As a pirate vessel, the Black Pearl's most obvious and infamous features were her tattered black sails and soot colored hull.
Aside from her striking visual features, the Pearl was believed to be extremely fast, at least by those who knew of her existence. In fact, when she sailed with the wind, she was the fastest ship in the Caribbean, indicating that her speed may be derived the large amount of canvas she carried. Under Barbossa and his cursed crew, galley-style oars, or "sweeps", were a primary method of boosting the Pearl's speed when going against the wind or pursuing very fast prey.
The Black Pearl in Davy Jones' Locker.The rigging of the Black Pearl had three masts: the fore, the mizzen, and the main. The fore and main masts were rigged with a topsail, a course, and a topgallant while the mizzen only had a topsail and a topmast stay-sail. At the stern were the fore stay-sail and flying jib, anchored with the bowsprit, both used for steering. The capstan, used to raise and lower the main sail was found on the main deck, at the mizzen mast, which is very unusually as it was normally located at the foremast. The jolly boats, used for going ashore, were found here too. The gun deck, home to some of the ship's cannons, was also part of the main deck.
At the aft of the ship beneath the helm, was the captain's quarters. The captain's quarters were very spacious compared to the crew's quarters. The captain used their quarters to dine, hold private conversations, and navigate. It could also have been used as a surgery area or even gundeck, if needed. Above the captain's quarters was the upper deck. The wheel was found here as was the belfry. The belfry contains a bell that was rung on the hour.
The crew's quarters were near the middle of the ship. This area was filled with hammocks that the crew slept in. The crew's quarters also had a few of the ship's cannons.
The Black Pearl was armed with 32 twelve-pound cannons: fourteen on the upper deck and eighteen on the lower gun deck. She had no cannons on the bow or stern, leaving her at a disadvantage during a pursuit. Nevertheless, her firepower is strong enough to damage a ship gravely or even sink it, and her high speed negates this handicap partially.
