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Brig

A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the latter part of the 19th century. In commercial use, they were gradually replaced by fore-and-aft rigged vessels such as schooners, as owners sought to reduce crew costs by having rigs that could be handled by fewer men. In Royal Navy use, brigs were retained for training use when the battle fleets consisted almost entirely of iron-hulled steamships.

Brigs were prominent in the coastal coal trade of British waters. 4,395 voyages to London with coal were recorded in 1795. With an average of eight or nine trips per year for one vessel, that is a fleet of over 500 colliers trading to London alone. Other ports and coastal communities were also served by colliers trading to Britain's coal ports. In the first half of the 19th century, the vast majority were rigged as brigs, and that rig was retained for longer in the northeast of England.

Rigging

In sailing, a full-rigged brig is a vessel with two square rigged masts (fore and main). The main mast of a brig is the aft one. To improve maneuverability, the mainmast carries a (gaff rigged) fore-and-aft sail.

Brig sails are named after the masts to which they are attached: the mainsail; above that the main topsail; above that the main topgallant sail; and occasionally a very small sail, called the royal, is above that. Behind the main sail there is a small fore-and-aft sail called the spanker or boom mainsail (it is somewhat similar to the main sail of a schooner). On the foremast is a similar sail, called the trysail. Attached to the respective yards of square-rigged ships are smaller spars, which can be extended, thus lengthening the yard, thus receiving an additional sailing wing on each side. These are called studding sails, and are used with fair and light wind only. The wings are named after the sails to which they are fastened, i.e. the main studding sails, main top studding sails, and the main top gallant studding sails, etc.

A brig's foremast is smaller than the main mast. The fore mast holds a fore sail, fore top sail, fore top gallant sail, and fore royal. Between the fore mast and the bowsprit are the fore staysail, jib, and flying jib. All the yards are manipulated by a complicated arrangement of cordage named the "running rigging". This is opposed to the standing rigging which is fixed, and keeps mast and other objects rigid.

Hull material
A brig is "generally built on a larger scale than a schooner, and may approach the magnitude of a full-sized, three-masted ship." Brigs vary in length between 75 and 165 ft with tonnages up to 480. A notable exception being the famous designer Colin Mudie's 'Little Brigs' (TS Bob Allen and TS Caroline Allen), which are only 10m long and weigh only 8 tonnes. Historically, most brigs were made of wood, although some later brigs were built with hulls and masts of steel or iron. A brig made of pine in the 19th century was designed to last for about twenty years (many lasted longer).

Development of the brig
The word brig has been used in the past as an abbreviation of brigantine (which is the name for a two-masted vessel with foremast fully square rigged and her mainmast rigged with both a fore-and-aft mainsail, square topsails and possibly topgallant sails). The brig actually developed as a variant of the brigantine. Re-rigging a brigantine with two square-rigged masts instead of one gave it greater sailing power. The square-rigged brig's advantage over the fore-and-aft rigged brigantine was "that the sails, being smaller and more numerous, are more easily managed, and require fewer men or 'hands' to work them." The variant was so popular that the term brig came to exclusively signify a ship with this type of rigging. By the 17th century the British Royal Navy defined "brig" as having two square rigged masts.

Historic usage
Brigs were used as small warships carrying about 10 to 18 guns. Due to their speed and maneuverability they were popular among pirates (though they were rare among American and Caribbean pirates). While their use stretches back before the 17th century, one of the most famous periods for the brig was during the 19th century when they were involved in famous naval battles such as the Battle of Lake Erie. In the early 19th century the brig was a standard cargo ship. It was seen as "fast and well sailing", but required a large crew to handle its rigging.

Brigs were seen as more manoeuvrable than schooners. James Cook requested the conversion of the schooner HMS Grenfell to a brig, with the justification of the better control that he would have with a brig versus a schooner. The ability to stop the ship quickly (by backing sails) was particularly important for a vessel doing survey work. The windward ability of brigs (which depends as much on hull shape as the rig) could be comparable to or better than contemporary schooners. The author and naval officer Frederick Marryat characterised brigs as having superior windward performance to the schooners of that time. Marryat is considered, by maritime historians, to be an authoritative source on such matters. A brig's square-rig also had the advantage over a fore-and-aft–rigged vessel when travelling offshore, in the trade winds, where vessels sailed down wind for extended distances and where "the danger of a sudden jibe was the large schooner-captain's nightmare". This trait later led to the evolution of the barquentine. The need for large crews in relation to their relatively small size led to the decline of the production of brigs. They were replaced in commercial traffic by gaffsail schooners (which needed fewer personnel) and steam boats.

Historic examples

 * HMS Pilot, a Cruizer-class brig-sloop launched in 1807. While commanded by John Toup Nicholas off southern Italy in 1810–1812, Pilot participated in the capture or destruction of over 130 enemy vessels. In 1815 she fought the last naval engagement of the Napoleonic Wars, fighting to a draw the French frigate Légère.
 * USS Argus used during the First Barbary War and the War of 1812.
 * Archer, a vessel of the Second Texas Navy.
 * USS Oneida used during the War of 1812. James Fenimore Cooper was a midshipman aboard the Oneida while under construction.
 * The cargo-hauling brig Farmer owned by George Washington.
 * The cargo-hauling brig Fleetwing.
 * The Bonanza of Liverpool, built as a barquentine in 1830 and converted to a brig in 1841. The first ship to bring a cargo of Peruvian guano to the UK, in 1841, setting off decades of a lucrative export trade.
 * Leonora of Captain Bully Hayes.
 * Mercury (Russian: Меркурий) An 1819 Russian navy 18 gun brig painted twice by Ivan Aivazovsky. On May 14, 1829, Mercury engaged in an uneven battle against 2 Turkish ships of the line, Selimiye (110 guns) and Real-Bei (74 guns) and emerged victorious from that battle, damaging both Turkish sufficiently to be not able to chase Mercury and disengaging the battle.
 * USS Niagara captained by commander Oliver Hazard Perry in the Battle of Lake Erie, a pivotal victory for the United States in the War of 1812.
 * USS Oregon, used in the U.S. Exploring Expedition.
 * The cargo brig Pilgrim, whose 1834 trading voyage from Boston, Massachusetts to California is described in the book Two Years Before the Mast.
 * Potomac, a vessel of the Second Texas Navy
 * Rebecca, captained by Robert Jenkins, whose boarding triggered the War of Jenkins' Ear.
 * USS Reprisal, fought in the American Revolution.
 * USS Somers, sunk in the Mexican–American War.
 * HMS Beagle was built as a brig in 1820 for the Royal Navy. She was deployed as a survey vessel to survey the coasts of South America, Australia, and Africa. A mizzen mast was added prior to the 5-year voyage with Charles Darwin to increase manoeuvrability in the shallow coastal waters that she would explore.
 * Jean Lafitte's pirate brig, the Pride from 1815 to 1816.
 * HMS Badger, the future Admiral Horatio Nelson's first command as a young lieutenant.
 * Wharton, one of the vessels of the Second Texas Navy, which participated in the Naval Battle of Campeche, which is the only historical example of a steam navy having been defeated by a sail navy.
 * Joel Root as supercargo sailed out of New Haven harbor in 1802 on the brig Huron to begin his journey around the world on a sealing expedition.
 * Rover was a privateer brig out of Liverpool, Nova Scotia known for several bold battles in the Napoleonic Wars.
 * HMS Temeraire, "The Great Brig", an ironclad launched in 1876, the largest ship to sail with a brig rig.
 * NMS Mircea was a brig of the Romanian Navy, built in London in 1882 and sunk by aircraft in April 1944.
 * The Telos, built in Bangor, Maine in 1883, was reportedly the last brig to join the American merchant marine, and was "considered to be the finest vessel of her class ever constructed in Maine". She was wrecked on Aves Island, off Bonaire in the Caribbean, in 1900.
 * Industry, a whaler found to have been sunk in the Gulf of Mexico.

The famous mystery ship Mary Celeste, while sometimes called a brig, was clearly a brigantine.

In fiction

 * Arkham in H. P. Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness.
 * Aquila in the game Assassin's Creed III.
 * Beneficence in Gary R. Bush's "Sail Into Treachery"
 * Blue Bird in Evert Taube's song "Balladen om briggen Blue Bird av Hull".
 * Charlotta in Vilhelm Moberg's The Emigrants
 * Constanzia from Jules Verne's A Drama in Mexico.
 * Covenant in Robert Louis Stevenson's Kidnapped (novel).
 * Duncan from Jules Verne's In Search of the Castaways.
 * Enterprise in the film Star Trek Generations (portrayed by the brig Lady Washington).
 * Forward from Jules Verne's The Adventures of Captain Hatteras.
 * Grampus in Edgar Allan Poe's novel The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket.
 * Hellebore in the Nathaniel Drinkwater series by Richard Woodman.
 * HMS Sophie in Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian.
 * HMS Wolverine in L.A. Meyer's Under the Jolly Roger.
 * Interceptor in the film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (portrayed by the brig Lady Washington).
 * Isle of Skye in Iain Lawrence's The Wreckers (High Seas Trilogy).
 * Jackdaw in the game Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag.
 * Jolly Roger, a pirate ship of Captain Hook from James M. Barrie's Peter Pan.
 * Lightning in Joseph Conrad's The Rescue and the brig "Bonito" in Conrad's "Freya of the Seven Isles".
 * Molly Swash, in James Fenimore Cooper's book Jack Tier.
 * Morrigan in the game Assassin's Creed Rogue, which was a brig-sloop.
 * Porta Coeli, Flame and Amélie appear in the Horatio Hornblower series of books by C. S. Forester (later adapted to films and television).
 * RattlesnakeThe 18-guner commanded by Commander Terence O'Brien in Frederick Marryat's Peter Simple.
 * Sea Hawk in The Pirate of the Mediterranean by William Henry Giles Kingston.
 * Seahawk in Avi's novel The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle.
 * Speedy a pirate ship from Jules Verne's The Mysterious Island.
 * Triton in Ramage and the Freebooters and Governor Ramage R.N. by Dudley Pope.
 * Poison Orchid in Scott Lynch's Red Seas Under Red Skies.
 * Lady Caroline in Eddie Price's Rebels Abroad."

