Life at sea
From the dawn of the age of discovery right up to the present day, the world of the mariner has been and remains a distinctly different world--and not just for obvious reasons. Even in the contemporary world, seafaring is among the most dangerous of occupations. This is still true for exactly the same reason it was true centuries ago--the notion of law and order at sea is both more profound, and more lax than on land. More profound in that a ship's master for most of history has literally had the power of life and death over his crew; more lax in that the legal writ of governments has usually not run past their own shorelines. Modern capitalists who profit from the sea avoid the responsibility for safe equipment and a safe working environment through the registry scam--certain nations such as Panama and Liberia (the two most notorious) charge hefty fees for ship registry, but have almost no equipment and equipment maintenance standards, and take not the least interest in enforcing the sham requirements which they profess. So a mercantile company can be very profitable by registering their ships with such countries, and running them for decades without basic maintenance, and never providing basic safety training an equipment for their crews. The reason Panama and Liberia can profit from this situation is that the other nations of the world have largely attempted to set acceptable standards for equipment, equipment maintenance and crew safety.
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In the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, shipboard life was appalling by our standards, but considered unremarkable by the standards of the day. Those who took to life at sea, but with no particular skill or the prospect of becoming an officer were often considered to be the scum of society. In societies which had little regard for "the lower classes" to begin with, no matter how productive of the society's wealth, even less regard was displayed for ordinary seamen, if any thought was given to conditions on board ship at all--which is unlikely. Many of those who became ordinary seamen had previously been "street Arabs," which is to say, homeless children who were orphaned or abandoned by their parents. The other large pool of recruits were the farm laborers, who remained fecund at a time in which farm land was being concentrated in fewer hands, and new agronomic methods were improving production. When a "ship's boy" was signed on, no one inquired as to his antecedents, and no prior knowledge or skill was required of him.
. . .
A rather fanciful 18th century idea of a ship's boy, and an equally fanciful image of a midshipman.
In the hierarchy of a ship's crew, the "ratings" (contemporarily a very precise term, but rather vague in centuries gone by) were: Ship's boy; ordinary seaman, a mariner with some experience; able-bodied seaman, having proven ability and experience; boatswain (pronounced "bosun"), meaning one adept at small boat handling, but being the equivalent of a non-commissioned officer, available for any duty; coxswain (pronounced "cox'un"), meaning an able-bodied seaman with proven experience at the helm, steering the ship to the captain's orders--this type of "non-commissioned officer" was usually in pragmatic control of the sailors of a watch, under the eye of the officer on deck; midshipman, who were often ship's boys whose parents or friends had influence--they were on a career path to a commission as an officer, and although invariably referred to as ship's boys, could be of any age, from 12 to 30 or older. Fletcher Christian, of
Bounty fame, was 18 when he first signed on as ship's boy, and not yet 22 when he signed on aboard
Bounty as a midshipman, and therefore still considered a "ship's boy." Midshipmen were expected to learn navigation, which required the mastery of trigonometry, and to act in all capacities of an officer, supervising the watch. The watch refers to the sailors on duty to sail the ship during portions of the day, much like a shift at a factory. The day was divided into four hour watches, with the rotation "precessing" because of the dog watch, a two hour watch mounted twice daily. It is thought that the name dog watch derives from the image of a "dog nap," a brief sleep which those off watch would take during the dog watch. No one can state with certainty, to my knowledge, the origin of the dog watch, but as the officers, midshipmen and boatswains and coxswains were often on a different rotation, the dog watch would mitigate against ordinary seamen and ship's boys constantly standing watch with the same officers, and alleviate personality clashes while acting against the possibility of mutinous plotting.
A United States Navy Quartermaster of the mid-19th century.
