A
brig is a sailing vessel with two
square-rigged masts. During the
Age of Sail, brigs were seen as fast and maneuverable and were used as both naval
warships and merchant vessels. They were especially popular in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Brigs fell out of use with the arrival of the
steam ship because they required a relatively large crew for their small size and were difficult to sail into the wind. They are not to be confused with a
brigantine, which has different rigging. A brig is distinct from a three-masted
ship by virtue of only having two masts.