Modern brigs

 * Lady Washington
 * Tre Kronor
 * Niagara
 * Morgenster
 * Lady Nelson
 * TS Royalist
 * Pilgrim
 * Stavros S Niarchos and Prince William
 * Roald Amundsen
 * La Grace
 * The 'Little Brigs' TS Bob Allen and TS Caroline Allen
 * Mercedes
 * Fryderyk Chopin

title: Brig


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Thunderbird

Thunderbird, thunder bird or thunderbirds may refer to:

 * Thunderbird (mythology), a legendary creature in certain North American indigenous peoples' history and culture
 * Ford Thunderbird, a car

Birds

 * Dromornithidae, extinct flightless birds known as thunder birds
 * Genyornis, extinct flightless birds known as thunder birds

Fictional characters

 * Thunderbird, a creature in the game Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
 * Thunderbird (James Proudstar), later known as Warpath, a Marvel Comics superhero introduced in 1984
 * Thunderbird (John Proudstar), a Marvel Comics superhero introduced in 1975
 * Thunderbird (Neal Shaara), a Marvel Comics superhero introduced in 2000

Film and television

 * Thunder Birds (1942 film), an American World War II propaganda film
 * Thunderbirds (1952 film), an American war film
 * Thunderbirds (TV series), a 1960s British puppet science-fiction series
 * Thunderbirds (2004 film), based on the TV series
 * Thunderbird (2022 film), a South Korean film

Instruments

 * Gibson Thunderbird, a bass guitar

Bands

 * The Fabulous Thunderbirds, American blues rock band
 * The Thunderbirds, 1960s English band of Chris Farlowe
 * The Thunderbirds, 1960s Hong Kong band of Robert Lee Jun-fai

Albums

 * Thunderbird (Cassandra Wilson album), 2006
 * Thunderbird (Louis Bellson album), 1965
 * Thunderbird (Willis Jackson album), 1962

Songs
Chronological
 * "Thunderbird", by ZZ Top from Fandango!, 1975
 * "Thunderbird", by Quiet Riot from Metal Health, 1983
 * "Thunderbird", by Iron Savior from Condition Red, 2002
 * "Thunderbirds" / "3AM", a single by Busted, 2004
 * "Thunderbird", by They Might Be Giants from The Spine, 2004
 * "Thunderbird", by Seasick Steve from I Started Out with Nothin and I Still Got Most of It Left, 2008
 * "Thunderbird" (Call Me No One song), 2012
 * "Thunderbird", by C418 from Excursions, 2018

Video games

 * Thunderbirds (2000 video game), a Game Boy Color video game
 * Thunderbirds (2004 video game), a Game Boy Advance video game

Hotels and motels

 * Thunderbird Hotel, now El Rancho Hotel and Casino, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.
 * Thunderbird Motel, a former Indian-themed motel in Minnesota, U.S.
 * Thunderbird Motel, one of the Miami modern architecture buildings, Florida, U.S.
 * Thunderbird Motel, now a Standard Hotel on Sunset Strip, Los Angeles, U.S.

Schools

 * Thunderbird Adventist Academy, a high school in Scottsdale, Arizona, U.S.
 * Thunderbird High School, Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.
 * Thunderbird School of Global Management, at Arizona State University, U.S.

Other businesses and organisations

 * Thunderbird Entertainment, a Canadian company

Computing

 * Athlon Thunderbird, a microprocessor by AMD
 * Mozilla Thunderbird, an email and news client

Military

 * 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (United States), nicknamed Thunderbird
 * No. 426 Thunderbird Squadron, of the Royal Canadian Air Force
 * Thunderbird (aircraft), a surviving B-17 painted to replicate a high mission-tally B-17 of World War II
 * Thunderbird (missile), a British Army missile in service circa 1959–1977
 * Thunderbird Field No. 1 and Thunderbird Field No. 2, World War II airfields in Arizona, U.S.
 * United States Air Force Thunderbirds, an air demonstration squadron

Places

 * Lake Thunderbird, Norman, Oklahoma, U.S.
 * Thunderbird Archaeological District, Virginia, U.S.
 * Thunderbird Glacier, Glacier National Park, Montana, U.S.
 * Thunderbird Mountain, Glacier National Park, Montana, U.S.

Sports

 * Adelaide Thunderbirds, an Australian netball team
 * Albuquerque Thunderbirds, a former American basketball team
 * Casper College Thunderbirds, sports team(s) of Casper College in Casper, Wyoming
 * Carolina Thunderbirds, a former American ice hockey team
 * Carolina Thunderbirds (FPHL), an American ice hockey team
 * Dubuque Thunderbirds, a former American junior hockey team
 * Hamilton Thunderbirds, former name of a Canadian baseball team
 * Halifax Thunderbirds, a professional box lacrosse team in the National Lacrosse League
 * Sault Thunderbirds, a 1959–1962 Canadian ice hockey team
 * Seattle Thunderbirds, an American ice hockey team
 * Soo Thunderbirds, a Canadian ice hockey team
 * Southern Utah Thunderbirds, sports teams of Southern Utah University
 * Springfield Thunderbirds, an American ice hockey team
 * Thunderbird, nickname of Franco Wanyama (born 1968), Ugandan retired boxer
 * Thunderbird Country Club, a golf course in Rancho Mirage, California, U.S.
 * Thunderbird Soccer Club, a Taiwanese football club
 * The Thunderbirds, organizers of the Phoenix Open golf tournament
 * UBC Thunderbirds, the athletic teams of the University of British Columbia
 * Thunderbird Stadium, a stadium located by the University of British Columbia's main campus

Transportation

 * Royal Enfield Thunderbird, an Indian motorcycle
 * Thunderbird, a British Rail Class 57/3 diesel rescue locomotive
 * Thunderbird (train), a Japanese limited express
 * Thunderbird 26, a class of sailboat
 * Thunderbird Boats, a 60's boat manufacturer now known as Formula Boats
 * Thunderbird W-14, three-seat biplane of the 1920s
 * Triumph Thunderbird (disambiguation), the name of several British motorcycles

Other uses

 * Thunderbird (Holiday World), a roller coaster in Santa Claus, Indiana, U.S.
 * Thunderbird (PowerPark), a roller coaster at PowerPark, Alahärmä, Finland
 * Thunderbird (wine), a flavored fortified wine
 * Project Thunderbird, a 1967 proposed nuclear detonation in Wyoming coal deposits as part of Project Plowshare

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Thunderbird


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Talk:Thunderbird (disambiguation)

I genuinely and thoroughly dislike using '(disambiguation)' for disambig pages. I much prefer the 'raw' article name be used as a disambig. Everyone has a different perspective on which usage of the word is more prominent. For some, the more genereally considered lesser usages will be by far the more prevalent usage. When writing articles, the norm would be to type article. If this points to a disambig page, no matter what usage was intended, it will be correct. If this points to a specific article (even though that article has a pointer to article (disambiguation) ), the the reader may either get confused (because they didn't see the pointer or the pointer is poorly placed), or will have to take an additional step to get to the link they really want.

Ok, I probably should put that on some talk:article discussing how to disambiguate. But It's here now and I'll copy it when I find the right place and the right time. I intend to move Thunderbird to Thunderbird (mythology), and then move Thunderbird (disambiguation) to Thunderbird.

What's a reasonable period of time to wait? I'll put a pointer to this discussion on all of the Thunderbird talk: pages.

- UtherSRG 20:02, 10 Jan 2004 (UTC)

The "more prominent" usage should be determined by counting the number of links to each usage. Unless there is a single winner by a large margin, the page should be a disambiguation. ( 20:38, 10 Jan 2004 (UTC)

I think you are right since the mythological bird gets only a few links. The TV programme and the car are fairly popular. ( 20:51, 10 Jan 2004 (UTC)

Ok. I'll get on it. :) - UtherSRG 20:54, 10 Jan 2004 (UTC)

 * Sounds good to me. —Morven 20:14, 11 Jan 2004 (UTC)

 * I think that's a great idea UtherSRG. Probably the only time we should use the (disambiguation) format is when there's one definition that is far-and-away the most common one, which isn't the case here at all. - Hephaestos 20:24, 11 Jan 2004 (UTC)

 * I agree that if there's a clearly-most-common usage then we should have a blah (disambiguation) page. Disambiguation make this point, and calls it "primary topic disambiguation".  I'm indifferent as to whether a primary topic exists for the term Thunderbird, though I think it's pretty likely that the "mythical creature common to Native American religion" is the source of the term, and that all others ultimately come from it.  (For some, this is sufficient reason to treat it as the primary topic, as has been done at Magneto.) -mhr

 * I don't think the intention of "primary topic" is original meaning, E.g., Boston, England is not at Boston. ( 23:46, 12 Jan 2004 (UTC)

 * Agreed. I think that people are much less likely to be looking for the mythology meaning than the TV show, car or alcohol named Thunderbird -- it's simply less relevant to everyday modern life.  And in this case, none of the meanings is so prominent that it deserves billing above the others.  —Morven 02:39, 13 Jan 2004 (UTC)