The officers were all known as mates, except for the commander of the vessel, known as the Master, and that in an absolute sense; and, the Sailing Master, who might or might not be the commander--for example, James Cook of Pacific exploration fame commanded the expeditions, but was not the Sailing Master. On the final voyage, during which Cook was killed by the Hawaiians, Lieutenant William Bligh was the Sailing Master, and he safely brought the survivors of the expedition home. The Sailing Master was a position eventually abandoned, as it was realized that there was a conflict of authority with the Master. The Sailing Master was replaced by the position of Navigator. Among the Mates, the highest ranking was the Master's Mate, having the authority of the ship's Master when standing watch and in the absence of the Master. The other Mates were ranked from first to whatever (Seventh and Eighth Mates were not unknown on larger vessels of war with hundreds of crew), and acted as officers on deck during the various watches. Whenever the Master's Mate, the Master or the Sailing Master came on deck, courtesy required the officer on deck to go to the top of the companionway, as though to say that he ceded his authority to the higher rank, and were willing to leave the deck immediately if so ordered. Midshipmen often served in such capacities--once again, to use Fletcher Christian as an example, he was made Master's Mate by Lieutenant Bligh, much to the disgust of Mr. Fry, the Sailing Master. When Bligh clashed with Mr. Fry, he made Christian Sailing Master, and gave Mr. Fry no duties at all. When he later clashed with Christian, he made Mr. Fry Sailing Master once more--it is easy to see how he created the situation which lead to mutiny, although it was a more complex situation than is implied here, and this is not the place for a discussion of that incident. One of the most exemplary careers in the United States Navy is that of David Farragut--born James Glasgow Farragut in Campbell's Station, Tennessee in 1801, he changed his name to David for his own reasons, and put to sea as a ship's boy on board the frigate
Essex in 1813. His account of the cruise of
Essex in his memoirs is a classic tale of life at sea in that era. Farragut remained loyal to his oath, and served in the United States Navy in the Civil war, becoming the first American granted the rank of Rear Admiral (the lowest ranking as Admiral--equivalent to a Major General), the first promoted to Vice Admiral (the equivalent of a Lieutenant General) and finally, in 1866, promoted Admiral by a grateful nation.
A luxurious main cabin of a 19th century passenger ship.
The ship's officers resided in "state rooms" at the stern, which over time grew smaller and less sumptuous than they had been in the glory days of the Spanish conquest of the New World. The Midshipmen occupied the Mess Deck, a single large cabin just forward of the officer's mess, and just astern the galley and carpenter's and sailmaker's lockers (locker in this case referring to the small room in which the craftsmen's tools and materials were kept). The "ratings," a term once used to refer to the skilled workers and the non-commissioned officers occupied the deck above the hold, forward of the galley, and just aft the forecastle (pronounced "foc'sul") at the bow of the ship. The other crew members occupied the forecastle, and usually shared a hammock with one or more other members of the crew--it was his hammock when off watch, and he surrendered it to the man coming off watch when his own watch began. As equipment was stored on the main deck in a room at the forecastle, and the crew bunked below that on the gun deck, the members of the crew were often referred to collectively as the "lower deck," or the " 'tween deck men."
A modern cooper using the ancient tools of his trade.
Among the ship's company would be those who were signed on not as seamen, although they might have possessed mariner's skills. These were the carpenter, who usually brought along a carpenter's mate or selected one from among the crew; the sailmaker and rigger, who usually did not bring along a mate, and simply used any member of the crew, as ordinary seamen were expected to learn and able-bodied seamen to know how to rig the ship; on fortunate ships there would be a cooper, who made barrels and buckets, and who was responsible for the preservation of the food and the purity of the water stored on board; the cook would usually select a galley mate from among the ship's boys, and older ship's boys who were not considered midshipman material (which is to say, neither they nor their families had any influence or influential friends) might seek a better berth by becoming stewards who would serve the mess deck and the officer's mess. One of the coxswains, boatswains or Mates would be assigned as the Quartermaster, and his would be one of the most harried positions--he would be responsible for discipline on board, and in that capacity, was expected to observe the behavior of the crew on each watch. Once can understand how that individual, catching his sleep only in brief snatches, might become a rather sour and ill-tempered sort. To the mind of a ship's Master in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, that would be how the order of things ought to be--but it had its liabilities: John Rackham, who became famous as the pirate Calico Jack Rackham, first appears in history as the Quartermaster aboard Charles Vane's privateer
Neptune. Mutinies lead by the Quartermaster were most likely to succeed, as he usually held the keys to the gun locker. Many pirate careers were begun when a Quartermaster took issue with the Master's decisions.
