Something got messed up so I'm going to have a bunch more work to do on these...sigh.
www.napoleonguide.com/navy_crews.htm
Ratings
When
signed on to a ship's books, a man was given a rating according to
his experience.
Freshmen to the sea were known as landsmen,
those with limited experience were ordinary seamen, while
knowledgeable sailors were rated able seamen.
Petty
or Warrant Officers
From the pool of able seamen came the
candidates for promotion to higher duties.
Petty Officers and
Warrant Officers included mast captains, gunner's mates,
quartermasters, master-at-arms, carpenter, bosun and cooper, the
ship's master, chaplain and surgeon.
Midshipmen
Midshipmen
were effectively on board a ship to help lieutenants control the
crew. If good enough, they could take command of small boats or
prizes. Winning promotion to lieutenant was the aim of most young
midshipmen who entered service in their early teens. Some, however,
were still in their lowly rank in their 30s, 40s and even older.
Lieutenants
Lieutenants
were the backbone of a ship's command structure, despite only being
on the first rung of the commissioned officer classification. As a
lieutenant, officers could expect a regular half-pay income, if put
in reserve by the Admiralty, but had numerous tasks to fulfill for
the security. They would command small boats, gun divisions in
battle, oversee a watch, and were most likely to lead dangerous
boarding or cutting-out parties. Depending upon the rating of a Royal
Navy vessel, there could be up to six lieutenants on board.
Commander
The
next step up from lieutenant was the rank of commander. Usually on
remote duty, a commander was effectively a captain in all but
official title.
Captain
The
absolute ruler on his ship, a captain had the power of life or death
over the crew. Some made ship-board life hell for all, while others
inspired a love from those they commanded. The captain was
responsible for the well-being of the crew, ensuring there were
enough of them to have the ship ready for service, and even paying
for extras to keep them happy. Elevation to admiral was pretty
automatic for captains and depended only upon seniority based upon
their date of commission.
Commodore
A
commodore was a captain promoted temporarily to take charge of a
detached naval squadron. Commodores on active service were usually
the ones the Admiralty had earmarked for the most senior ranks.
Admirals
Unemployment
on half-pay was often the lot of a British admiral. By the end of the
Napoleonic Wars fewer than a quarter of those available were on duty.
If an admiral went to sea, his flagship was usually that of the
fleet's junior captain.
Jschooltiger https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/2b42u0/during_the_napoleonic_wars_how_young_were_naval/
Moderator | Shipbuilding and Logistics | British Navy 1770-1830
4 points · 4 years ago · edited 4 years ago
Great question! Yes, naval officers were often fairly young, and yes, midshipmen would often be in their early teens.
To become an officer in the Napoleonic period, a man would need to have entered the navy at a suitable age (certainly no older than 14) to build up enough sea time and practical experience to pass a lieutenant's examination, which required that the examining board be presented with evidence that he had spent six years at sea (at least two of them in the Navy) and that he "appeared" to be 20 years old, which was the minimum age to become a lieutenant. And yes, the point of boys going to sea that young was eventually to attain commissioned rank.
In the period of the Napoleonic wars, many boys went to sea as young as 11 or 12 to start building up the required sea time, or were at least put on ship's books by captains who were friends or relatives of their families to start building up the required sea time. It wasn't uncommon for boys to be placed on the books even earlier, and this practice (though technically illegal) was viewed with some benevolence, because as navigation (particularly finding longitude) became more complicated, most boys needed a few years of schooling ashore, particularly in mathematics.
Once a midshipman had built up the required sea time, he would have to sit for a lieutenant's examination in front of a panel of captains, where he would be grilled on practical seamanship, navigation, mathematics, geography, history or really anything else the board wanted to throw at him. There wasn't a standard examination, so it was quite possible that sympathetic boards could pass men rather easily (Horatio Nelson's stepson rather famously became a lieutenant at around 16 and a post-captain at 17, due to Nelson's intervention and "interest" in his future, despite being spectacularly unqualified for the job).
Once a man became a lieutenant, he would have to rely on luck and his own "interest" from sponsors for further promotion. The first lieutenant of a ship was often promoted after a successful action (this was seen as a compliment to his captain, oddly enough). A lieutenant's next step would be as a master and commander of a vessel; he would by courtesy be called a captain at that point, but it wasn't until he was promoted to captain of a post-ship that he would be called a post-captain, or just captain, and be assured of (if he lived long enough) dying an admiral. Once a man was a post-captain, his further promotion was entirely based on seniority on the list of captains. (What's a post-ship? In confusing logic, a post-ship is what a post-captain would command. In practical terms, it usually meant at least a frigate, although sometimes smaller ships were considered post-ships out of courtesy to a captain.)
So yes, it was common for boys to be midshipmen in the navy of the time. They could even command prizes and other ships (certainly with the strong help of an experienced warrant officer and other seamen) as part of their training, or command a ship's boat in a landing or cutting-out expedition. Many were killed or wounded in battle.
edit: Also, you may be interested in this thread, to which I contributed awhile back, on manning and promotions over time: http://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/29f3s7/how_does_the_royal_navys_organisation_command/
Please let me know if you have any follow ups!
#&#&#&#&#&#&#&&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frigate
A frigate (/ˈfrɪɡət/) is a type of warship, having various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.
In the 17th century, a frigate was any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built". These could be warships carrying their principal batteries of carriage-mounted guns on a single deck or on two decks (with further smaller carriage-mounted guns usually carried on the forecastle and quarterdeck of the vessel). The term was generally used for ships too small to stand in the line of battle, although early line-of-battle ships were frequently referred to as frigates when they were built for speed.
In the 18th century, frigates were full-rigged ships, that is square-rigged on all three masts, they were built for speed and handiness, had a lighter armament than a ship of the line, and were used for patrolling and escort. In the definition adopted by the British Admiralty, they were rated ships of at least 28 guns, carrying their principal armaments upon a single continuous deck – the upper deck – while ships of the line possessed two or more continuous decks bearing batteries of guns.
In the late 19th century (beginning about 1858 with the construction of prototypes by the British and French navies), the armoured frigate was a type of ironclad warship that for a time was the most powerful type of vessel afloat. The term "frigate" was used because such ships still mounted their principal armaments on a single continuous upper deck.
In modern navies, frigates are used to protect other warships and merchant-marine ships, especially as anti-submarine warfare (ASW) combatants for amphibious expeditionary forces, underway replenishment groups, and merchant convoys. Ship classes dubbed "frigates" have also more closely resembled corvettes, destroyers, cruisers and even battleships. Some European navies such as the French, German or Spanish ones use the term "frigate" for both their destroyers and frigates.[citation needed] The rank "frigate captain" derives from the name of this type of ship.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sail_plan
A sail plan is a set of drawings, usually prepared by a naval architect which shows the various combinations of sail proposed for a sailing ship. Alternatively, as a term of art, it refers to the way such vessels are rigged as discussed below.[1]
The combinations shown in a sail plan almost always include three configurations:
A light air sail plan. Over most of the Earth, most of the time, the wind force is Force 1 or less. Thus a sail plan should include a set of huge, lightweight sails that will keep the ship underway in light breezes.
A working sail plan. This is the set of sails that are changed rapidly in variable conditions. They are much stronger than the light air sails, but still lightweight. An economical sail in this set will include several sets of reefing ties, so the area of the sail can be reduced in a stronger wind.
A storm sail plan. This is the set of very small, very rugged sails flown in a gale, to keep the vessel under way and in control.
In all sail plans, the architect attempts to balance the force of the sails against the drag of the underwater keel in such a way that the vessel naturally points into the wind. In this way, if control is lost, the vessel will avoid broaching (turning edge-to-the wind), and being beaten by breaking waves. Broaching always causes uncomfortable motion, and in a storm, the breaking waves can destroy a lightly built boat. The architect also tries to balance the wind force on each sail plan against a range of loads and ballast. The calculation assures that the sail will not knock the vessel sideways with its mast in the water, capsizing and perhaps sinking it.
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&biw=1283&bih=708&ei=QSsVXdaMGcXi-gTurp3gDg&q=What+are+the+ropes+on+a+ship+called&oq=What+are+the+ropes+on+a+ship+called&gs_l=psy-ab.3..0j0i22i30l3.40398.47611..48086...1.0..0.235.4566.0j35j1....2..0....1..gws-wiz.......0i71j0i273j0i131j0i67j0i10j33i160j0i22i10i30.9a6BhN0PKeI
Actually, only a few of the "ropes" on a boat are called ropes, most are called lines. Ropes or wires that hold up masts are collectively known as standing rigging and are called shrouds or stays (the stay connecting the top of the mast to the bow is the forestay or headstay).
http://www.molossia.org/milacademy/seamanship.html
BASIC SEAMANSHIP
CATEGORIES
TERMINOLOGY
| SIGNAL
FLAGS | NAVIGATION
| WATCHSTANDING
| ROPEWORK
| SAILING
| SAIL
Terminology
Sailors
use many traditional nautical terms for the parts of or directions on
a vessel; starboard (right), port (left), forward or fore (front),
aft (rearward), bow (forward part of the hull), stern (aft part of
the hull). Vertical spars are masts, horizontal spars are booms (if
they can hit you), gaffs (if they're too high to reach) or poles (if
they can't hit you).
Other terms
Walls are
called 'bulkheads' or 'ceilings', while the surfaces referred to as
'ceilings' on land are called 'overheads'. Floors are called 'soles'.
The toilet is traditionally called the 'head', the kitchen is the
'galley'. Sails in different sail plans have unchanging names,
however.
Sailing terms have entered popular language in
many ways. "Broken up" was the fate of a ship that hit a
"rocky point." "Pooped" refers to the aftermost
deck of a ship, taken from "puppis" the Latin word for
"stern". "In the doldrums" referred to being
becalmed, windless, especially in the narrow band of hot windless
water "the doldrums", near the equator. "Adrift"
meant literally that a ship's anchor had come loose, and the ship was
out of control near land and therefore in serious danger.
"Keel-hauled and hung out to dry." was the rather nasty
process of attaching a sailor to a rope, and drawing him under the
sailboat while underway, and then hanging him from a yard-arm (under
his shoulders usually, not by his neck), where officers and crew
could mock him. This was a particularly unpleasant punishment; apart
from the risk of drowning, the sailor would be lacerated by the
barnacles on the ship's hull.
International maritime
signal flags
The system of
international maritime signal flags is a way of representing
individual letters of the alphabet on ships or in nautical
situations. |
|
Navigation
Modern methods
There
are several different branches of navigation, including but not
limited to:
celestial navigation - navigation by
observation of the sun, moon and stars
pilotage - using visible
natural and man made features such as sea marks and beacons
dead
reckoning - using compass and log to monitor expected progress on a
journey
waypoint navigation - using electronic equipment such
as radio navigation and satellite navigation system to follow a
course to a waypoint
position fixing - determining current
position by visual and electronic means
collision avoidance
using radar
Knowing the ship's current position is the
main problem for all navigators. Early navigators used pilotage,
relying on local knowledge of land marks and coastal features,
forcing all ships to stay close to shore. The magnetic compass
allowing a course to be maintained and estimates of the ship's
location to be calculated. Nautical charts were developed to record
new navigational and pilotage information for use by other
navigators. The development of accurate systems for taking lines of
position based on the measurement of stars and planets with the
sextant allowed ships to navigate the open ocean without needing to
see land marks.
Later developments included the placing of
lighthouses and buoys close to shore to act a marine signposts
identifying ambiguous features, highlighting hazards and pointing to
safe channels for ships approaching some part of a coast after a long
sea voyage. The invention of the radio lead to radio beacons and
radio direction finders providing accurate land-based fixes even
hundreds of miles from shore. These were made obsolete by satellite
navigation systems.
Traditional maritime navigation with a
compass uses multiple redundant sources of position information to
locate the ship's position. A navigator uses the ship's last known
position and dead reckoning, based on the ship's logged compass
course and speed, to calculate the current position. If the set and
drift, due to tide and wind, can be determined, an estimated position
can also be calculated.
Periodically, the navigator needs
confirm the accuracy of the dead reckoning or estimated position
calculations using position fixing techniques. This is done by
correctly identifying reference points and measuring their bearings
from the ship. These lines of position can be plotted on a nautical
chart, with the intersection being the ship's current location.
Addition lines of position can be measured in order to validate the
results taken against other reference points. This is known as a
fix.
Celestial navigation systems are based on observation
of the positions of the Sun, Moon and stars relative to the observer
and a known location. Anciently the home port was used as the known
location, currently the Greenwich Meridian or Prime Meridian is used
as the known location for celestial charts.
Navigators
could determine their latitude by measuring the angular altitude of
Polaris any time that it was visible. Determining latitude by the sun
was a little more difficult since the sun's altitude at noon during
the year changes for a given location.
Calculating the
anticipated altitude of the sun for a given day and known position is
done easily using Calculus. But prior to its invention by Newton
around 1700, tables of the sun's altitude during the year for a known
port were used. The sun's angle over the horizon at noon was
measured, and compared to the known angle at the same date as the
known port. Local noon is easily determined by recording periodic
readings of the altitude of the sun. Since periodic readings of the
altitude will plot a sine wave, the maximum reading is the one used
for local noon.
Longitude is calculated as a time
difference between the same celestial event at different locations.
Noon was an easy event to observe. Local noon is determined while
shooting the azimuth as described above. The time of the maximum
altitude is easily determined by interpolating between periodic
readings. The time of noon at the known location is carried by the
navigator on an accurate clock. Then the local time of local noon is
observed by the navigator. The difference of longitude is determined
knowing that the sun moves to the west at 15 degrees per hour.
The
need for accurate navigation led to the development of progressively
more accurate clocks. Once accurate clocks were available, detailed
tables for celestial bodies were created so that navigational
activities could take place anytime during the day or night, rather
than at noon.
In modern celestial navigation, a nautical
almanac and trigonometric sight-reduction tables permit navigators to
measure the Sun, Moon, visible planets or any of 57 navigational
stars at any time of day or night. From a single sight, a time within
a second and an estimated position, a position can be determined
within a third of a mile.
Conceptually, the angle to the
celestial object establishes a ring of possible positions on the
surface of the Earth. A second sighting on a different object
establishes an intersecting ring. Usually the navigator knows his
position well enough to pick which of the two intersections is the
current position. The math required for sight reduction is simple
addition and subtraction, if sight-reduction tables are available.
The numerous celestial objects permit navigators to shoot through
holes in clouds. Most navigation is performed with the sun and
moon.
Accurately knowing the time of an observation is
important. Time is measured with a chronometer, a quartz watch or a
short wave radio broadcast from an atomic clock.
A quartz
wristwatch normally keeps time within a half-second per day. If it is
worn constantly, keeping it near body heat, its rate of drift can be
measured with the radio, and by compensating for this drift, a
navigator can keep time to better than a second per
month.
Traditionally, three chronometers are kept in
gimbals in a dry room near the center of the ship, and used to set a
watch for the actual sight, so that no chronometers are ever risked
to the elements. Winding the chronometers was a crucial duty of the
navigator.
The angle is measured with a special optical
instrument called a "sextant." Sextants use two mirrors to
cancel the relative motion of the sextant. During a sight, the user's
view of the star and horizon remains steady as the boat rocks. An arm
moves a split image of the star relative to the split image of the
horizon. When the image of the star touches the horizon, the angle
can be read from the sextant's scale. Some sextants create an
artificial horizon by reflecting a bubble. Inexpensive plastic
sextants are available, though they have less accuracy than the more
expensive metal models.
The LORAN system is based on
measuring the phase shift of radio waves sent simultaneously from a
master and slave station. Signals from these two point establish a
hyperbolic curve for possible positions. A third source along with
dead-reckoning will generally resolve to a single position.
GPS
uses 3D trilateration based on measuring the time-of-flight of radio
waves using the well-known speed of light to measure distance from at
least three satelites. This can be accomplished using low cost quarts
clocks because the satellites send time correction signals to the GPS
receivers.