 * I also wish you'd waited a smidgen longer before making the change. Watchlists were down all weekend (didn't come up for me until this afternoon), so many people were probably unable to see your comment until today. But that's neither here nor there at this point... -mhr 23:32, 12 Jan 2004 (UTC)

 * I had my watchlist back and didn't realize others didn't, sorry. Although I still don't like blah (disambiguation), I'm fine with using it when there's a single significant article and two or more lesser articles. Clearly, this isn't the case with Thunderbird. I'll try to be a little more sensitive to timing. I had asked about timing, but the go ahead seemed fairly reasonable. - UtherSRG 00:23, 13 Jan 2004 (UTC)

Layout
There were too many references to find specific entries easily I found. What do you think of the new layout, perhaps hiding the TOC and making the headers === === instead would help. --ShaunMacPherson 11:06, 30 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Sports section material from mythology page
The following is teh Sports section that had been on Thunderbird (mythology) where it didn't belong; I wasn't sure what to do with the mascots, so am palcing their information ehre; they'd have other names than "Thudnerbird" probably, but unless there are articles is there a point? Thunderbirds" is a popular choice for naming sports teams in the regions of North America in which thunderbird mythology originates form. Notably, all sports teams representing the University of British Columbia in Vancouver are referred to as the UBC Thunderbirds. The WHL junior hockey team in Seattle is known as the Seattle Thunderbirds.Southern Utah University uses the thunderbird as it's mascot. The thunderbird is also the mascot of Bellevue West High School in Bellevue, Nebraska, and Shorewood High School in Shoreline, Washington. Additionally, Sumi, the mascot for the 2010 Paralympic Games in Vancouver, is said to in part represent a thunderbird. .Skookum1 (talk) 03:43, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

Move discussion in progress
There is a move discussion in progress on Talk:Thunderbird (mythology) which affects this page. Please participate on that page and not in this talk page section. Thank you. —RMCD bot 05:30, 22 October 2019 (UTC)

title: Talk:Thunderbird (disambiguation)


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United States Air Force Thunderbirds

The USAF Air Demonstration Squadron is the air demonstration squadron of the United States Air Force (USAF). The Thunderbirds, as they are popularly known, are assigned to the 57th Wing, and are based at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. Created in 1953, the USAF Thunderbirds are the third-oldest formal flying aerobatic team (under the same name) in the world, after the French Air Force Patrouille de France formed in 1931 and the United States Navy Blue Angels formed in 1946.

The Thunderbirds Squadron tours the United States and much of the world, performing aerobatic formation and solo flying in specially marked aircraft. The squadron's name is taken from the legendary creature that appears in the mythologies of several indigenous North American cultures.

Overview
The Thunderbirds Squadron is a named USAF squadron, meaning it does not carry a numerical designation. It is also one of the oldest squadrons in the Air Force, its origins dating to the organization of the 30th Aero Squadron, formed at Kelly Field, Texas, on 13 June 1917.

Officers serve a two-year assignment with the squadron, while enlisted personnel serve three to four years. As the squadron performs no more than 88 air demonstrations each year, replacements must be trained for about half of the team each year, in order to provide a constant mix of experience. In addition to their air demonstration responsibilities, the Thunderbirds are part of the USAF combat force and if required, can be rapidly integrated into an operational fighter unit. Since 15 February 1974 the Thunderbirds have been a component of the 57th Wing at Nellis AFB. Since 1953, they have flown in front of more than 300 million people.

F-16 Fighting Falcon

The Thunderbirds perform aerial demonstrations in the F-16C Fighting Falcon, and they also fly two F-16D twin-seat trainers.

The F-16 has been the demonstration aircraft for the Thunderbirds since the 1983 season. In January 1982, four members of the squadron were killed in what became known as the "Diamond Crash" of T-38 Talon aircraft which the squadron had flown since 1974. Partially as a result of that accident, the squadron switched to the F-16A, and sat out the 1982 airshow season and spent that year retraining and transitioning over to the new aircraft to ready themselves for the 1983 season. The F-16, however, had been considered for transition prior to the accident. In rebuilding the Thunderbird Team, the Air Force recruited previous Thunderbird pilots, qualified each in the F-16A, and had them begin by flying "two-ship" maneuvers, then expanded the program one airplane at a time up to the full six airplanes. Beginning in June 1982, the F-16 Thunderbirds were led by Major Jim Latham.

The team continues to fly the F-16, having switched from the F-16A to the F-16C in 1992. Only a few minor modifications differentiate a Thunderbird from an operational F-16C. These include the replacement of the 20 mm cannon and ammunition drum with a smoke-generating system, including its plumbing and control switches, the removal of the jet fuel starter exhaust door, and the application of the Thunderbirds' glossy red, white, and blue polyurethane paint scheme. All the modification work is performed at the maintenance depot at Hill AFB near Ogden, Utah. Other than those modifications, the aircraft are taken from the standard USAF inventory as production fighters, and can be returned to an operational squadron in short order without any major modification.
 * General Dynamics F-16A/B Fighting Falcon

 * During the switch to the F-16A the Thunderbirds acquired new block 15 aircraft which they operated from 1983 to 1991, making the team one of the last USAF units flying the older F-16As before transitioning into new Cs. They also operated the two-seat F-16B during this time for training new pilots and for VIP flights, these being replaced by the F-16D when the rest of the squadron transitioned to the F-16C.

 * Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Fighting Falcon (Block 32)
 * The block 32H/J aircraft assigned to the Thunderbirds were built in 1986 and 1987, and operated by the Thunderbirds from 1992 to 2008. At their retirement, they were some of the oldest operational F-16s in the Air Force.

 * Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Fighting Falcon (Block 52)
 * In the 2009 show season the Thunderbirds transitioned to an updated version of the F-16 fighter. The Block 52s have an upgraded avionics package that brings the Thunderbird fleet into alignment with the rest of the worldwide F-16 fleet. Additionally, the more powerful Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-229 engine adds an additional 3,600 lbf of thrust. This in turn increases the maximum allowable gross weight for ground handling, taxi, takeoff and in-flight maneuvers by nearly 5,000 lb.

Support aircraft

 * Boeing C-17 Globemaster III

Demonstration routine
From the end of the runway the four-ship Thunderbird team get ready to begin their takeoff roll with the words "Thunderbirds, let's run em up!" being retransmitted from the team leader's mic through the PA system for the crowd to hear.

Diamond: Historically, as Thunderbirds 1 through 4 lift off, the slot aircraft slips immediately into position behind 1 to create the signature Diamond formation. Thanks to the 2009 upgrade to the Block 52, the Diamond now has more than enough thrust to continue to climb straight up into their first maneuver, the Diamond Loop.

Solos: Thunderbird 5 takes to the air next, performing a clean low altitude aileron roll, followed by 6 who performs a split S, climbing in a near vertical maneuver, rolling over and diving back toward show center and pulling up just above the runway to exit in the opposite direction.

Much of the Thunderbirds' display alternates between maneuvers performed by the diamond, and those performed by the solos. They have a total of eight different formations: The Diamond, Delta, Stinger, Arrowhead, Line-Abreast, Trail, Echelon and the Five Card. The Arrowhead involves maneuvers in tight formation with as little as 18 inch fuselage to canopy separation. They perform formation loops and rolls or transitions from one formation to another. All maneuvers are performed at speeds of 450 to 500 mph.

The opposing solos usually perform their maneuvers just under the speed of sound (500 to 700 mph), and show off the capabilities of their individual aircraft by doing maneuvers such as fast passes, slow passes, fast rolls, slow rolls, and very tight turns. Some of their maneuvers include both solo aircraft at once, such as opposing passes (passing in close proximity to each other) and mirror formations (two aircraft being flown back-to-back in the calypso pass or belly-to-belly). In mirror formations, one Thunderbird must be inverted, and it is always number 5. In fact, the number 5 on this aircraft is painted upside-down, and thus appears right-side-up for much of the routine. There is also an extra piece of humor regarding the inverted performance of Thunderbird 5: the pilots all wear tailored flight suits with their name and jet number embroidered on the left breast. The suit for the pilot of the number 5 airplane has the number sewn upside-down.

Nearing the end the Diamond pulls straight up into the vertical to perform the signature "Bomb Burst", where all four aircraft break off in separate directions while a solo goes straight up through the maneuver and performs aileron rolls until 3 mi above the ground. At the end of the routine, all six aircraft join in formation, forming the Delta.

One of the Thunderbirds' standing engagements is the annual commencement ceremony at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. The jets fly over Falcon Stadium at the precise moment the cadets throw their hats into the air at ceremony's end.

History
On 19 September 1985, the USAF Air Demonstration Squadron was consolidated by Air Force Historical Research Agency (AFHRA) with the 30th Bombardment Squadron, a unit which was organized on 13 June 1917.

During its operational history, the 30th served in World War I as a training unit in France, its mission to train fighter pilots to go into combat on the Western Front. The squadron was almost torpedoed on its troop ship crossing the Atlantic Ocean. Stationed at Clark Field in the Philippines on 7 December 1941, it was almost wiped out in the 1941 Battle of the Philippines. Some members of the squadron fought as an infantry unit and were captured by the Japanese, being subjected to the Bataan Death March. The squadron was withdrawn to Australia, being reformed and later attacked Japan as a B-29 Superfortress squadron in 1945. It was awarded nine Presidential Unit Citations in World War II. During the Korean War, the 30th attacked North Korean targets with B-29's.

Present-day USAF Thunderbirds carry the lineage, history, and honors of the 30th on active duty.

