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One opinion is that the "longboats" of the Gaspee attackers were larger than commonly used in recreations today of the Gaspee attack.
Illustrations of Boats Probably Used.
The longboats probably were like the
ones shown in the famous painting by Charles DeWolf Brownell (Rhode Island
Historical Society). Note the size of the boats easily accommodates
more than 15 persons in each boat.
Several lines of reasoning lead to an estimate that the Gaspee raiders used
long-boats
well over 20 feet long --- more likely about 30 feet
long --- and easily capable of holding at least 11 to 15 men. An example
of the type of long-boat probably used is the reconstructed long boat shown in
the photo on the right, which boat is well over 20 feet long and is shown with
11 persons in it, and obviously not full.
| By 1750 shipbuilding in Rhode Island had reached the levels of sophistication of England. There were common formulas used to determine the length of a ship's longboat. These formulas meant that the "largest long-boats in the harbor" would have been more than 25 feet long, probably closer to 30 feet long. |
Bowen's Description of the Longboats.
We all start with the description given by Bowen:
"Mr. Brown immediately resolved on her destruction, and he forthwith directed one of his trusty shipmasters to collect eight of the largest long-boats in the harbor, with five oars to each..."
"Five oars" probably means 5 pairs of oars
Bowen's 18th century description is a strange description to modern city
dwellers. "Five oars" is an odd number, not an even number of
oars, and we assume that rowing takes an even number of oars. At first we
think that Bowen wants to tell us that the fifth oar was used for steering
(which does not make much sense because long-boats would commonly be steered by
a tiller) Then we think that Bowen wants to tell us the fifth oar was to be a
spare. (That also does not make much sense, because the persons whom he was
addressing really would not care whether a spare oar was carried). And since we
do not know by experience what an ordinary long boat of the day was, and cannot
picture in our mind the size involved --- "largest" doesn't seem to
help us much without some further digging. Most of us today stop after reading
Bowen's description, and we do not spend time thinking about what it means.
If the audience is composed of 18th century persons familiar with ship's boats use --- "five oars" does say something about the size of the boats. And, on close examination, Bowen's "largest" description does tell us something about the size of the boats.
In the 18th Century, the nautical term of "oars" when describing a boat, could mean either "single oars" or "pairs of oars". For an example of the use "oars" to mean "pair of oars" , see the Table of Boats carried by British vessels of war by William Mountaine, The Seaman's Vade-Mecum (London, 1757). British warships carried a variety of small boats, for different purposes. Mountaine describes the oars of the various "Long Boats" as e.g., "7 oars" or 8 oars" Yet, if you look at the same type of long-boats in the British Navy drawings, you will see the oars set out as "7 Pair" or "8 Pair". E.g., "18th Century Longboats After Chapman", at Notes on 18th Century Ship's Boats, Vol. 26, Nautical Research Journal, p 209 et seq. (Nautical Research Guild, Washington, D.C., Dec., 1980). So if you were in the merchant service, or in the navy, "a longboat with five oars, meant the largest boat a ship cold carry (see continuation page, below) with five sets of oars.
On the other hand, five oars meant something else in the whaling industry. Tthere was an established whaling industry in Rhode Island. The whaling ships carried whaleboats, which were launched from the ship to get near the whales and harpoon them. The whaleboats were light and fast and could be rowed by five men at a speed of five miles per hour. To get the longest leverage possible, for speed, he five men rowing, used very long oars and sat on the opposite side of the water in which their oar dipped. Whaleboats did indeed have five oars. Three oars were on one side of the boat; two on the other. On the side with two oars there also was an oar mounted as a steering oar and controlled by the mate. Thus there were three men on each side of the whaleboat, and what we might call three oars on each side, but the sixth oar was fixed for steering and was a short oar handled by the mate on the side of the boat on which this short steering oar was located. The whaling industry was sufficiently developed so that whaleboats had a common size and design. Whale boats were usually 28 feet long and six feet wide. The reason for the limited number of rowers was the lack of space and crew members. The whale boat needed to also have in the boat a sail and sailing gear (it was better to use a sail to close on the whales) plus casks of line and other gear needed to harpoon and retrieve the whale. Because the more whale boats that could be launched the more whales could be caught, and the whaling ships of the need had limited space to carry crew and house and feed the crew, the whaleboat had to be rowed by a limited number of men.. Willits D. Ansel, The Whaleboat (Mystic Seaport Museum, 1978).
So, to sum up, if you were in the navy or on most merchant ships, if the longboat was said to have "five oars", it meant five sets of oars. But if you were in the whaling industry, when the whaleboat was said to have "five oars" it meant five single oars. But that whaleboat with five single oars would be 28 fite long and six feet wide.
Bowen referred to all the boats as "longboats" and not as "whaleboats" which suggests to me that the five sets of oars was what was meant by his description of what the oars were. Mawney referred to his boat as a "barge", and barge was included in the general term of "longboat" as meaning the largest boat carried by the merchant ships and navy ships. A ship's barge was the type of big boat found only on ships of the line and other large navy ships. It not only was used for carring the ranking officer, but also for the landing of marines and troops. A barge would ordinarily be handled by more than five men rowing. The "barge" term tends to lead to the conclusion that the boats probably had five "sets" of oars.
What is important is that we can deduce, either from the necessary size of a rowed boat with 5 pairs of oars or from the standard size of a whaleboat with its 5 single oars, is a boat that has at least 3 feet of length for each set of oars. Therefore, considering some room at the bow and some at the stern, in addition to the space for 5 seats for rowing, the longboats must have been in excess of 18 feet long.
This estimate of the minimum size of the longboats (calculated from a meaning of "five pairs of oars") of which Bowen was speaking, fits with Bowen's adjective "largest" in "largest long-boats", if we examine the usual size of a long-boat of the day.
But there is more. By 1750 shipbuilding in Rhode Island had reached the
levels of sophistication of England. There were common formulas used to
determine various aspects of the ship once the length of the ship was agreed
upon between purchaser and builder. This included the length and size of the
ship's longboat. Read on to find that Bowen's description of "largest
long-boats" would have meant, to the persons he was addressing, boats of
more than 25 feet long. 
to a discussion of more about the size
of the longboats in the Gaspee attack.
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