Captain's Gig

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A Captain's Gig is a boat used on naval ships as the Captain's taxi. In general it was smaller and lighter than the longboat or the barge or the pinnace. It was usually crewed by 4 select oarsmen, and a coxswain. In general the oarsmen sat one to a seat, but each only rowed a single oar on alternating sides. The gig was not as seakindly as the longboat but used mostly in harbors.

The boats generally had a high wineglass transom, full skeg, full keel, straight stem and somewhat rounded sides. There was in general very little rocker in the keel. And the gunwales on many were nearly straight from bow to stern. It appears to be the precursor to the Whitehall Rowboat.

In science fiction, the term is often used to refer to a small auxiliary spacecraft.

See Also: Cornish pilot gig, a larger boat (crewed by 6 plus a cox) which used to be used to transport pilots out to ships.