by Roy Adkins
Sarrelibre prison, France 248, 252–3, 255
Sceptre, HMS 354
Scott, Alexander 114
Scott, James: on battle conditions 273; on battle preparations 263–4; on captain’s role 28; on captured French ship 286; on discharged seamen 383; on dogs 352–3; on execution 227–8; feelings after joining up 23; feelings before battle 267; on leisure activities 336; on Lisbon 361; on promotion problems 377; on punishments 214–15; on sailors 38; seasickness 95, 310; on training 2–3
Scott, Sir Walter 343
Scourge, privateer 26
Scout, HMS 55, 113, 245
scuppers 19
scurvy 82, 89–90, 97, 313–15
scuttle butt 93, 96
Sea Fencibles 47
Seahorse, HMS 62
Searle, John Clarke 68
seasickness 95, 137, 143, 201, 310–11
Seator, Captain 6, 8
sentries 206–7
sermons 149
shanties, sea 204, 336, 337
sharks 85
shaving 138–9
sheep: aboard 80–1, 83; in battle 265, 266; drink for 106; dung 201; pets 81, 351
Shetland Isles 46, 47
ships: length xxxvii; of the line xxxvi; names of xxxiv; sinking 118–20, 161–3, 285–6
ship’s biscuit, see biscuit
shock 278
shoes 128–9
shore leave: denied 356–7, 362–3; in England 363–4; in Lisbon 361; in Malta 364; no entitlement to 44; officers 356–60; restricted xxv, 153, 220; seamen’s dress 124; ship visiting 349–51; sightseeing 357–9; spending money 364; in Uruguay 360; in West Indies 166, 361–2, 364
Short, John Tregerthen 253, 258
shot 269, see also cannons, guns
Shoveller, William 304–5, 308, 309
sick-bay 104, 141, 191, 296–7, 319
sickness, see disease
Sinclair, Archibald: on ‘cutting out’ 239; on discharged midshipmen 379; on grog as currency 99; on man overboard 306–7; on meat 80; on ship visiting 349–50; on storytelling 343–4; on swearing 213–14; on water 95–6
singers 338
singing 336, 338–9
sinking 118–20, 161–3, 285–6
Sirius, HMS 48
Skill, William 68
Skipper, Richard 212
Slade, James 49
slaves 165–7, 334, 361–2
sloops xxxvi, 26
small beer 98
Smith, Sir Sidney 246
smoking 91–2, 159
smuggling 101–2, 251
Smyrna, Turkey 106
Snell, Hannah 181
soap 133–4, 137–8
sodomy 12, 149, 183, see also homosexuality songs 336–9; drunken 105; ‘The Female Cabin Boy’ 182; folk 181, 338; ‘Heart of Oak’ xxvii–xxviii; ‘Jack in His Element’ 241–2; ‘Jack Tar’ xxviii–xxix; popularity 76, 338–9; quoted xxviii, 1, 53, 155, 239, 241–2, 336–8, 384; ‘Rule, Britannia!’ 44; ‘The Sea Fight’ 337; sea shanties 204, 336, 337; Tom Bowling name in 180
South Shields, Tyne and Wear 46, 47
Spain, treasure ships 235
Spartan, HMS 243–4, 249
Speedy, HMS 16, 61–2, 84, 280
Spence, Henry 300–1
Sperring, Mary 179, 390
Spilsbury, Francis 96, 136, 271, 316
Spithead: anchorage xxvi, 61, 100, 135, 153, 161, 169, 232, 312, 356; mutiny (1797) 60, 74, 221
splinters 269–70
Spratt, James 281–2
Spry, William 261
standing orders 195–6
Star 345 ‘starting’ 215
station 14, 16
Steele, Robert 157, 328
Stephens, William 238, 357
Stockholm tar xxix
storms 109–12, 116–17, 285
storytelling 343–4
stowaways 173
Suckling, Maurice 64
Sun 345
Sundays: captain’s influence 34; dress 127–8, 131, 132; religious services 33, 132, 208, 239; rest day 44, 204, 349; shaving 138; ship visiting 34, 250–1
Superb, HMS 104
superstition 7, 35–8, 327–8
surgeons: amputations 150, 276, 293, 297–304, 306; assistants 301–2; competence 294–5; daily life 295–6; discharges to hospital 320; drunken 103–4, 211, 294; duties 16; examination by 5, 65, 160, 185; at floggings 224; hygiene 302; ‘idlers’ 15; journals 318; numbers 293; pay 296; recruitment 293–4; report on death from shock 278; treatments 309; uniform 125; use of tourniquets 241, 298, 299, 301, 304; warrant officers 31, 293; women helpers 178, 180; work in battle 293, 297–9, 302–5; working conditions 296–7; see also physicians, sick-bay Surgeon’s Hall 293
surrender 282–4
Swallow, HMS 177
swearing 159, 213–14
Swiftsure, HMS 137, 284–5
Swindlehurst, Joseph 390
Sybil, HMS 81, 201, 271–2
syphilis, see venereal disease Syracuse, Sicily 356