History
In the West,
navigation was at first performed exclusively by dead-reckoning, the
process of estimating one's present position based on the navigators'
experience with wind, tide and currents.
Most sailors have
always been able find absolute north from the stars, which currently
rotate around Polaris, or by using a dual sundial called a
diptych.
When combined with a plumb bob, some diptychs
could also determine latitude. Basically, when the diptych's two
sundials indicated the same time, the diptych was aligned to the
current latitude and true north.
Another early invention
was the compass rose, a cross or painted panel of wood oriented with
the pole star or diptych. This was placed in front of the
helmsman.
Latitude was determined with a "cross
staff" an instrument vaguely similar to a carpenter's angle with
graduated marks on it. Most sailors could use this instrument to take
sun sights, but master navigators knew that sightings of Polaris were
far more accurate, because they were not subject to time-keeping
errors involved in finding noon.
Time-keeping was by
precision hourglasses, filled and tested to 1/4 of an hour, turned by
the helmsman, or a young boy brought for that purpose.
The
most important instrument was a navigators' diary, later called a
rutter. These were often crucial trade secrets, because they enabled
travel to lucrative ports.
The above instruments were a
powerful technology, and appear to have been the technique used by
ancient Cretan bronze-age trading empire. Using these techniques,
masters successfully sailed from the eastern Mediterranean to the
south coast of the British Isles.
Some time later, around
300, the magnetic compass was invented in China. This let masters
continue sailing a course when the weather limited visibility of the
sky.
Around 400, metallurgy allowed construction of
astrolabes graduated in degrees, which replaced the wooden latitude
instruments for night use. Diptychs remained in use during the day,
until shadowing astrolabes were constructed.
After Isaac
Newton published the Principia, navigation was transformed. Starting
in 1670, the entire world was measured using essentially modern
latitude instruments and the best available clocks.
In
1730 the sextant was invented and navigators rapidly replaced their
astrolabes. A sextant uses mirrors to measure the altitude of
celestial objects with regard to the horizon. Thus, its "pointer"
is as long as the horizon is far away. This eliminates the "cosine"
error of an astrolabe's short pointer. Modern sextants measure to 0.2
minutes of arc, an error that translates to a distance of about 0.2
nautical miles.
At first, the best available "clocks"
were the moons of Jupiter, and the calculated transits of selected
stars by the moon. These methods were too complex to be used by any
but skilled astronomers, but they sufficed to map most of the world.
A number of scientific journals during this period were started
especially to chronicle geography.
Later, mechanical
chronometers enabled navigation at sea and in the air using
relatively unskilled procedures.
In the late 19th century
Nikola Tesla invented radio and direction-finding was quickly adapted
to navigation. Up until 1960 it was commonplace for ships and
aircraft to use radio direction-finding on commercial stations in
order to locate islands and cities within the last several miles of
error.
Around 1960, LORAN was developed. This used
time-of-flight of radio waves from antennas at known locations. It
revolutionized navigation by permitting semiautomated equipment to
locate geographic positions to less than a half mile. An analogous
system for aircraft, VOR and DME, was developed around the same
time.
At about the same, TRANSIT, the first
satellite-based navigation system was developed. It was the first
electronic navigation system to provide global
coverage.
Watchstanding
Watchstanding,
or watchkeeping, in nautical terms concerns the division of qualified
personnel to operate a ship continuously around the clock. On a
typical sea going vessel, be it naval or merchant, personnel keep
watch on the bridge and over the running machinery. The generic
bridge watchstanders are a lookout and an officer or mate who is
responsible for the safe navigation of the ship. Safe navigation
means keeping the vessel on track and away from dangers as well as
collision avoidance from other shipping. An engineering specialist
ensures that running machinery continues to operate within tolerances
and depending on the vessel, this can also be accomplished from the
bridge. A secondary function of watchkeeping is the ability to
respond to emergencies, be it on own ship or involving other ocean
users.
Duration
Watch durations will vary
between vessels due to a number of reasons and restrictions. The
traditional three-watch system from the days of sail where the ships
company was divided into three and the day divided into six watches
of four-hours duration, such that an individual would keep two
four-hour watches each day separated by an eight-hour time for sleep
or recreation. Examples of other systems include 4 by 6-hour and 7's
and 5's when a warship has half its ships company on watch at a
time.
Ropework
Ropework is
commonly defined as the set of processes of making and repairing
ropes; some, however, also include any other work that can be done
with ropes, such as tying knots and splicing. |
|
There are some ropes: A few examples,
the bell rope (to ring the bell), a bolt rope (attached to the edge
of a sail for extra strength), a foot rope (on old square riggers for
the sailors to stand on while reefing or furling the sails), and a
tiller rope (to temporarily hold the tiller and keep the boat on
course). A rode is what keeps an anchor attached to the boat when the
anchor is in use.
Making a rope
To make a rope,
take a long length of twine or yarn and tie it to a rod of strong
material. Loop it around a second rod, held at a distance. Take it
back to the first rod, loop it around, and then once more back to the
second, to which it is then tied. There should be three lengths of
twine running between the two rods. Each person holding a rod then
moves backward until the lengths are taut and then begins turning his
rod counterclockwise. This continues until the twine has been tightly
twisted; at this point, the securing knots are untied. The twine is
then secured to the rods again (as if the piece of three twisted
lengths is one) and run between them as before was, with three
lengths between the rods. The holders again pull the material taut
and begin turning, this time in the opposite direction. When the rope
is tightly twisted, each end is whipped (see below) and then cut
between the whipping and the rod.
Whipping frayed ropes
A
whipping knot is a type of knot used to hold the frayed end of a rope
together. The simplest sort, the common whipping, is done by taking a
two-foot-or-greater length of strong string, forming a loop with it,
three or four diameters of the rope in length, and lying it on the
rope near the frayed end. The rest of the length is then tightly
wrapped without overlapping around the rope, moving up the loop. When
the end of the loop is nearly covered, pull the remaining free length
of the string through the loop and then pull on both ends, which will
pull the end of the loop under the whipping. Cut off the end of the
rope close to the edge of the whipping and then cut off the two free
lengths of string.
A somewhat simpler method is merely to
cut off the fraying and wrap a few layers of tape, usually electrical
tape, around the cut end.
Fusing frayed ropes
Fusion
is a method of repairing a frayed end of a nylon or plastic rope
through use of heat. Cut off the fraying at the end, light a candle
or cigarette lighter, and hold the cut end a few inches above the
flame until the fibers have melted and fused together. Allow the end
to cool before touching it or setting it down.
Another
method of fusing, somewhat weaker, is simply to cut the end, dip it
in paint, and allow it to dry.
Sailing
Sailing
is motion across a body of water in a sailing ship, or smaller boat,
powered by wind.
How sailing works
The force of
the wind is used to create motion by using one or more sails. The
movement of air over the sails acts in the same way as air moving
over an aircraft's wing. Just like on an airplane, air flowing over
the sail is deflected and accelerated. This generates lift, which
acts to pull the sail, and thus the boat ahead, but also slightly
downwind. The downwind component is offset by an underwater hydrofoil
(centerboard or keel), whose shape resists lateral movement while
offering little resistance to forward motion. Without a keel or
centerboard, sailing upwind or across the wind would be virtually
impossible. (Other sailing hydrofoils include daggerboards and
leeboards).
The lifting force of the sails also acts to
lean the boat over to one side, which is called heeling. This is
counteracted by ballast, either in the form of dense material located
in the keel (usually lead or iron) or in the form of human or water
ballast located near the windward rail.
Today, for most
people, sailing is a hobby. Pleasure sailing can be further divided
into two areas: Racing and Cruising.
In ancient times (see
Odysseus), ships used following or rear-quarter winds. Therefore,
they had to wait in port or at sea for the right wind
directions.
Basic sailing techniques
Turning a
sailing boat
There are four basic maneuvers a sailing boat
can perform while underway. They are:
Tacking is turning
the boat so that the bow passes through the eye of the wind (or "no
go zone").
Gybing (or wearing) is turning the boat so that
the stern of the boat turns through the wind. Gybing causes the boom
to swing from one side to the other, sometimes rapidly, as the wind
catches the leach of the mainsail on its new upwind side.
Heading
up is turning the boat to sail closer to the direction the wind is
coming from.
Bearing away (or falling off) is turning away from
the direction the wind is coming from.
Trim
An
important aspect of sailing is keeping the boat in "trim".
And remembering to let go of the rope. To achieve this a useful
mnemonic (memory aid) is the phrase:
Can This Boat Sail
Correctly?
This helps the crew to remember these essential
points;
Course to Steer - Turn the boat using the
wheel or tiller to the desired course to steer. See points of sail.
This may be a definite bearing (e.g steer 270 degrees), or towards a
landmark, or at a desired angle to the apparent wind direction.
Trim
- This is the fore and aft balance of the boat. The aim is to adjust
the moveable ballast (the crew!) forwards or backwards to achieve an
'even keel'. On an upwind course in a small boat, the crew typically
sit forward, when 'running' it is more efficient for the crew to sit
to the rear of the boat. The position of the crew matters less as the
size (and weight) of the boat increases.
Balance - This
is the port and starboard balance. The aim, once again is to adjust
weight 'inboard' or 'outboard' to prevent excessive heeling.
Sail
- Trimming sails is a large topic. However simply put, a sail should
be pulled in until it fills with wind, but no further than the point
where the front edge of the sail (the luff) is exactly in line with
the wind.
Centreboard - If a moveable centreboard is
fitted, then it should be lowered when sailing "close to the
wind" but can be raised up on downwind courses to reduce drag.
The centreboard prevents lateral motion and allows the boat to sail
upwind, and also provides stability to keep the boat from rolling
over. A boat with no centreboard will instead have a heavy permanent
keel built into the bottom of the hull, which serves the same
purposes.
Running Downwind
Sailing the boat
within 30 degrees of straight downwind is called a run. This is the
easiest point of sail, but it can also be the most dangerous. Sailing
upwind gives you the everpresent possibility of stopping the boat
easily by steering into the wind. Running gives a sailor no such easy
out. Be careful and either use your boom vang or adjust the mainsheet
to prevent an accidental gybe.
Beating an
upwind course |
|
Reducing sail
An
important safety aspect of sailing is to adjust the amount of sail to
suit the wind conditions. As the wind speed increases the crew should
progressively reduce the amount of sail. On a small boat with only
jib and mainsail this is done by furling the jib and by partially
lowering the mainsail, a process called 'reefing the main'.
Reefing
basically means reducing the size of a sail without changing them.
Ideally reefing does not only result in a reduced sail area but also
in a lower center of effort from the sails, keeping the boat more
upright.
There are three core methods of reefing the
mainsail: - Slab reefing, which involves lowering the sail by about
one-quarter to one-third of its luff length and tightening the lower
part of the sail using an outhaul through a cringle at the new clew,
and hook through a cringle at the new tack. - In-mast (or on-mast)
roller-reefing. This method rolls the sail up around a vertical foil
either inside a slot in the mast, or affixed to the outside of the
mast. It requires a mainsail with either no battens, or
newly-developed vertical battens. - In-boom roller-reefing, with a
horizontal foil inside the boom. This method allows for standard- or
full-length horizontal battens.
Mainsail furling systems
have become increasingly popular on cruising yachts as they can be
operated shorthanded and from the cockpit in most cases, however, the
sail can become jammed in the mast or boom slot if not operated
correctly. Mainsail furling is almost never used while racing because
it results in a less efficient sail profile. The classical
slab-reefing method is the most widely used. Mainsail furling has an
additional disadvantage in that its complicated gear may somewhat
increase weight aloft. However, as the size of the boat increases,
the benefits of mainsail roller furling increase dramatically.
Sail
trimming
As noted above, sail trimming is a large subject.
Basic control of the mainsail consists of setting the sail so that it
is at an optimum angle to the wind,(i.e. no flapping at the front,
and tell tales flowing evenly off the rear of the sail).
Two
or more sails are frequently combined to maximise the smooth flow of
air. The sails are adjusted to create a smooth laminar flow over the
sail surfaces. This is called the "slot effect". The
combined sails fit into an imaginary aerofoil outline, so that the
most forward sails are more in line with the wind, whereas the more
aft sails are more in line with the course followed. The combined
efficiency of this sail plan is greater than the sum of each sail
used in isolation.
More detailed aspects include specific
control of the sail's shape, e.g.:
reefing, or reducing
the sail area in stronger wind
altering sail shape to make it
flatter in high winds
raking the mast when going upwind (to
tilt the sail towards the rear, this being more stable)
providing
sail twist to cope with gusty conditions
Heeling
When
a boat rolls over to one side under wind pressure, it's called
'heeling'. As a sailing boat heels over beyond a certain angle, it
begins to sail increasingly inefficiently. Several forces can
counteract this movement.
The buoyancy of that part of the
hull which is being submerged tends to bring the boat
upright.
Pressure on the centreboard or keel moving at a slight
'leeway' angle through the water tends to balance the rolling force.
Raising the centreboard can paradoxically increase leeway, and
therefore reduce heeling.
A weighted keel provides additional
force to right the boat.
The crew may move onto the high
(upwind) side of the boat, called hiking, changing the centre of
gravity significantly in a small boat.
They can trapeze where
the boat is designed for this. The underwater shape of the hull
relative to the sails can be designed to make the boat tend to turn
upwind when it heels excessively: this reduces the force on the
sails, and allows the boat to right itself.
The boat can be
turned upwind to produce the same effect.
Wind can be spilled
from the sails by 'sheeting out', i.e. loosening the sail.
Lastly,
as the boat rolls farther over, wind spills from the top of the sail.
Most of the above effects can be used to right a heeling boat
and to keep the boat sailing efficiently: if however the boat heels
beyond a certain point of stability, it can capsize.
Sailing
close to the wind
How close a boat can sail to the wind depends
on the wind speed, since what the boat "sees" is the
apparent wind, i.e., the vector sum of the actual wind and the boat's
own velocity. The apparent wind is what the windex on top of the mast
shows. Because of this, people often talk about how close a boat can
sail to the apparent wind. A good, modern sloop can sail within 25
degrees of the apparent wind. An America's Cup racing sloop can sail
within 16 degrees, under the right conditions. Those figures might
translate into 45 degrees and 36 degrees relative to the actual wind.
The angles at which the wind meets the boat are described by the
points of sail.
Sailing safety
First and
foremost:
Learn to swim!
Wear a life vest!
Sailing
is intrinsically dangerous, since water is not our natural element.
All sailors therefore should take precautions, and when engaged in
publicly organized activities they must take certain precautions, as
detailed by the authority which regulates the training or
racing.
Safety measures include:
Provision of a
safety boat for rescue purposes
Appropriate first aid and
firefighting equipment
Carrying of a knife suitable for cutting
rigging or netting which may entrap a sailor underwater
Wearing
of buoyancy aids
Understanding and practice of man overboard
procedures such as the Anderson turn, the Williamson turn, and the
Scharnow turn.
Also, know the 'rules of the road':
Port
tack gives way to Starboard tack (when the paths of two boats on
opposite tacks cross, the boat with its port side to windward must
give way)
Windward gives way to the leeward, or downwind boat
(if on the same tack)
Overtaking boat gives way if above do not
apply
Non-Commercial Powerboats usually give way to sailboats
(but be careful in shipping lanes, and use common sense)
It is
everybody's responsibility to avoid a collision, and avoiding action
must be taken if these rules are ignored.
Sailing hulls
and hull shapes
Sailing boats can have one, two, or three
hulls. Boats with one hull are known as monohulls, while those with
two or more are known as multihulls. Multihulls can be further
subdivided into catamarans (two hulls), and trimarans (three hulls).
A sailing boat is turned by a rudder which itself is controlled by a
tiller or a wheel. Smaller sailing boats often have a stabilizing,
raise-able, underwater fin called a centreboard (or daggerboard);
larger sailing boats have a fixed (or sometimes canting) keel. As a
general rule, the former are called dinghies, the latter yachts.
Multihulls use flotation and/or weight positioned away
from the centre line of the sailboat to counter the force of the
wind. This is in contrast to heavy ballast that can make up to 1/3 of
the weight of a monohulled sailboat. In the case of a standard
catamaran there are two similarly sized and shaped narrow hulls
connected by a deck superstructure. Another catamaran variation is
the proa. In the case of trimarans, which have an unballasted centre
hull similar to a monohull, two relatively smaller amas are situated
parallel to the centre hull to resist the sideways force of the wind.
The advantage of multihulled sailboats is that they do not suffer the
performance penalty of having to carry heavy ballast, and their
relatively smaller hulls reduce the amount of drag caused by friction
and inertia when moving through the water.
Types of Sails
and layouts
On a modern yacht, the mainsail or main is
usually the primary driving sail, triangular in shape, and fixed to
the largest (or often the only) mast. A headsail, either a jib or
genoa, is set in front of the mainsail, attached in such a way that
the trailing edge extends back alongside the main. This is also known
as an overlapping headsail (pronounced hedsal). Two or more headsails
can be used. In addition, some sailboats, ketches and yawls, have
another smaller mast called the mizzen mast, on which is set a
smaller sail similar to the mainsail and called the mizzen sail.
A
spinnaker is a large, full sail that is only used when sailing off
wind either reaching or downwind, to catch the maximum amount of
wind.
Sailing regulations
There are two very
basic rules for avoiding a collision at sea: 1) Power gives way to
sail 2) Port gives way to starboard. This second point means that
yachts who have their sails set for a breeze coming from the left
hand side of the boat (the port side) must give way to yachts that
have their sails set for a breeze coming from the opposite side of
the boat (the starboard side). If both yachts have their sails set on
the same side of the boat, then the yacht closer to where the wind is
coming from must give way. This rule is described as the windward
boat must keep clear of the leeward boat.
However there
are many other rules besides and sailors are expected to know the
essentials of boating safety which include;
The rules of
the road or International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at
Sea set forth by the International Maritime Organization are
particularly relevant to sailors because of their limited
maneuverability compared to powered vessels.
The IALA
International Association of Lighthouse Authorities standards for
lateral marks, lights, signals, and buoyage and various rules
designed to support safe navigation.
The SOLAS (Safety of Life
at Sea) regulations place the obligations for safety on the owners
and operators of any boat. These regulations specify the safety
equipment needed and emergency procedures to be used.
Sailing
traditions and etiquette
There are many, more esoteric,
etiquette rules, traditions, and customs that will demonstrate to
others advanced knowledge of boating protocol. Fenders should be
pulled up outside ports, the flag of the host country should be
shown, flags are to taken down at night, one should not walk on
other's forecastle, no whistling aboard etc.
Sail
A sail is a
surface intended to generate thrust by being placed in a wind;
basically it is a vertically oriented wing. Depending on the
incident angle of the wind on the surface of the sail, one side of
the sail will have a higher air pressure than the other one
according to Bernoulli's principle. The difference in pressure
will generate lift, causing the sail to be pulled towards the side
of lower pressure. On a sailing boat, a keel or centreboard is
used to convert this lateral force into forward movement of the
boat with some sideways leaning, or 'heel'. |
|
The jib is secured along its luff to a
forestay (strong wire) strung from the top of the mast to the
bowsprit on the bow (nose) of the boat. A genoa is also used on some
boats. It is a type of jib that is larger, and cut so that it is
fuller than an ordinary jib.
Fore-and-aft sails can be
switched from one side of the boat to the other, in order to alter
the boat's course. When the boat's stern crosses the wind, this is
called jibing; when the bow crosses the wind, it is called tacking.
Tacking repeatedly from port to starboard and/or vice versa, called
"beating", is done in order to allow the boat to follow a
course into the wind.
A primary feature of a properly
designed sail is an amount of "draft", caused by curvature
of the surface of the sail. When the sail is oriented into the wind,
this curvature induces lift, much like the wing of an airplane.
Modern sails are manufactured with a combination of broadseaming and
non-stretch fabric (ref New technology below). The former adds draft,
while the latter allows the sail to keep a constant shape as the wind
pressure increases. The draft of the sail can be reduced in stronger
winds by use of a cunningham and increasing the downward pressure of
the boom.
Sail construction is governed by the science of
aerodynamics
Parts of the Sail
The lower edge
of a triangular sail is called the "foot" of the sail,
while the upper point is known as the "head". The halyard,
a line which raises the sail, is attached to the head. The lower two
points of the sail, on either end of the foot, are called the "tack"
(forward) and "clew" (aft). The tack is shackled to a fixed
point on the boat such as the gooseneck in the case of a mainsail or
the deck at the base of a stay in the case of a jib or staysail. The
clew is movable and is positioned with running rigging, an outhaul on
the mainsail and a sheet for a headsail.
The forward edge
of the sail is called the "luff", from which derives the
term "luffing", a rippling of the sail when the angle of
the wind fails to maintain a good aerodynamic shape near the luff.
The aft edge of a sail is called the "leech". If
incorrectly tensioned, the leech of a sail may "flutter"
noisily.
Modern sails are designed such that the warp and
the weft of the sailcloth are oriented parallel to the luff and foot
of the sail. This places the most stretchable axis of the cloth along
the diagonal axis (parallel to the leech), and makes it possible for
sailors to reduce the draft of the sail by tensioning the sail, mast
and boom in various ways. A cunningham may be rigged on the mainsail
to control sail shape.
An alternative approach to sail
design is that used in Junks, originally an oriental design. It uses
horizontal sail curving to produce an efficient and easily controlled
sail-plan.
New technology
Sail producers are
competing hard with the latest technology to produce the best, i.e.
the most efficient sail: North sails with their 3DL sail, Doyle the
4D and Elvström Sobstad the Genesis sail. These sails are produced
with carbon fibers and are glued/baked, compared to the old sewed
cotton sails.
Why is a rope called a sheet?
Sheet is a term we use to name a line that is attached to a sail and used to control its angle relative to the wind or boat. ... There are a few instances of rope on boats. To strengthen the very leading edge of a sail we use a bolt rope. And, hanging from the clapper of our ship's bell is the bell rope.
Sailing terms can be confusing or, so my students tell me. Why not just call it rope and be done with it? Well, because we can convey greater meaning if we use unique terms. Line is the general term for rope that is on a boat and there can be several different named lines because they perform different functions. For instance, when we attach a line to the mainsail (usually at the end of the boom) we now call it the main sheet. Sheet is a term we use to name a line that is attached to a sail and used to control its angle relative to the wind or boat.
If we attach the line to an anchor or the anchor chain then that line becomes a part of the anchor rode. Attach a line to a dinghy so we can tow it and that line is now termed a painter. One very common use for line on boats is for dock lines. These are usually made up of 3 strand nylon because it is very stretchy and easily absorbs shock. This is the type of line in the above photo.
There are a few instances of rope on boats. To strengthen the very leading edge of a sail we use a bolt rope. And, hanging from the clapper of our ship’s bell is the bell rope.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjBYRUZbU4Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUakTKXdHmA
A carronade is a short, smoothbore, cast iron cannon which was used by the Royal Navy and first produced by the Carron Company, an ironworks in Falkirk, Scotland. It was used from the 1770s to the 1850s. Its main function was to serve as a powerful, short-range, anti-ship and anti-crew weapon. Wikipedia
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https://www.quora.com/Where-did-sailors-get-drinking-water-during-very-long-voyages-in-the-times-of-Columbus
Where did sailors get drinking water during very long voyages in the times of Columbus?
Jeanne Pockel, 28 years full-time blue water sailing/cruising, 50 countries
Answered Aug 28 2016 · Author has 2.1k answers and 1.9m answer views
First some numbers, though approximations all, and only for the first expedition: Length of the three ships, about 50 feet on deck each. Number of crew on each ship, about 30. Time at sea: 3 days from Lisbon to the Canaries; about 34 days from Canaries to first landfall in the Bahamas. It took longer for the ships to return to Europe, but not extraordinarily longer.
Some considerations regarding time at sea. Bathing, probably none, but that would have been not much different from standard hygiene in those days anywhere in Europe. The smell? Probably pretty awful but from personal experience I can verify that “nose blind” is a fact. I doubt that the sailors would have noticed, let alone been nauseated by, the smell.
Water: carried in casks aboard, and replenished upon making landfall as well as at sea whenever there was a storm. 35 days’ supply of fresh water wouldn’t have been dreadful - 900 gallons of water, perhaps, carried in 50 gallon casks. It would have served as ballast as well. I would expect that wine and rum would have also been carried, both of which, mixed with water to make it drinkable, could reasonably disinfect the water. Moreover, I think that sailors of that time (and perhaps the general population) had a more robust immune system than modern day people considering the general poor sanitation of the times.
One shouldn’t try to compare a 50′ modern sailing yacht to a 15th century 50′ Caravel. The ~ 7′ draft of a caravel would mean perhaps 3,500 cubic feet of cargo space below the water line because all of its draft would be hull below water line. A 50′ modern sailing yacht might have 1,200 cubic feet below the water line because its ballast is an external keel and perhaps 1 foot of hull below the water line. Huge difference.
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Art Dallas, Colloidal silver manufacturer
Explorers travelling by sea brought water, wine, and beer to drink. When silver was available, all of these were either kept in silver vessels for storage or had silver coins placed within containers to kill pathogens in these fluids. Water and beer went bad first, when no silver was available, so these were consumed first. Wine kept longer and was also used to add to the water to disinfect drinking water, so they often drank watered-down wine (or wined-up water). Alcohol alone results in dehydration in roughly 10-14 days, even in humid ocean environment. If silver was on board, when the ship had landed on new territory, new water was again purified with silver vessels and coins. Silver kills the microbes in water, wine, beer, etc, in about 6-10 minutes. (Wait 15 mins to be certain, and stir or shake fluid once or twice) Today, colloidal silver can be added to disinfect questionable drinking water, etc, by adding 1 ounce of 10ppm colloidal silver to each gallon of water, or wine, beer, etc, then wait 15 minutes before drinking. If the fluid you wish to disinfect has a high PH value, add 3 ounces of colloidal silver per gallon instead of just one ounce, or use 3 times as many silver coins, etc.
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Augusto Gesualdi, Sailed Around South America in a 27 sail Tall Ship.
Answered Oct 8, 2014 · Author has 79 answers and 276.7k answer views
In every long
sailing trip you carry drinking water loaded from land. Ships'
capacity for drinking water is huge, to the point where you
actually use drinkable water to shower, wash dishes, etc.
Modern
ships can desalinate sea water through reverse osmosis, but still
most water is obtained from the docks (as the desalination process
is obscenely expensive).
Ok, so everyone here is kinda
right. Old ships carried water in wooden casks.
But
there's a problem with fresh water, it stagnates easily.
Wine,
on the other hand, because it had a sufficient concentration of
ethanol, didn't stagnate and could be preserved for much longer
after the cask was opened and exposed to oxygen and
bacteria.
Water was kept for high ranking officers,
while wine was the primary drink for the sailors.
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Michael Bast, Technical, Media, and Marketing Professional
Answered Sep 27, 2017 · Author has 999 answers and 1.6m answer views
The sailors packed fresh water, but that would go bad rather quickly so they had a level of alcohol in it to keep it fresh. When they could they got fresh water from rain, and they drank kegs of mead or a sort of ale. They also carried wine.
At times they had made a “punch” or a cocktail with flavoring using some citrus (fight off skurvy) plants and mixed it with alcohol and flavoring to make it more palatable.
The captain had to maintain the supply of water, and if there was a source of fresh water on their journey they would stock up again. If the supply ran down or out the sailors would go crazy drinking water with too much salt in it, which would cause psychosis and is likely the cause of some mutany situations.
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Michel Verheughe, I have sailed for half a century from the Mediterranean to Norway
Answered Sep 4, 2016 · Author has 5.2k answers and 4.8m answer views
Charlie, I have sailed small sailboats along the coast of Europe for sixty years and the history of navigation is my hobby. I have read, I think, everything about the voyages of Columbus. I can’t remember anything about the water they took other than, it was the first duty when getting ashore: filling up the barrels of fresh water.
Incidentally, in the 1950s, Alain Bombard crossed the Atlantic in a tiny rubber dinghy without any fresh water. He survived by drinking a bit of sea water, sucking the water out of the eyes of the fish he caught and out of the plankton. His kidneys suffered damages but, today the Bombard liferafts are well known.
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Fred Apstein, 50 years sailed, built, repaired, bought, sold, sunk and salvaged boats
Answered Mar 26, 2016 · Author has 2.1k answers and 1.5m answer views
They carried as much water as they could, in barrels and casks. When it rained hard, they caught rain water. There are many accounts of ships that ran out of water, or had to cut back to very small amounts, for days or weeks, until they reached land where water was available, or it rained hard enough to catch water.
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FOOD
https://www.warhistoryonline.com/history/meals-royal-navy-napoleonic-wars.html
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Officers of the Royal Navy at the turn of the 19th century were expected to live charmed and genteel lives. This was reflected in almost all aspects of their life, from showing a stern and commanding face at all times when in battle, to eating better than the common sailor.
An example of how these men would have eaten can be seen on HMS Seahorse, a 38 Gun Frigate. Of her 270 men complement, there would have been about 18 Gentlemen, comprised of Commissioned Officers, Warrants, and Midshipmen. These were made up of 10 Midshipmen and Master’s Mates, 3 Lieutenants, 2 Officers of the Marines, 1 Surgeon, 1 Master, and 1 Captain.
According to the Admiralty, all meals were purely egalitarian, each man receiving the same ration. In practice, an officer’s dining habits were highly stratified based on rank, class, and wealth.
For an older Midshipman, around 18 years of age, and ready for promotion to Lieutenant, breakfast was often the same as the rest of the crew. However, his family may have sent him some dried fruits, or honey and fresh bread if he was lucky. His midday meal would often occur at least an hour after the men had theirs.
This served two purposes; it reinforced the separation between them, and it allowed him to provide the necessary functions on board while the men ate. The meal would, again, be similar to the enlisted crew, but supplemented with some luxuries according to his class and wealth.
Much the same as his midday meal, supper was supplemented rations. If he were lucky, the Captain would invite him to dine in his cabin. A Captain was expected to teach the young officer the ways of the genteel world, as a service to the boy’s parents. An older Midshipman, probably 16-18 years old. This young man was at the point of moving past economic reliance on his parents but probably could not afford to truly live in the high style expected of more senior officers.
These young men were sent to sea as young as 14 and spent the rest of their career there. The Captain often oversaw their finances, purchasing extra food for them when able, and writing to their fathers to ask for more funds if necessary.
Next, was a Lieutenant, who bought into the Officer’s Club. He paid around £60 a year, almost as much as he made, to the common mess funds. The gentlemen would select a caterer, tasked with purchasing food while in port. On a frigate such as Seahorse, they ate their meals in the gun room. On a larger ship, they might dine in an Officer’s Wardroom, with the Surgeon, other Lieutenants, Marine Officers, and some of the Warrant Officers.
A
Christmas Pudding, or Plum Duff, was a staple of Royal Navy cooking
for both enlisted men and officers. The main difference between the
enlisted and commissioned versions would be the fruits and sweeteners
added to the mix. Celcom – CC BY-SA 3.0
For breakfast, they could supplement their usual rations even more extravagantly, possibly adding meat to the meal. If their caterer was particularly skillful, they might have a steady supply of eggs, a lucky delicacy at sea.
For dinner, Lieutenants had access to the storerooms, which housed
wine, fine tableware, and better food. This meant they could
dine in the style befitting their rank, title, and class. They would
usually eat at the same time as the Midshipmen, providing some
supervision, and an example of behavior to follow.
