Sea life in Nelson's time

by John Masefield

The sailors were often inconvenienced indirectly during a hot engagement by the destruction of the hammocks. The hammock nettings stopped a great number of cannon balls, and the gangways were frequently littered with hammocks thrown out by the shot, torn in pieces, or shot clean through. As a 32lb. round shot made a very big hole in a purser’s blanket, and as the sailors paid for their own bedding, this was a real hardship. However, “everything is a joke at sea.” The thought of prize-money atoned for the discomfort.

CHAPTER VIII

The daily routine—Sunday—Ship visiting

The day of a man-of-war’s man began at midnight, or at four in the morning, according to the alternation of the watches. If he had the middle-watch, from 12 P.M. till 4 A.M., he came on deck at midnight and remained there till 4 A.M., doing any duty which appeared necessary. The work at night in fine weather was easy. The men had but to trim the sails, and be ready for a call. The boatswain’s mates, with a midshipman or two, kept watch on the forecastle. Lookouts were placed in the tops and cross-trees. The sentries, helmsmen, officer of the watch, midshipmen, and master’s mates, went to their posts on the poop and quarter-deck. The remainder of the watch were supposed by the Articles of War to keep awake on pain of death. Some captains and lieutenants allowed those not actually on watch as look-out men to sleep during their night-watches, if the weather was very fine. The act of sleeping during a night-watch in the tropics was known as “taking a caulk,” because by lying on the plank-seams the sailors’ jackets were marked with lines of tar. In those ships aboard which the sailors were expected to keep awake, the boatswain’s mates walked round with their starters, or kept buckets of water ready to wake anyone who fell asleep. In wet weather there was no sleeping in any ship during the night-watch on deck, because the men were put to collecting rain water for washing clothes. In foul weather they were too busily employed in other ways.

A few minutes before eight bells, or 4 A.M., the quarter-masters stole down the after-ladders to call the midshipmen, mates, and lieutenant of the other watch. The boatswain’s mates took their pipes to the fore and main hatchways, and blew the prolonged, shrill call “All Hands,” following it up by a shout of “Starboard (or Larboard) Watch Ahoy. Rouse out there, you sleepers. Hey. Out or down here.” At this order, the watch below, who were snugly sleeping in their hammocks, turned out at once without waiting till they were properly awake. When they had turned out they put on their clothes (if they had taken them off) and bustled up on deck with the starters after them. At eight bells they were mustered, and sent to their stations. The wheel and look-outs were relieved. The log was hove, and the rate of sailing marked on the board. The men of the other watch, who had kept the deck since midnight, were then allowed to go below to their hammocks.

LIEUTENANT BLOCKHEAD KEEPING THE MORNING WATCH

Shortly after four o’clock the idlers were called up. The cook lit his fires in the galley, and began to boil the abominable burgoo for breakfast. The carpenter and carpenter’s mates came on deck and began their work. The boatswain came up, and the watch on deck began active duty. Before 5 A.M. the watch took off their shoes and stockings, rolled up their trousers to the thigh, rigged the pumps, got out the scrubbers and buckets, and began to wash her down. First of all the decks were wetted by means of the head-pump and buckets. After the bucket men came a couple of hands sprinkling sand on the wetted planks. When the sand had been sprinkled the main body of the seamen took their holystones, and went upon their hands and knees to whiten the deck to its usual spotless whiteness. The gangways and main-deck could be holystoned by a large stone, a block of holystone weighing many pounds, with rings at each end. The sailors rove ropes through the rings, and ran the block to and fro on the wet and sanded planking. All the out-of-the-way places, under guns, carronade slides, bitts, etc. etc., were scrubbed by the handstones, or “prayer-books.” It was hard, and often unpleasant, work, scrubbing the decks in all weathers, some fourteen hours after the last meal. The upper and main decks were thus whitened every morning. It was a real hardship to kneel for an hour or two on sanded planks, in frosty Channel weather. Many sailors developed sore knees from the practice.

