A shallop was a small boat used for coastal navigation from the seventeenth century. Somewhat larger than a dory, the shallop was about 30 feet long and equipped with oars and a mast with one or two sails. A shallop could take over a dozen people and usually had a shallow draft of about two feet. Nevertheless they could carry a substantial load and be armed with cannon.
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Exploration
Captain John Smith used shallops to explore Chesapeake Bay in the Summer of 1608. The boats were sawed in half and stowed aboard the Susan Constant, being reassembled when the colonists arrived in North America.
Warfare
Shallops were used as gunboats particularly in the Gunboat War (1807–1814) between Denmark–Norway and the British Navy during the Napoleonic Wars.
References
Shallop Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA