Pinnace

The term, pinnace can refer to a boat or a ship.

(1) A pinnace was a small boat used in various navies as a ship's boat - for carrying officers ashore for example. Its size depended on the size of the warship. In the Royal Navy it was smaller than a ship’s “launch”. In the German and French navies it was the second biggest ship’s boat. Most could set some sort of simple mast and sail rig.

(2) A pinnace was a small 3-masted armed ship in the 16th and 17th centuries, originally of about 18 guns but later up to about 40. In its duties it was the fore-runner of the frigate. It tended to have a relatively high stern-castle, sometimes ornately decorated. It had two square-rigged sails on each of its two forward masts, and a lateen sail on the mizzen, with a square sail above it. The bowsprit also sported a small square sail on a tiny mast.

Large pinnaces, as armed cargo vessels, made up the bulk of the Dutch East India Company’s fleet.