What I will say is the result of: memories of readings done in the past (but of which I have difficulty finding all the sources), of images taken from books but above all from the internet. Of these images very few are original photos, because in the past there were no cameras.
So I relied on drawings and paintings.
The original photos concern other scale naval models but these must be considered with extreme caution, because modelers often indulge in very indulgent licenses and are not always reliable.
Finally, a small part is given by the naval model manufacturers.
The historical period must not be too much before 1800 and 1900, maximum 1940.
I summarize what I know, but I promise to look for the bibliographic sources of what I assert.
Any confirmation or denial from you will be very important to me.
So:
1. I am almost certain that the lifeboats had many different shapes, grouped into some rather homogeneous typologies.
2. The gunboat lifeboats I am loosely referring to only had lifeboats suspended on the sides. They had four of them.
There was neither the classic lifeboat suspended at the stern (typical only of ships with a straight transom and not a curved one).
These lifeboats were very thin and slender (I mean the ratio between length and width very much in favor of length).
Two of these four very slender lifeboats had a straight stern, I don't know if the other two had a curved stern like the bow.
I couldn't figure it out from the photos.
What is certain is that the lifeboats with this very slender line existed both with a straight transom and with a curved stern.
In a famous painting of the CSS Alabama you can in fact see both of these two boats.
On the Kearsarge there are lifeboats with a curved stern, perhaps all four.
3. In addition to the very slender lifeboats that we will try to name later, there are other lifeboats of different shapes. Some were faster, some more suitable for sailing with a mast that was positioned as needed.
Surely there were small boats for the captain to move from ship to ship and other larger boats to carry out work.
4. Over time the shapes and sizes have changed; in some periods the lifeboats were placed one inside the other to optimize space but at the expense of quick use.
5. Let's try to find the sources of the names:
The slender lifeboats, with a curved stern, very similar to the bow, in Italian are called "BALENIERE", precisely because they are very similar to those used for whaling.
I deduced this from various books and from the definitions in the dictionaries themselves.
Furthermore, many model houses reproduce them with this typical shape.
It is probably the lifeboat whose name associated with the shape we can be sure of (or at least have the least doubts about).
I won't go into the slavish detail of the sources, unless you ask me to, but I can point you to these very explanatory links:
The slender but straight-sterned lifeboat was not a "whaling boat" and was probably called a "LANCIA".
But at this point, before talking about other definitions, such as the "BARCACCIA", the "PILOTINA", the "IOLE" etc. I will report verbatim part of a text that I found.
""The boats of warships had multiple uses. Since the vessels of the time very rarely approached land, except to enter the dock, boats were the only means of transport available for roles such as ship-to-shore connections (for the movement of goods and people), heavy work (such as towing the ship in unfavorable winds or recovering and moving anchors), and various military uses (as landing craft or for assaulting other ships). They could transport officers to war councils aboard the flagship of a fleet, rather than disembark troops on a beach in enemy hands or conduct isolated sorties, or finally explore unknown areas. They were also used to bring aid to ships in difficulty, recover shipwrecked people, carry the wounded to the hospital ship or for the cruel punishment of the “keel turn”. Finally they could be used (but it was only a secondary use) as lifeboats.
Precisely for these numerous uses, many ships were equipped with more than one boat. Some of them, like the barcaccia, were built for heavy work such as moving and recovering anchors and transporting goods (water, gunpowder, supplies) and people.
Others, like the lancia and the pinaccia, were suitable for fast rowing in relatively calm waters. Others, such as the cutter and the iole, were built to have good nautical characteristics when sailing."
It is therefore important to realize that on board an ancient ship many types of small boats were used for various purposes. In case of need, they all served as lifeboats. Today it is very different.
From another source I found that the "barcaccia" was the ancient term to indicate the largest and most robust of the boats carried by merchant and war ships; it is used for maneuvers or work and is also simply called a boat.
The "Lancia" is smaller than the "barcaccia" and more refined, Used to communicate from ship to ship or from ship to land.
The "whaler" is longer, thinner and with a similarly shaped stern and bow (so rounded stern without the classic straight mirror). Used for commanders.
On board there were also the "pinaccia" and the "cutter".
7. One of the jobs attested by various sources is transport of the anchor to carry out the "TONNEGGIO" (I don't know how it is translated).
In case of a snag, the anchor was taken far from the ship, left in the water and then "tonneggiava", the anchor was pulled which, stranded on the seabed, could have contributed to pulling the ship away (suitably lightened as much as possible).
It could be sunk the anchor far from the ship and then put the ropes under tension even without there being a snag simply for mooring in the roadstead.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyage_of_the_James_Caird
https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Caird_(lancia_baleniera).
