daily life on a warship

lightsailing:

by tradition, each day would officially begin at noon, when the date and day of the week were changed on the log – board.

the day was split into watches of four hours, which were measured by a sandglass and were heralded by the ringing of a bell. sailors worked in watches, four hours on and four hours off, throughout the day and night.

• 00:30 1 bell
• 01:00 2 bells
• 01:30 3 bells ( 2 bells, pause, 1 bell )
• 02:00 4 bells ( 2 bells, pause, 2 bells )
• 02:30 5 bells ( 2 bells, pause, 2 bells, pause, 1 bell )
• 03:00 6 bells ( 2 bells, pause, 2 bells, pause, 2 bells )
• 03:30 7 bells ( 2 bells, pause, 2 bells, pause, 2 bells, pause, 1 bell )
• 04:00 8 bells ( 2 bells, pause, 2 bells, pause, 2 bells, pause, 2 bells )

4 am ( the middle watch ends, the morning watch begins )

the quartermasters, who kept time and steered the ship, woke the mates, midshipmen, and the lieutenant of the watch. the boatswain would stand at the hatchways and pipe “all hands” and would shout: “larboard ( or starboard ) watch, ahoy. rouse out there, you sleeper. out or down here.” the members of the watch would quickly dress and came on deck for muster before going to assigned stations and recorded all and any information to the log – board.

shortly after, the carpenter and boatswain came on deck to start any repair work while the cook began the preparations for breakfast. breakfast was usually oatmeal gruel called “burgoo” or “skillagolee”, which, if you couldn’t guess, was not well liked by the crew. another breakfast could be “scotch coffee” – dark, thick burned ship’s biscuit boiled in bad ship’s water. 

5 am

the watch would begin to wash down the decks and polish the planks with a heavy holystone. nooks and crannies were also polished by smaller pieces of holystone called prayer books. after the decks were polished, they would be swept and swabbed and then dried. other members of the watch would polish brass fittings so they would shine in the first rays of light.

7 am

the decks dried as the first lieutenant came on deck to look over the rest of the day’s work. 

7:30

the boatswain’s mates pipe “all hands, up hammocks.” the rest of the crew would then come on deck. 

8 am ( the morning watch ends, the forenoon watch begins )

after the last of the hammocks were stowed, the captain came on deck. he would give his approval of the ship and then the boatswain would pipe breakfast for the crew. 

8:30 am

finishing breakfast, they returned to their duties and the new watch came on deck, bringing with them bags and chests from the lower deck to clean them. many of the crew worked in “messes”, which were groupings based on their mess tables, to help prepare the main meal of the day, which was served at noon. others helped the captain and master of the hold restow the provisions in the warship’s hold. some performed maintenance chores, such as retarring the rigging or repairing a damaged cannon. those not on watch slept, socialised, or mended their clothes. 

11 am

the captain, having examined he midshipmen’s logs and the gunner’s, purser’s, boatswain’s, and carpenter’s accounts and having conferenced with the first lieutenant and others, might call all hands to witness punishment. in this case, the boatswain would rig a grating for flogging a seaman. 

12 pm ( end of the forenoon watch )

noon was observed after the midshipmen, master, and the master’s mates used dinner was served to the crew, who used sea chests as benches while eating. later, the crew would receive their liquor rations from tubs on the main deck and took them to the mess tables below decks. the issuing of grog ( a mix of rum and water ) began in the 1740s as a way to control liquor consumption and combat drunkenness. though the men received two rations of grog a day, which totaled to be about a pint, it was not the only drink available. beer was rationed out at a rate of a gallon per day, but it was only available in home waters or up to a month out at sea. in the mediterannean, sailors often received a pint of wine as their alcohol ration. 

the officers did not eat the crew’s rations, nor did they eat at makeshift tables. they ate in a dining room in the wardroom on chairs at a table, usually attended by a servant. the admiralty did not provide the officers their food like they did the common crew. the officers would appoint one of their own as the mess caterer and he purchased their food ashore, using their mess subscriptions. sometimes these subscriptions, billed to each officer, ran as high as sixty pounds per year, which was more than half a lieutenant’s annual pay. however, they were able to enjoy luxuries such as fresh meat, tea, sugar, and wine. 

1:30 pm

the next watch on deck was called to duty. alternatively, all hands were called to be exercised for ship’s drills such as fire, boarding, sail handling, gunnery, etc.

4 pm ( afternoon watch ends, first dogwatch begins )

the watch changed again. this four – hour period was split into two two – hour watches called dogwatches. during this time, a short evening meal was served, along with the second grog ration. just before sunset, the drummer beat to quarters and all hands reported to their battle stations for inspection by the officers. at this time, the master at arms often arrested anyone who was being rowdy or who had managed to drink too much of a friend’s rum. offenders were put on the black list and often clapped in irons through the next day. after the ship was reported as being in good order, the men were released from their battle stations and recovered their hammocks from stowage in the netting.

6pm ( first dogwatch ends, second dogwatch begins )

8 pm ( second dogwatch ends, first watch begins )

the watch was changed. those who just finished turned in for a few hours of sleep before the middle watch ( midnight to four am ). lights were extinguished so the ship could not be seen from a distance. the master at arms would begin his series of nightly rounds through the ship. everything was quiet, except for the regular sentry reports of “all’s well” from various stations. 

12 am ( first watch ends, middle watch begins )

source: Hattendorf, John B. “The Royal Navy During the War of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic War.” A Sea of Words: A Lexicon and Companion to the Complete Seafaring Tales of Patrick O’Brien, 3rd ed., Henry Holt and Co. LLC, 1995, pp. 17–20.