The age of sail is the period in which international trade and naval warfare were both dominated by sailing ships. International trade is the exchange of goods and services across international borders. ... Naval warfare is combat in and on seas and oceans. ... A sail is a surface intended to generate thrust by being placed in a wind; basically it is a vertically oriented wing. ...

The age of sail runs roughly from the Battle of Lepanto (1571), the last significant engagement in which galleys (oar-propelled) played a major part, to the Battle of Hampton Roads (1862), in which the steam-powered CSS Virginia destroyed the sailing ships USS Cumberland and USS Congress, finally culminating with the advance of steam power, rendering sail power unnecessary. The naval Battle of Lepanto took place on 7 October 1571 at the northern edge of the entrance to the Gulf of Corinth (then the Gulf of Lepanto), off western Greece. ... A French galley and Dutch men-of-war off a port by Abraham Willaerts, painted 17th century. ... The Battle of Hampton Roads, often called the Battle of the Monitor and the Merrimac, was a naval battle of the American Civil War, famous for being the first fight between two powered iron-covered warships, or ironclads, the CSS Virginia and the USS Monitor. ... 1862 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... CSS Virginia was an ironclad warship of the Confederate States Navy during the American Civil War. ... The first USS Cumberland was a 50-gun sailing frigate of the United States Navy. ... The fourth USS Congress of the United States Navy was a sailing frigate like her predecessor, surviving into the American Civil War, where she was destroyed by the ironclad CSS Virginia. ... A steam engine is a heat engine that makes use of the potential energy that exists as pressure in steam, converting it to mechanical work. ...

This is a significant period during which square rigged sailing ships carried European settlers to many parts of the world in one of the most important human migrations in recorded history. Square rig is a generic type of sailing vessel in which the main horizontal spars are perpendicular to the keel of the ship. ... This article is about the continent. ... Human migration denotes any movement of groups of people from one locality to another, rather than of individual wanderers. ...

See also: Age of Discovery The so-called Age of Exploration was a period from the early 15th century and continuing into the early 17th century, during which European ships were traveled around the world to search for new trading routes and partners to feed burgeoning capitalism in Europe. ...

Age of Sail is a series of video games developed by Akella and published by Global Star Software. A computer game is a game composed of a computer-controlled virtual universe that players interact with in order to achieve a defined goal or set of goals. ... Akella is a leading Russian software company specializing in the development, publishing, and distribution of computer games and multimedia products. ... Global Star software is a *Video Game Publisher. ...