Xebec A xebec ( or ) , also spelled zebec , was a Mediterranean sailing ship that was used mostly for trading . It would have a long overhanging bowsprit and protruding mizzen mast . It also can refer to a small , fast vessel of the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries , used almost exclusively in the Mediterranean Sea . Description . Xebecs were similar to galley s used by Algerian Berber corsairs and Barbary pirate s having both lateen sails and oars for propulsion . Early xebecs had two masts ; later ones three . Xebecs featured a distinctive hull with pronounced overhanging bow and stern , and rarely displaced more than 200 tons , making them slightly smaller and with slightly fewer guns than frigate s of the period . Some victorious xebecs of the Spanish Navy , about 1770 ( see Antonio Barceló campaigns . . . in Spanish ) : Notable xebecs of the French Navy include four launched in 1750 : In the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries , a large polacre - xebec carried a square rig on the foremast , lateen sails on the other masts , a bowsprit , and two headsail s . The square sail distinguished this form of a xebec from that of a felucca which is equipped solely with lateen sails . The last of the xebecs in use by European navies were fully square - rigged and were termed xebec - frigates . The British brig - sloop " Speedy " ' s ( 14 guns , 54 men ) defeat of the Spanish xebec - frigate " El Gamo " ( 32 guns , 319 men ) on 6 May 1801 is generally regarded as one of the most remarkable single - ship actions in naval history . It was the foundation of the legendary reputation of the " Speedy ' s " commander , Lord Cochrane ( later Admiral Thomas Cochrane , 10th Earl of Dundonald , GCB ) . Sea - going Mediterranean peoples greatly favoured xebecs as corsairs , and for this purpose built them with a narrow floor to achieve a higher speed than their victims , but with a considerable beam in order to enable them to carry an extensive sail - plan . The lateen rig of the xebec allowed for the ship to sail close hauled to the wind often giving it an advantage in pursuit or escape . The use of oars or sweeps allowed the xebec to approach vessels who were becalmed . When used as corsairs they carried a crew of 300 to 400 men and mounted perhaps 16 to 40 guns according to size . In peacetime operations , the xebec could transport merchandise . Etymology . Xebec is also written as " xebeck " , " xebe ( c ) que " , " zebec ( k ) " , " zebecque " , " chebec " , " shebeck " ( ) ; from Catalan : " " xebec , , , , , , , " " and ) Words similar in form and meaning to " xebec " occur in Catalan , French , Spanish , Portuguese , Italian , Arabic and Turkish . The Online Etymology Dictionary regards the Arabic " shabbak " ( meaning " a small warship " ) as the source form , however the Arabic root means ' a net ' , implying the word originally referred to a fishing boat . The Spanish jabeque had only lateen sails , as portrayed in the Cazador . This ship was built and used by the Spanish crown in the mid eighteenth century to fight Algerian corsairs ( privateers ) in the Mediterranean Sea . Algerian Berber corsairs also used three - lateen - sail xebecs in their raids on Mediterranean trade .