Cutlass (cutlass)

A cutlass is a short, broad sabre or cutlass with a straight or slightly curved blade, sharpened on the cutting edge. The grip often features a sturdy cup- or basket-shaped guard. It was a widely used weapon on ships in the early age of sail.

Etymology
The word "cutlass" derives from the English use in the 17th century of coutelas, a French word from the 16th century for a machete-like, single-edged, medium-length blade. The modern French word for "knife" is couteau; in the 17th and 18th centuries English, it was often spelled as "cuttoe". The French word coutelas likely comes from a Latin root, along with the Italian coltellaccio or cortelazo, meaning "large knife". In Italy, the cortelazo was a similar short, broad sabre popular in the 16th century. The Italian root coltello, for "knife", ultimately comes from the Latin cultellus, meaning "small knife", the same Latin origin for both the Italian and French words. In the English-speaking Caribbean, "cutlass" is also used as a word for machete.

The cutlass is a 17th-century descendant of the short sword with cutting edge, such as the medieval falchion . Woodsmen and soldiers in the 17th and 18th centuries used a similar short and broad backsword, known as a hanger, or in German a Messer ("knife"). These blades often had a full tang, more typical of daggers than of swords in Europe, and may have been derived via the falchion from the falx or seax.

In England, around 1685, the long straight sword began to disappear and was replaced by the hanger. This weapon had a short, slightly curved single-edged blade with a brass grip consisting of two flat halves and a knucklebow hilt. The grip was usually of wood, wrapped with wire, but some examples have a brass grip with spiral grooves. The length of the blade is usually about 61 cm.

Although the weapon was also used on land, the cutlass is particularly known as the favored weapon of sailors. It was sturdy enough to cut through heavy ropes, thick sails, and dense vegetation. At the same time, it was short enough for combat in confined spaces, such as during boarding actions, in the rigging, or below deck. Another advantage was that it was simple to use, requiring less training than a rapier or small sword.

Cutlasses are famous due to pirates, although there is no evidence that Caribbean buccaneers invented them. However, their use by pirates is well documented, for example among the crews of William Fly, William Kidd, and Stede Bonnet. The French historian Alexandre Exquemelin reports that the pirate François l'Ollonais used a cutlass as early as 1667. Pirates often used the weapon as much for intimidation as for combat, for example by grabbing the grip to force a crew to surrender or striking prisoners with the flat side of the blade.

Due to its versatility, the cutlass was just as often used as an agricultural or work knife, like a machete, especially in rainforest and sugarcane areas in the Caribbean and Central America. In simplified form, it is often considered the "Caribbean machete".

The leadcutter was a weapon based on the cutlass, used in the late Victorian era for sword fighting demonstrations. Wilkinson Sword made these swords in four sizes, increasing in weight depending on the user's strength. It was named leadcutter because it was used to cut through a lead bar during demonstrations. Wilkinson supplied a mold for the lead bar with each sword.

In 1830, after an incident in which a London police officer was shot and stabbed, the British Home Secretary ordered that every police officer should receive a cutlass for self-defense, with training in the Wellington Barracks. They were initially worn during night duty, but later stored at the local inspector's office for emergencies. Sometimes cutlasses were used by the provincial police during public disturbances, using the grip or the flat side of the blade to strike rioters, but there are no reports of fatalities. The last recorded use by the police was during the Tottenham Outrage, an armed robbery in 1909.

In 1936, the British Royal Navy announced that cutlasses would henceforth be worn only for ceremonial duties, and not during landings. The last recorded use of cutlasses by the navy is said to have occurred during the Altmark action on February 16, 1940, although this is disputed. According to many, the actual last use by the Royal Navy occurred earlier, namely by a landing party in China in 1900. Cutlasses are still worn by Chief Petty Officers when escorting the White Ensign and by senior crew members during court escorts.

In the United States Navy, the cutlass remained officially weapon until 1949. After the early 1930s, it was seldom used for training. The last new model was the US M1917 cutlass from World War I, based on the Dutch M1898 klewang. During World War II, cutlasses were still produced under the name US M1941, a slightly modified version of the M1917. A US Marine Combat Engineer NCO is said to have killed an enemy with a US M1941 cutlass during the Battle of Inchon in the Korean War. Cutlasses are still worn by the Recruit Chief Petty Officer at the US Navy Recruit Training Command and have been officially permitted as ceremonial weapon for Chief Petty Officers since 2011.