair]

I think that pirates being pirates would use whatever swords/knives they could find. So theres not any particular "pirate sword".

[Copper]

Feukair-

You're correct in that they (pirates) would use any sword they could find. But the cutlass was prefered, because you did not need to be a fencing master to use it. And a fencing master would refuse to use it if he had a better, lighter, more manuverable sword to use.

The fact of the matter is, the cutlass was used to simply hack and slash. No finesse required, nor readily usable with a weapon that had that much of it's weight (center of gravity) that far away from the hilt. And that made it the common sailor's weapon of choice, and thus the pirate's; easy to use, easy to aquire.

[Ice Czar]

a Cutlass shares many things in common with other close combat weapons like the Gladius, Falcata & Xiphos, their robust construction, length, and an edge equally damaging on a return draw slice as a forward slash.

Working below deck or in a crowded deck melee amidst the wreckage of rigging is much like the working space from behind a Phalanx or Roman Shield wall, so they share a similar length, but unlike the the typical stabbing from behind a shield, cutlasses are generally wielded in the midst of a lightly or unarmored foe. Sharing a slashing blade line with a Sabre or Scimitar but are considerably shorter. They are much like short Falchions

[Copper]

Well put, Ice Czar. Checked out your links...I didn't realize how much information Wikipedia had on the subject. I glad to see RCPO's still carry a cutlass. That was the last time I carried one....Many moons ago...

[Ice Czar]

thanx CPO Copper

Thats the great thing about a wiki, if its lacking something you can add it. There are now over 2 million English entries, 2 of which are mine, neither of which have anything to do with swords

Its a great place to find copyright free examples, that will serve up quickly.

[michaeldrew942]

This is a copy of Capt jack Sparrows sword from Pirates of the Caribbean.
It is a saber as opposed to a cutlass. I read somewhere that he like the saber more them the cutlass for the few more inches that the saber had.