Ship model  chebec

Origin of the chebecs

Chebecs were originally Arab constructions that were famous for their speed and maneuverability. They were primarily fast, light sailing warships, but in calms could also be rowed by means of oars through smaller ports in the bulwarks between each two adjacent guns.  They are thought to have originated in Algeria, and were used by corsairs of the Maghreb from the beginning of the 17th century. The chebec proved so useful as a fast raider, despatch boat or even merchant ship that versions of it were adopted in other countries. 

1749 the commander of the French navy in Toulon decided to build four such chebecs, instead of the usually built corvettes. One of these four ships was the INDISCRET, which was launched on 24 March 1751 in Toulon. She was 49 m long, 9.75 m wide, had a crew of 300 men and was armed with 24 eight pounders.
This ship model is a symbol for the elegance in shipbuilding. Besides it is a symbol of extremely successful Arab shipbuilding art, which was copied by the contemporary French shipbuilders.

The Musée de la Marine in Paris has a contemporary model of the ship. It is covered with 22 photos and with extensive explanations in the book by Jean Boudriot, "Modeles Historiques, Musée de la Marine", A.N.C.R.E., Paris, 1997.

Chebec model ship, photos, description and dimensions

Please take your time to have a good look at the set of photos. There are several views of the entire model and of details. If you click on a photo you will get that photo in high resolution. Only these high resolution photographs show how much work and handicraft ability were put in the model. (If you use Microsoft Internet Explorer or Firefox, press F11 to minimize navigation bars and have a larger screen with the photos.)

This beautiful model of the chebec is 1 : 50 scale. Length is 98 cm, width 25 cm, height 73 cm.