After the holystoners came the broom and bucket men, who swilled and swept the dirty sand into the waterways, and so overboard through the scuppers. After these came the swabbers, who flogged the damp decks with swabs till they had dried them. The little brasswork about the rails and bitts was then brightened. The ropes were coiled, flaked, or flemished down, and the wash-deck gear, of holystones, buckets, and brooms, was returned to the lockers and hooks. By seven o’clock the work was practically finished, and the decks nearly dry. The first lieutenant came on deck at about this time to begin his long day’s supervision. At about half-past seven the boatswain’s mates went below to the berth-deck and piped “All hands. Up hammocks,” a pipe which brought up the sleepers and filled the decks with scurrying figures carrying their lashed-up hammocks to the nettings, where they were stowed in order by the quarter-masters and midshipmen. By 8 A.M. the captain had come on deck, the last of the hammocks had been stowed, the mess tables had been lowered into position between the guns, and the cook had wreaked his worst upon the burgoo, or Scotch coffee. At a word from the captain the boatswain piped to breakfast, eight bells was struck upon the ship’s bell, and nearly every man except the helmsman, lookout men, and officers on duty, slipped down to breakfast. Half-an-hour was allowed for this meal on weekdays. At half-past eight the watch was called, and those who had slept from 4 till 7.30 A.M. came upon deck, bringing with them the bags and chests from the berths. These were stowed on the booms, while the lower deck was cleaned (by the watch below) with the dry holystone and sand. The lower-deck was never washed down with water save in fine, dry weather, when the ports could be opened, and port-fires burned to dry the wet planking. At other times it was sanded, scraped and holystoned, then swept with dry brooms, and perhaps swabbed over. The lower-deck beams were often sponged over with vinegar as a disinfectant.

The cooks of the different messes passed the forenoon watch in cooking in the galley, cleaning up the mess utensils, and getting dinner ready. Those who had the watch below were often free to do as they wished.[25] They could sleep, or yarn, or mend their clothes. Their hammocks were stowed in the nettings, but if lucky they could sleep in between the guns, on the bare deck, provided the space was not wanted by one of the ship’s artificers, such as the carpenter. Those who had the watch on deck were employed in the work of the ship, in the rigging, or about the guns, doing the never-finished duties of sailormen. Some captains preferred to send their watch below to exercise at the guns directly they had cleaned the lower-deck. At six bells, or eleven o’clock, the captain, who had finished breakfast, seen the young gentlemen’s logs, examined the boatswain’s, purser’s, and carpenter’s accounts, and had a talk with the first lieutenant, came on deck with the black list, and called all hands to witness punishment. The master-at-arms brought up his men in irons from the bilboes under the half-deck. The gratings were rigged, the hands mustered, and the poor fellows flogged according to the captain’s pleasure and the Articles of War. By the time the execution had been done and the blood swabbed up it was time to take the sun’s altitude. The master, master’s mates, and midshipmen brought out their sextants and quadrants. Noon was reported when the sun reached the meridian. The clock was put back or put forward; eight bells was struck; the boatswain’s mate piped his long, cheery “pipe to dinner,” all hands ran below with a song, and then began “the pleasantest part of the day.” Dinner generally took about half-an-hour, from twelve till half-past. It was a merry meal, eaten cheerily, with a great buzz of talk all along the gun-deck. At half-past twelve there came a great clink of cans and banging of tin plates on the tables. The fifer took his flute to the main or upper deck, where the master’s mate stood by the tub to dispense sea ambrosia to the ship’s company. At the sound of one bell the fifer struck up “Nancy Dawson,” or some other lively tune, such as “Drops of Brandy,” and immediately the ship’s company took up the tune. The mess cooks seized their black-jacks and hurried to the tub where the grog was served out. They then carried it below to the messes, where it was drunken down, with many songs and toasts. The debts were discharged, bets settled, and purchases effected. Grog time was the one happy hour of the day. With grog and an occasional battle a sailor was often almost contented.