A modern rigger at work.
Sailors in that era usually did not know how to swim. Some navies felt that it was not a good thing for their sailors to swim, on the contention that this would only prolong their misery if they went overboard--although it is also noteworthy that sailors who cannot swim are less likely to desert in foreign ports. A further irony is that the wide and short pants they wore, known today as "bellbottom," were designed to facilitate swimming while fully dressed--but contradictions abound in all human activities. It was thought best to keep the crew constantly busy, so that during daylight hours, those off watch were kept busy at various activities--holystoning the deck, for example. A holystone is a piece of sandstone, which is reputed to have been about the size of a bible--as the sailor kneeled on deck while using it, this is thought to be the origin of the term. Keeping the decks free of splinters was important when most of the crew went shoeless, so that for as hard as the work was, the crew usually did not complain of it. Furthermore, the marine environment meant that any surface which remained wet was subject to the growth of plants and animals. Mollusks such as the teredo, or marine "worm," made miniscule shells attached to the wooden surface which could cut a man's feet; any number of plants could form a slick surface dangerous to footing on the wet surface. Ideally the entire main deck (called the quarter deck), the poop deck (the raised deck at the stern where the tiller was mounted and the helmsman and officer stood on watch) and the gun deck would be holystoned entirely every two days. Another duty of which the crew was far less fond was "picking oakum." When hemp rope ages, it frays, and eventually must be taken out of service. However, it would not be discarded. Rope came in a variety of sizes, from cable (as thick as a large man's thigh) to line (a thin rope, which is what most people think of as rope, but which is rather useless aboard ship). As the larger lines frayed, they could be partially unwound, and made into a smaller, thinner line, but eventually, the constant wetting combined with the fraying made the useless as lines. Then they would be picked apart and soaked in tar (pine tar or petroleum tar) to make oakum. This was used to caulk the seams between the planks of which the ship was made, and to caulk the seams between barrel staves, making the hull and the barrels water proof. Picking oakum was a duty most sailors attempted to shirk, and one most likely to get an ordinary seaman in trouble.
Sailors of the United States Navy holystoning a deck seventy years ago.
Food aboard ship varied widely in quality. Usually, ships put to sea with livestock on board, in a pen in the center of the quarter deck. This would mean pigs, sheep and fowl--cattle lost weight too quickly from stress, and were a positive liability in heavy seas, when their weight could send them crashing through the sides of the pen--that didn't stop some ship owners from attempting to ship them. Whenever a ship called at a port where pigs, sheep or fowl could be purchased, this was done, if the Master or the Supercargo (a company agent on board with absolutely no nautical duties, and likely no nautical skills) were not too cheap. Fresh fruits and vegetable were purchased at such times, because any shipped when the ship put to sea were rapidly eaten up--it was wise to keep the crew as happy as possible at least until out of sight of land. Once again, the willingness of the ship's Master or the Supercargo to spend the money determined the practice. Canny ship's Masters followed the practice to keep up crew morale, long before the source of scurvy was understood. In 1747, Dr. James Lind published a study in which he stated that scurvy resulted from a lack of certain fruits and vegetables in the diet, now known as anti-scorbutics, but he was a little unclear as to precisely why (the existence of "vitamin C" was then unknown). James Cook took Dr. Lind's advice to heart, and his crews were not simply provided, but required to eat limes (as both limes and lemons were then known) and/or sauerkraut each day. He also required them to bathe, over their own objections and to the disgust of "polite society" and his officers who came from polite society, and to wash and change their garments at least once per week. The Royal Navy and the maritime establishment of his day considered him eccentric at the least, but his experience, and the experience of those who followed his lead, finally resulted in an order from the Royal Navy in 1795 that all "jack tars" must have lime juice once per day, or actually eat a lemon or lime--sailors compromised with officers, and two would split the citrus in question, and suck on it while on a daytime watch. It took no time at all for the other sailors of the world to christen them "Limeys."
James Cook, an enlightened Master, and creator of the "Limey."
