Caravel -

• 6 Moves
  
• 1 Attack
  
• 1 Defense
  
• 2 Cargo
  
• 40 Boards
  
• 20 Tools
  
• 5 Navy Score

With the exception of the Dutch, every major faction in the game starts out their adventures in the New World with the basic Caravel. A rather humble unit, the Caravel isn't necessarily anything too fancy when you compare it to other ships, but until you acquire some additional sailing vessels she'll be indispensable until you do. Do your best to keep it out of harms way!

Sometimes if you are lucky, your monarch may be feeling generous and gift you a Caravel unit upon successfully completing a mission; or perhaps if you are unlucky you may find yourself having to 'buy' a new Caravel because some stupid pirate, hostile colonial power, or some unfortunate event occurred to take it out. However without a doubt you'll want better ships then this when you get the chance.

Carrack -

• 5 Moves
  
• 3 Attack
  
• 1 Defense
  
• 4 Cargo
  
• 76 Boards
  
• 38 Tools
  
• 8 Navy Score

The starting unit for the Dutch, the Carrack is in many ways a step up from the Caravel - it is very similar to the Pinnace ship which you will be acquiring in the mid game. With it you'll have little trouble ferrying all the lovely riches of the New World back home or perhaps to fend off enemy ships if you can perhaps can get the jump on them!

The above said, the Carrack does unfortunately have one massive disadvantage going for it in regards to its slow speed. It may not seem like much to the undiscerning player, but the Carrack's slow movement will translate into a lack of ability to do some exploratory missions for your monarch or just to explore in general! Ferrying goods back home might also take an extra turn or two if your colonies are a bit away from the edge of the map. You'll definitely want to be checking out some of the faster ships when they are available.

Galleon -

• 6 Moves
  
• 4 Attack
  
• 2 Defense
  
• 5 Cargo
  
• 112 Boards
  
• 56 Tools
  
• 15 Navy Score

The first ship that will become available about a 100 turns into your run will be the Galleon. This fairly expensive ship won't be something you'll be able to purchase easily right away - unless you manage to get lucky and either find a ruins with lots of riches or perhaps some precious metals or gems to exploit. Regardless though, it is a nice ship to have around early in the game - being both quite decent for combat and for ferrying goods.

Early on this will be your heavy hitter in ship battles or perhaps your blocker if you want something to absorb some blows for your other ships. Their are a couple of weaknesses to note about the Galleon though - the first obvious one being its slow speed, making it less useful for collecting goods from further into the map. The less obvious weakness is in regards to the other more specialized ships you will gain after it - meaning you may find this ship become less useful as other ships are introduced and do particular tasks better. Still, The Galleon will likely serve a purpose throughout the game's length for whenever you do acquire them.

Brigantine -

• 8 Moves
  
• 3 Attack
  
• 1 Defense
  
• 2 Cargo
  
• 76 Boards
  
• 38 Tools
  
• 9 Navy Score

Definitely a favored ship of mine, the Brigantine (or Brig) shares the spot of being one of the fastest ships in game - along with the Schooner which won't come around until very late into the game. While it can't carry much, the Brig has more then ample space for a quick little exploratory adventure - excellent for when your monarch decides you need to find some ruins, a lost expedition, or what not. You'll see this appear around 250 turns into the game.

This is actually a mighty military vessel too. Useful for scouting out enemy vessel locations, chasing down marauding pirates, finishing off weakened vessels, or prowling around hunting in packs; I've also made use of hordes of Brigs to fend off the Royal Expeditionary Forces and deny them the chance to make landfall with troops! What's also nice is that this is a ship that won't become obsolete later in the game - it will always be useful for something.

Pinnace -

• 7 Moves
  
• 3 Attack
  
• 1 Defense
  
• 4 Cargo
  
• 80 Boards
  
• 40 Tools
  
• 10 Navy Score

I can't really say I think much of the Pinnace. It very much fits the definition of a 'jack of all trades, master of none' with regards to its ships stats - average speed, average cargo space, average attack value, and average build and purchase costs. That said it is available about a third of the way through the game around the 400 turn mark.

You might temporarily find some small niche use for it perhaps - it is faster then a Galleon so you may be able to save a turn when transporting goods, or if you perhaps want a Brig but really need some more cargo space then just two slots. Ultimately the Pinnace isn't a ship I've found too useful in any of my runs - and this is compounded more as the other ships the come after it get unlocked.

Indiaman -

• 7 Moves
  
• 2 Attack
  
• 2 Defense
  
• 6 Cargo
  
• 80 Boards
  
• 40 Tools
  
• 10 Navy Score

The best transport ship in game, the Indiaman will be your go to vessel for shipping vast quantities of goods for selling at your homeport. The Indiaman features the largest cargo hold in the game, while also being quite fast. What's more intriguing though is its low acquirement costs, making these ships quite good to replace other ships you might have - or themselves should you find they get sunk for some reason. They aren't available for quite a while though, only appearing around the half way point in a game at 600 turns.

The Indiaman can technically also be used in combat as well - being able to field an entire raiding army for taking on the other colonial powers or perhaps just to provide a finishing blow to a weakened ship. But really, there is little more satisfying things in this game then to see a full laden Indiaman sell off all its goods in your homeport. Bear in mind though that regardless of what you decide to carry on it, avoid putting them in harms way - nothing hurts more then to see everything it was carrying go to the bottom of the ocean!

Man-of-War -

• 6 Moves
  
• 5 Attack
  
• 4 Defense
  
• 2 Cargo
  
• 160 Boards
  
• 80 Tools
  
• 20 Navy Score

The Man-of-War isn't a ship you will see for a long time, being that it will only be available shortly after you reach the 1700's (roughly a little bit over 800 turns or 2/3's of the way through your game without any help from research). It is also quite expensive to build or buy. Nevertheless you'll want to have a few of these on hand to lay the smack down on enemy vessels.

Featuring the best attack and defense stats, these will be the ships you use to smash enemy flotillas while shielding your own. They can also be used for ferrying troops or supplies around - though I would suggest using other ships for that purpose and dedicating these ones just to attacking and defending your shipping lanes.

Schooner -

• 8 Moves
  
• 2 Attack
  
• 1 Defense
  
• 3 Cargo
  
• 60 Boards
  
• 30 Tools
  
• 7 Navy Score

Appearing a little bit after the Man-of-War around the 900 turn mark, or about 3/4's of the way through the game, Schooners are as fast as Brigs but come with an extra cargo space. They make for excellent ships to get merchandise from the middle portions of the map to your primary ports where the ships with bigger holds will be taking goods back to Europe. They are also the second cheapest ship to acquire - only beaten out by the Caravel.

Schooners can also be used in war as a means to provide finishing shots on weakened vessels or to quickly ferry troops to and from the battle zones where they will be needed - being quite cheap they aren't too costly to lose in a fight and being fast they will likely get to their destinations to drop off troops if there is any chance of them being attacked. A great little ship that will certainly be worth acquiring when they become available.

Keep in mind that the first tier of Navy Research can provide you the boon of New Ship Types appearing earlier. This can greatly speed up when you will acquire some of the later ships. Navy Research can also be important for augmenting your ships too, such as getting the extra ship movement from the third tier of Navy Research.

It is worth noting that when you buy ships from your home port that the subsequent ships you buy will get more expensive. Keep this in mind when buying ships early on as that cheap Caravel you buy now will make that Galleon you buy after much more expensive to get.