A
Lieutenant in late 18th, early 19th, century Royal Navy uniform. A
man could hold a Lieutenant’s commission for many years while
waiting for the opportunity to become a Commander.
Lieutenants’ meals would consist of fresher meats, sometimes fish, and always wine, instead of rum or beer. Though, by some accounts, the wine purchased by caterers was of questionable quality at best.
Then for supper, the Lieutenant could be invited to dine with the
Captain. This gave the Captain some company, in an otherwise solitary
life, as well as solidifying the social ties between the upper
echelons of the crew. If the Captain were particularly strapped for
cash, he might only be able to invite the junior officers to join him
for breakfast.
Welsh
Rabbit, also sometimes called Toasted Cheese, was a luxury only
officers could afford. The finer bread, large amounts of cheese, and
eggs were outside the affordable realm for enlisted sailors. Jiel
Beaumadier – CC BY-SA 4.0.
Finally, a Captain faced heavy social pressure to provide himself with luxuries. He was allowed four servants per 100 men on board, so for the Seahorse the Captain might have eight men attending him. This meant he could bring a cook from home, affording him a much better existence than even the Wardroom Officers.
Depending on the wealth of the Captain, his meals could vary, from slightly more enticing than the crew’s to banquets with multiple courses.
An
18th Century cutlery set. An Officer’s mess would often pool their
money to purchase food and luxury items such as this. Depending on
the size of the ship, and therefore the mess, they might need a much
larger set. Wolfgang Sauber – CC BY-SA 4.0
While the shipyard provided his cabin with a dining table and chairs, he had to supply his own silver and china, crystal glasses, decanters, wine selection, linens, and cutlery. Again this reinforced the divide between him and the men, who would eat from wooden or pewter dishes, with utensils to match.
It is hard to say what a Captain would have eaten on a daily basis, but it is certain it would far exceed what was consumed by anyone else on board.
Captain James Bowen (1751-1835). A Captain was expected to purchase all the trappings of high society, even when sailing halfway around the world.
He could send servants to purchase stores for him when in port. If he was entertaining dignitaries, or other Captains or senior officers, he was under heavy social pressure to purchase only the best available, from fine wine, to fresh meat.
Officers of the Royal Navy always ate better than the men, but only by spending money out of pocket. Midshipmen, relied on their parents and family for some level of class, whereas Lieutenants had to buy into a common mess fund for the Wardroom.
Finally, Captains were expected to present lavish meals, to impress guests and show their position at the top of a ship’s hierarchy.
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Sea Provisions of the British Navy
Table 1 – British Navy Food Rations, 1677-1740s
Of all the accounts of sailors and provisions, those of the
British Royal Navy are the most plentiful and provide a convenient
starting point for examining the food mariners received while at
sea. In 1677, Samuel Pepys, the Secretary to the Admiralty,
copied into his Naval Precedents a contract he established with
victuallers to the Navy. This document established
predetermined rations for each sailor, which included one pound of
biscuits and a gallon of beer each day and four pounds of beef, two
pounds of salted pork, three eights of a twenty-four-inch cod, two
pints of peas, six ounces of butter, and between eight and twelve
ounces of cheese each week. When victuallers could not provide
these specific foods, Pepys also established substitutes (see table 1
for a complete list of the Navy’s rations from 1677 to the
1740s).[3]
The most significant alteration came in 1731, when the Navy published
a reformed and better-written set of Regulations and
Instructions, and replaced the fish ration with three pints of
oatmeal a week.[4]
These rations changed little in the one hundred and fifty years after
Pepys established them in the late seventeenth century. [5]
Ship’s Biscuits made by Jeff Pavlik, as featured in John Pavlik, “‘Consisting Merely of Flour and Water’: Reproducing the Eighteenth-Century English Biscuit,” Journal of the Early Americans 1, no. 11 (April/May 2011), 7-11.
In the British maritime service, sailors’ bread came in the form of unleavened biscuits on most voyages. Most period accounts referred to this bread as a biscuit, or a, “bisket,” in period documents, and not as “hardtack,” a term invented in the nineteenth century.[6] To make these simple biscuits, bakers used cheaper and roughly ground wheat flour, lower in quality than flour used in common household breads.[7] The contractors for biscuits in London obtained most of their wheat from south and southeastern England.[8] One pound of biscuits consisted of three to five biscuits, which one period observer described as plate-sized.[9] Biscuits often came in bags, each containing a hundredweight, or a hundred Avoirdupois pounds (or modern U.S. pounds), of biscuits.[10] The ingredients for these biscuits included only flour and water. Bakers did not add any yeast or salt.[11] When corrupt victuallers attempted to cheat the Navy, they included flour made from horse beans, rye, barley, or peas since these ingredients cost less than the wheat flour. If the bakers used too much substituted materials in proportion to wheat flower, not enough gluten formed in the dough and resulted in biscuits that crumbled apart. One period report on the corrupt practices of some navy victuallers claimed biscuits with such substitute materials contributed to the large loss of life experienced in John Nevil’s 1697 expedition to the West Indies.[12] While stationed in a port with access to a baker, Navy sailors sometimes received fresh bread, with an allowance of one-half of a two-pound loaf per day.[13] While rarely mentioned, sailors might receive rusk bread instead of biscuits. Benjamin Franklin defined rusk bread in sea provisions as, “being made of good fermented bread, sliced and baked a second time.” He also claimed rusk was, “the true original biscuit, so prepared to keep for sea, biscuit in French signifying twice baked.”[14] While the word “biscuit” etymology does trace back to words meaning, “twice baked,” British bakers seldom baked their ship’s biscuits more than once during the Age of Sail.[15] Among all the provisions sailors ate at sea, they often relied on these simple and long-lasting ship’s biscuits of flour and water during their voyages.
In addition to biscuits, British mariners received notable amounts of meat, especially beef and pork. Period satirist Edward Ward recognized that sailors loved beef.[16] The Admiral in Nathaniel Boteler’s 1634 work, Six Dialogues, claimed mariners in the Navy, “are so besotted on their Beef and Pork, as they had rather adventure on all the Calentures, and Scarbots in the World, than to be weaned from their Customary Diet, or so much as to lose the least Bit of it; so that it may be doubted, that it would set them upon a loathing, and running away, as much as any other thing whatsoever.”[17] The late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries marked a period when the pig rose in popularity, including in England.[18] Pepys’s contracts for victualling the navy included salt pork or bacon in a sailor’s rations alongside beef, but issued only one two-pound piece of pork a week per sailor, compared to the four-pound pieces allowed for beef.[19] Corrupt victuallers might try to improve their profits and provide less wholesome meat to fulfill their contracts at less cost to themselves. Barrels of meat might include bones, shins, cheeks, hearts, and other similar pieces lacking good meat to make up the weight required for each barrel. This obliged the Navy to try to regulate the meat provided to include, “no unusual Pieces.”[20] When obtained in England, much of the beef for ship’s victuals came from North Wales, Lancashire, Somerset, and Glamorgan, where farmers probably raised English longhorns to supply this beef. When looking for cheaper sources of cattle, victuallers obtained Irish beef, where farmers raised particular types of Dunn and Polled cattle more fit for dairy production. While less expensive, this beef held a reputation for being lower in quality and thus robbed sailors of good meals, resulting in Navy officials opposing Irish beef for use in Navy rations.[21] Pork and bacon mostly came from Hampshire, the Midlands, and sometimes Herefordshire, which probably used the Hampshire pig that resembled British saddleback pigs and the Tamworth.[22]
Victuallers needing to supply enough meat to ships with large crews often had little choice but to obtain salted meat for crews because of period meat preservation processes made providing fresh meat to these large numbers of men over long periods of time difficult. Farmers who raised pigs and cows brought their livestock to market in the fall, which butchers killed and processed into the winter months. Since ships sailed around the world all year long, and the invention of refrigeration not yet in existence, meat to be preserved for many months until victuallers sold it to ships and sailors ate it for their dinners.[23] To preserve meat until consumption required salt and brine. The Navy victuallers’ process of salting and pickling meat involved several steps. First, they dry-rubbed the pork or beef with white salt. The meat then went into a brine to remove the blood for five days, since blood can cause meat to spoil while in storage. After removing it from the brine, the meat went into casks, with extra bay salt applied to each layer of meat placed into the cask. The final step of the process was pouring a fresh brine, the brine having enough dissolved salt in it to float an egg, into the full barrels. Each gallon of brine water used three and a half pounds of salt. To complete the salting process for one hundred pounds of meat, Navy victuallers used four and a half gallons of white salt and one and a quarter gallons of bay salt. Sometimes, barrels of meat did not receive enough brine and crews neglected to check barrels for leaks to make sure the meat needed more or new brine. Such incidents exposed the salted meat and increased the chances of the meat spoiling.[24] While British sailors might receive meat several times a week, they received it mostly in salted form since the slaughtering and the processing of meat occurred most often during the fall and early winter.
When mariners received pork for their dinner, it usually came with another common British maritime ration, peas. Usually spelt as “pease,” the common pairing of dried peas with pork stood as standard practice in the Navy, who issued peas on pork days each week. In England, many farmers grew peas throughout the country, especially in southeastern England, making them easy to supply. Other Baltic and northern countries grew peas that victuallers could import if local farmers could not supply their demands. Pease came in whole and split forms, with whole appearing to be the most common in both green and yellow colors. The green peas took longer to boil, while yellow peas cooked well when used for puddings.[25] While sailors did eat other vegetables, peas stood as the most common type in their diets when supplied from northern European countries.
While the Navy issued either pork or beef four days a week, until the 1730s, sailors might eat salted fish on the remaining three days of the week according to the Navy’s regulations. The lower class, including sailors in English ports and residents of London, regularly consumed fish and saw it as, “dearer than any other Belly-timber.”[26] While this may have contributed towards the Navy issuing salted fish to sailors, government officials probably considered English interests when making this choice. A large contract for fish from the Navy offered English fishermen another source of income while they competed with the French in the North Atlantic fish market.[27] The amount of salted fish issued depended on the type and size of fish. The contract established by Pepys in 1677 mentioned North Sea cod, haberdine (another large kind of cod), “Poor John” (a type of hake fish), and stockfish (another kind of cod).[28] If victuallers could not obtain fish, substitutes included oatmeal or rice.
Oatmeal, while somewhat disliked by mariners, presented a non-salted food for sailors. Mariners did not always like eating food with heavy salted content and appreciated receiving non-salted provisions whenever possible. Medical professionals such as William Cockburn recognized and encouraged oatmeal for improving the health of sailors since they believed salty sea diets contributed to developing scurvy.[29] Salted fish’s significant vulnerability to dampness and spoiling while in a ship’s hold further discouraged their inclusion in rations.[30] The Navy sometimes declined to issue salted fish and outright ceased issuing it after the 1720s, and instead preferred oatmeal, and official replaced fish with oatmeal in the 1731 Regulations and Instructions, because of the already salty diet sailors experienced and susceptibility to spoiling.
Beyond meat, biscuits, and peas, mariners in the Navy also received rations of dairy products, specifically cheese and butter. For the Navy, the primary providers of cheese came from Suffolk, Cheshire, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, and Warwickshire.[31] Cheshire and Suffolk were the most common sources of cheese, to the point that the Navy named them within the regulations and provided specific ration amounts for both types. In the 1690s, Cheshire stood as the most common source of cheese, because sailors preferred this cheese made of full fat milk to the hard Suffolk cheese made from skimmed milk. Victuallers preferred Suffolk because of its longer shelf live and its use of skimmed milk decreased its cost.[32] The Navy obtained much of their butter from Suffolk and the eastern counties of England, though Ireland, and its propensity for raising dairy cows, also stood as a significant source for butter.[33] While cattle went to slaughter in the fall and winter, dairy cows produced most of their milk for producing butter and cheese in the spring and summer when they produced milk for their new calves.[34] While these dairy products stood as common staples to a mariner’s diet in the Navy, especially for non-meat days of the week, it too suffered from sitting for long periods, especially if ships received provisions outside of the regular production season for butter and cheese.
For British sailors in northern European waters, beer was the standard drink at sea. The regulations for rations allowed each sailor one gallon of beer per day. In twenty-first-century western society, consuming a gallon of beer may sound like a large amount of alcohol for a working person to consume every day. One consideration is that the beer issued at sea was a small beer of between one and three percent alcohol. Today, many of the mainstream American, British, and European drinks, including bitter beer, lagers, Heinekens, Budweiser, or Guinness, all have between two and three times the amount of alcohol in this maritime small beer.[35] Another consideration is if mariners drank all the beer issued to them. When César De Saussure, a foreign observer onboard a Navy ship in the 1720s, commented on navy rations, he stated that each sailors received, “as much [biscuits and beer] as, or more than, can be eaten or drunk in a day.”[36] This suggests that sailors may have not drank the whole gallon they received each day because they could not drink it all or wanted to avoid being drunk on duty.
Regardless of how much they drank, according to a writer who took on the pseudonym of a sea cook named Barnaby Slush, beer was, “the very Cement that keeps a Mariners Body and Soul together,” and that sailors set, “as high a Regard on a single Quart of Ship Beer, as his whole Days Allowance in Provisions.”[37] With beer holding such a high value in the daily life of the sailor, the Navy regulated the quality of their beer. After obtaining hops and malt, mostly from Kent and sometimes Hampshire, the Navy set the amount of hops and malt used based on the type of barrel or intended service. Ironbound barrels of beer meant for sea service specified twenty quarters of malt, eighteen quarters for wood-bound barrels, and beer issued to ships in harbor required enough malt and hops, “to be good, sound, wholesome, and of sufficient strength.”[38] When brewers of the beer did not use new casks, sold beer intended for the Navy to merchant vessels, or used ingredients unfit for the production of beer; the Navy investigated and prosecuted the brewers.[39] Since the Navy issued enough beer that some sailors might not be able to drink it all, and that they made many efforts to maintain the quality of their beer, Barnaby Slush’s claim that mariners saw beer as the most important part of their rations appears plausible.
Sailors did not always drink beer while at sea in northern European waters; they occasionally drank water. While sailing in northern seas somewhat near home, sailors consumed small amounts of water since the beer ration was already a gallon a day. The Navy required only four hogsheads of water per hundred men a month, or two and a half gallons per man per month. This changed when going on longer voyages. When a ship headed on a foreign voyage to the south of 39º north parallel, captains could, “be allowed such farther Quantity of Water Cask as the Ship can conveniently stow, or shall be thought necessary.”[40] For the amounts of water a ship might carry outside of northern seas, the Navy appeared to make one gallon of combined water and alcohol their goal. If a ship took on wine instead of beer, the Navy required mixing the two-pint ration of wine with six pints of water, which would, “preserve the Water from stinking.”[41] In ships heading well beyond the 39º north parallel to such places as the Caribbean or the East Indies, each hundred men received about forty hogsheads of water a month, or near a gallon of water a day per man. In the Caribbean, this measure balanced well with the half pint of brandy or rum they received for their daily alcohol ration.[42] While sailors did not only drink alcohol on a daily basis, they preferred not to drink only water. Barnaby Slush recommended, “the Ships Company shou’d never be reduced to Water-Drinking, so long as any other Liquor was to be had for Credit or Money.”[43] Be it beer or brandy with water, the sailor usually tried to drink at least a gallon of some kind of drink each day.
