Morrigan

The Morrigan was a heavily modified, captained by the Assassin-turned-Templar Shay Cormac, during the Seven Years' War.

History
Up until its capture by Shay Cormac in 1752, the Morrigan served as a smugglers’ vessel in the North Atlantic. Following the rescue of Chevalier de la Vérendrye, a French-Canadian Assassin operating in the area, by Shay Cormac and Liam O'Brien from the aforementioned smugglers, the Morrigan was seized by Cormac for use in the Assassin fleet.

The vessel quickly saw action, when it rescued Chevalier's Gerfaut, which had come under attack from several more, smaller vessels.

During Shay’s mission to the Lisbon Temple, the Morrigan remained behind, and eventually passed into the hands of another Assassin following Shay’s supposed death. Months later, she was stationed in New York City, when Shay Cormac and his new allies, the Templars Christopher Gist and George Monro aided him in its re-capture. From this point onward, the Morrigan served Shay’s in his Templar duties, aiding the Templar-supported British Royal Navy in their conflict with the French.

Such duties included capturing French settlements in the River Valley and North Atlantic Ocean, eliminating the Colonial Assassins' presence in the region, and liberating several groups of native Iroquois. In addition to this, the Morrigan traveled the globe to aid Britain's, and by extension the Templars', efforts in the Seven Year' War. These efforts saw her destroying a number of well-known warships.

In 1758 the Morrigan pursued the warship of the pirate-turned-Assassin Adéwalé, the Experto Crede, newly arrived from the Caribbean, and forced it to beach in Vieille Carrière. Two years later, during Shay’s pursuit of Achilles Davenport to the Arctic Temple, she encountered Chevalier’s Gerfaut once more, and this time managed to sink the Man O' War in open combat.

Armaments
With the ship's armaments and equipment funded by the wealth of the Templar Order, the Morrigan was one of the most advanced warships of her time; she was equipped with state-of-the-art weaponry such as puckle guns, s, and burning oil. She also possessed the standard armaments including broadside cannons, mortars, and an ice-breaker ram. Due to the Morrigan ' s sleek design, she was much faster and more maneuverable than several other ships while still maintaining above average firepower for a ship of her size.

Crew

 * Shay Cormac - Captain (1752 – unknown)
 * Liam O'Brien - First Mate (1752 – 1755)
 * Christopher Gist - First Mate (1756 – unknown)

Notable conflicts
During the Seven Years' War, the Morrigan sunk several ships under the command of the Assassins, pirates and the French Navy. Among them were several legendary ships.
 * Argonaut - Sunk during a skirmish.
 * Cauldron - Sunk during a skirmish.
 * Couronne - Sunk during the Battle of Labrador.
 * Equitas - Beached while pursuing Samuel Smith.
 * Experto Crede - Beached while pursuing Adéwalé.
 * Formidable - Sunk during the Battle of Quiberon Bay.
 * Gerfaut - Sunk while pursuing Chevalier de la Vérendrye.
 * Pilgrim - Sunk during a skirmish.
 * Sceptre - Sunk during a skirmish.
 * Storm Fortress - Sunk during a skirmish.

Trivia

 * The Morrigan default sails and figurehead featured intricate wolves in their design.
 * The ship shared her name with a figure from Celtic mythology called "". She was the goddess of strife, battle and sovereignty. She was mainly depicted as a crow in her animal form, giving the Morrigan an avian namesake along with the Aquila and the Jackdaw.
 * The Morrigan's captain's cabin featured several flags bearing the emblem of the Knights Hospitalier though the Order's insignia was a reversed form of the Templars at this time which is a White cross and a Red background.
 * Like the Jackdaw, the Morrigan 's equipment in elite level, including Puckle Guns and Mortars, were plated gold but the cannons' appearance does not change. The burning oil barrels were reddish-brown. The Elite hull upgrade gives the Morrigan a crimson colored hull with silver plating on the hull and deck.
 * In "A Long Walk and a Short Drop", the flag Shay cuts down from the Morrigan's mast bears the Assassin insignia, even though the flag he flew during his Assassin years did not have such an insignia. It's possible the Assassins switched the flag in the period that Shay was believed dead. Also, despite being a Privateer ship working for the French Navy, it flew the Royal Navy flag in its front mast.
 * The Morrígan means "Phantom Queen" or "Great Queen" in the Irish language.
 * If the Morrigan was fully upgraded with its default wolf sails and figurehead, her appearance became very similar to Pirate Hunter Brigs that the Assassin Edward Kenway faced in his time.
 * Historically, carronades were not available aboard naval ships until at least the 1770s.

Reference

 * Assassin's Creed: Rogue

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