Entry-Level Sailing Ship Jobs

[AZ_Dawn]

Yep, need help with some backstories. Basically I need to know what you'd have to start out doing if you wanted to become a sailor, merchant or navy, in the 17th-18th Centuries. Thanks!

[Doogs]

Swab the deck? Help load/offload cargo? Lug shot for the cannons, sponge out the barrels between shots to keep them cool?

Also, I have no specialized knowledge in this area, but menial labor is menial labor. May be worth checking out Discovery's Deadliest Catch to get a sense for the non-crab fishing tasks they put the greenhorns through.

[Inarticulate Babbler]

Swab the deck? Help load/offload cargo? Lug shot for the cannons, sponge out the barrels between shots to keep them cool?

Also, I have no specialized knowledge in this area, but menial labor is menial labor. May be worth checking out Discovery's Deadliest Catch to get a sense for the non-crab fishing tasks they put the greenhorns through.

Way different on square rig ships than on the fishing boats (including trawlers) today. On the old ships everyone took a turn as helmsman, some were specifically topmen (those that walked the yards--or yard arms), Bosun, purser, line men (which haul, clew and belay the lines), carpenters and fo'c'stle (forecastle) men. Most ships wouldn't take a lubber aboard unless he was pressed (drafted the hard way, awakened in the middle of the night and Shang Haied{sp?}), and then they would team 1 pressed man with 2 experienced. Useless men had no place on most full- or square riggers.

[pdr]

give us a little more detail.

Which country's navy?
Which country's merchant shipping?
What date please as there is a big difference between 17thC ships and the 18thC as well as between the national navies of the time?

A career sailor would start as a young boy of 12. A pressed man could be any age and wouldn't want to stay!

Have you looked in Resources by Era which has the National maritime museum urls for the UK and USA. Both have excellent web sites and information.

[AZ_Dawn]

give us a little more detail.

Which country's navy?
Which country's merchant shipping?
What date please as there is a big difference between 17thC ships and the 18thC as well as between the national navies of the time?

Well, the dates are kind of vague but I'll try to give you guys a reasonable estimate.

Character 1
Started career mid-17th Century on a British merchant ship, possibly a smuggling ship. Was later pressed into the British Navy. Somewhere along the way he learned something about gunnery.

Character 2
Started career between 1700-1710 in the British Navy. "Volunteered" by a judge in lieu of jail time for poaching. Will remain a regular sailor.

Character 3
Started career in the 1690s on a French merchant ship. Will remain a regular sailor.

Hope this clears things up.

[statik27]

As other's have said it all depends on the navy your talking about. Also, the difference between a navy in the 17th century and the mid to late 18th, is going to be vast.

As far as what a new seaman might do? Mostly pull on what ropes their told to. An Able seaman would be a man that has an intricate knowledge of sailing, though not a commissioned officer.

A Landsman would be someone newly pressed into service and has, as I said, only the ability to pull on what rope their told too.

It depends on how deeply you wish to go into detail and how much your characters are involved in the service of a ship. If it's on a scale like Patrick O'brian or even the Hornblower novels, you'll need to do a great deal of reasearch.

Hope this helps,

statik

[AZ_Dawn]

As far as what a new seaman might do? Mostly pull on what ropes their told to. An Able seaman would be a man that has an intricate knowledge of sailing, though not a commissioned officer.

A Landsman would be someone newly pressed into service and has, as I said, only the ability to pull on what rope their told too.

So basically if they all started out as Rope Puller 3rd Class, I can't go wrong. Thanks!

"I remember when I first became a sailor. They tossed me a rope and said, 'Pull this!' " :)