Talbot, Mary Anne 180
Tangiers, Morocco 357
tar xxix–xxx, 132
‘tarpaulins’ xxix, 27, 62
tattoos 7–8
Taylor, Ann 176
teeth 88, 139–40
Temeraire, HMS: arrival at Plymouth 156; discipline 214, 216; executions 228–9; leisure activities 331, 339; mutiny 222–3, 228; news of Superb 104; pay day 366–7; Plymouth storm 116; portraits of mutineers 5; three-watch system 197; at Trafalgar 76
tenders 53
Teneriffe 378
Test Act (1673) 32
Tetuan, North Africa 340–1
Thames, River 94
theatricals 339–41
Theseus, HMS 266
Thetis, HMS 356
Thetis, Spanish treasure ship 235, 377
Thomas, Aaron: on attitudes to sailors 3; background 345; on birth of babies aboard 177; books 349; on bullock transfer 81; on candlelight 151; on capture of French ship 234–5; death 326; on drunkenness 71, 102–3, 104, 211, 217; on food 73, 78; on funeral of officer 323–4; on funeral of seaman 325–6; on gossip 342–3; journal 375; on livestock aboard 83; on murder of lieutenant 56–7; on newspapers 344–5; on pigtails 8–9, 10; on prizes 236; on promotion 26, 28–9; on punishments 211, 212–13, 215–16; on rats 90–1; sad stories 67; on sanitary arrangements 142–3; on shark 85; on shore leave 364; on silence 204–5; on slaves and slavery 166–7, 361–2; on spruce beer 98; on storm damage 111–12; on surgeons 294; on water supplies 96; on West Indies sex 166–7; on women aboard 217
Thomas, Frederick 101
Thompson, Edward 337
tiger 353
Tildesley, Thomas 104, 235
time 198–9
Times, The: advertisement for soap 133; advertisement for tooth powder 139; on execution 184; on laid-off seamen 383–4, 386; on Nile victory 374; on press-gangs 41, 59; on Trafalgar veteran 390; on treatment of recruits 54
tobacco 91–3
Todd, John 320
toilets 140–3
Tonnant, HMS 150, 263, 284
topgallant mast xxxv, 113, 306
topmast xxxv, 279
topmen 14
Torey, Henry 51
Torquay, Devon 93
Townsend, Jane 179
Trafalgar, Battle of (1805): aftermath 287, 289–90; amputations 303–4; battle scenes 273–4, 281–2, 284; British victory xxvii; charity payments to wounded 386; cheering 263; dress 124, 126, 129; French prisoners 249; medals 374; Nelson’s rank xl; opposing forces xxvii; preparations 266–7, 267–8; prize-money 375; Spanish prisoners 304; storm after 109; surgeon’s working conditions 150; veterans 388–90; women present at 178–9
training: captain’s task 196; language 18–19; gun crews 271–3; marines 29–30; midshipmen 20–3; preparing for battle 261–2; process 17–18; teachers 19–20
transferring seamen 365–6
transportation 58, 227, 228, 232
Travese, Richard 302
treasure ships 235�
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Trent, HMS 97, 211
Trident, HMS 105
Tripe, William Dunning 143
Triton, HMS 235
Tromp, HMS 82
trophies 374
Trotter, Thomas: on beef storage 84; on cheese 85; on crowded conditions 311; on fish 86–7; on liquor smuggling 102; on pigs 83; on seamen’s dress 121, 130, 132, 137, 144–5
Troubridge, Sir Thomas 38, 62, 221
turtles 85–6, 353
Twysden, Lieutenant 132–3, 219
Tyler, Charles 47
Tyneside 53
typhus 54, 311–12
ulcers 319
Ulysses, HMS 113, 115, 233
uniforms xxix, 23, 121, 124–7, see also dress
Unité, HMS: battle aftermath 288; battle damage 277–8; battle preparations 262; buttons sold for wine 99–100; man overboard 68; regulations 196; venereal disease 319
United States, USS 262, 269, 279, 287, 298
Valenciennes prison, France 248, 255
Valiant, HMS 224–5
Vanguard, HMS 310, 389
vegetables 89–90
Venerable, HMS 68
venereal disease 157, 160, 317, 318–19
Vengeance, HMS 103–4
Vengeance, prison ship 77
Vengeur du Peuple, French ship 285–6
Verdun, France 244, 248, 249–51, 253–5, 257–8
vermin 90, 130, 145–7, 297, see also mice, rats
Vernon, Caleb 258
Vernon, Edward 97
Vernon, George 258
Victoria, Queen 179, 374
Victorious, HMS 287