F-84 Thunderjet/Thunderstreak era

After six months training in an unofficial status, the Thunderbirds were activated on 25 May 1953 as the 3600th Air Demonstration Team at Luke AFB, just west of Phoenix.

The team had flown 26 shows by that August. The first team leader was Major Richard C. Catledge (1953–1954), and the first plane used by the unit was the straight-wing F-84G Thunderjet. Because the Thunderjet was a single-seat fighter, a two-seat T-33 Shooting Star served as the narrator's aircraft and was used as the VIP/Press ride aircraft. The T-33 served with the Thunderbirds in this capacity in the 1950s and 1960s.

The next year the Thunderbirds performed their first overseas air shows, in a tour of South and Central America, and added a permanent solo routine to the demonstration. In the spring of 1955, under their second commander/leader (September 1954 – February 1957), Captain Jacksel M. Broughton, they moved to the swept-wing F-84F Thunderstreak aircraft, in which they performed 91 air shows, and received their first assigned support aircraft, a C-119 Flying Boxcar.

F-100 Super Sabre era

The Thunderbirds' aircraft were again changed in June 1956, to the F-100C Super Sabre, which gave the team supersonic capability. This switch was accompanied by a relocation of their headquarters to Nellis AFB, Nevada on 1 June because of maintenance and logistical difficulties of basing the F-100s at Luke, with their first show after the move being held on 23 June. It also signaled a shift in their performance routine—for example, the Cuban Eight opening routine was dropped, and emphasis was placed on low, screaming flyovers and demonstrations of takeoff performance. For a time, if the show's sponsor permitted it, the pilots would create a sonic boom; this ended when the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) banned supersonic flight over the continental United States. The move to Nellis also resulted in the first assignment of buildings and hangar space to the team.

This practice remained in force through the 1973 season. In 1961, the team was compelled to discontinue the vertical bank maneuver due to an FAA regulation prohibiting aerobatics that pointed the nose of the aircraft toward the crowd. The year 1962 saw the introduction of dual solo routines, and the Thunderbirds went on their first European deployment in 1963, the year after the disbanding of the Skyblazers (see below). The team switched to the F-105 Thunderchief for the 1964 season, but were forced to re-equip with the F-100D after only six airshows due to a catastrophic structural failure of the No. 2 aircraft during a pitch-up maneuver that resulted in the death of Capt Gene Devlin at Hamilton Air Force Base on 9 May. The F-100D Super Sabre was retained through the 1968 season.

F-4 Phantom II era

By 1967, the Thunderbirds had flown 1,000 shows. In 1969, the squadron re-equipped with the front-line F-4E Phantom, which it flew until 1973, the only time the Thunderbirds would fly jets similar to those of the Navy's Blue Angels as it was the standard fighter for both services in the 1960s and 1970s.

T-38 Talon era
The team flew only six air shows in 1973 and was grounded for some time. Due to the 1973 oil crisis, they switched to the more economical T-38 Talon for the 1974 season, as five T-38s used the same amount of fuel as one F-4 Phantom. The switch saw an alteration of the flight routine to exhibit the aircraft's maneuverability in tight turns, and ended the era of the black tail on the No. 4 slot plane, now regularly cleaned and shined like the others.

In 1982, the Thunderbirds suffered a catastrophic loss during pre-season training on 18 January. While practicing the four-plane diamond loop, the formation impacted the ground at high speed, instantly killing all four pilots: Major Norman L. Lowry (commander/leader), Captain Willie Mays, Captain Joseph N. "Pete" Peterson, and Captain Mark Melancon. The cause of the crash was determined by the USAF to be the result of a mechanical problem with the No. 1 aircraft's control stick actuator. This resulted in insufficient back pressure by the formation leader on the T-38 control stick during the loop. Visually cueing off the lead aircraft during formation maneuvering, the wing and slot pilots disregarded their positions relative to the ground.

F-16 Fighting Falcon era
The team's activities were suspended for six months pending investigation of the crashes and review of the program, then reinstituted using the General Dynamics F-16A Fighting Falcon in 1983 and upgraded to the F-16C (now produced by Lockheed Martin) in 1992.

In 1986, the Thunderbirds did a fly-by for the re-dedication of the Statue of Liberty in New York City. They also performed the first American military demonstration in a communist country when the team visited Beijing, China, in 1987.

Their 3,000th air show was performed in 1990, and in 1991 the team went overseas to perform air shows in Switzerland, Poland, and Hungary. The team traveled abroad again in 1996, visiting Romania, Bulgaria, and Slovenia. Also in 1996, the team participated in the Atlanta Olympics' opening ceremonies.

The United States Postal Service honored the Air Force's 50th anniversary as a separate branch of the military in 1997 with a limited edition stamp featuring the Thunderbirds.

In June 2005, the Thunderbirds selected Major Nicole Malachowski for the No. 3 position, making her the first female to hold a pilot position in the team's 53-year history. In 2007, during Maj. Malachowski's final season as a Thunderbird, the team selected its second female pilot, Captain Samantha Weeks, who flew the No. 6 opposing solo position.

The 2007 European Goodwill Tour was the Thunderbirds' first visit to Europe after the 11 September attacks. During this tour, the Thunderbirds performed at their first-ever air show in Ireland. Despite inclement weather, more than 100,000 people attended the air show, garnering nationwide exposure by Irish media. Additional stops along the way included aerial demonstrations in Poland, Romania, Bulgaria's Graf Ignatievo Air Base, Italy, France and England, where the Thunderbirds participated in the Royal International Air Tattoo, the world's largest military air show. Outside of aerial demonstrations, the team participated in eight official public relations events attended by heads of state and local civic leaders. The team also conducted community outreach by meeting with needy children throughout Europe.

On 10–11 November 2007, the City of Las Vegas and Nellis AFB saluted the U.S. Air Force, hosting the capstone event of the USAF's 60th anniversary celebration.

In 2008, the Thunderbirds remained in North America, performing both in the United States and in Canada. When Quebec City celebrated its 400th anniversary, the Thunderbirds joined the Canadian Armed Forces's Snowbirds, the British Royal Air Force's Red Arrows, and the United States Navy's Blue Angels in a ceremonial flight over Quebec City. Later in the year, the team returned to Canada for the Abbotsford International Airshow at Abbotsford International Airport, British Columbia.

In 2009 the Thunderbirds hired their first-ever Air National Guard pilot, Lt. Col. Derek Routt as Thunderbird No. 7 (operations officer), and the first-ever Air Force Reserve Command pilot, Maj. Sean Gustafson, also joined the team as Thunderbird No. 4 (slot).

The 2009 Far East Tour took the team to multiple locations on the western border of the Pacific Rim and included performances in Hawaii, Australia, Malaysia, Guam, Thailand, Japan and South Korea. More than 1.2 million people saw the shows in person and more than 120 million were exposed to the shows through their national media. These are conservative estimates as one Korean prime-time television show alone reached eight million. The top-rated show "Qualifications of Man" did a one-hour feature on the Thunderbirds and resulted from a coordinated media pitch to the network and the Republic of Korea Air Force. In addition to the air shows, the Thunderbirds personally met and spent time with more than five hundred special needs children and orphans.

The entire 2013 flying season was canceled due to budget cuts resulting from the United States fiscal cliff. Team members made recruiting appearances in the Las Vegas area that did not require travel. Enlisted personnel performed gate checks and base housing inspections. Performances resumed in 2014.

Historical demonstration aircraft

 * Republic F-84G Thunderjet
 * Employed by the Thunderbirds 1953–1954.

 * Republic F-84F Thunderstreak
 * The Air Force selected the swept-wing F-84F Thunderstreak as their second aircraft in 1955, modified for the team by adding smoke tanks, and red, white and blue drogue parachutes. Used from 1955 to 1956.

 * North American F-100C Super Sabre
 * With the change to the F-100 Super Sabre in 1956, the Thunderbirds became the world's first supersonic aerial demonstration team. That same year, the Thunderbirds moved to Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, simplifying logistics and maintenance for the aircraft. The Thunderbirds used the C-model Super Sabre from 1956 to 1963.

 * Republic F-105B Thunderchief
 * Only six shows were flown in 1964 using the F-105 before safety concerns resulted in the team's adoption of the F-100D.

 * North American F-100D Super Sabre
 * The D-model Super Sabres were used from 1964 to 1968.

 * McDonnell F-4E Phantom II
 * The 1969 conversion to the F-4 was the most extensive in the team's history. Among other modifications, paints that had worked on the F-100 appeared blotchy on the F-4 because of multicolored alloys used to resist heat and friction at Mach 2 speeds. A polyurethane paint base was developed to resolve the problem. The white paint base remains a part of today's Thunderbird aircraft. A popular myth is, given the exhaust emissions of the F-4's engines, the vertical stabilizer of the No. 4 slot aircraft was painted flat black. However, this is false; the vertical stabilizer of the No. 4 slot aircraft was allowed to be blackened by jet exhaust starting in 1960. Phantoms were used from 1969 to 1973.

 * Northrop T-38 Talon
 * The fuel crisis of the early 1970s resulted in the selection of the Northrop T-38A Talon, a supersonic trainer. Five T-38s used the same amount of fuel needed for one F-4 Phantom, and fewer people and equipment were required to maintain the aircraft. Although it met the criteria of demonstrating the capabilities of a prominent USAF aircraft, the Talon failed to fulfill the Thunderbird tradition of flying front-line jet fighters. The team flew the Talon from 1974 to 1981.