While many sailors ate and drank the above rations of ships biscuits, beef, pork, fish (or oatmeal), peas, butter, cheese, and beer when in waters near Great Britain, the Navy did allow substitutions. Two particular substitutions referenced several times in period sources include replacing fish with oatmeal and substituting meat with flour combined with either raisins, currants, or suet. As mentioned before, trading oatmeal for fish came from the issues of preserving salted fish and reducing the amount of salted foods in the diet of sailors. Health also played into the issuing of flour and other ingredients instead of meat. In 1731, the Navy’s Regulations and Instructions made an official policy of issuing canvas to produce pudding bags so cooks could boil puddings of flour and suet instead of issuing beef one day a week, noting such a ration change was, “for the better Preservation of the Health of the Seamen.”[44] Both William Cockburn in the 1690s and César De Saussure in the 1720s mention the issuing pudding while on Navy ships in northern waters.[45]
Many of the optional rations presented in the Navy’s period regulations allowed ships to obtain food that would be more available in different regions of the world than the Navy’s normal rations. When sailing in the Mediterranean or from a place that received food imports from South Carolina, ships might obtain rice instead of fish or oatmeal. For replacing rations of beef or pork, Navy pursers could purchase mutton or flour. When butter or cheese were not available, sailors might receive olive oil instead. Finally, when sailing in seas beyond those of northern Europe, the Navy issued what alcohol they could obtain since beer did not keep well in warmer climates. Two pints of wine, mixed with six pints of water, substituted for the beer ration, especially on Mediterranean voyages. The Mediterranean featured many suppliers of rougher red or white wines, including Spain, France, Portugal, Sicily, and Italy. Sailors might also drink Madeira wine in the Mediterranean or West Indies, Madeira being an inexpensive alcohol still consumed by the lower class. Madeira preserved better in hot weather better than any other wine available. It had a higher alcohol content than most other wines, featuring twenty-two percent alcohol compared to between thirteen to twenty percent seen in other wines.[46]
Mariners could expect to receive a half pint of brandy or rum a day when stationed in the West Indies or a half pint of arrack in the East Indies. The late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries saw the relationship between sailors and rum mature into the more familiar association seen in the later eighteenth century, though the dominance of rum at sea appeared to come during or after the 1730s based on the number of references to brandy compared to rum prior to the mid eighteenth century. Some administrators and doctors felt that rum and strong drink posed a health risk to sailors in warm climates. Government agents in Jamaica communicating with the Board of Trade begged the Navy’s pursers be, “restrained from supplying the seamen with rum and strong waters.”[47] This, along with the issue of Navy vessels receiving most of their provisions from supply ships sent from Britain, contributed to the delayed acceptance of rum by the Navy, though economic factors probably helped rum overcome brandy. The Caribbean and the North American colonies distilled rum in the hundreds of thousands of gallons annually by the last years of the seventeenth century. Barbados alone exported 600,000 gallons of rum a year by 1700. Rum preserved well in many different environments, which made it even more appealing to pursers looking to maintain their supply of alcohol as they travelled across various seas. While British sailors of this period frequently drank brandy, the wars between Britain, France, and Spain interrupted the supply of brandy to Britain and encouraged its substitution with rum, a product made in Britain’s own colonies.[48]
Determining the exact proof of period rum is difficult. Early distillers of rum in the Caribbean, particularly from Barbados, double distilled their rum. This rum did contain enough alcohol in it that it passed the fire test, which involved steeping gunpowder into rum and attempting to set the gunpowder on fire. Barbados law required their rum to pass this test starting in 1670. The fire and gunpowder test did not guarantee an exact or standardized measure of the alcohol content, but it did mean the rum contained at least 50% alcohol. Sometime in the 1740s, rum mixed with water obtained the name of grog from Admiral Edward Vernon when he was in the West Indies in 1740, who had the nickname “Old Grog” since he wore a grosgrain cloak. Documentation for the regular mixing of limes or lemons into rum and water mixtures at sea occurred after the early eighteenth century. While the change took place over a few decades, by the end of the early eighteenth century, rum surpassed brandy in use at sea.[49]
While not allotted a place in the official regulations, some captains and pursers in the Navy did make some efforts to provide vegetables to sailors beyond their rations of peas. Documentation for the distribution of such vegetables is difficult to find, but not impossible. One explanation for this dearth of information may be same the reason Carla Rahn Phillips found difficulties documenting vegetables for the Spanish sea service in the seventeenth century. She proposed that vegetables not being an official ration and their cost being small compared to official provisions contributed to their lack of period sources.[50] While British Navy victuallers did not receive official orders for them, some captains and pursers had concerns for the health and morale of their crews and tried to obtain vegetables for their sailors whenever possible. One of Samuel Pepys’s contemporaries, Captain John Narbrough, held a reputation for being scrupulous with his ship’s rations and suppling his men with cabbages, carrots, and turnips.[51] In the Navy’s regulations dating to 1757, one new regulation mentions the tradition of pursers providing vegetables to sailors. The passage says, “some of the eldest Pursers of the Royal Navy,” had, “their constant Practice, as often as their respective Ships were victualled with Fresh Meat, to boil such a Quantity of Greens and Roots with it, as to give sufficient Satisfaction to the Men ; and that, to give them no Room to murmur on Account of the Saving of Pease.”[52] The type of vegetables acquired for crews depended on the time of year and the place from which a ship obtained its victuals. Vegetables purchased in northern ports included cabbage, onions, turnips, and carrots. Potatoes rarely appeared in sea rations in northern waters during the eighteenth century since they sprouted in the warm ship’s hold, might turn green and poisonous if exposed to light, and were not widely accepted yet as an appropriate plant to eat, at least by the English. While many people held negative views of potatoes in England, some saw their potential since, “being now very plentiful and cheap, they may become good Food for the Poor People.”[53] While it is hard to document, it is possible to show that sailors in the Navy did occasionally receive cabbage, onions, and other legumes and vegetables in addition to his beef, ship’s biscuits, and peas.
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https://thepirateempire.blogspot.com/2015/10/repairs-at-sea.html
Repairs at Sea
Pirates were in the taking business, not the fighting business. Time and again they proved that they'd rather create a terrifying persona and inspire a quick surrender than slug it out on the high seas. But fights did happen, and vessels became damaged in various ways. It might succumb to stress during a storm, run into a coral reef or some other debris, or simply suffer from rot that caused it to leak badly. What happened when the ship was going down?
First things first- was there a fire? Ships during
the Golden Age of Piracy were made of wood, and waterproofed with
pitch and tar, and so were about the most flammable things you could
imagine. Fortunately fire-prevention measures were a standard part
of shipboard life. Exactly where and when open flames could be used
was highly regulated. Lanterns were used rather than open candles,
pipe smoking was relegated to the open deck, and no fire at all was
allowed too close to the gunpowder. The floor and walls of the
galley - where a fire was required - were usually lined with
tin.
Still, fires happened. During battle, each cannon
was supplied with a bucket of water, and a ship going into battle
usually had other various barrels and buckets full placed in
strategic locations. Often sails would be wetted with sea-water
before a fight. This not only reduced the chance of fire, but helped
to reduce the porous nature of the canvas, making the sails
"draw" better and increasing speed.
If fire broke out, getting the sails out of the way
was an early priority. Hot air could dry the fabric fast, allowing
it to burst into flame, and the downdraft from the sails might very
well fan a fire. Flaming objects could be thrown overboard, and,
obviously, all the available water would be thrown at the
flames.
If there was time, the ship's pumps would be put
into service. Normally, these pumps were used daily to empty any
water that had leaked into the ship's lower levels. (All wooden
ships leaked a little). The exit hose of the pump could be aimed at
the fire. But often, before this could be done, the entire ship
would be in flames. Fire was a serious business, and could destroy a
ship in minutes.
If that happened, the only thing the
crew could do was to get the ship's boats into the water and crowd
into them.
If a cannon shot hit below the waterline, or if the
ship hit a solid object and was damaged, immediate measures would
also need to be taken. The ships were wooden, but they were loaded
down with men, supplies, cannons and cargo, and they could sink.
Repairing damage was the job of the carpenter, and his expertise
could mean the all the difference in keeping the ship afloat.
If
there was not an actual hole - if the ship's side was simply
battered so much that it had lost integrity and was leaking water,
the area of the damage might be shored up with braces, aimed at
pushing the ship's timbers back into place. If this worked, then
oakum - scraps of old rope that was too worn for use -
was pounded into the loosened seams, This sort of repair could
be made in the middle of battle, adding to the sense of chaos.
Another action to keep the ship afloat was to
position a canvas sling around the outside of the ship, covering the
damage like a large bandage. This was a delicate operation,
involving the careful placement of ropes and fabric, and often using
improvised booms or cranes created from the masts and spars. It
required knowing exactly where the damage was, which was not always
possible on a crowded ship, and it could not be done during a
battle. But it might very well slow the intake of water so the pumps
could keep up while more permanent repairs were made.
If
the ship took a hole "between wind and water" as the
saying went, the main requirement was that debris should be kept out
of the way of combatants during the fight. Afterwards, the carpenter
might tap into supplies of wood on board, cannibalize other parts of
the ship, or stop at a handy island in order to make repairs.
Damage to masts and sails could not sink the ship,
but a falling mast could foul all the sails and kill men standing
beneath. Furthermore, without sails and the masts to hold them, the
ship was not moving, and might be sunk, captured, or driven onto a
reef or shore. An immediate response was to cut away downed masts,
and to hold damaged masts together with rope bindings, additional
ropes to brace the mast and take away strain, and "fishing"
the mast, which was basically the equivalent of putting splints on
it, in much the way you might splint a broken limb on a person.
When masts were lost, additional pieces of wood -
spars, smaller masts - might be hastily tied to the stump. This is
one reason why a sailing ship traditionally carried at least
one replacement for every mast or spar. A huge main-mast could not
be replaced in the heat of battle, but given the slightest
opportunity, some sort of jury-rig could be set up, and some sort of
canvas could be hung from it to supply power.
In the
worst sort of extremity - if a ship had run aground, or taken damage
to her hull that was letting in too much water to be controlled,
desperate measures were called for. Getting rid of weight was one
option, and the first thing to go was often the cannons, At perhaps
half a ton apiece, the cannons were a substantial part of the ship's
weight. Rolling them off the deck of the ship and into the sea would
lighten it considerably, and could allow a badly damaged vessel to
escape its pursuer, or stay afloat until repairs could be made.
Cannons lost this way of course, could not be brought
back up again.
Cargo could also be thrown overboard, but
due to its location and lighter weight, it was not so obvious a
solution. Interestingly enough, when pirates came to port with cargo
that could not otherwise be explained to the authorities, they often
claimed to have picked it up from a ship that was damaged and need
to "lighten its load." This was the 18th century
equivalent to "it fell off the back of a truck" and fooled
no one, but it provided an excuse that could keep pirates out of
jail.
If a ship was not in immediate danger of sinking,
her crew could do an amazing number of things to put her back into
working order. The number of things that could be done with rope
staggers the imagination. Rope cold bind, support, lift, or
brace, and it could be made into cushions to fill gaps in wood or
rigging, or pad parts that were rubbing together.
A skilled ship's carpenter
could virtually re-build the ship from the hull up, given enough
time and supplies. Ships carried spare fittings of everything, but
also raw wood and unforged iron, which might become anything. And,
whenever possible, a ship carried a miniature blacksmith's
forge.
Pirates,
of course, had one more option. If the pirate ship was too badly
damaged in a fight, and the pirates had some means of getting to the
enemy ship, they could simply take it. There are several exampled of
sinking ships capturing an enemy vessel (their crews would be highly
motivated, after all) and marooning that ship's crew. Hoisting the
Jolly Roger over a new ship was one way to make sure that what you
were standing on was seaworthy.
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Atlantic World Maritime History | Golden Age of Piracy
Yes - to an extent, is the short answer. It all depends on circumstances.
I assume you're talking about the first battle at the beginning of the film. She wasn't dis-masted at all. She got some nasty holes in her sides of course, but they were plugged. Given enough able seamen who probably had a variety of experiences repairing things at sea, and a good ship's carpenter and parcel of carpenter's mates - plus supplies, you could do a remarkable amount of repair at sea. The carpenter would have his locker on the orlop deck and he would work with his supplies in that room and around the ship. That's the general idea I received from reading a number of books on the way 17th to 18th century ships operated such as The Arming and Fitting of English Ships of War, 1600-1800 by Brian Lavery.
A prepared ship even at the most basic levels would be carrying spare lines of various sizes, tar, oakum, planks, sailcloth, paint, tools, and so much more. Eventually the sails could be patched or replaced, lines spliced or replaced, and so on. Lines were getting replaced regularly anyway due to use (especially running rigging that move around a lot) and any sailor worth the name knew how to deal with and replace them. The biggest concern are yards (things sails are on) and spars (parts of masts). Ships would carry spares of such things (how many all depended on where the ship was voyaging, for how long, for what purpose, and how much could be afforded by ship owners or Navy) - and in the case of the HMS Surprise they carried at least a couple spare yards with them (which they used on the mizzen). Not sure if they carried something they used to replace the topsail mizzen spar (can't remember if that ever got replaced after going around the horn carried away that spar) but it's not an impossibility. The wounded mizzen mast main spar, the part closest to the top deck, appeared to have been wounded in the film during that first battle, but they managed to repair it to make it at least serviceable for most circumstances ( as can be seen here ). Overall, replacing an entire mast (or at least the lowest part of it) is extremely difficult, but not impossible to do outside of a port. It might be more effective to do so when pulled up on shallows like one would do while careening, but it could be done. If you had a mast with you to replace it, or if one could be obtained enough skill in the manpower could pull it off. But in that movie, they didn't replace the whole mast.
Mariners in the Age of Sail were surprisingly resourceful and often skillful people, and the fictional characters of the Aubrey-Maturin series as presented in the film represents what such a ship could be like at it's finest, with almost all being handpicked able seamen with working familiarity with the captain (not to mention significant faith in and liking of said captain). A ship could keep itself repaired enough without a major port for a surprising amount of time because of them. I've read about it being done in my work with pirate history as well. For the peak era of the Golden Age of Piracy, with Nassau taken back into authority by the British government under Woodes Rogers, there weren't really any other ports like that to go get supplies and repair. Most everything had to be done at sea. From 1719-1724, a number of pirate crews operated for a number of years in the Atlantic. Of course, they had several differing circumstances/advantages. They could switch ships (and often did) when they wore one out or thought a new ship they captured was better, they could steal supplies and skilled workmen to repair their ships (or, they did when they could), and their crew size often helped provide work forces when needed (compared to say, a typical merchant ship crew that might be a dozen men more or less).
Hope that answers your questions - unfortunately there's not going to be one book that addresses this specifically. But besides the book I mentioned previously, I would also recommend John H. Harland's Seamanship in the Age of Sail for a good book to give as thorough an understanding one can get without physical experience at sea. Sailing is by far a many-year skill that can't be picked up like that and isn't the easiest thing to express in a book - but some have made valiant efforts to the benefit of all.
Is a mast one long piece of wood? Where would they keep the spare mast, and how would they then put it up? It seems like it would be rather cumbersome to get up through the hatches of a ship if it was stored below deck.
Moderator | European Armour and Weapons 1250-1600
Remember that by the early 19th century England had friendly or neutral ports around the world. Depending on whose side Spain was on, ships could resupply in Chile, they could go to the Chinese ports, they could call on British ports in India, etc.
How Ships Survive a Hurricane at Sea
https://www.popularmechanics.com/adventure/outdoors/tips/a10688/how-ships-survive-a-hurricane-at-sea-16862613/
The most dangerous ship in a hurricane is an empty one. That's because the weight of cargo helps stabilize the ship against the waves. Ballast provides a little stabilizing weight when ships sail empty, but not always enough.
"It can get kind of hairy, especially if you don't have cargo," former sea captain Max Hardberger tells Popular Mechanics. "When you have only ballast water way down in the bottom of the ship, the ship has a very wicked roll to it. I've been on ships, for example, where we would go from thirty degrees heeled over on one side, and we would whip across to thirty degrees heel on the other side in a matter of three and a half seconds, so you can imagine something like that will roll your eyeteeth out."
The rolling is hard for the crew, but the worst thing for a ship is the repeated impact of the hull slamming into the troughs between waves. Modern cargo ships are constructed of thick steel, but if the waves are large enough and their battering lasts long enough, the pounding of those impacts can still break a ship apart.
Any Port in a Storm?
