What did an early 18th-century pinnace look like?

[Dan DSilva]

Hello again.  As mentioned earlier, I obtained an Airfix HMS Prince as the centerpiece for a War of the Spanish Succession collection.  I gather from The Boats of Men-of-War that after 1702 Royal Navy first-rates were allotted a longboat, a pinnace and two yawls.  I was wondering if anyone can point me to sources on what the pinnace would have looked like at this time.  I know of the Model Shipways English pinnace, which is supposed to represent one from 1750-1760, and various plans from RMG which were drawn up in the 1790s, but obviously designs could have changed a lot from the 1700s to then, so I don't assume I can just copy one of them.

[druxey]

The best source is W.E. May's The Boats of Men-of-War (Chatham Publishing, 1999). Page 19 is particularly helpful  for this time period.

[Chapman]

Richard Endsor's books, with titles like *The Restoration Warship* or *The Master Shipwright's Secrets*, depict boats from that era. I can't say offhand how complete the drawings are; I'd have to look through the books for that. Which is always a pleasure.

[Chapman]

Restoration Warships by Mr. Endsor

contains beautiful drawings with frame plans for the

31ft longboat

30ft pinnace 

23ft yawl of HMS Lenox.

The Master Shipwright's Secrets

for the longboat and pinnace of HMS Tyger, based on a boats contract and contemporary models.

 

They don't look strikingly different from boats from the 18th century. But the details make all the difference. Finding suitable ones for the scale of the Airfix Prince is a challenge in the first place.

[Dan DSilva]

On 11/12/2025 at 8:14 PM, druxey said:

The best source is W.E. May's The Boats of Men-of-War (Chatham Publishing, 1999). Page 19 is particularly helpful  for this time period.

Thank you.  Would you think the ten- and nine-oared boats would be a good general guide?

[Dan DSilva]

22 hours ago, Chapman said:

Restoration Warships by Mr. Endsor

contains beautiful drawings with frame plans for the

31ft longboat

30ft pinnace 

23ft yawl of HMS Lenox.

The Master Shipwright's Secrets

for the longboat and pinnace of HMS Tyger, based on a boats contract and contemporary models.

 

They don't look strikingly different from boats from the 18th century. But the details make all the difference. Finding suitable ones for the scale of the Airfix Prince is a challenge in the first place.

Thanks.  I'll look into getting a copy.

[druxey]

Ten oared sounds reasonable.