A day measured in watches
A sailing ship could not be left alone at any hour, because wind, weather and the ship’s position kept changing. The crew was therefore divided into watches, and one watch was always on deck while the other rested. The most common arrangement, especially on merchant ships, was two watches (traditionally called larboard and starboard, later port and starboard) taking turns. Larger naval ships often used a system with more divisions, and some merchant ships with big crews did the same.
A watch usually lasted four hours. The exception was the “dog watches”, two short two-hour watches in the evening, which were commonly used so that the same men did not stand the same hours every night. Time was marked by a bell struck every half hour, with eight bells signalling the end of a watch. The system was simple, but it meant that most sailors rarely slept more than a few hours at a stretch.
When extra hands were needed, such as to shorten sail in a squall or to work the ship through a manoeuvre, “all hands” were called, whether they had been asleep or not. That demand is one reason sailors were often tired.
Work between the big tasks
Handling sails was the most dramatic work, but it was not the bulk of it. Ships need constant upkeep, and much of the day went on routine tasks:
- scrubbing and scraping the decks, which in navies and well-run merchant ships was done almost daily
- repairing sails and mending or replacing worn rope, which relied on sailors knots and splicing skills that every seaman was expected to have
- painting, tarring and greasing the rigging and fittings to protect them from salt water
- pumping the bilges, since wooden hulls almost always leaked a little
- standing lookout and taking a turn at the helm
Skilled specialists existed alongside the general crew. A carpenter looked after the hull and spars, a sailmaker handled canvas, a cooper dealt with casks, and a boatswain (bosun) supervised the rigging and organised the working parties. Beginners and boys started with simple jobs and learned by watching and being corrected.
Rank and living space
Ships were strongly hierarchical. On a merchant vessel, the captain and the mates lived aft, near the stern, where the cabins were largest and most comfortable. Ordinary sailors lived forward in the forecastle, a small, damp, poorly lit space where bunks were often packed closely. Apprentices and boys were sometimes housed separately, depending on the ship and the era.
On naval ships, the layout was more elaborate. A large warship, such as a ship of the line, carried hundreds of men, so the crew slept in hammocks slung from the beams of the lower decks. By day, hammocks were rolled up and stowed, which cleared space for work and for mess tables. Officers had small cabins, often little more than partitioned spaces, and the captain had a larger cabin at the stern. Space was always scarce, and crowding made damp, bad air and the spread of disease a persistent problem.
Pay and conditions varied greatly by ship, period and country. A sailor on a well-run merchant vessel could expect a steady if modest wage, while a seaman in wartime might be held on a ship for years. Officers on large trading vessels, such as an East Indiaman, sometimes had opportunities for private trade that sailors did not.
Meals, drink and rest
Meals were generally taken in messes, groups of men who ate together from shared tubs and who collected rations from the cook. What was served depended on the voyage and the stage reached in it, and fresh food gave way to salted and dried stores over time. The details of shipboard provisions are a subject in themselves, but the broad pattern was monotonous food, scarce fresh water and few comforts.
Alcohol played a large part in shipboard life. The Royal Navy issued a daily ration of rum diluted with water, known as grog after about 1740, and this continued in some form until 1970. Merchant ships had their own customs, which varied widely.
Rest time, called the “watch below”, was for sleeping, but also for washing and mending clothes. Off-duty sailors played cards or dice when allowed, carved small items, made rope ornaments, told stories, read when they could, and sang. Music ranged from fiddlers and fifers to work songs, and the best-known tradition of these is sea shanties. Sundays were often a day of lighter routine, and ships’ officers might hold divisions or a religious service.
Dangers and discipline
The job was dangerous even in good weather. Falls from the rigging, injuries from heavy gear, drowning and disease were all common causes of death. Medical care was limited, and the story of shipboard medicine shows how much depended on the knowledge of a single surgeon, if the ship had one at all.
Discipline depended on the captain’s authority, which was close to absolute at sea. In navies, formal rules (articles of war) and punishments such as flogging backed it up, while many of the men under that discipline had been recruited by press gangs rather than by choice. Merchant crews could also face harsh treatment, though conditions depended heavily on the captain. Some captains were respected and many ships were orderly, while others were brutal, and sailors often chose their ships based on reputation.
Beliefs, passengers and change
Long voyages produced strong customs and beliefs, and sailor superstitions touched almost every part of the day, from the days on which ships sailed to the way certain items were handled. Passengers sometimes complicated shipboard life. On a fast clipper, such as those in the clipper tea races, the crew was driven hard. Passengers on emigrant steerage voyages, by contrast, had to organise their own food, bedding and space within the ship, and their experience was quite different from that of the crew.
As steam replaced sail from the nineteenth century, the work changed. Fewer hands were needed aloft, stokers and engineers joined the crew, and routines followed engine schedules more than wind. Sail survived for decades in the bulk trades, but the large crews and the pattern of watches described here are most closely associated with the age of wooden and early iron sailing ships.