{{Short description|Historical era when sailing ships dominated global trade and warfare}}
{{For|the video game|Age of Sail (video game){{!}}''Age of Sail'' (video game)}}
[[File:Battle of Scheveningen (Slag bij Ter Heijde)(Jan Abrahamsz. Beerstraten).jpg|thumb|''The [[Battle of Scheveningen]], 10 August 1653'', painted by [[Jan Abrahamsz Beerstraaten]]]]
[[Image:Warship diagram orig.jpg|thumb|A ship of war, [[Cyclopaedia, or an Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences|''Cyclopaedia'' 1728]], Vol 2]]

The '''Age of Sail''' is the period in European history from the mid-15th or 16th century<ref name="Gaynor 2013"/> to, at the latest, the mid-19th century, in which the dominance of [[sailing ship]]s in [[global trade]] and [[warfare]] culminated. Marked by the introduction of [[Naval artillery in the Age of Sail|naval artillery]], the Age of Sail ultimately reached its highest extent at the advent of [[Steam power during the Industrial Revolution|steam power]]. Enabled by the advances of the related [[Maritime history#Age of navigation|age of navigation]], it is identified as a distinctive element of the [[early modern period]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hms-trincomalee.co.uk/history/the-age-of-sail |title=The Age of Sail |website=HMS Trincomalee |access-date=12 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160316114603/http://www.hms-trincomalee.co.uk/history/the-age-of-sail |archive-date=2016-03-16 |url-status=usurped }}</ref> and the [[Age of Discovery]].<ref name="Gaynor 2013">{{cite journal | last=Gaynor | first=Jennifer L. | title=Ages of Sail, Ocean Basins, and Southeast Asia | journal=Journal of World History | publisher=Project Muse | volume=24 | issue=2 | year=2013 | issn=1527-8050 | doi=10.1353/jwh.2013.0059 | pages=309–333| s2cid=161330041 }}</ref>

==Periodisation==
{{More citations needed|section|date=July 2021}}
Like most [[History by period|periodic eras]], [[Periodization|defining the age]] is inexact and serves only as a general description. The term is used differently for warships and merchant vessels.

By the 14th century [[naval artillery]] was employed in Europe, documented at the [[Battle of Arnemuiden]] (1338). The 15th century saw the [[Iberia]] Portuguese naval ventures all the way along the African Atlantic coast and across the Atlantic Ocean, starting the [[Age of Discovery]].

For warships, the age of sail runs roughly from the [[Battle of Lepanto (1571)|Battle of Lepanto]] in 1571, the last significant engagement in which [[oar]]-propelled [[galley]]s played a major role, to the development of [[Steam-powered vessel|steam-powered]] [[warship]]s.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-02-01 |title=The 74—the Perfect Age-of-Sail Ship |url=https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/2019/february/74-perfect-age-sail-ship |access-date=2022-10-05 |website=U.S. Naval Institute |language=en}}</ref>

===Golden Age of Sail===
The period between the mid-19th century to the early 20th century, when sailing vessels reached their peak of size and complexity (e.g., [[clipper]]s and [[windjammer]]s), is sometimes referred to as the "Golden Age of Sail".<ref>[http://museum.gov.ns.ca/mma/AtoZ/rigs.html "Sailing Ship Rigs"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101228161737/http://museum.gov.ns.ca/mma/AtoZ/rigs.html |date=2010-12-28 }}. [[Maritime Museum of the Atlantic]]</ref>

==Decline==
The second sea-going [[steamboat]] was Richard Wright's first steamboat ''Experiment'', an ex-French [[lugger]]; she steamed from [[Leeds]] to [[Great Yarmouth|Yarmouth]] in July 1813.<ref>{{Citation | first = R | last = Malster | title = Wherries & Waterways | place = Lavenham | year = 1971 | page = 61}}.</ref><ref name="google">{{cite book|title=DNB|author=Stephen, L.|date=1894|publisher=Smith, Elder, & Company|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=puApAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA399|page=399|access-date=2017-12-28}}</ref><!---could use better citation to prove that there was a canal from Leeds to Yarmouth, but that seems to be the intent of all statements on the subject--> The first iron steamship to go to sea was the 116-ton ''[[Aaron Manby]]'', built in 1821 by [[Aaron Manby (ironmaster)|Aaron Manby]] at the [[Horseley Ironworks]]. She became the first iron-built vessel to put to sea when she crossed the [[English Channel]] in 1822, arriving in [[Paris]] on 22 June.<ref name="artistaswitness">{{cite web |title=The First Steamboat Services in Europe |url=http://www.artistaswitness.com/Steamships/steamships_dn_07.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041105093118/http://www.artistaswitness.com/Steamships/steamships_dn_07.htm |archive-date=5 November 2004 |publisher=The Artist as Witness: Images of Technology |date=2002 |url-status=usurped |access-date=21 July 2021}}</ref> She carried passengers and freight to Paris in 1822 at an average speed of {{convert|8|kn|mph km/h}}.

The first purpose-built steam battleship was the 90-gun {{ship|French ship|Napoléon|1850|2}} in 1850.<ref name = "Screw">Lambert, A. "The Screw Propeller Warship", in Gardiner ''Steam, Steel and Shellfire'' pp. 30–44.</ref> Multiple steam battleships saw action during the [[Crimean War]], especially the Allied (British, French and Ottoman) fleet Bombardment of [[Sevastopol]] as part of the [[Siege of Sevastopol (1854–1855)]]. The first ironclad battleship, {{ship|French ironclad|Gloire||2}}, was launched by the [[French Navy]] in November 1859.<ref>Sondhaus, Lawrence. ''Naval Warfare 1815–1914'' {{ISBN|0-415-21478-5}}, pp. 73–74.</ref> In the March 1862 [[Battle of Hampton Roads]], the [[ironclad]] {{ship|CSS|Virginia}} fought {{USS|Monitor}}, making this the first fight between ironclads.