Accidents
In total, twenty-one Thunderbirds pilots have been killed in the team's history. Only three fatal crashes have occurred during air shows, two of them in jets:

The first was the death of Major Joe Howard, flying Thunderbird No. 3 (F-4E s/n 66-0321) on 4 June 1972 at Dulles Airport, during Transpo 72. His Phantom experienced a structural failure of the horizontal stabilizer, and Major Howard ejected as the aircraft fell back to earth tail first from about 1,500 feet and descended under a good canopy, but he landed in the aircraft fireball and did not survive.

The second death occurred 9 May 1981 at Hill AFB, Utah, when Captain David "Nick" Hauck flying Thunderbird No. 6 (T-38A) crashed while performing the hi-lo Maneuver. Capt Hauck crashed while attempting to land his ailing T-38 after an engine malfunctioned and caught fire. With black smoke billowing from the exhaust and the aircraft losing altitude in a high nose-up attitude, the safety officer on the ground radioed Capt Hauck: "You're on fire, punch out!" To that, he responded: "Hang on... we have a bunch of people down there". The aircraft continued to stay airborne for about half a mile before hitting a large oak tree and a barn, then sliding across a field and flipping as it traversed an irrigation canal—ultimately erupting into a fireball just a few hundred feet from the runway's end. No one on the ground was injured, even though the accident occurred adjacent to a roadway packed with onlookers.

Air shows

 * 24 September 1961: TSgt John Lesso of the Thunderbirds C-123 crew was killed when a USAF C-123 carrying the Army Golden Knights, on which he was flight engineer, crashed during takeoff at an airshow in Wilmington, North Carolina.
 * 4 June 1972: Major Joe Howard, flying Thunderbird No. 3 (F-4 s/n 66-0321), was killed during the Transpo '72 airshow at Dulles International Airport in northern Virginia.
 * 9 May 1981: Capt Nick Hauck was killed in the crash of Thunderbird No. 6 (Northrop T-38) during a low approach during an air show at Hill Air Force Base, near Ogden, Utah.
 * 14 September 2003: Captain Chris Stricklin, flying Thunderbird No. 6 (F-16), crashed during an airshow at Mountain Home AFB, Idaho. Immediately after takeoff, Stricklin attempted a "Split S" maneuver (which he had successfully performed over 200 times) based on an incorrect mean sea level (MSL) elevation of the airfield, 1100 ft higher than the home base at Nellis AFB. Climbing to only 1670 ft above ground level instead of 2500 ft, Stricklin had insufficient altitude to complete the maneuver, but guided the F-16C aircraft down the runway away from the spectators and ejected less than one second before impact. He survived with only minor injuries and no one on the ground was injured, but the $20 million aircraft was completely destroyed. Official procedure for demonstration "split S" maneuvers was changed, and the USAF now requires Thunderbird pilots and airshow ground controllers to both work in above-MSL altitudes, as opposed to ground control working in AGL (above-ground-level) and pilots in MSL, which led to two sets of numbers that had to be reconciled by the pilot. Thunderbird pilots now also climb an extra 1000 ft before performing the Split S maneuver.
 * 20 August 2005: The Thunderbirds temporarily grounded themselves pending an investigation into a minor mid-air incident during the Chicago Air & Water Show. During the diamond pass in review, the tip of the missile rail on the right wing of the slot (#4) aircraft contacted the left stabilator of the right (#3) aircraft. A four-foot section of the missile rail snapped off, while the No. 3 aircraft sustained damage described by one of the Thunderbirds pilots as a "medium deep scratch" to the red paint of the stabilator. This is why the USAF Thunderbirds have taken extra precaution when flying their diamond, changing from about one and a half feet wingtip to canopy separation to around three feet. Amateur video showed the missile rail falling into the "safety box" on Lake Michigan away from boaters. While there were no injuries and the aircraft remained flight worthy, the demonstration was immediately terminated, all aircraft returned to Gary International Airport, and the Thunderbirds did not perform on the second day of the Chicago show. The right wing pilot (#3) was Major D. Chris Callahan, and the slot position (#4) was flown by Major Steve Horton.
 * 2 June 2016: Major Alex Turner, flying Thunderbird No. 6, crashed in a field near Colorado Springs, Colorado after performing a flyover at the United States Air Force Academy graduation ceremony. The F-16 pilot ejected and was unhurt. Investigation revealed that the aircraft's engine was inadvertently shut down at the start of landing procedures when a faulty throttle trigger permitted the throttle to be rotated into an engine cut-off position. In a strange twist later that day, the Thunderbirds' Naval counterparts in the Blue Angels suffered a fatal crash of their own.
 * 23 June 2017: Capt. Erik Gonsalves was injured when, during landing, Thunderbird No. 8 ran off the runway and overturned prior to the Vectren Dayton Air Show. The pilot and a passenger, Technical Sgt. Kenneth Cordova, were trapped in the aircraft for over an hour. Cordova was uninjured. The investigation revealed excessive air speed coupled with landing too far down a wet runway caused the jet to leave the airstrip and flip over. Rain on the canopy windscreen and failure to follow proper braking procedures during the landing contributed to the accident.

Other fatalities

 * 11 December 1954: Capt George Kevil was killed during solo training at Luke in an F-84G.
 * 26 September 1957: 1st Lt Bob Rutte was killed in solo training at Nellis.
 * 9 October 1958: Nineteen men aboard the Thunderbirds' support C-123 with a crew of 21 were killed in a crash about 50 mi northwest of Boise, Idaho, while en route to McChord AFB, Washington, reportedly when the transport struck a flock of geese. Only two men survived.
 * 12 March 1959: Capt C. D. "Fish" Salmon, slot pilot, was killed after a collision during formation training near Nellis.
 * 27 July 1960: Capt J.R. Crane, advance pilot and narrator for the team, was killed during a solo proficiency flight at Nellis.
 * 6 April 1961: Maj Robert S. Fitzgerald, commander of the team, and Capt George Nial, advance pilot and narrator, were killed during a training flight at Nellis.
 * 9 May 1964: Capt Eugene J. "Gene" Devlin was killed when his Republic F-105B broke apart as it pitched up for landing from a three-plane formation pass over Hamilton AFB, California.
 * 12 October 1966: Maj Frank Liethen and Capt Robert Morgan were killed in a collision of two F-100s during opposing Cuban eights, their F-100F crashing, at Indian Springs Air Force Auxiliary Field in Nevada. The other, an F-100D, managed to land at Nellis AFB, despite wing damage.
 * 9 January 1969: Capt Jack Thurman was killed after a mid-air collision in training north of Nellis; the other F-100D returned safely.
 * 21 December 1972: Capt Jerry Bolt and TSgt Charles Lynn were killed during a flight test at Nellis.
 * 25 July 1977: Capt Charlie Carter, Thunderbird pilot and narrator, was fatally injured after an aborted landing attempt in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and crashed into the Frontier Days rodeo arena.
 * 8 September 1981: Lt Col David L. Smith, commander of the Thunderbirds, was killed when his aircraft ingested seagulls while taking off from Cleveland, Ohio. His T-38 crashed into Lake Erie, and although Smith ejected from the airplane, his ejection seat malfunctioned and did not deploy his parachute (his crew chief successfully ejected from the rear cockpit).
 * 18 January 1982: The "Diamond Crash", the worst training crash in Thunderbird history, occurred when Maj Norman L. Lowry, Capt Willie Mays, Capt Joseph N. Peterson, and Capt Mark Melancon were killed while practicing a diamond loop during training at Indian Springs Air Force Auxiliary Field in T-38s. Only two Thunderbird pilots survived. Both Thunderbird Numbers 5 and 6, the solo pilots.
 * 4 April 2018: Maj Stephen Del Bagno, slot pilot, was killed when his aircraft, Thunderbird No. 4, crashed over the Nevada Test and Training Range, during a routine aerial demonstration training flight.

Relationship to other USAF aerial demonstration teams

The first USAF jet-powered aerobatic demo team was the "Acrojets", performing early in 1949 with F-80Cs at the USAF Fighter School at Williams Air Force Base, Arizona, and was headed by Captain Howard W. "Swede" Jensen. This team flew together until August 1950, when it was inactivated due to the American commitment to the Korean War. Additionally, there was also a later USAFE "Acrojets" team in West Germany, this one made up of USAF T-33 Shooting Star instructor pilots at Fürstenfeldbruck AB in the mid-1950s.

The "Skyblazers" were the USAF demonstration team representing the United States Air Forces Europe (USAFE) from the late 1940s through the 1950s. This team was formed in early 1949 by a group of 22d Fighter Squadron pilots from the 36th Fighter Wing at Fürstenfeldbruck AB in West Germany. At this time they were flying Lockheed F-80B Shooting Stars. The unit transitioned to the F-84E in 1950, the F-86F in 1955 and the F-100C in 1956. Two of the original Skyblazer team members, identical twins C.A. "Bill" and C.C. "Buck" Pattillo, went on to become members of the first Thunderbird team.

Unlike the Thunderbirds, the Skyblazers seldom appeared outside of the realm of USAFE operations in Europe. The Skyblazers were disbanded in January 1962 when their home squadron was rotated back to the United States and their assigned aircraft transitioned to the F-105 Thunderchief.

The "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" were a group of four C-130 Hercules transport pilots and their planes who were officially recognized as an aerial demonstration team by the USAF's Tactical Air Command in 1957. They flew as an aerial demonstration team until 1960.

Thunderbirds museum
The USAF maintains a Thunderbirds Museum covering the history of the demonstration team. The museum is located at Nellis Air Force Base and includes a full size F-16 gate guard on display (in full Thunderbird paint scheme).

