Henry B. Culver, The Book of Old Ships: Nearly everyone has, at a tender age, read "Robinson Cruesoe." So that no one need that he or ship is not acquainted with the word "xebec," connected with that hero's early adventure when he was a slave upon the north African coast.
The word is of eastern provenance and appears in many different forms both in Oriental countries and in those of the Romance languages. In as many forms also appears or appeard the hull and rig. Mr. B. Granville Carney says that the xebec is a genus unto itself, but that it comprises several species and many types. In hull it is closely related to the galley, being rather narrow, with a prominent beak, and terminated aft with an outer platform comprised of two wings, the prolongations of the quarter gunwales or sides such as we have noted in several Mediterranean vessels related to the galley type.
The masts, three in number, usually bore lateen sails, the foremast haveing quite a pronounced rake forward. There were, however, many variations of the rig, because these vessels were often ship-rigged, again like polacres, and yet again carried combinations of square and fore and aft sails. Naturally, oars were employed as a supplementary means of propulsion. The illustration (seen on the main page) shows a xebec as given by Lescallier in his Vocabulaire published in the year 1777. It will be seen that the two forward masts consist of single poles a calcet while the mizzen consists of two parts with a small top and separate topmast
The British Nevy did not disdain to include this form of craft within its programme of construction. Two sloops, the Dart and Arrow, built in 1796, were xebec shaped, without however, some of the extreme features, such as the open overhang forward and aft, and no "tumble-home." They were ship-rigged, and while they appear to have distinguished themselves, the type was not repeated. Mr. Carney points out that this type was not a true xebec but rather a first cousin called the chambequin.
It is interesting to note that the English seamen called the lateen yard carried on the mizzen a "shebeck" yard, probably because that approximated the pronunciation of the French word for "xebec" and "chabeck," and because the use of the lateen mizzen was retained longer in the French than the English Navy.
Bjorn Landstrom, Sailing Ships: Little indeed is known of how the chebeck originated. The pirates of hte Barbary States used the chebeck during the 17th century, and during the 18th century, we find both Spanish and French chebecks, towards its end even Russian. It is said that the Spanish build their first chebecks to fight the Algerian pirates with their own weapon.
A model in the Museo Maritimo in Barcelona shows us this elegant and swift craft. It is a shallow-draught vessel with concave waterlines in the bows and sides sloping outwards, and the hull has much in common with the galley. It is a light sailing vesselthat can attain a decent speed speed in light winds, and above all, is highly manoeuverable under oars. The Venetian galeotta was an oar-propelled vessel with auxillary sails, and if we think of her as a little broader we almost have a chebeck before us. But the chebeck was above all a magnificent sailer. Like so many other Mediterranean vessels she had a ram-like beak-head. A "grating deck" projected far out over the round stern as an extension of the quarter-deck.
It is probable that all chebecks were from the beginning rigged with lateen sails on all three masts, but from the mid 18th century we find both Moroccan and French chebecks with mainmasts rigged a la polacca. A polacca (discussed in 'Xebec Information') was a square-rigged Mediterranean vessel with the masts in a single piece, without tops, which makes it possible for an upper yard to be lowered close to the lower so that all wind can in this way be taken out of the sail. Towards the end of the century we find also chebecks rigged approximately like ordinary frigates of the time.