Cargo ships don't always head for the nearest port when a hurricane approaches, because not all ports offer the same kind of shelter.
"If you have a choice," Hardberger says, "you obviously want to find what's known as a hurricane hole, which is going to be a port with very good holding and with high cliffs or mountains around the harbor to protect you from the winds."
Once in port, crews anchor the ship, leaving plenty of slack in the anchor chain to prevent the motion of the waves from snapping the chain. They might also put the ship's engine in reverse to put pressure on the anchor. "Once you've done those things and you're at anchor, there's not much else you can do except just hope and pray," Hardberger says.
Being caught in the wrong port can be dangerous. "After Katrina, there was a ship I went on in Lake Charles that had hammered its side against the docks during the hurricane and sustained some pretty heavy damage to its side," he says. That kind of battering takes a toll on the dock, too, and port authorities may order ships to leave ahead of a storm. "There are some ports that are so dangerous that ships will actually go out to sea, thinking that they'll be safer riding out the hurricane at sea than they are in port," Hardberger says.
Of course, the best plan is to get out of a hurricane's way. "At a modern ship speed of 14 knots, you should be able to outrun a hurricane," he says. But, Pickhardt says, "the later you leave, the less options you have. When you cut it too close, sometimes you get in trouble."
If All Else Fails
What if a ship must face a hurricane at sea? "You would try to steer for the area of the ocean that is going to see the shallowest waves and the lowest winds," Hardberger says. The "low side" or "clean side" of the storm is usually the side counterclockwise from its leading edge.
In the teeth of the storm, a ship's survival depends on two things: sea room and steering-way. Sea room means that the ship is a safe distance from anything it might crash into, like a coastline. Cargo ships try to stay well offshore if they must face a major storm at sea. If a ship is on a "lee shore," with land close by downwind, the storm can drive the ship onto the land and wreck it.
Steering-way means that the ship is moving forward with enough power to steer rather than just getting pushed around by waves and wind. The ship must keep its bow (the front end) pointing into the waves to plow through them safely, since a massive wave striking the ship's side could roll the vessel over and sink it. Wind and waves will try to turn the vessel, and pushing against them requires forward momentum.
Winning a fight against the sea depends on having a well-maintained ship, a trained and experienced crew, and a healthy dose of good luck.
http://www.cindyvallar.com/woodenships.html
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clipper_route
The clipper route was the traditional route derived from the Brouwer Route and sailed by clipper ships between Europe and the Far East, Australia and New Zealand. The route ran from west to east through the Southern Ocean, in order to make use of the strong westerly winds of the Roaring Forties. Many ships and sailors were lost in the heavy conditions along the route, particularly at Cape Horn, which the clippers had to round on their return to Europe.
The clipper route fell into commercial disuse with the introduction of marine steam engines, and the opening of the Suez and Panama Canals. However, it remains the fastest sailing route around the world, and as such has been the route for several prominent yacht races, such as the Velux 5 Oceans Race and the Vendée Globe.
Australia and New Zealand
The clipper route from England to Australia and New Zealand, returning via Cape Horn, offered captains the fastest circumnavigation of the world, and hence potentially the greatest rewards; many grain, wool and gold clippers sailed this route, returning home with valuable cargos in a relatively short time. However, this route, passing south of the three great capes and running for much of its length through the Southern Ocean, also carried the greatest risks, exposing ships to the hazards of fierce winds, huge waves, and icebergs. This combination of the fastest ships, the highest risks, and the greatest rewards combined to give this route a particular aura of romance and drama.[1]
Outbound
Unidentified ship rounding Cape Horn
This route ran from England down the east Atlantic Ocean to the Equator, crossing at about the position of Saint Peter and Paul Rocks, around 20 degrees west. A good sailing time for the 3,275 miles (5,271 km) to this point would have been around 21 days; however, an unlucky ship could spend an additional three weeks crossing the doldrums.[2]
The route then ran south through the western South Atlantic, following the natural circulation of winds and currents, passing close to Trindade, then curving south-east past Tristan da Cunha.[3] The route crossed the Greenwich meridian at about 40 degrees south, taking the clippers into the Roaring Forties after about 6,500 miles (10,500 km) sailed from Plymouth. A good time for this run would have been about 43 days.[4]
Once into the forties, a ship was also inside the ice zone, the area of the Southern Ocean where there was a significant chance of encountering icebergs. Safety would dictate keeping to the north edge of this zone, roughly along the parallel of 40 degrees south; however, the great circle route from the Cape of Good Hope to Australia, curving down to 60 degrees south, is 1,000 miles (1,600 km) shorter, and would also offer the strongest winds. Ship's masters would therefore go as far south as they dared, weighing the risk of ice against a fast passage.[5]
The clipper ships bound for Australia and New Zealand would call at a variety of ports. A ship sailing from Plymouth to Sydney, for example, would cover around 13,750 miles (22,130 km); a fast time for this passage would be around 100 days.[6] Cutty Sark made the fastest passage on this route by a clipper, in 72 days.[7] Thermopylae made the slightly shorter passage from London to Melbourne, 13,150 miles (21,160 km), in just 61 days in 1868–1869.[8]
Homeward
The return passage continued east from Australia; ships stopping at Wellington would pass through the Cook Strait, but otherwise this tricky passage was avoided, with ships passing instead around the south end of New Zealand.[9] Once again, eastbound ships would be running more or less within the ice zone, staying as far south as possible for the shortest route and strongest winds. Most ships stayed north of the latitude of Cape Horn, at 56 degrees south, following a southward dip in the ice zone as they approached the Horn.[10]
The Horn itself had, and still has, an infamous reputation among sailors. The strong winds and currents which flow perpetually around the Southern Ocean without interruption are funnelled by the Horn into the relatively narrow Drake Passage; coupled with turbulent cyclones coming off the Andes, and the shallow water near the Horn, this combination of factors can create violently hazardous conditions for ships.[11]
Those ships which survived the Horn then made the passage back up the Atlantic, following the natural wind circulation up the eastern South Atlantic and more westerly in the North Atlantic. A good run for the 14,750 miles (23,740 km) from Sydney to Plymouth would be around 100 days; Cutty Sark made it in 84 days, and Thermopylae in 77 days.[12] Lightning made the longer passage from Melbourne to Liverpool in 65 days in 1854–1855, completing a circumnavigation of the world in 5 months, 9 days, which included 20 days spent in port.[13]
The later windjammers, which were usually large four-masted barques optimized on cargo and handling rather than running, usually made the voyage in 90 to 105 days. The fastest recorded time on Great Grain Races was on Finnish four-masted barque Parma, 83 days in 1933.[14] Her master on the voyage was the Finnish captain Ruben de Cloux.[15]
Variations
Garthneill
The route sailed by a sailing ship was always heavily dictated by the wind conditions, which are generally reliable from the west in the forties and fifties. Even here, however, winds are variable, and the precise route and distance sailed would depend on the conditions on a particular voyage. Ships in the deep Southern Ocean could find themselves faced with persistent headwinds, or even becalmed. Sailing ships attempting to go against the route, however, could have even greater problems.
In 1922, Garthwray attempted to sail west around the Horn carrying cargo from the Firth of Forth to Iquique, Chile. After two attempts to round the Horn the "wrong way", her master gave up and sailed east instead, reaching Chile from the other direction.[16]
Attempting in 1919 to sail from Melbourne to Bunbury, Western Australia, a distance of 2,000 miles (3,200 km), the Gerthneil was unable to make way against the forties winds south of Australia, and was faced by strong westerly winds again when she attempted to pass through the Torres Strait to the north. She finally turned and sailed the other way, passing the Pacific, Cape Horn, the Atlantic, the Cape of Good Hope, and the Indian Ocean to finally arrive in Bunbury after 76 days at sea.[16]
Joshua Slocum, the first person to complete a solo circumnavigation in the Spray, did it rounding Cape Horn from east to west. His was not the fastest circumnavigation on record, and he took more than one try to get through Cape Horn.
A preserved slab of hardtack from the Civil War on exhibit at a museum in Pensacola Florida. Image courtesy of Infrogmation via WikiCommons.
Before today’s MREs, before C-rations of World War Two, even before corned beef and apricot jam of the Western Front, soldiers and sailors could count on receiving one thing in their daily food rations – hardtack.
Sometimes referred to as “sea biscuit”, “ship’s biscuit”, “molar breakers” or “worm castles”, baked flour rations or “hardtack” has been on the menu for soldiers and sailors as far back as ancient times. It was known as dhourra cake to Egyptian mariners and buccellum in the Roman Legions, while King Richard I’s crusaders called it “muslin bisket” <sic>.
The Royal Navy was among the first to mass-produce hardtack. Production began as early as the 1660s. British tars were issued up to a pound of biscuit a day, along with their generous 1 gallon beer ration.
Made using salt, water and wheat flour (which is rich in protein, vitamins and calories), hardtack could provide modest nutrition for a crew at sea or an army in the field for weeks, even months. The secret to making biscuit last so long is to draw out every last trace of moisture. To that end, slabs of hardtack were baked and re-baked as many as four separate times. Once in storage, the biscuits would keep indefinitely (if kept dry). In fact, during the U.S. Civil War, troops were issued with hardtack rations that had been prepared for the army during the Mexican American War 15 years earlier.
An example of Royal Navy ships’ biscuit at Fort Niagara. Image property of MilitaryHistoryNow.com.
At meal times, soldiers and sailors would soak or boil the biscuits in coffee, beer, salt water or just about any liquid on hand. That’s because un-moistened, hardtack was inedible and nearly dense enough to stop a musket ball. Biscuits could also be crushed with rifle butts and boiled into a porridge, fried in a pan, or even just sucked on raw during a long watch. Some sailors in the Royal Navy would make their own improvised coffee using the stuff. This was accomplished by taking a fire-blackened biscuit, grinding it into a fine powder, adding boiling water and drinking it hot with a touch of sugar.
Unless kept bone dry, biscuits would quickly grow moldy and spoil. But even under ideal conditions, they could easily become infested with weevil larvae or maggots. Sailors and soldiers alike would remove any parasites by submerging the biscuits in coffee or water and then skimming the critters off when they floated to the surface. Others preferred to simply dim the lights and try to choke down the hard tack weevils and all.
European armies and navies throughout the 17th, 18th and 19th Centuries literally lived off biscuits. Even after the advent of canned food, which was pioneered by Napoleon’s armies in the early 1800s, soldiers continued to be issued with biscuit or hard tack right up until the First World War.
Best Before Date? The Kronborg castle in Elsinore, Denmark is home to the oldest known piece of hard tack in the world. The piece was supposedly baked in 1851. Image courtesy Paul A. Cziko via WikiCommons.
Interested in sampling a ship’s biscuit or hard tack yourself? You probably have the ingredients in your kitchen right now and are only about 30 minutes away from enjoying your own taste of history (although ‘enjoying’ might be too strong a word). Recipes for hardtack are available from a number of sources online. Here’s one. Bon appetite!
(Originally published on June 28, 2012)
There is a biscuit in the Royal Engineers Museum that a solider used as something to write a letter home…It has his letter on one side and a stamp and a frank on the other…It was so hard it survived the journey home and 100 years!
13 August, 2015 at 10:56 am
Hi, I don’t think the biscuit you show from Denmark is the oldest known biscuit (a claim also made on Wikipedia). The Maritime Museum in London, England has at least one older, dating from 1784. See here http://www.rmg.co.uk/explore/sea-and-ships/facts/faqs/customs-and-origins/history-of-the-ships-biscuit
Aaron Lewis
7 October, 2017 at 12:21 am
Prior to about 1870, hard tack would have been made of a (stone ground) whole grain meal, fermented with sour dough. The whole grain had more nutrition, and the sour dough improved nutrition and reduced lectins. The white flour product after 1875 was cheaper and kept better. Use of baking power/ baking soda was after 1870.
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SCAPA FLOW (in the heart of the Orkney Islands)
http://www.scapaflowwrecks.com/history/
Scapa
Flow is a body of water about 120 square miles in area and with an
average depth of 30 to 40 metres. The Orkney Mainland and South Isles
encircle Scapa Flow, making it a sheltered harbour with easy access
to both the North Sea and Atlantic Ocean.
The name Scapa
Flow comes from the Old Norse Skalpaflói, meaning ‘bay of the long
isthmus’, which refers to the thin strip of land between Scapa Bay
and the town of Kirkwall.
Scapa Flow has been used as a harbour since Viking times, the name
Skalpaflói being given to it by the Vikings. However, it wasn’t
until the Napoleonic wars of the early 1800s that the Admiralty first
took an interest in Scapa Flow. The Admiralty used the area as a deep
water anchorage for trading ships waiting to cross the North Sea to
Baltic ports. Two Martello Towers were built on either side of
Longhope in order to defend these trading ships until a warship
arrived to escort them to the Baltic Sea.
Subsequent wars
were waged against countries including France, Spain and the
Netherlands – as such a northern naval base became unnecessary.
However, by the early 20th century the Admiralty once again looked at
Scapa Flow. This time it was to defend against a new enemy: Germany.
Scapa Flow was ideally situated to provide a safe anchorage in the
north with easy access to open waters. If the Admiralty were to rely
on the Firth of Forth further south, there was a real risk their
ships could be trapped if a minefield was placed across its mouth.
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https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/1wzroa/how_did_sailors_on_wooden_battleships_repair/cf6wjo7/
How did sailors on wooden battleships repair cannonball damage to areas below the water line?
Was this done from inside or outside? It seems like the water pressure would make it difficult to get the plug in.
Inside, and yes the water pressure was significant. In the film, the water is spraying the ship's carpenter as he tries to plug the hole.
Also, cannon ball damage below the waterline was fairly rare. Cannon balls either decelerate dramatically on hitting the water, or bounce up off the water surface like a skipping stone.
Of course, if a ship were hit when heeled over, "between wind and water", the shot hole would be underwater when the ship heeled the other way on the other tack. Most shot holes would not be very far underwater, so they could be repaired as described, (from the interior of the ship) and the water pressure from the outside would not be too great.
Yeah I'd assumed that a cannonball would lose it's momentum pretty rapidly below a few feet of water, but what does "between wind and water" mean? And what did ships do if there was non-canon ball related damage to the hull? Like random mishaps or icebergs? Did they just sink or was there some way to repair the ship?
It was also possible to repair deeper damage to the hull by passing lines under the vessel and dragging a fothered sail down over the leak allowing water pressure to force the material into the damaged area from the outside. For detail see the Websters 1828 Dictionary definition of "fother"
To endeavor to stop a leak in the bottom of a ship, while afloat, by letting down a sail by the corners, and putting chopped yarn, oakum, wool, cotton, &c. Between it and the ship's sides. These substances are sometimes sucked into the cracks and the leak stopped.
edit: Pre-prepared canvas mats with the fibres already attached were called "thrums"
Ya know, your answer was really good/infmtve too, the sail in front of the hole would cut down on that ridiculous water pressure while they pegged that wooden cork in.
I misread your explanation. I forgot about the vacuum pressure from the outside. But no divers? Sp. Armada and British vessels should have hired more divers.
"Between wind and water" means between the normal waterline of the ship (where the water would come to if the ship were stationary and becalmed) and the actual waterline (because the ship was heeling over due to the pressure of the wind).
A hit in this area was virtually the only way that a cannon ball could case damage below the waterline.
So the only way a cannonball could do real damage (make it sink) was if the wind blew the ship over enough that the cb could hit in a detrimental spot then it settles then lets all the water in?
Essentially, yes.
So cannon fights in calm waters were pointless?
No, in naval battles in wooden warships, sinking one of the ships was very unusual. The effect of cannon fire was to disable the ship by damaging masts and rigging, and to kill the crew with cannon balls and the showers of deadly splinters which accompanied them when cannon balls burst through the wooden sides of the ship.
