PirateCraft has working minecraft ships and Cannons, You can build and pilot a ship from the first rank upgrade of Cadet, You can build Cannons from Cadet rank and unlock better cannons at Gunner rank, or you can Donate to bypass ranking and unlock everything.

You can start building and piloting ships at the first rank Cadet, There are a variety of ship types  in different sizes, speeds and materials required, ships are unlocked as you rank up.
Ships are not locked to players, so anybody from cadet rank and above can steal an unprotected ship as long as they have the right rank to sail that ship!
Each ship has its own sink percent so if the ship drops below that percent of its required blocks it will sink to the bottom of the ocean.
Ships have no extra protection, so they will burn, holes can be blown into them using cannons, TNT or louring creepers aboard! Players that leave their ship for longer than 60 seconds will automatically release the ship from control, Killing the captain will release their ship, ready to steal. There is a 15 second release timer when a player leaves a ship, Each cannon added to a ship adds 1000kg of weight, slowing it down.

How to build

Your ship has to be meet the specific requirements listed in the Ship Types section below, It has to be built on or partially in water and not touching any docks or land.

Once you have built your ship, place a sign somewhere central with the ship name on a singular line, for example: dhow. This alone will create the ship, there will be no conformation and is all you need to make a working movable minecraft ship. This is the control sign that pilots the ship. You will need to create one more sign to sail your ship, a cruise sign. A cruise sign has Cruise: OFF on the top line of the sign, Make sure to write it exactly like that, with a capital C for cruise, a space and OFF all in capitals.

Optional: Create a third sign with the singular line [helm] to be able to rotate your ship.
Optional: Create a fourth sign with the singular line [release] to be able to release your ship. 

Chest Storage

Chests will only work on ships as single chests, not doubles, a double chest will act as a ship lock, you will be notified if there are double chests on a ship before sailing.

Crew signs

A crew sign allows you to designate re-spawn areas if you are killed on your ship while you are sailing, these will give you a 1 time re-spawn back onto the ship to continue on your adventures.

A crew sign needs to be created for yourself, you can’t make them for other crew members, you create one by putting the crew sign above a bed on a ship, if the bed is destroyed the re-spawn will revert to your normal server re-spawn. Crew signs need Crew: on the first line and your Username on the second line.

Piloting

To pilot your ship, or steal another, Right click the ships control sign with an empty hand, You will be greeted with a message saying you have successfully piloted the ship.

Moving

To move your ship we use the Cruise: OFF sign. The cruise sign should be facing in the direction you wish your ship to cruise in, usually facing forward to the front of your ship. we can rotate and adjust course once we are moving. To cruise pilot your ship, then right click the cruise sign with an empty hand,  It acts as a toggle, changing to Cruise: ON once you have started crusing and right click it again with an empty hand to toggle it off and stop crusing. You can also use /cruiseoff if your sign pops off or you need to stop abruptly. Cruise signs need to be put onto full block, no half blocks or stairs.

Moving with the maneuver tool

The maneuver tool is a tool to move your ship block by block, This is to help with docking your ship, It can also be used to strafe when you are crusing to help avoid obsticles. The maneuver tool is a Golden Hoe, it is used by right clicking in the direction you want to move. Your ship will start to move in that direction unless you are being obstructed by land or docks.

Entering Direct Control Mode, This is an alternative method to control your ships using the WASD move buttons, you can toggle entering and leaving direct control mode by left clicking your Golden Hoe control tool.

Rotate

To Rotate your ship, you will need a sign on your ship with the line [helm] on board, This will turn into a wheel once activated by right clicking with an empty hand, To rotate right click the sign with a empty hand to rotate clockwise and left click with an empty hand to rotate anti-clockwise, this will cause your whole ship to rotate.

To release your ship you have to use the command /release in chat, or create a [release] sign on the ship, Or you could just leave your ship and wait for the 15 second timer to end.

Man overboard!

If you like to freshen up with a swim while you still have your ship piloted, fear not! you can use /manoverboard which will teleport you back onto your vessel.