Schooner

Originally a small sharp built vessel with two masts and fore and aft rig Sometimes it carried square topsails on one or both masts and was called a topsail schooner About 1840 longer vessels with three masts fore and aft rigged came into use and since that time vessels with four masts and even with six masts so rigged are built Schooners with more than two masts are designated three masted schooners four masted schooners etc See Illustration in Appendix