If a ship was disabled, enemy ships could "rake" her, by crossing her bow or stern and firing broadsides which would send cannon balls down the length of the ship, without fear of return fire (because the cannon were mounted along the broadsides, and few cannon pointed fore or aft). "Raking" was fairly uncommon, because ships maneuvered desperately to avoid it. More common were broadside to broadside hammering at each other with cannon.
The English ships usually won because they practiced all the time in the rolling and pitching conditions at sea. English ships were often observed to be firing 3 broadsides for every two fired by the French (in the Napoleonic Wars). If you fire your guns faster, you will kill and maim the enemy crew faster than they kill and maim yours. As their cannon crews are killed, your crew stops dying as quickly and their crew keeps getting slammed. Eventually, they are forced to surrender, or you can board them and keep killing them with cutlass, pistols, and boarding pikes.
Naval battles in wooden warships armed with big cannon could be extremely bloody affairs. Most defeated enemy ships did not sink. They were sailed home by the victors, repaired, and put into service in a new navy. The crew that captured the ship got the ship's value paid to them as "prize money".
What did the crew on a wooden vessel do if there was an abnormality in the grain on their hull and it randomly splintered to spring a leak serious enough that it could submerge the ship before land. Yeah, we do it now with SCUBA gear and arc welding, but they knew a way, and I want to know.
Edit: Bad example, easier to say iceberg, but my questions were hypothetical to begin with
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https://www.nps.gov/safr/learn/historyculture/historicbilgepump.htm
Notes From Ship’s Bilge Pumps; A History of their Development 1500-1900 (Thomas J. Oertling)
By Courtney Andersen, Historical Ship Rigging Supervisor
9 April 2014
Pumps were the last defense, hope, and salvation of the lives on board. A ship could lose its rig or its rudder, and still give a hope of survival, but without a working bilge pump a ship was lost.
The 18th century naval architect William Hutchinson observed that crews sometimes left ships too soon; that the ship may appear in imminent danger of foundering but was discovered hours or days later to be still afloat. After the water rises high enough to cover a leak, the rate of inflow is reduced; equilibrium is reached, and the ship often won’t go down much further, making it possible for the crew to pump and plug the leak.
With usually one or two “heads” aboard a ship, and sometimes hundreds of sailors, many sailors used the bilge as a latrine. The accumulation of filth and garbage in the hold polluted the bilges, and though a health hazard, the nature of the bilge water provided proof of whether the hull was tight:
Boteler 1634: “when it stinketh much, it is a sign that the water hath lain long in the hold of the ship; and on the contrary, when it is clear and sweet, it is a token that it comes freshly in from the sea. This stinking water therefore is always a welcome perfume to an old seaman; and he that stops his nose at it is laughed at, and held but a fresh-water man at best.”
There were basically only three types of ship bilge pump used from the 1400s to the 1800s:
--burr pumps: basically a cone-shaped leather bucket that drew water up a tube
--chain pumps: a continuous chain with small burrs or buckets to catch water and pull it up, running over upper and lower sprockets
--common or “suction” pump: the earliest representation is from 1431. Use on ships was probably from sometime in late 1400s to early 1500s. The first recorded use of metal parts in ship pumps was 1526. Usually they were made entirely of wood until the late 1700s because the only tools available for boring iron tubes were those to make cannon. In 1712, the first practical steam engine was invented by Newcomen. A steam engine needed the piston and cylinder in very tight tolerances. Initially made by hand, ground and filed…further developments in boring machines were needed before steam could progress, and it wasn’t until those machines were made that all-metal pumps could be manufactured.
Dodgson’s Patent Ship Pump 1799—similar to the pump on Balclutha, but still a common suction pump, using up-and-down pump handles to drive two pump boxes with two valves in each box.
Most of the early suction pumps rely on a moving upper one-way valve attached to a rod, and a stationary lower valve with a “claque” or one-way flap that allows water to move past it.
The pump has to be primed when there is no column of water in the tube. Water must cover the upper valve, sealing off the lower part of the tube from the air. As the piston works, the atmospheric pressure decreases in the tube. The water then rises through the lower valve because of the greater atmospheric pressure outside the tube pushing the water into the tube.
The height to which a common pump can raise water by suction is governed by barometric pressure -- about 28’ from surface of the water to the “claque” of the upper valve at the top of the stroke.
It wasn’t until the 1850s that the iron flywheel to help maintain momentum of rotation was developed to work with a camshaft to drive the two piston rods. This quickly became the standard on packets and clipper ships.
Balclutha’s pump by Robert Mills of Greenock, Scotland is an improved “force pump” design which uses a central water-filled piston chamber connected to two valve chambers. Each of these valve chambers has two heavy valves with leather gaskets. Water is drawn up past the lower valve by the piston’s suction stroke; the lower valve then seals closed; then when the piston pushes against the water in the pump case, it is pushed past the upper valve and out through the discharge “dale.” The two sets of valves means that the pump ejects water smoothly in both the up and the down motions of the piston; this is known as “double action.”
This “force pump” design was known to the Romans, but it wasn’t until metal working progressed in the mid 1800s that it became a practical shipboard pump style. A force pump differs from a common suction pump in that the valves are not located on the piston rod.
Patent Ship Pump. Invented by George Dodgson.
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http://www.norwayheritage.com/provisions.htm
Sailing ship provisions - Food and drink
There were those among us with itchy fingers...
(By
Børge Solem)
The passengers traveling by sail had to bring their own food. This was often stored in a hold beneath the between-deck, and each day the passengers had to go down to fetch provisions. On the emigrant vessel Laurvig, baggage was piled on top of other cargo. Sometimes it was difficult for the passengers to get to their provisions, especially if there was little space in the cargo hold. On some ships there was space for trunks and other loose equipment in the center aisle, but this could, of course, be dangerous in bad weather. There are accounts about passengers who were injured by goods that slid back and forth on the deck. On the Atalanta in 1871, it was said that food chests and kegs with milk and beer were tied down in the center aisle. The ship was hit by a storm and all the passengers lay in their bunks holding themselves fast. A man from Rennesø had taken a keg of beer into the bunk with him, but the waves hurled the keg out of the bunk onto the deck. The man jumped out after it, and in an attempt to save it, rode the keg back and forth across the deck. This resulted in the ropes holding the items in the center aisle working their way loose, and soon everything was rolling from side to side in keeping with the waves. Fortunately, the man managed to get him self and the keg of beer back into the bunk before he was seriously injured. In spite of the seriousness of the situation, everyone had a good laugh. The most common food was cured mutton and other salted or dried food. Flatbread was almost always brought along. Also customary were sour milk and beer in kegs. In addition they had dairy products with them such as butter and soft whey cheese. They also had raw materials with them so they could cook porridge on board. It was important that the provisions could be stored for the duration of the journey.
Scene
between decks on an English emigrant ship in 1850
The following is a list of provisions printed by Det Norske Udvandringsselskap in Christiania (later Oslo) in the 1870s. These provisions were intended to be adequate for an adult for up to ten weeks:
- 70 pounds hard bread (or the equivalent in soft bread or
flatbread) Of course, each passenger may take along the type of provisions desired as long as they are adequate for 10 weeks. [Pound = 454 grams, Td. = tønne = keg] |
The emigrants were also advised to take along equipment, such as a water pail, (the size according to the needs of each family, about 3 quarts a day per person) cooking pot, coffee kettle and dishes and eating utensils. They had to prepare their own food on the ship's galleys placed up on deck. Often there were no more than a couple of these to be shared by all the passengers. The lines for preparing food could easily become long, when there were several hundred passengers. There are reports about ships where some passengers never made it to the stoves -- it was a matter of the survival of the fittest. Ole Ellingsen Strand, who crossed on the Christiane when he was 11 years old in 1851 latre wrote an account about the crossing. His description of the kitchen and the cooking conditions gives a lively picture of how it cuold be like:
"The kitchen where the cooking was done for about 259 passengers was a board shanty about 12 by 16 feet in size and was built on deck near the middle of the it; along the back side of this shanty a box or rather a bin was built about 4 feet wide and about 1 1/2 feet high, and this bin was filled full of sand, and on top of this sand the fires were built and the cooking done. The kettles were set on top of a little triangular frame of iron with three short legs under it, and this people would set anywhere on this bed of sand where they could possibly find or squeeze out room and then start their fire underneath. There was no chimney where the smoke could escape, only an opening in the roof the width of a board over the fire where smoke could go if it wanted to, but most of the time it did not want to because the wind kept it down."
"Early in the morning you could see the women coming up from below with a little bundle of fine split wood in one hand and a little kettle of some kind or a coffee pot in the other, heading for the kitchen, eager to find a vacant place somewhere on this bed of sand large enough to set their kettle on and build a fire under it. But it would not be very late in the day, if the weather was favorable, till every place in the kitchen was occupied, and there would be a large crowd outside waiting for vacant places, which were generally engaged already. And if you sat outside watching the kitchen door you could in 18 minutes time see perhaps half dozen women come out with their aprons over their faces, wiping tears, coughing and almost strangled with smoke. They would stay outside long enough to get their lungs filled with fresh air and the tears wiped out of their eyes, then they would crowd themselves back in again. Perhaps to find the fire and wood removed from their kettle under somebody else's. Then, of course, broad hints and sharp words would be exchanged, and the loser would have to watch the opportunity when her next neighbor would have to go outside for fresh air to get her wood and fire back again. And these were not the only adversities and troubles in the kitchen because it was hardly ever so stormy but that somebody tried to cook something, and if it was too stormy for the women to be on deck the men would generally volunteer to steep tea, cook coffee, or even make a kettle of soup. They would start their fire, put their kettles on, and in a little while the cook shanty would be chock full of men. Some would be on their knees, some sitting flat on the floor while others would be standing outside peering in. Then imagine an oncoming big wave striking the vessel and almost setting it on end, and in a wink of an eye every kettle, coffee pot, and teapot is upset and spilled in the fire and hot ashes. This of course made them scramble for the door and you could see that coming out like swirling bees from a beehive. Some would swear, some could laugh, while others would say they might have known better than to try to cook anything this stormy day, but in less than an hour the shanty would be full again and perhaps going through the whole performance."
Daily rations of wood and water were included in the price of the ticket. The emigrants on board the sail ships were completely dependent on wind and weather. If the weather was bad, the journey could take much longer than anticipated. There were several occasions when the emigrants ran out of food and water before they arrived in port. On board the bark Fauna in 1868, they were about to run out of water and the daily ration was down to one glass per person. If they were lucky they might meet other ships that had something to sell, but the prices were often very high. If necessary, they might anchor off land somewhere, like the bark Napoleon that had to go to St. Johns, Newfoundland. The banks off the coast of Newfoundland had great quantities of fish, however, which came to the rescue of many.
Contents
of the "Rosemåled" Chest |
The chest
with food supplies that Anders Nilssen Kloster (1843-1936) and
his wife Madel Magdela Handsdatter Lie (1843-1889) from Kloster
gård at Halsnøy brought along on the bark Erling
Skjalgson in 1869: |
A dictionary of maritime terms, in describing the anchor-hauling mechanical device known as a windlass, noted the use of such a chant. This particular old-fashioned style of windlass was one that required workers to continually remove and re-insert "handspikes" (wooden leverage bars) into the device to turn its gears.
It requires, however, some dexterity and address to manage the handspec to the greatest advantage; and to perform this the sailors must all rise at once upon the windlass, and, fixing their bars therein, give a sudden jerk at the same instant, in which movement they are regulated by a sort of song or howl pronounced by one of their number.[24]
Rather than the well-developed songs that characterize shanties, this "howl" and others were evidently structured as simple chants in the manner of "1, 2, 3!" The same dictionary noted that French sailors said just that, and gave some indication what an English windlass chant may have been like:
UN, deux, troi, an exclamation, or song, used by seamen when hauling the bowlines, the greatest effort being made at the last word. English sailors, in the same manner, call out on this occasion,—haul-in—haul-two—haul-belay![25]
Such simple or brief chants survived into the 19th century. First-hand observers such as Frederick Pease Harlow, a sailor of the 1870s, attested to their ubiquity, saying that they were brought into use whenever a brief task required one.[26] In historical hindsight these items have come to be generically called "sing-outs"; yet even before the known advent of the term shanty, Richard Henry Dana referred to "singing out".
The wind was whistling through the rigging, loose ropes flying about; loud and, to me, unintelligible orders constantly given and rapidly executed, and the sailors "singing out" at the ropes in their hoarse and peculiar strains.[27]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fVQwzv5Qfc Sea shanty Leave her Johnny, Leave her
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2L9q-QR4EY Cheerily, Man
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_2g_kNTBek Spanish Ladies
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSCN8HuFCcE&list=PL58B55DD66F22060C&index=17&t=0s
The Lowlands Low
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HkKN0cNUaU Randy Dandy Oh
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uS5xR7jBxDw Bully in the Alley
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Timing of ship's watches
See also: Watchkeeping
Unlike civil clock bells, the strikes of a ship's bell do not accord to the number of the hour. Instead, there are eight bells, one for each half-hour of a four-hour watch. In the age of sailing, watches were timed with a 30-minute hourglass. Bells would be struck every time the glass was turned, and in a pattern of pairs for easier counting, with any odd bells at the end of the sequence.
Classical system
The classical, or traditional, system was:[1]
Number
|
Bell
|
Watch |
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Middle |
Morning |
Fore- |
After- |
Dog |
First |
|||
First |
Last |
|||||||
One bell |
1 |
00:30 |
04:30 |
08:30 |
12:30 |
16:30 |
18:30[a] |
20:30 |
Two bells |
2 |
01:00 |
05:00 |
09:00 |
13:00 |
17:00 |
19:00[a] |
21:00 |
Three bells |
2 1 |
01:30 |
05:30 |
09:30 |
13:30 |
17:30 |
19:30[a] |
21:30 |
Four bells |
2 2 |
02:00 |
06:00 |
10:00 |
14:00 |
18:00 |
22:00 |
|
Five bells |
2 2 1 |
02:30 |
06:30 |
10:30 |
14:30 |
18:30 |
22:30 |
|
Six bells |
2 2 2 |
03:00 |
07:00 |
11:00 |
15:00 |
19:00 |
23:00 |
|
Seven bells |
2 2 2 1 |
03:30 |
07:30 |
11:30 |
15:30 |
19:30 |
23:30 |
|
Eight bells |
2 2 2 2 |
04:00 |
08:00 |
12:00[b] |
16:00 |
20:00 |
24:00 |
|
British usage after the Nore mutiny.[2]
Before the introduction of time zones, noon was not struck by the hourglass, but when the captain or officer of the deck confirmed local noon by the sun, using a sextant.
Most of the crew of a ship would be divided into two to four groups, called watches. Each watch would take its turn with the essential activities of manning the helm, navigating, trimming sails, and keeping a lookout.
The hours between 16:00 and 20:00 are so arranged because that watch (the "dog watch") was divided in two. The odd number of watches aimed to give each man a different watch each day; it also allowed the entire crew of a vessel to eat an evening meal, the normal time being at 17:00 with first dog watchmen eating at 18:00.[2]
Simpler system
Some "ship's bell" clocks use a simpler system:
Number of bells |
Bell pattern |
Hour (a.m. and p.m.) |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|
One bell |
1 |
12:30 |
4:30 |
8:30 |
Two bells |
2 |
1:00 |
5:00 |
9:00 |
Three bells |
2 1 |
1:30 |
5:30 |
9:30 |
Four bells |
2 2 |
2:00 |
6:00 |
10:00 |
Five bells |
2 2 1 |
2:30 |
6:30 |
10:30 |
Six bells |
2 2 2 |
3:00 |
7:00 |
11:00 |
Seven bells |
2 2 2 1 |
3:30 |
7:30 |
11:30 |
Eight bells |
2 2 2 2 |
4:00 |
8:00 |
12:00 |
Other uses for bell strikes
Ship's bells are also used for safety in foggy conditions, their most important modern use.[3]
On US naval vessels, bells additionally are rung as "boat gongs" for officers and dignitaries coming aboard or leaving the ship, in a number equivalent to the number of sideboys to which the visitor is entitled.[4]
At midnight on New Year's Eve, 16 bells would be struck – eight bells for the old year and eight bells for the new.
