| Daily Life on a Warship |
The daily routine of life at sea was monotonous. By tradition, the day officially began at noon, when the date and day of the week were changed on the log-board. Just before noon on a clear day, the Master, Master's Mates, and Midshipmen measured with their quadrants the angle of the sun as it reached its highest point off the horizon, thus determining latitude and correcting the time kept by any chronometers on board. Noon was reported to the Captain, and eight stokes were struck on the ship's bell, followed by the Boatswain's "pipe to dinner," executed on his high-pitched silver whistle.
The day itself was divided into watches of four hours apiece, measured by a sandglass arid marked by a ringing of the bell: eight bells at twelve o'clock, one bell at twelve-thirty, two at one o'clock, three at one-thirty and so on, until eight bells was reached at four o'clock, and the cycle started again.
Sailors stood their duty hours in watches, four hours on and four off, throughout the day and night. Shortly before four A.M., the Quartermasters, who had among their duties keeping time and steering the ship, awoke the Midshipmen, Mates, and the Lieutenant of the watch coming on duty, and shortly thereafter, the Boatswain stood at the hatchways and piped "All hands," and shouted: "Larboard (or starboard) watch, ahoy. Rouse out there, you sleepers. Hey. Out or down here." Stumbling out of their hammocks, the members of the watch quickly dressed and came on deck for muster before going to their assigned stations. They relieved the wheel and the lockouts, hove the log to determine speed, and recorded all the information on the log-board.
Shortly after four A.M., the Carpenter and Boatswain came on deck to begin their repair work, while the Cook lit fires in the galley and began the preparations for breakfast, often the oatmeal gruel called "burgoo" or "skillagolee," an unloved concoction frequently of poor oatmeal and bad ship's water. (Sometime after 1805, Cooks were able to serve it with butter or molasses to make it more palatable.) Another breakfast offering was dark, thick "Scotch Coffee," burned ship's biscuit boiled in water. At about five A.M. the watch began to wash down the decks and polish the planks with a heavy holystone. Nooks and crannies were polished in the same way with small bits of the same type of stone, called prayer books. Following the holystoners came other sailors with brooms, swabs, and buckets to dry the decks, while others polished the brass fittings so that they gleamed in the first rays of dawn. Other seamen flemished down the lines into neat and orderly coils.
At seven A.M., this work was about finished, and the decks were drying as the First Lieutenant came on deck to supervise the remaining work of the day. At about seven-thirty A.M„ the Boatswain's Mate piped "All hands, up hammocks," and the rest of the crew came on deck. After the last of the hammocks were stowed, the Captain came on deck and eight bells were struck for eight o'clock. With his approval, the Boatswain piped breakfast for the crew. After half an hour, they returned to their duty, and the new watch came on deck, bringing with them bags and chests from the lower deck to allow cleaning there.
During the forenoon watch, between eight A.M. and noon, many of the crew worked in "messes," groupings based on their mess tables, preparing the main meal of the day, to be served at noon. Others might have helped the Master and the Captain of the Hold restow the provisions in the warship's small hold, below the orlop deck, to make the ship sail more efficiently. Or they might have performed some other maintenance chores such as retarring the rigging or repairing a damaged cannon. Those not on watch could sleep, socialize, or mend their clothes.
By eleven, six bells, the Captain, having examined the 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 which case the Boatswain rigged a grating for flogging a seaman.
After the observance of noon, dinner was served to the crew, who used sea chests as benches while eating. Later, the fife might play a tune on his flute while the crew received their liquor rations from tubs on the main deck and took them down to the mess tables below. The issuing of grog, a mixture of rum and water, began in the 1740s as a means to control liquor consumption in the Navy. The men usually received two rations a day totaling a pint, but it was not the only drink. Beer, rationed out at the rate of a gallon a day, was far more popular than grog but usually available only in home waters or up to a month out at sea. In the Mediterranean, the seamen often received a pint of wine as their alcohol ration.
While the crew ate at tables below deck on weekly rations of ship's biscuit, salt beef, pork with pea soup, and cheese, the officers had better fare. In the wardroom, they ate together sitting on chairs at a well-set table, each often attended by a servant. Instead of sharing the rations the Admiralty provided the crew, the officers appointed one of their own as the mess caterer, and he purchased their food ashore, using their mess subscriptions. Sometimes these mess subscriptions, billed to each officer, ran as high as £60 per year (more than half a Lieutenant's annual pay) and allowed officers to enjoy such luxuries as tea, sugar, and wine.
At one-thirty P.M., the watch on deck was called to duty, leaving those off watch to do what they wished, or, alternatively, all hands were called to be exercised for ship's drills: fire, boarding, sail handling, gunnery, etc.
At four in the afternoon, the watch changed again. This four-hour period was divided into two two-hour watches, called dogwatches. During this time, a short evening meal was served, along with the second portion of grog. 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 of 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 placed 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.
At eight o'clock, the watch was changed, those just finished turning in for a few hours of sleep before the middle watch (midnight to four A.M.). Lights were extinguished so that the ship could not be seen from a distance, and the Master at Arms began his series of nightly rounds through the ship. All was quiet, except for the regular sentry reports of "all's well" from various stations.
And so the pattern continued day after day, month after month, year after year, broken only by battle, the occasional call at port, or an emergency that required all hands to work together in maneuvering the ship.
Reproduced without permission from"Sea of Words"