Parts of a Pirate Ship – 21 Labeled Parts, Bow to Stern

All 21 parts on the diagram

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Start here: 11 main parts 11

Hull The watertight body of the ship.
Rudder The blade at the stern that steers the ship.
Bowsprit The spar sticking out forward from the bow. Stays to the foremast are fixed to it.
Forecastle The raised deck at the bow; said fo'c'sle.
Poop deck The highest deck at the stern, a lookout over the whole ship.
Gunport An opening in the side for a cannon to fire through. A lid closes it.
Ship's wheel (helm) Steers the ship; ropes run from it to the rudder.
Mainmast The tallest mast, near the middle, carrying most of the sail.
Mainsail The big square sail hung from the lowest yard of the mainmast.
Crow's nest A lookout platform high on the mainmast.
Jolly Roger (flag) The pirate flag: a skull and crossbones.

Hull and bow: 7 3

Keel The backbone of the ship. It runs along the bottom from bow to stern.
Figurehead A carved figure on the bow, under the bowsprit.
Anchor Holds the ship in place when it is not sailing. Stowed at the bow.

Decks and steering: 5 2

Quarterdeck The raised deck toward the stern where the captain commanded the ship.
Captain's cabin The captain's quarters at the stern, lit by windows.

Masts, sails and rigging: 9 5

Foremast The mast nearest the bow, usually shorter than the mainmast.
Mizzenmast The mast behind the mainmast, nearest the stern.
Yard A spar across a mast that a square sail hangs from.
Shrouds Ropes from a mast down to the side of the ship. They hold the mast up.
Ratlines Short ropes tied across the shrouds as a ladder for climbing aloft.

How this list was compiled: Read 2026-09-26. (1) A ship modelers' anatomy of a wooden ship, https://www.modelerscentral.com/anatomy-of-a-wooden-ship/ : hull, keel, foremast, main mast, mizzenmast, yards, shrouds, stays, ratlines, halyards, square sails, rudder and tiller, wheel, anchors stored at the bow, forecastle at the bow, quarterdeck at the stern as the command centre, poop deck as the highest aft deck, figurehead on the bow. (2) Q-files, Inside a galleon, https://www.q-files.com/history/pirates-galleons/inside-a-galleon : keys naming crow's nest, mainsail, ship's flag, poop deck, ratlines, captain's quarters, mizzen mast, main mast, gunport, foremast, forecastle, bowsprit, shrouds; the bow and stern decks higher than the middle. (3) Wikipedia: Bowsprit, Figurehead, Crow's nest, Ratline, Jolly Roger, Ship's wheel, Gunport, Keel, Rudder, Quarterdeck, Poop deck, Forecastle, Yard (sailing), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full-rigged_ship . Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site by script, 2026-09-26. Own work, nothing traced. Licence: own work

How it works

These are the parts of a pirate ship on a three-masted, square-rigged sailing ship of the age of sail. Start with the 11 main parts, then the hull, the decks and the rigging.

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Front to back

At the bow the bowsprit sticks out over the figurehead, and the forecastle is the raised deck behind it. The low middle is the main deck. Toward the stern rise the quarterdeck, where the captain commanded and the wheel stands, and the poop deck, the highest of all, over the captain's cabin.

Masts and rigging

The foremast is at the front, the tall mainmast in the middle and the mizzenmast at the back. Yards across each mast carry the square sails. Shrouds brace each mast to the side of the boat, and the ratlines across them are the rungs sailors climbed to the crow's nest.

Only the mainsail is asked of the six sails: the big lowest sail on the mainmast.

Questions and answers

What is the front of a pirate ship called?

The bow. The pole sticking out forward from it is the bowsprit, the carved figure under it the figurehead, and the raised deck behind it the forecastle, said fo'c'sle.

What is the top of a pirate ship's mast called?

The lookout platform high on the mainmast is the crow's nest. Above it flew the ship's flag, on a pirate ship the Jolly Roger.

What is the difference between the quarterdeck and the poop deck?

Both are raised decks at the stern. The quarterdeck is lower and further forward, where the captain commanded and the ship was steered; the poop deck is the highest deck, right at the back.