Decorations

 * Decorations
 * Air Force Outstanding Unit Award Streamer.jpg
 * Air Force Outstanding Unit Award
 * 25 Feb 1967 – 31 Dec 1968; 1 Jan – 31 Dec 1973; 1 Jan – 31 Dec 1974; 1 Jan 1979 – 31 Dec 1980; 1 Jun 1995 – 31 May 1997; 1 Jun 2001 – 31 May 2003; 1 Jun 2004 – 31 May 2006
 * Air Force Organizational Excellence Award Streamer.png
 * Air Force Organizational Excellence Award
 * 1 Jan 1984 – 31 Dec 1985; 1 Jan 1986 – 31 Dec 1987; 30 Sep 1989 – 30 Sep 1991; 1 Jun 1997 – 31 May 1998

Lineage

 * Organized as: 3600th Air Demonstration Team, 25 May 1953
 * Inactivated on 23 June 1956
 * Organized as: 3595th Air Demonstration Flight, 19 November 1956
 * Re-designated: 4520th Air Demonstration Flight, 1 July 1958
 * Re-designated: 4520th Air Demonstration Squadron, 1 January 1961
 * Discontinued on 25 February 1967
 * Constituted as: USAF Air Demonstration Squadron, and activated 13 February 1967
 * Organized on 25 February 1967
 * Consolidated on 19 September 1985 with 30th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), first organized on 13 June 1917

Assignments
4520th Air Demonstration Squadron
 * 3600th Fighter Training Wing, 25 May 1953 – 23 June 1956
 * USAF Advanced Fighter School, 19 November 1956 – 25 February 1967

USAF Air Demonstration Squadron
 * Tactical Air Command, 13 February 1967
 * USAF Tactical Fighter Weapons Center, 25 February 1967
 * 57th Fighter Weapons (later, 57th Tactical Training; 57th Fighter Weapons; 57th Fighter; 57th) Wing, 15 February 1974 – present

Stations
4520th Air Demonstration Squadron
 * Luke AFB, Arizona, 1 November 1952 – 23 June 1956
 * Nellis AFB, Nevada, 19 November 1956 – 25 February 1967

USAF Air Demonstration Squadron
 * Nellis AFB, Nevada, 25 February 1967 – present

Aircraft
4520th Air Demonstration Squadron
 * Republic F-84G Thunderjet, 1953
 * Republic F-84F Thunderstreak, 1954–1955
 * North American F-100 Super Sabre, 1956–1963
 * Republic F-105 Thunderchief, 1964
 * North American F-100 Super Sabre, 1964–1966

USAF Air Demonstration Squadron
 * North American F-100 Super Sabre, 1967–1968
 * McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II, 1969–1973
 * Northrop T-38 Talon, 1974–1982
 * General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon, 1983–present.

Notable members
Below are some of the more notable members of the Thunderbirds:

 * Sam Johnson, American politician and military pilot
 * Nicole Malachowski, American aviator and first female pilot for the Thunderbirds
 * Merrill McPeak, Air Force General and pilot
 * E. Daniel Cherry, Air Force General and pilot

title: United States Air Force Thunderbirds


text:
Talk:Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

Start has Prime Minister of United Kingdom non-capitalized?
I'm not exactly sure but shouldn't this be capitalized? Or am I just illiterate? A-37Dragonfly (talk) 03:35, 26 April 2024 (UTC)

 * Yes, this should be capitalised as Prime Minister is a title. Recollect4741 (talk) 21:33, 27 May 2024 (UTC)
 * See MOS:JOB, it depends on whether it is being used to refer to the generic job or to a specific person. -- DeFacto (talk). 21:53, 27 May 2024 (UTC)
 * Thank You for pointing that out, glad to be aware even if it is absurd. Recollect4741 (talk) 22:03, 27 May 2024 (UTC)
 * I think it might stay uncapitalized after reading MOS:JOB but im still not sure A-37Dragonfly (talk) 01:54, 28 May 2024 (UTC)

Retirement Honours
The section on retirement honours makes no reference to awards of membership of the Order of Merit or the Order of the Companions of Honour which have been awarded to former prime ministers on or after retirement. Churchill, Attlee, Macmillan and Thatcher were made OM, and Major and Brown were appointed CH, all after they left office. Ulpian2499 (talk) 10:07, 16 June 2024 (UTC)

Timing of appointment of PM.
Sir Keir is listed as incumbent PM, but doesn't that happen when the King asks him to form the next Government? DavidFarmbrough (talk) 05:09, 5 July 2024 (UTC)

 * @DavidFarmbrough: No, in practice he's PM immediately, the constitutional formalism doesn't adjust reality. All processes like COBRA/etc. know that Starmer is now the PM. James F. (talk) 10:25, 5 July 2024 (UTC)
 * @DavidFarmbrough: Constitutionally, he's not PM until the monarch invites him to form a government, which will happen soon now his predecessor has resigned as PM. Meanwhile, we live in an absolute monarchy ;-), which is nice. Bazza 7 (talk) 10:36, 5 July 2024 (UTC)
 * To quote specifically from the Cabinet Manual:
 * "The Prime Minister accepts office at a private audience with the Sovereign, at which time the appointment takes effect."
 * … so I suppose we can hold for the next few minutes, though I'm not sure it serves readers very well. James F. (talk) 10:47, 5 July 2024 (UTC)

 * [Secondary thread, merging. James F. (talk) 10:53, 5 July 2024 (UTC)]

I understand that Wikipedia is an encyclopedia where people can create or change pages/sections but can there be a rule where people with common sense are able to make changes? Why am I seeing modifications from people changing Rishi Sunak to Keir Starmer when he hasn't resigned as PM officially from HM The King? SferaEbbasta87 (talk) 07:59, 5 July 2024 (UTC)

 * @SferaEbbasta87: I agree, but it's easy to revert such changes when you see them, as I and others have been doing. It won't be for long. Bazza 7 (talk) 08:01, 5 July 2024 (UTC)

Term Length
Should the term length be ‘Up to Five Years’ instead of ‘At His Majesty’s Pleasure’? Formally it’s true that the PM serves at the King’s pleasure, but that’s not actually true - the PM’s term is five years or shorter if they wish to call the election early.

To have it describe the formal term length instead of the actual term length is inconsistent with the recent decision to say that the incumbent is Keir Starmer before he was asked by the king to form a government, which he formally wasn’t. Furthermore, ‘Up to Five Years’ is a far more relevant and helpful piece of information to have. Jayfin-1 (talk) 11:54, 6 July 2024 (UTC)

Request to update and add new information
In the section “Authority, Powers and Constraints” there needs to be some new information accessing the legislative powers, executive powers and the royal prerogative powers of the British Prime Minister in policy making and the eligibility. Can anyone on this article write and add the following needed information to this page? Altonydean (talk) 11:59, 7 July 2024 (UTC)

 * I suppose for legislative powers we could have a brief explanation of how the PM gets their party to vote with them with the Whips system, parliamentary party rebellions, votes being confidence issue, etc.?
 * I don’t think we need a separate section for executive powers and royal prerogatives, since RPs are a form of executive power. We could have a list of RPs, followed by an explanation of secondary legislation, maybe with own or two examples of executive powers the PM has been granted by parliament through specific acts - e.g. The War Act of 1914 and The Coronavirus Act of 2020. Jayfin-1 (talk) 15:12, 8 July 2024 (UTC)
 * Exactly, but there is no need to write a new section. Just write on the existing “Authority, power and constraints” section instead. But you do need to add three sub sections on legislative powers as well as executive powers and the royal prerogative powers which are omitted from this section rather disproportionately. Although it should be explained in a detailed manner so readers could understand. If you are willing to add such information, please do, the article needs urgent attention. Thank you. Altonydean (talk) 16:13, 8 July 2024 (UTC)


text:
Salmacida Spolia

Salmacida Spolia was the last masque performed at the English Court before the outbreak of the English Civil War. Written by Sir William Davenant, with costumes, sets, and stage effects designed by Inigo Jones and with music by Lewis Richard, it was performed at Whitehall Palace on 21 January 1640.

Intent
In English, the title means "Salmacian spoils," and refers to an ancient Greek legend: a band of barbarians pillaging the Greek city of Halicarnassus in Asia Minor are pacified and civilized by drinking from the fountain of Salmacis. The masque was intended to convey a message of yielding and pacification; Charles I had just ended his eleven-year period of personal rule and called for a new session of parliament. In an effort to create an amicable atmosphere for the coming parliamentary session, several leading aristocratic members of the parliamentary party were cast in the masque, including Francis Russell, 4th Earl of Bedford, and Philip Herbert, 4th Earl of Pembroke. (This effort at political theatre quickly proved useless: the parliament that followed was the famous Short Parliament.)

Overview
The masque was unique in that both Charles I and his queen, Henrietta Maria, performed in it; the Queen's mother, Marie de' Medici, was in the audience. In the masque, The King "personated" the role of Philogenes ("lover of the people"), a good but misunderstood ruler. Philogenes endures a fierce tempest that features the spirit of Discord, to reach an ensuing prosperous calm. A chariot descends from the cloudy heavens, carrying the personifications Concord and the Good Genius of Great Britain. The Queen, pregnant at the time, also descends from the heavens, "in a transparent brightness of thin exhalations, such as the gods are feigned to descend in."

A complex anti-masque featured, among other characters, quack doctors offering "cures" that can only make the chaos greater—for example, "Essence of dissimulation to enforce Love" and "An Opiade of the spirit of Muskadine taken in good quantity to bedward, to make one forget his Creditors." The anti-masque figures, as shown in Jones's surviving sketches, were "bizarrely dressed, physically deformed, and even obscene...one of them is equipped with an enormous erect penis...." The King dispels evil influences from a "golden throne surrounded by palm trees and heroic statues."