The staples of shipboard diet when fresh livestock and fruits and vegetables were not available, or the supply limited, were salt meats and "ship's bread." Salt pork or salt beef refers to large cuts of meat which were sometimes smoked (the French Huguenots enjoyed great success with the smoking method of the boucan learned from the Indians), and placed in a stout barrel in brine. As the salinity of the brine varied with the cooper who "cooped" the meat in the barrel, and evaporation could expose some of the meat, spoilage was not uncommon. Supplies at sea were a crucial matter, and meat that had turned would be served to the crew, so that the cook could get down to the unspoiled cuts of meat for the officers and midshipmen. The ship's cook did not prepare meals for the crew, he only did this for officers and midshipmen. Rather, as the dog watch was mounted, those off watch would come to the galley for an issue of rations, and would be allowed to cook their rations as a group under the supervision of the cook or the galley mate, whose principle and possibly only concern would be that they did not start a fire. Ship's bread is a euphemism, and the word bread ought not be associated with this alleged food. American soldiers and sailors had a better name for it--hardtack. This was an unleavened "biscuit," about the size of a modern, round tobacco tin, the sole merit of which was that it would keep for long periods of time if not wetted. Obviously, the skill of the cooper mattered a great deal in the storage of the "biscuit." When men became scurvied, and their teeth loosened, the torment of trying to eat salt meat and ship's bread was the greater.
A late 19th century whaler's crew waiting to be paid off--more likely, they are about to be ripped off.
At the end of the voyage, or in the case of a privateer, at the end of the cruise, the ship's crew would be paid off. Those who had survived the voyage would be paid a pitifully small amount, which they usually drank up fairly quickly at the nearest waterside tavern. Robbery by prostitutes and outright mugging of drunken sailors was common enough that a week ashore was as much as most could manage before feeling obliged to sign on again. Those signing on were told the terms (and often lied to) and then required to sign or make their mark on a crew's roster which included the terms at the top. Those who were actually literate and could see what they were getting into were also usually those with a skill--cooper, carpenter, rigger--and they were paid a respectable amount by the standards of the day. Ship's boys who were articled as midshipmen were paid no better than other ordinary seamen, but their clothing and gear was often provided by their family, or the Master in consideration of the favors of the family, and they bunked better and ate better than the crew. They were also in line for an officer's career, if they learned and behaved well. Officers were much better paid, with merchant ship's officers getting the best pay, and a small percentage of the profits. The ship's Master got a significant percentage of the profit, and a bonus for a short voyage between ports. On privateers, and naval vessels engaged in commerce raiding, the officers and crew got "prize money." When a merchant ship of the enemy was taken, the ship would be sent to a port controlled by the nation which had taken it, with a "prize crew" put on board of those crew members who had shown spirit in the fight, and would be paid a bonus. There, the ship and cargo would be "condemned" by and Admiralty court, the value assessed, and a percentage of the value distributed among the officers and crew. Ambitious young officers who had only enough pull to get a birth as a midshipmen depended upon prize money to set themselves up in life, and to able to afford one or more wives (not a joke--although sailors might legendarily have a girlfriend in every port, many officers actually had more than one wife on the same basis). This was the entire lure of the privateer, and the lure could be so great as to cause recruiting problems. During the War of 1812, American privateers were so active and successful that the Navy had trouble recruiting crews (no standing force of "below deck" crew was maintained at this time). The majority of the crews of American vessels in that war were in fact Portugese, who specifically came looking for the work, and some prize money.
With conditions as they were, and the prospects for pay so low, it is easy to see why sailors with no particular skills would be attracted to piracy. Someone who displayed enough leadership, often during a mutiny, could get the majority of the crew to join him. Later on, he need only mention that mutineers are hanged as readily as pirates to keep the crew at his side. Skilled men--once again, coopers, carpenters, cooks, riggers, etc.--had little to gain by pursuing a career in piracy, and much to lose. Most often, these were "forced" men--discovered to possess a skill when their vessel was taken, the buccaneers would force them to sail with them to supply their need for the skill.
Life anywhere in the world was hard in those days--at sea, it was often the hardest life.
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