When a sailor has died he or she can be honoured with the sounding of eight bells; meaning "end of the watch". The term "eight bells" can also be used in an obituary, as a nautical euphemism for finished.
Name of the ship
The ship's name is traditionally engraved or cast onto the surface of the bell, often with the year the ship was launched, as well. The earliest ship's bell was recovered from the wreck-site of a Portuguese armada ship off the coast of Oman. The bell was dated 1498.[5] Occasionally (especially on more modern ships) the bell will also carry the name of the shipyard that built the ship. If a ship's name is changed, maritime tradition is that the original bell carrying the original name will remain with the vessel. A ship's bell is a prized possession when a ship is broken up[3] and often provides the only positive means of identification in the case of a shipwreck.
Number of bells
Most United States Navy ships of the post–World War II era have actually carried two ship's bells: the official bell on deck and a smaller one in the pilot house and at the quarterdeck at the 1MC (public address) station, used when the ship is underway.
Cook and boatswain
According to seafaring legend, the ship's cooks and boatswain's mates had a duty arrangement to give the cooks more sleep. The boatswain's mates, who worked 24 hours a day on watches, would build the fire in the stove, so the cook could get up a little while later and the fire would be already going so he could begin preparing breakfast. In return, between meals, the cooks would shine the bell, which was traditionally the boatswain's mates' responsibility.
Baptizing children
It is a naval tradition to baptize children using the ship's bell as a baptismal font and to engrave the names of the children on the bell afterwards. Christening information from the bells held by the Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt Museum has been entered into a searchable data archive.[6]
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naval_artillery_in_the_Age_of_Sail
Naval artillery in the Age of Sail encompasses the period of roughly 1571–1862: when large, sail-powered wooden naval warships dominated the high seas, mounting a bewildering variety of different types and sizes of cannon as their main armament. By modern standards, these cannon were extremely inefficient, difficult to load, and short ranged. These characteristics, along with the handling and seamanship of the ships that mounted them, defined the environment in which the naval tactics in the Age of Sail developed.
Firing
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The cannon shot (c. 1680), painted by Willem van de Velde the Younger
Essential parts of a cannon: 1. the projectile or cannonball (shot) 2. gunpowder 3. touch hole (or vent) in which the fuse or other ignition device is inserted
Firing of an 18-pounder aboard a French ship
Firing a naval cannon required a great amount of labour and manpower. The propellant was gunpowder, whose bulk had to be kept in the magazine, a special storage area below deck for safety. Powder boys, typically 10–14 years old, were enlisted to run powder from the magazine up to the gun decks of a vessel as required.
A typical firing procedure follows. A wet swab was used to mop out the interior of the barrel, extinguishing any embers from a previous firing which might set off the next charge of gunpowder prematurely. Gunpowder was placed in the barrel, either loose or in a cloth or parchment cartridge pierced by a metal 'pricker' through the touch hole, and followed by a cloth wad (typically made from canvas and old rope), then rammed home with a rammer. Next the shot was rammed in, followed by another wad to prevent the cannonball from rolling out of the barrel if the muzzle was depressed. The gun in its carriage was then 'run out'; men heaved on the gun tackles until the front of the gun carriage was hard up against the ship's bulwark, the barrel protruding out of the gun port. This took the majority of the gun crew manpower, as the weight of a large cannon in its carriage could total over two tons, and the ship would probably be rolling.
The touch hole in the rear (breech) of the cannon was primed with finer gunpowder (priming powder) or from a quill (from a porcupine or the skin-end of a feather) pre-filled with priming powder, then ignited.
The earlier method of firing a cannon was to apply a linstock—a wooden staff holding a length of smoldering match at the end—to the touch-hole of the gun. This was dangerous and made accurate shooting difficult from a moving ship, as the gun had to be fired from the side to avoid its recoil, and there was a noticeable delay between the application of the linstock and the gun firing.[1] In 1745, the British began using gunlocks (flintlock mechanisms fitted to cannon).
The gunlock, by contrast, was operated by pulling a cord or lanyard. The gun-captain could stand behind the gun, safely beyond its range of recoil, and sight along the barrel, firing when the roll of the ship lined the gun up with the enemy, and so reduce the chance of the shot hitting the sea or flying high over the enemy's deck.[1] Despite their advantages, gunlocks spread gradually as they could not be retrofitted to older guns. The British adopted them faster than the French, who had still not generally adopted them by the time of the Battle of Trafalgar (1805),[1] placing them at a disadvantage, as the new technology was in general use by the Royal Navy at this time. After the introduction of gunlocks, linstocks were retained, but only as a backup means of firing.
The linstock slow match or the spark from the flintlock ignited the priming powder, which in turn set off the main charge, which propelled the shot out of the barrel. When the gun discharged, the recoil sent it backwards until it was stopped by the breech rope, a sturdy rope made fast to ring bolts let into the bulwarks, with a turn taken about the gun's cascabel (the knob at the end of the gun barrel).
A typical broadside of a Royal Navy ship of the late 18th century could be fired 2–3 times in approximately 5 minutes, depending on the training of the crew, a well trained one being essential to the simple yet detailed process of preparing to fire. The British Admiralty did not see fit to provide additional powder to captains to train their crews, generally only allowing 1⁄3 of the powder loaded onto the ship to be fired in the first six months of a typical voyage,[citation needed] barring hostile action. Instead of live fire practice, most captains exercised their crews by "running" the guns in and out, performing all the steps associated with firing but without the actual discharge. Some wealthy captains, those who had made money capturing prizes or who came from wealthy families, were known to purchase powder with their own funds to enable their crews to fire real discharges at real targets.[citation needed]
Artillery types
36-pounder long gun at the ready. The pointing system and accessories can be seen clearly
A complete and accurate listing of the types of naval guns requires analysis both by nation and by time period. The types used by different nations at the same time often were very different, even if they were labelled similarly. The types used by a given nation would shift greatly over time, as technology, tactics, and current weapon fashions changed.
Some types include:
One descriptive characteristic which was commonly used was to define guns by their pound rating — theoretically, the weight of a single solid iron shot fired by that bore of cannon. Common sizes were 42-pounders, 36-pounders, 32-pounders, 24-pounders, 18-pounders, 12-pounders, 9-pounders, 8-pounders, 6-pounders, and various smaller calibres. French ships used standardized guns of 36-pound, 24-pound, 18-pound, 12-pound, and 8-pound calibers, augmented by carronades and smaller pieces. In general, larger ships carrying more guns carried larger ones as well.
The muzzle-loading design and weight of the iron placed design constraints on the length and size of naval guns. Muzzle-loading required the cannon to be positioned within the hull of the ship for loading. The hull width, guns lining both sides, and hatchways in the centre of the deck also limited the room available. Weight is always a great concern in ship design as it affects speed, stability, and buoyancy. The desire for longer guns for greater range and accuracy, and greater weight of shot for more destructive power, led to some interesting gun designs.
Long nine
One unique naval gun was the long nine. It was a proportionately longer-barrelled 9-pounder. It was typically mounted as a bow or stern chaser where it was not perpendicular to the keel, and this also allowed room to operate this longer weapon. In a chase situation, the gun's greater range came into play. However, the desire to reduce weight in the ends of the ship and the relative fragility of the bow and stern portions of the hull limited this role to a 9-pounder, rather than one which used a 12- or 24-pound shot.
Carronade
Main article: Carronade
68-pounder British naval carronade mounted on HMS Victory
The carronade was another compromise design. It fired an extremely heavy shot but, to keep down the weight of the gun, it had a very short barrel, giving it shorter range and lesser accuracy. However, at the short range of many naval engagements, these "smashers" were very effective. Their lighter weight and smaller crew requirement allowed them to be used on smaller ships than would otherwise be needed to fire such heavy projectiles. It was used from the 1770s to the 1850s.
Paixhans gun
Main article: Paixhans gun
A Paixhans gun.
The Paixhans gun (French: Canon Paixhans) was the first naval gun using explosive shells. It was developed by French general Henri-Joseph Paixhans in 1822–1823 by combining the flat trajectory of a gun with an explosive shell that could rip apart and set on fire the bulkheads of enemy warships. The Paixhans gun ultimately doomed the wooden sailship, and forced the introduction of the ironclad after the Battle of Sinop in 1853.
Shot
In addition to varying shot weights, different types of shot were employed for various situations:
Round shot – Solid spherical cast-iron shot, the standard fare in naval battles.
Canister shot – Cans filled with dozens of musket balls. The cans broke open on firing to turn the gun into a giant shotgun for use against enemy personnel.
Grapeshot – Canvas-wrapped stacks of smaller round shot which fitted in the barrel, typically three or more layers of three. Some grape shot was made with thin metal or wood disks between the layers, held together by a central bolt. The packages broke open when fired and the balls scattered with deadly effect. Grape was often used against the enemy quarterdeck to kill or injure the officers, or against enemy boarding parties.
Chain-shot – Two iron balls joined together with a chain. This type of shot was particularly effective against rigging, boarding netting, and sails, since the balls and chain would whirl like bolas when fired.
Bar shot – Two balls or hemispheres joined by a solid bar. Their effect was similar to chain shot.
Expanding bar shot – Bar shot connected by a telescoping bar which extended upon firing.
Link shot – A series of long chain links which unfolded and extended upon firing.
Langrage – Bags of any junk – scrap metal, bolts, rocks, gravel, old musket balls, etc., fired to injure enemy crews.
Fire arrows – A thick dartlike incendiary projectile with a barbed point, wrapped with pitch-soaked canvas which took fire when the gun was fired. The point stuck in sails, hulls, or spars and set fire to the enemy ship.
Heated shot – Shore forts sometimes heated iron shot red-hot in a special furnace before loading it (with water-soaked wads to prevent it from setting off the powder charge prematurely). The hot shot lodging in a ship's dry timbers would set the ship afire. Because of the danger of fire aboard, heated shot were seldom used aboard ships.
Molten iron shell - A variation on heated shot, where molten metal from a furnace is poured into a hollowed out shell and then allowed to cool briefly to seal the molten metal in before firing. HMS Warrior (1860) was outfitted to fire molten shells.
Double shot – Two round shot or other projectiles loaded in one gun and fired at the same time. Double-shotting lowered the effective range and accuracy of the gun, but could be devastating within pistol shot range – that is, when ships drew close enough for a pistol shot to reach between the two ships. To avoid bursting the gun, reduced powder charges were used. Guns sometimes were double-shotted with canister or grape on top of ball, or even triple-shotted with very small powder charges which still were enough to cause horrible wounds at close range.
Exploding shell – Ammunition that worked like a grenade, exploding and sending shrapnel everywhere, either by a burning fuse which was cut to a calculated length depending on the range, or (after 1861) on contact with the target. Shells were often used in mortars, and specialized and reinforced "bomb vessels" (often ketch-rigged so that there was less rigging to obstruct the high-angle mortar shell) were adapted to fire huge mortars for shore bombardment. The "bombs bursting in air" over Fort McHenry in the American national anthem were this type of projectile.
References
(2004). The Command of the Ocean:A Naval History of Britain 1649-1815. Penguin Books. p. 420. ISBN 0-14-028896-1.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powder_monkey
A powder boy or powder monkey manned naval artillery guns as a member of a warship's crew, primarily during the Age of Sail. His chief role was to ferry gunpowder from the powder magazine in the ship's hold to the artillery pieces, either in bulk or as cartridges, to minimize the risk of fires and explosions.[1][2][3] The function was usually fulfilled by boy seamen of 12 to 14 years of age. Powder monkeys were usually boys or young teens, selected for the job for their speed and height: they were short and could move more easily in the limited space between decks and would also be hidden behind the ship's gunwale, keeping them from being shot by enemy ships' sharp shooters.[4] These powder monkeys held no official naval rank on the ships that they sailed on.[5] Some women and older men also worked as powder monkeys.[6]
Many of the powder monkeys in the British Navy that ended up on ships were part of the poor working class. The Marine Society that promoted youths to join the British Royal Navy recruited them by providing clothes, bedding, and a rudimentary education. In the mid-1790s it is estimated that the Marine Society was sending five or six hundred boys a year to the fleet although not all of these boys became powder monkeys.[7] Of the boys who were recruited by the Marine Society; most had no other option than to join the navy as their parents could not afford to raise them. However a significant amount had familial ties to the sea. This group had cousins, fathers, and even grandfathers were sailors thus making them want to continue family traditions and exploit their sense of adventure.[8]
The United States did not have an established navy until after its independence in 1776 and even then it was loosely organized.[9] The United States Navy started using powder monkeys in the late 1700s after modeling its structure off of the Royal Navy. The nations fought against each other in the War of 1812. During which time both sides utilized the special physical gifts that powder monkeys offered on board of their warships.[10] After the War of 1812 boys under the age of twelve were outlawed by the U.S. Navy to serve on ships. However, boys above that age were still used as powder monkeys until the Spanish–American War at the end of the nineteenth century.[11]
The Royal Navy first began using the term "powder monkey" in the 17th century.[12] The term was later used, and continues to be used in some countries, to signify a skilled technician or engineer who engages in blasting work, such as in the mining or demolition industries. In such industries, a "powder monkey" is also sometimes referred to as a "blaster".[13]
References
Costello, R. (2012). Black Salt: Seafarers of African Descent on British Ships. Liverpool University Press. p. 55. ISBN 1-846-31818-1.
Callo, Joseph (2009). John Paul Jones:Africa's First Sea Warrior. Naval Institute Press. p. 235. ISBN 1-591-14104-4.
Tucker, Spencer C., ed. (2014). The Encyclopedia of the Wars of the Early American Republic, 1783–1812: A Political, Social, and Military History. ABC-CLIO. p. 463. ISBN 1-598-84157-2.
Lenfestey, Tom (2001). The Sailor's Illustrated Dictionary. Lenfestey, Thompson. Globe Pequot. p. 341. ISBN 1-585-74281-3.
Lavery, Brian (1989). Nelson's Navy: The Ships, Men and Organization 1793-1815. 24 Bride Lane, Fleet Street London, UK: Conway Maritime Press LTD. p. 92. ISBN 0-87021-258-3.
Goodwin, Peter (2004). Nelson's Victory: 101 Questions & Answers about HMS Victory, Nelson's Flagship at Trafalgar, 1805. Naval Institute Press. p. 50. ISBN 1-591-14615-1.
Lavery, Brian (1989). Nelson's Navy: The Ships, men and Organization 1793-1815. 24 Bride Lane, Fleet Street London, UK: Conway Maritime Press LTD. p. 124. ISBN 0-87021-258-3.
Leech, Samuel (2008). Thirty Years From Home: A Seamen's View of the War of 1812. P.O. Box 68412 Tucson, AZ 85737: Fireship Press. p. 8. ISBN 1-934757-38-1.
Miller, Nathan (1997). The U.S. Navy: A History (3rd edition). Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. p. 34. ISBN 1-55750-595-0.
Utt, Ronald (2012). Ships of Oak Guns of Iron: The war of 1812 and the Forging of the American Navy. Washington, DC: Regnery Publishing Inc. pp. 15–17. ISBN 978-1-62157-002-8.
Bishop, Elanor (1982). Ponies, Patriots and Powder Monkeys. Del Mar, CA 92014: The Bishop Press. p. 93. ISBN 0-911329-00-5.
Breverton, Terry (2004). The Pirate Dictionary. Pelican Publishing. p. 130. ISBN 1-589-80243-8.
Kosanke, K.L.; Sturman, Barry T.; Winokur, Robert M.; Kosanke, B.J. (2012). Encyclopedic Dictionary of Pyrotechnics: (and Related Subjects). Journal of Pyrotechnics. p. 1009. ISBN 1-889-52621-5.
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