The masque featured elaborate dancing, and the sophisticated special effects that were Jones's specialty: for example,

 * "[storm and gale, etc., and:] in the midst was a globe of the Earth, which at an instant falling on fire, was turned into a Fury, her hayre upright, mixt with snakes, her body leane wrinkled and of a swarthy colour [etc.]"

The masque concluded with an idealized cityscape of London, replete with "magnificent buildings," and with another of Jones's famous and stunning cloudscapes, "a heaven opened full of deities."

The royal couple were highly pleased with the masque, and danced it again on the next Shrove Tuesday. The public response, such as there was among the restricted audience, appears to have been less positive, as contemporary witnesses reported more "disorder" among the crowd than usual. An element of negativity in the masque's reception was comprehensible, since it attributes the disorder of the realm to the stubbornness of the King's subjects ("the people's giddy fury"), and hints that the royal power won't always be held in check.

Davenant later adapted aspects of Salmacida Spolia to create his famous The Siege of Rhodes, the "first English opera."

As was often the case, the masque was published in quarto soon after its performance, in this instance by the bookseller Thomas Walkley. It was reprinted in a duodecimo volume in 1750, by William Rufus Chetwood.

title: Salmacida Spolia


text:
Talk:Brigantine

Merge discussion
"Brig" and "brigantine" are not synonymous - for instance Chapelle's History of the American Sailing Navy, p. 392 makes reference to the Porpoise being built as a brigantine and later being re-rigged as a brig! The basic difference is in the use of fore-and-aft sail on the mainmast, but I'm still looking for a definitive authority to quote (good excuse for a short article also covering snows, bilanders, etc). Stan Shebs 04:55 Feb 14, 2003 (UTC)

 * To inspire you, I've started articles at Snow (ship), bilander, and just for fun, xebec. ;-> --the Epopt

 * The fact that Brig and Brigantine are not synonymous does not justify a separate page for Brig if there it is only a stub. Unless there is significant content that clearly delineates one type of ship by another, not just a slight modification of the masts and ship construction, then the articles belong together, not separately.  Gohiking 19:12, 3 December 2006 (UTC)

Well gee, now there's nothing left for me to do! (except to cut up the monster at rigging...) Stan Shebs 16:58 Feb 14, 2003 (UTC)

 * Oh, cheer up! I saved Advice Boat, Barge, Barca-longa, Caravel, Carrack, Cutter, Dredger, Fly-boat, Gunboat/Gunbrig, Gundalow, Hoy, Hulk/Sheer Hulk/Powder Hulk, Launch, Lazaretto, Lighter, Lighter, Longboat, Lugger, Lugger, Lump, Machine/Infernal machine, Packet, Pinnace, Pinque/Pink, Radeau, Receiving Ship, Smack, Tender, and Troopship for you. --the Epopt

Heh-heh. I must "turn my head and look away" or won't get any work done today... Stan Shebs 18:41 Feb 14, 2003 (UTC)

 * I must say that I'm happy to see people caring about such pedantic points. I've been getting disgusted by the quality of some of the seafaring articles I've seen. --the Epopt

The Oxford English Dictionary says brig and brigantine are different, from the definition of brig:
 * 1. a. A vessel
 * (a) originally identical with the brigantine (of which word brig was a colloquial abbreviation); but, while the full name has remained with the unchanged brigantine, the shortened name has accompanied the modifications which have subsequently been made in rig, so that a brig is now
 * (b) A vessel with two masts square-rigged like a ship's fore- and main-masts, but carrying also on her main-mast a lower fore-and-aft sail with a gaff and boom.
 * A brig differs from a snow in having no try-sail mast, and in lowering her gaff to furl the sail. Merchant snows are often called brigs.  This vessel was probably developed from the brigantine by the men-of-war brigs, so as to obtain greater sail-power.

Ortolan88 17:45 Feb 14, 2003 (UTC)

 * Good stuff, thanks! (Santa didn't bring me the OED I asked for, sniff) At some point the verbiage should be crunched down a bit. Picture would be good too - I have another project building 3D models of sailing ships, an illustrative screenshot or two would be a novel way to get unencumbered pics for the pedia!  Stan Shebs 18:41 Feb 14, 2003 (UTC)

It seems that the terms brig and brigantine may have been synonyms at times, and not at others. The article doesn't really reflect this currently. Andrewa 10:01, 6 Nov 2004 (UTC)

But it does now. I've also replaced the redirect at brigantine by a stub. Both I think now accurately represent the way the two terms have had several partly incompatible uses. Both articles could still use more work. Andrewa 02:42, 7 Nov 2004 (UTC)

For what it is worth, I own A General History of The Pyrates by Daniel Defoe, and in its preface is an article from Marine Dictionary, Improved and Enlarged by Dr William Burney (1815) about the definitions of old sea-craft. And the old se-craft of that time used the Brig or Brigantine as synonomous terms. Since then it appears they have changed, but please make note that before that time they were the same thing. Write me for any further info: ```` —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mr. Lee Snavely (talk • contribs) 02:55, 13 May 2011 (UTC)

Rama's picture
Having a picture is good. But I sent the person who recently added one a question, because it looks like a schooner to me. Geo Swan 18:22, 27 Dec 2004 (UTC)

brig/brigantine/hermaphrodite brig
There has always been a huge amount of debate about where a two-masted schooner ends and a brig begins. After restoring, maintaining, and sailing aboard each of these types of vessels, many discussions with fellow tall-ship sailors of all persuasions, and researching as much as possible, I have determined that the progression is:

Two-Masted Schooner: Two masts, both masts setting a sail attached to the mast at the luff. All sails fore-and-aft. Sails may be gaff or marconi.

Stays'l Schooner: as above, but with no sail set with luff attached to foremast. One or more 'tween-mast stays'ls. Note: Modern Stays'l Schooners may sometimes set fore-and-aft tops'ls with luffs attached to the mast; this is outside the classical definitions. Square-Tops'l Schooner: As Two-Masted Schooner, but with square topsail(s) on the foremast. A course may be set on the fore.

Main-Tops'l Schooner: As above, but with square tops'l(s) on main mast as well. No course is ever set on the main, but may (rarely) be set on the fore. The schooner Sultana is an example of this rare rig.

Brig(English): Two-masted. Square top'sl's and courses on both masts. No sparred fore-and-aft sail set on the foremast. Stays'ls set 'tween masts. Main course typically referred to as the "mains'l", while the sparred fore-and-aft sail set aft of the mainmast is typically called the "spanker" or "driver". The Stavros S Niarchos is an example, although rarely pictured with the maincourse set.

Brigantine(American)/Hermaphrodite Brigantine(English): As the Stays'l Schooner, with addition of square tops'ls and course on foremast. The Exy Johnson and Irving Johnson are the best examples that come to mind.

Brig(American)/Hermaphrodite Brig(English): As the Brig(English), but with no course set on the mainmast. The sparred fore-and-aft sail set aft of the mainmast is typically referred to as the "mains'l". The Lady Washington is a good example of this rig.

Snow: As the Brig(English), with the sparred fore-and-aft sail aft of the mainmast set at the luff not to the mainmast itself, but to a small "tys'l mast" stepped immediately aft of the mainmast.

The major stumbling block is the difference between New World and Old World definitions. Also, there is the somewhat archaic convention of using terms like "Brig" or "Sloop" to denote classes of vessels based on tonnage or usage, not just rig types. Also, and very rarely, one sees a picture of a Main-Tops'l Schooner setting a full stack on the main, or even worse, a Brig(British) setting a gaff fores'l (like the reproduction Pilgrim). In these strange cases, the distinction is made by carefully scrutinizing the overall sail and rig proportions; a schooner derives her primary drive from fore-and-aft sails (the squares being auxillary sails), whereas the brig derives her primary drive from her tops'ls (the fore-and-aft sails being secondary). Osteoderm 03:24, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

 * This is great but it's Original Research and can't be the basis for the information in the article.--Doug.(talk • contribs) 04:15, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

 * Doug, I agree with you, which is why I have not made any change to article itself. If I had current first-hand access to the appropriate references, I would certianly provide them. Instead, my intention on this discussion page has been to clarify and attempt to steer others with greater access to materials towards providing a clearer article for the layperson. --Osteoderm 22:15, 30 September 2007 (UTC)

 * Osteoderm, the ship you refere to as "Hermaphrodite Brigantine(English)" is called a "Hermaphrodite Brig "(or "Schooner Brig") in historic English nautical documents, I've not come across the term "Hermaphrodite Brigantine" but once, in a newspaper article.
 * What you rever to as Brig(American) is called a Brigantine in English literature. Although some sources state that the mainsail on a Brigantine Proper is larger than that of a Brig, the noted differnce between a Brig and a Brigantine, in continental nautical terminology, is the lack of a course set on the main. Refundpolitics (talk) 14:09, 7 October 2012 (UTC)

Qs

 * size of brigantine

 * the dimensions of a Brigantine ship

 * the dimensions of a Brigantine ship like the size

Disambiguaton page needed?
I've added a third use of "brigantine:" as an alternate spelling for brigandine, a piece of armor. Perhaps there should be a disambiguation page for this word. Durova 04:32, 14 March 2006 (UTC)

Regarding Brig and need to maintain a separate listing for a stub
I am happy to see the difference between a Brig and Brigantine spelled out, although I wouldn't even know what was different was looking at the actual vessels unless it was pointed out to me by someone with more experience. The problem I have with maintaining Brig separately as a stub is that unless the article Brig is significant on it's own, it should be combined together with Brigantine and have the differences explained which is basically what is already being done now. Brig is an archaic reference to a similar type of ship and can refer back to Brigantine in order to clarify the differences between both.