Victory, HMS: battle preparations 268; guns xxxvi, xxxvii; hold xxxviii; length xxvii; Nelson’s body 321, 328; return after Trafalgar 172, 328; seamen’s teeth extracted 88; sleeping arrangements 188; surgeon 299; survivors of Royal George sinking 163; toilets 140; at Trafalgar 242, 263, 268, 273–4; Trafalgar aftermath 289–90; veterans 389, 390; women aboard 179
Villaret de Joyeuse, Louis Thomas 378
Ville de Paris, HMS 118, 120
Vindictive, HMS 36
Vittoria, Battle of (1813) xxvi
volunteers: boys 1; foreign seamen 50; marines 65–6; numbers xxx, 61; prisoners-of-war 50; reasons for volunteering 60–1; recruitment 42; regrets 221; treatment of 29, 53–4, 67; women 182–3
Volunteers First Class 13, 64
waist xxxvii, xxxviii, 83, 143, 343
waisters 14, 15
Walcheren expedition (1809) 276
Walker, Matthew 22
Walsh, Henry: background 3, 60; on burials at sea 328; on convoy duty 233–4; language 12; on laundry 130–1; on lightning 115; on prostitutes 154–5; on punishments 225; on snow and ice 113–14; volunteer 60
Walsh, John 341–2
Wardocks, John 224, 226
wardroom 29, 31, 78, 111
Warneck, William 6, 77
warrant officers: cabins 186, 187; hats 128; hierarchy 31; punishments 220; quarters xxxviii; roundhouses 141; status 31, 78, 173; surgeons 31, 293; uniform 125, 127; wives 173, 187
Warren, John Borlase 261
Warspite, HMS 224
washing 137–8
watch 13–14, 16, 19, 196–200
watches, see pocket watches
water supply: bad 95–6, 192, 312; for cooking 71, 72, 76, 80, 93; cow’s consumption 83–4; day’s allowance 82, 95; for drinking 78, 93, 95, 273; grog recipe 97, 99–101, 209, 210; for laundry 131–4, 136; purification 96; quantity xxvi; rainwater 96; sea water distilled 96; shortages 96, 119, 120, 175; storage xxxviii, 79, 93, 95–6, 207, 307; for washing 138; washing decks 220; watering 93–5, 202, 317, 356
Waterhouse, Benjamin 51n
Wathen, James xxv
Watson, George: on battle damage 287; on bitumen springs xxx; on boat operations 242; on Cephalonia 153; on Christmas celebrations 105–6; on convoy duty 232–3; on drunkenness 99; on flogging 212; on food 73–4, 88; on hanging 226; on hated midshipman 24; on history xxv; on lady love in Minorca 174; on lightning 109, 114; on livestock aboard 80–1; on marines xxxi; nautical terms xxxiii; on nurses 168–9; on pictures 369; praise for officers 1, 203; on prostitutes 164–5; on religious services 33, 34; shore leave in Malta 364; on songs 338; in Uruguay 360; on wine 98
Watson, John 216
Watson, Thomas 177
weevils 87–8, 90
Weir, Benjamin 243
Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of xxvi, 380
Wells, John 303
Wessels Jesuit Drops 317
Westcott, George 62–3
Wetherell, John 17, 161, 326
Wheeler, George 308
Wheeler, William 5, 331
Whick, Henry John 88
whistles 199–200
White, Christiann 176, 302
White, William 177
Whiting, James 36
Wilkinson, Sarah 192
Wilkinson, William: on laundry 135; letters 157, 346, 355, 356–7; on parrot 355; on prostitutes 157; uncle’s views on naval career 72–3; wife’s letters 157, 192–3
William IV, King 63, 72, 126, 183
Williams, Thomas 250–1, 253, 254, 257–8
Willyams, Cooper 284
Wilson, John 187
Wilson, Robert Mercer: on battle aftermath 288; on battle damage 277–8; on battle preparations 262; on cooks 75, 77–8; on cooper 16; on death from venereal disease 319; on descriptions of seamen 4–5; on dressmaking 123; on grog ration 97; on gun crew 270–1; on leisure activities 341; on man overboard 68; on marines 206; on punishments 100, 215; on ratings 12; on regulations 196; on sale of buttons for wine 99–100; on stations 14, 15; on watches 196
windsail 191
Windsor Castle, HMS 223
wine: in battle 176, 268; in bawdy houses 342; at captain’s table 29, 78, 97; captured 248; at Christmas and New Year 105, 106; clothes sold for 364; duty-free 73; medical uses 316; in Mediterranean 98–9, 153; ration 98; storage 207
Winks, William 277
wives: aboard 157–8, 160, 173–7, 186, 187–8, 244; begging 173; finances 169–71, 173; marriage certificates 158; theatrical role 339–40; unfaithful 36; visiting 170–1; washing clothes 131
