En flûte
Encyclopedia
Arming a ship
Ship
Since the end of the age of sail a ship has been any large buoyant marine vessel. Ships are generally distinguished from boats based on size and cargo or passenger capacity. Ships are used on lakes, seas, and rivers for a variety of activities, such as the transport of people or goods, fishing,...

 en flûte (French: "as a fluyt
Fluyt
A fluyt, fluit, or flute is a Dutch type of sailing vessel originally designed as a dedicated cargo vessel. Originating from the Netherlands in the 16th century, the vessel was designed to facilitate transoceanic delivery with the maximum of space and crew efficiency...

") means removing some or all of the artillery. Since ships have a limited amount of cargo space, they may be armed en flûte to make room for other cargo, such as troops and ammunition. This reduces the ship's ability to defend herself if attacked.

The term emerged from the French name for a type of ship - the cargo-carrying flûte used extensively as a mercantile ship or as a naval auxiliary vessel. In turn this derived from the Dutch name fluyt, probably the most common type of cargo-carrier during the seventeenth century - when in English usage it was commonly rendered as flyboat.

This tactic was most relevant in the Age of Sail
Age of Sail
The Age of Sail was the period in which international trade and naval warfare were dominated by sailing ships, lasting from the 16th to the mid 19th century...

, when gun decks took up most of the space on a warship above the waterline. Reducing the artillery of a ship of the line
Ship of the line
A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed from the 17th through the mid-19th century to take part in the naval tactic known as the line of battle, in which two columns of opposing warships would manoeuvre to bring the greatest weight of broadside guns to bear...

 or a frigate
Frigate
A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...

 entailed a dramatic saving in space, since the removal of certain guns meant that their gunners (and their equipment and provisions) were not needed. The size of the crew of a sailing warship was determined primarily by the number of guns on the ship, sometimes over a hundred, as each gun needed a crew of several men, and it might be necessary to have all the guns in action simultaneously. The number of men required to fight on board the ship was far higher than the number needed simply to sail it. A typical ship of the line armed en flûte would have her armament cut down to a quarter of its maximum, and could accommodate over 1000 troops.

For instance, leading up to the Seven Years' War
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War was a global military war between 1756 and 1763, involving most of the great powers of the time and affecting Europe, North America, Central America, the West African coast, India, and the Philippines...

, the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 sent three thousand troops to reinforce French Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

aboard a large squadron of ships-of-war. To make room for these troops, most of the ships were armed en flûte.
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