Sailors had more status than soldiers because they had regular work as seamen in times of peace and they did not remind the people of the idea of a standing army, which they had hated especially since Cromwell.
Justices of the Peace, mayors, and other officers could bind boys as apprentices to sea service if they were at least ten and their parents were chargeable to the parish or begged for alms. This indenture to the masters or owners of ships lasted until the boy reached 21. The parish paid 50s. for clothing and bedding for such sea service. No such apprentice could be impressed into royal sea service until 18 years of age. Master and owners of ships that carry 30 - 50 tuns had to take one such apprentice and one more boy for the next 50 tuns, and one more boy for every 100 tuns over 100 tuns, or forfeit 10 pounds to the parish. Boys voluntarily binding themselves to such sea service were exempt from impress for the next three years. This was to increase the number of able and experience mariners and seamen for the royal navy and for the trade and commerce of the nation.
No masters or commanders of merchant ships may proceed on a voyage beyond the seas without first agreeing in writing on wages with the seamen, except for apprentices. Such agreement must be signed by the seamen. Offenders must forfeit 5 pounds per seaman, which will go the use of Greenwich Hospital. Any seaman leaving the ship before being discharged in writing will forfeit one month's pay because too many have left the ship before it was unladen.
There were some ships of 2000 tons. The steering wheel had been introduced because a sudden heavy sea could wrest a tiller from the hands of the helmsman. Triangular head-sails with jib boom and stay-sails on stays between masts were in use so that ships could sail closer into the wind. The length of ships was still determined by the same length of trees that could be grown. Sailing ships were still vulnerable to a lee shore. Latitude was easy to determine using an octant and later a sextant with mirrors and a small telescope to measure the angle between a celestial body such as the sun or north star and the horizon. But longitude could not be determined with any degree of accuracy. One method relied on accurate predictions of the future position of the moon as observed from a fixed reference point, such as Greenwich. By precisely observing the local time of the moon's occultation of a known star at a particular place, and looking up in a table the predicted time of the event at Greenwich, one could approximate the time difference of the place from Greenwich. There were so many shipwrecks on this account that the government offered a reward to anyone who found a way to measure longitude accurately. In 1763 carpenter and clockmaker John Harrison made the chronometer to do this with an accuracy of 21/2 seconds per month, and received 5,000 pounds. He was promised 10,000 pounds to explain the principle of his timekeeper and build three more. The chronometer kept time with extreme accuracy and was mounted to remove the effect of the ship's motion. To find a ship's position, a navigator noted the time and measured the positions of certain stars. He compared these positions with tables that showed the stars' positions at Greenwich mean time, and then calculated the ship's position. There was a toll on ships entering the port of London to pay for repairs to its walls.
Officer positions were no longer bought, but were subject to examination for a minimum of knowledge, especially in navigation. In 1729 the Naval Academy was established. Boys entered at age 13 to 16 and spent two or three years there.
Only about 15% of the crew of navy ships were volunteers. Many were gaolbirds, having chosen the Navy over more gaol time for debt. Press gangs seized men in the port towns and from ships coming into harbor. From 10% to 20% of the crew were foreigners, many of these pressed men. About 1756, the Marine Society was founded for training and placing poor boys in work in naval and merchant ships. This not only supplied men and boys for the Navy, but saved boys from a life of vagrancy and crime. These boys usually became reliable and obedient sailors.
The life of a sailor was a hard one, requiring much strength. Sailors did not know how to swim, so falling overboard usually meant death. Flogging was the usual punishment in the Navy, even for small offenses. The amount of flogging due for each offense rose over time. If flogging were fatal, there would be an inquiry and occasionally punishment. A sailor's meals were usually hard bread invested with weevils and maggots, dried or salted meat or fish, and small quantities of oatmeal, butter, and cheese. Many sailors had scurvy or other deficiency diseases. Experiments with lime and lemon juice as remedies for scurvy were made around 1764, but were not used in the Navy until about 1800. Many more sailors died from these diseases than from battle. Rum and water was a daily ration introduced in 1745. The ordinary sailor was paid about one pound a month, a rate established in 1650s and now out of date. This was not in cash, but in a ticket which entitled him to payment in full if he presented it at the pay office in London, but was subject to swinging deductions if he tried to cash it in another port.
Prize money from conquered ships was substantial. To encourage seamen to enter the navy, Parliament provided that it be divided among flag officers, commanders, other officers, seamen, marines, and soldiers on board every ship of war, including private ships commissioned by the Admiral, as directed by the king, or as agreed with the owner of a private ship. It included an enemy's ships, and goods and arms on the ships or in fortresses on the land. There was also bounty money for enemy ships taken or destroyed. For retaking or salvaging English goods taken by the enemy, 1/8th their value was to be paid. Privateers taking merchant ships by collusion were to forfeit their ships, with 1/3rd going to the person who makes the discovery and prosecutes.
Later, any able seaman volunteering for the navy is to receive 5 pounds bounty. Any seaman volunteering for the navy shall receive a bounty of 3 pounds. If a navy seaman is killed or drowned, his widow is to receive a year's pay as bounty. No seaman in a merchant ship is to receive more than 35s. per month because of the present war.
Still later, anyone who has run goods or avoided customs was indemnified if he enlisted in the navy as a common sailor for three years.