Wolfe, Robert 252
women: aboard 173–8, 217; battle experiences 178–80; childbirth aboard 177; dressed as men 180–3; employment 168; medical role 168–9, 301–2; mistresses 33, 174–5, 212; theatrical role 339–40; washing clothes 131–2; see also prostitutes, wives
Wood, George 59
Woodcock, William 177
Worth, Captain 59
wrecks 113, 118–19, 236–7, 285
Wright, Richard 326
Wybourn, Marmaduke: on casualties 276–7; dress 139; illness 294; letters 346–7; on life aboard xxvi–xxvii; on pumps 116; shaving 139; on shore leave 356; sightseeing 358–9; on storm damage 111, 130; on training exercises 261–2; on water 93–4, 95; on weather 144
Yarmouth, hulk 305
yarns 344
yawls xxxviii
yellow fever 310, 312–13
Young, Robert 127, 297, 302, 320
Yowell, William 295
Yule, Eliza 172, 289
Yule, John: on drunkenness 102; on laundry 136; letters from brother-in-law 250; on Trafalgar 289–90; on weather 144; wife and family 172, 250, 289
Zealous, HMS 265
Section through a first-rate warship, 1790
The press-gang at work seizing landsmen at Tower Hill, London, with an informant on the right awaiting payment
A 1782 caricature of the press-gang seizing a woman’s husband. The seamen are dressed in typical loose trousers and round hats, while the officer in front wears a bicorn hat and long coat
Rear-Admiral Lord Nelson wearing full dress uniform, including bicorn hat, distinctive epaulettes on his coat and all his decorations and honours
Cuthbert Collingwood in the full dress uniform of a vice-admiral, including long blue coat with gold epaulettes and other trimmings, waistcoat, breeches and sword.
Under his arm is a telescope. This engraving by William Holl shows him looking younger than the original oil portrait
Marine privates around 1802–10 wearing red coats, white cross-belt, white breeches, gaiters and round hats with a feather plume
A seaman wearing short jacket, loose trousers, neckerchief and glazed hat. He is heaving the lead – throwing into the sea a line with a large piece of lead attached in order to measure the depth of water
Caricature of 1799 showing seamen ‘on a cruise’ in Portsmouth, spending all their money, after being given a rare period of liberty on shore
A romanticised view of leisure time below decks when in port. Many men are shown smoking clay pipes, which would not have been permitted
‘Jack and his Money’, a 1785 caricature of a seaman counting his prize-money and dressed in a wig and long coat for special occasions
Portraits of the 1801 mutineers of HMS Temeraire
The lower gun deck of HMS Victory
The Battle of the Nile after intense fighting and the explosion of the French flagship Orient
The Victory at the Battle of Trafalgar just after Nelson and others around him on the quarterdeck were shot by French sharpshooters. The poop deck is above
The hold of HMS Victory, with the water casks on top of the shingle ballast. One cask is about to be hoisted out of the hold
Layout of the hold of the frigate Phoebe in 1806, drawn by Midshipman William Ffarington, showing the arrangement of wooden casks of salted meat and rum
The cast-iron galley stove of HMS Victory with a wooden steep tub to the side
The cots suspended in the sick-bay of HMS Victory
Cockepit of the Victory during the Battle of Trafalgar showing the dying Nelson. Standing in uniform on the far left is Lieutenant John Yule, the chaplain Alexander Scott is kneeling to the left of Nelson and the surgeon William Beatty is shown squatting on Nelson’s right in long coat and boots. Note the lanterns used for lighting
A letter from James Bodie of HMS Spartan describing how he was captured in May 1807 and taken as a prisoner-of-war to Verdun in France
Gravestone of Thomas Williams, a prisoner-of-war in France, in Barnoon cemetery at St Ives, Cornwall
The memorial plaque to Henry Roberts Carpenter who died on board HMS Scout on the notorious Banks of Newfoundland