The [[Suez Canal]] in the Middle East, which opened in 1869, was more practical for steamships than for sailing ships, achieving a much shorter [[European-Asian sea route]], which coincided with more fuel-efficient steamships, starting with {{SS|Agamemnon|1865|2}} in 1865.<ref name="Jarvis">{{cite book |last=Jarvis |first=Adrian |editor1-first=Robert |editor1-last= Gardiner |editor2-first=Dr Basil |editor2-last=Greenhill |date=1993 |title=The Advent of Steam – The Merchant Steamship before 1900 |publisher=Conway Maritime Press |pages=158–159 |chapter=9: Alfred Holt and the Compound Engine |isbn=0-85177-563-2}}</ref>{{efn|The distance from Rotterdam to Singapore via the Cape of Good Hope is about {{convert|11720|nmi|km|abbr=on}}, compared to {{convert|8440|nmi|km|abbr=on}} via the Suez canal.<ref>{{cite news |title=Shippers opting for longer Cape of Good Hope route, bypassing Suez Canal - SeaNews |url=https://seanews.co.uk/maritime/distance-from-rotterdam-to-singapore-through-the-cape-of-good-hope-about-11720-nautical-miles-compared-to-8440-nautical-miles-via-the-suez-canal/ |access-date=24 May 2025 |date=26 May 2020}}</ref> Sailing vessels going around the south of Africa would typically sail over {{convert|14000|nmi|km|abbr=on}} as their routes were adjusted to find favourable winds.<ref name="MacGregor 1983">{{cite book |last=MacGregor |first=David R. |date= 1983|title=The Tea Clippers, Their History and Development 1833–1875 |url= |location= |publisher=Conway Maritime Press Limited |isbn=0-85177-256-0}}</ref>{{rp|31}}}}

{{HMS|Devastation|1871|6}}, the first class of ocean-going battleships that did not carry sails, was commissioned in 1871.

[[File:HMS Devastation (1871).jpg|thumb|{{HMS|Devastation|1871|6}}]]

Sailing ships continued to be an economical way to transport bulk cargo on long voyages into the 1920s and 1930s, though steamships soon pushed them out of those trades as well. Sailing ships do not require fuel or complex engines to be powered; thus they tended to be more independent from sophisticated dedicated support bases on land. Crucially though, steam-powered ships held a speed advantage and were rarely hindered by adverse winds, freeing steam-powered vessels from the necessity of following [[trade wind]]s. As a result, cargo and supplies could reach a foreign port in a fraction of the time it took a sailing ship.

Sailing vessels were pushed into narrower and narrower economic niches and gradually disappeared from commercial trade. Today, sailing vessels are only economically viable for small-scale coastal fishing, along with recreational uses such as [[yachting]] and passenger sail excursion ships.

In recent decades, the commercial shipping industry has been reviving interest in [[wind-assisted propulsion|wind assisted ships]] as a way to conserve fuel in the interest of [[sustainability]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Mbenywe |first1=Mactilda |title=Wind at the helm shapes shipping's low-carbon turn |url=https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2001516735/wind-at-the-helm-shapes-shippings-low-carbon-turn |access-date=24 May 2025 |work=The Standard |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Singleton |first1=Tom |title=Pioneering wind-powered cargo ship sets sail |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-66543643 |access-date=24 May 2025 |date=21 August 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Neuman |first1=Scott |title=New technology uses good old-fashioned wind to power giant cargo vessels |url=https://www.npr.org/2023/10/05/1200788439/wind-power-cargo-ships-carbon-emissions |access-date=24 May 2025 |work=NPR |date=5 October 2023 |language=en}}</ref>

== Legacy<!--'New Age of Sail' redirects here--> ==
A '''New Age of Sail'''<!--boldface per WP:R#PLA--> has been predicted by some experts to occur by 2030, driven by a revolution in [[energy technology]] and a desire to reduce [[carbon emission]]s from [[maritime shipping]] through [[wind-assisted propulsion]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-03-15|title=New age of sail looks to slash massive maritime carbon emissions|url=https://news.mongabay.com/2021/03/new-age-of-sail-looks-to-slash-massive-maritime-carbon-emissions/|access-date=2021-06-07|website=Mongabay Environmental News|language=en-US}}</ref> The book ''Trade Winds: A Voyage to a Sustainable Future for Shipping'' discusses the potential of a return to wind propulsion through the firsthand experiences of [[Christiaan De Beukelaer]], who spent five months aboard a sailing cargo ship in 2020.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526163097/|title=Trade Winds: A Voyage to a Sustainable Future for Shipping|author=Christiaan De Beukelaer|publisher=Manchester University Press|year=2023|isbn=978-1-5261-6309-7}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Transport}}
* [[Age of Discovery]]
* [[Columbian Exchange]]
* [[Indian Ocean trade]]
* [[Maritime Silk Road]]
* [[Maritime timeline]]
* [[Naval history]]
* [[Sailing ship tactics]]
* [[Sea lane]]
* [[Battle of Navarino]] - The last major sea battle fought entirely by sailing ships

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Age Of Sail}}
[[Category:Age of Sail| ]]
[[Category:1571 establishments]]
[[Category:1862 disestablishments]]
[[Category:Early modern period]]
[[Category:Exploration]]
[[Category:Historical eras]]
[[Category:History of geography]]
[[Category:Maritime culture]]
[[Category:Maritime history]]
[[Category:Navigation]]
[[Category:Sailing]]