The fact that Brig and Brigantine are not synonymous does not justify a separate page for Brig if it is only a stub. Unless there is significant content that clearly delineates one type of ship by another, not just a slight modification of the masts and ship construction, then the articles belong together, not separate.

In reviewing the other ship links, it would be likely that Hermaphrodite brig should also be combined here for the same reasons.

I thereby propose that Brig and Brigantine be combined. Gohiking 19:12, 3 December 2006 (UTC)
 * Makes sense after all, since the definitions apparently vary through time and places. After a lifetime reading everything I happen to stumble on about sailingvessels, I can sum up that anyway in the Baltic it has mostly (not always) been defined that a brig has square sails on both masts, and a gaff sail in addition on the mizzen mast, whereas a brigantine has squares on the main mast, but only fore-aft sails on the mizzen, exactly as the pictures in both articles show today. Snow is an unknown type here, but seems to me to have more to do with size and possibly countryvise differings. With thorough explanation and redirections above proposal seems logical. Islander(Scandinavia) 01:27, 5 December 2006 (UTC)

 * I think this would be ok as long as both terms are emboldened, and the difference between the two is clearly articulated at the beginning of this article. Care should be taken to ensure that a casual reader does not mistake the redirect for an indication that the two are synonymous. Gsnixon 12:46, 6 December 2006 (UTC)

 * Modern parlance makes distinctions where, historically, there were none in regard to brig vs. brigantine. For much of the brig(antine)'s history as a working vessel, the terms brig and brigantine were fully interchangeable.  Unless significant material can be added to contextualise these intimately related vessels, I agree that Brigantine, Brig, and Hermaphrodite brig should be merged.Chang E 04:33, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

 * The terms 'brig' and 'brigantine' are still interchangable for the most part. People know what a 'brigantine' is, but a 'brig' could be a 'brig' or a 'brigantine'. The difference between brigs and brigantines is incredibly small, and the 'brig' article is - right now - completely focused on that difference, leaving little to discuss. I think that if someone found a different focus for the article, while still conveying the difference it would be worth preserving the article individually. But as it stands the article could be merged into 'brigantine' with a line similar to: "a brig is similar to the brigantine, however it is square rigged on both masts". Edit: In light of the de-stubbing of the brig article and large addition of material I don't think that the articles 'brig' and 'brigantine' should be merged. Digital Lyon 21:22, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

De-stub of Brig article
As I was working in the Most wanted stubs page and Brig was listed as number 2, I managed to move the article from stub class to B Class as per the judgement of someone from the Military history WikiProject. I would argue that there is now sufficent material in the brig article to merit it not being merged.--Wowaconia 22:30, 15 January 2007 (UTC)

This is internally inconsistent
The article says: By the first half of the 18th century the word had evolved to refer not to a ship type name, but rather to a particular type of rigging: square rigged on the foremast and fore-and-aft rigged on the mizzen. Many sloops were "brigantine-rigged". (italics added) A sloop can't possibly have a different rigging on the foremast from the mizzen, it doesn't have either. I have therefore deleted the italicized text.--Doug.(talk • contribs) 04:22, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

Just a note: The word sloop does not necessarily mean any single-masted for-and-aft-rigged vessel with at least one headsail and the mast relatively far forward. It has also been used to refer to weight or armament classes. I believe one definition was a ship-rigged warship of fewer than 20 guns, but I am sure that there have been others. The author of the article clearly meant main when he wrote mizzen. I think that without the deleted text it is unclear what is meant by "ship type name" as opposed to "type of rigging." Perhaps someone with more knowledge than I have could elaborate on exactly how the meaning of the word changed. In any case the text could be changed to clarify that the author meant "general type and size of vessel" by "ship type." I would add that it is misleading to use the term ship for vessels in general when discussing types of rig, as in this context ship means a vessel having three square-rigged masts each comprising distinct lower, top, and topgallant sections, and that the word rig should be used for type of sail plan as a whole rather than rigging, which refers specifically to the lines used to support and control the rig.Gjh88 (talk) 09:09, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

 * WP already has the distinction clarified, under the article Sloop-of-war. A link within a sentence explaining that "Sloop-of-war" was often shortened to "Sloop" should suffice, no? Czrisher (talk) 20:24, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

Pictures?
It seems we have a picture of a Hermaphrodite Brig on the Brigantine Page, and a picture of a Brigantine on the Hermaphrodite Brig Page. Is there some reason for this? IgniFerroque (talk) 04:40, 17 January 2008 (UTC)

link broken
source 1 is no longer a working link.... prob should be deleted and new sources found. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.149.167.127 (talk) 22:50, 16 July 2009 (UTC)

poem
Stone Roses '....and fills up her brigantine sails...' —Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.8.126.31 (talk) 21:47, 27 August 2010 (UTC)

Usefull Diagram
The following is a usefull diagram to show the different two masted vessels rigging plans, in relation to their classicifaction. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ship_Rigging_differences_in_schematic_view.png — Preceding unsigned comment added by Refundpolitics (talk • contribs) 14:16, 7 October 2012 (UTC)

How is a "brig" different from a "brigatine"?
I've been back and forth over both articles several times now, and I honestly don't see any difference between this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brig#/media/File:Brig3.png

And this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brigantine#/media/File:Brigantine.png

Is the difference that the brig has a square mainsail, and the fore-and-aft sail is merely an auxiliary, while the brig has a dedicated fore-and-aft mainsail? The only obvious differences in the images are that the brig has a furled square sail on the main yards, and that the brigatine has a mainstaysail set between the masts, which ought to be perfectly possible for the brig as well. If that's really the main difference between the two, it ought to say so in plain language, because it took me a while to come to that conclusion the way the articles are phrased. I mean, the difference between the two is one sail...that seems like a relevant piece of information that could be highlighted instead of just saying "not to be confused with a brigatine, which is rigged differently". Obviously, the difference is more obvious in the "hermaphrodite" brig, with the full fore-and-aft mainsail..45Colt 09:08, 4 September 2015 (UTC)

 * I agree, we need and explanation in plain language, in an easy and neat way. I've just posted at Talk:Sail-plan some minutes ago, please see. --62.19.46.1 (talk) 13:07, 9 January 2016 (UTC)

It is true that there was confusion on the subject and that this confusion may still be around in some other articles. Yet, the difference between a Brig and Brigantine is not contested in naval literature. However, once people start using general dictionaries to figure out the differences, things get messy. This is seems to be because of two things: first, dictionaries cut corners in there descriptions, leaving out 'non essential' parts of a description to minimize text length and second, most people don't realize that if you quote a dictionary from well before the advent of gaff topsails, there was little need to mention that the topsails were square (because all topsail were, invariably, square). In addition to the differences as described in the article, brigantines have what is sometimes referred to as a 'schooner mainmast': a mast with only a topmast extension. A brig's main mast had three sections: mast, topmast and topgallant mast. In addition to this difference, as correctly mentioned in the article, the main sail of a brigantine is the fore-and-aft gaff sail (on the main mast), the mainsail of a brig is, however, square. The gaff sail on a brig (named spanker or, less common, a driver) is used in aiding the steering of the ship. Sources: many. However, many online sources are, by now, confused. Many quoted the confused information on Wikipedia and it seems the information online has taken on a life of its own. Fortunately, we still have sources (offline): 82.173.88.91 (talk) 17:02, 11 January 2016 (UTC)
 * Collection de Toutes les Espèces de Bâtimens de Guerre et de Bâtimens Marchant qui Naviguent sur l'Ocean et dans la Méditerranée, J ean-Jérôme Baugean (1814, Paris)
 * Brigantino S. Antonio, painting on glass (1768), Museo Civico Navale, Genua
 * Zeilschepen en hun Tuigage, H. Manhoudt Jr. (1946) Amsterdam
 * Text-Book of Seamanship, Commodore S.B. Luce (1891), New York
 * Pinassen, Fluiten en Galjassen; zeilschepen van de Lage Landen - Kustvaar en Grote Vaart -, Hans Haalmeijer (2009) Alkmaar

Mistake in the Brigantine Sailplan?
I am not an expert, merely an enthusiast. The image captioned "A brigantine sail plan" appears to me to have both a square rigged sail on the mainsail yard, and a fore-and-aft sail abaft the main mast with no gaff or boom visible. I thought a brigantine had no square-rigged mainsail, and a fore-and-aft sail on a gaff or boom on the main mast? Just as a sanity check, is this image correct?
 * As far as I can see, both diagram images in the article show both a gaff and a boom for the main sail (the for and aft 'schooner sail') on the main mast. The Brigantine-rig of old had square top and, depending on the size of the vessel, square top gallant sails on the main mast. The rig with a pure fore-and-aft rigged main mast was, called either a "schooner brig" or "hermaphrodite brig". In modern times, we use the term Brigantine to refer to what they used to call a "schooner brig" (or "hermaphrodite brig"). In Europe they still use the term "schooner brig" to distinguish it from what they now call a "true brigantine" or "brigantine proper".

"1525 definitions"
"the Oxford English Dictionary has about 1525 definitions of..."

I don't know what this sentence was meant to say but, even without opening my OED, I'm willing to bet that it does *not* contain 1500 definitions of "brigantine." ;)

Can the author, or someone else who understands it, please clean up this sentence? Thanks. WikiAlto (talk) 06:07, 17 October 2020 (UTC)

title: Talk:Brigantine