Archive Results For: Press Gangs
Book Review-‘Poseidon’s Curse: British naval impressment and Atlantic origins of the American Revolution’ by C. P. Magra
British naval impressment has been a subject of scholarly debate and fascination for well over a century now, and recently this subject has become even more heated. The scholars currently engaging in this debate generally fall into two camps. On one side are those who examine the subject from an administrative point of view and […] Read More
Filed under: American Revolution | Other (Nineteenth C) | Press Gangs
Subjects include: Manpower & Life at Sea
Book Review-‘The Myth of the Press Gang: Volunteers, impressment and the naval manpower problem in the late eighteenth century, by J. R. Dancy
Impressment in the eighteenth-century Royal Navy has long been controversial. Forcing British subjects to serve as sailors during wartime seemed paradoxical for a nation that prided itself on individual liberty and considered its navy as a bulwark against the tyranny of Continental absolutism. Historians have cited contemporary debates – found in literary, legal, and political […] Read More
Filed under: Other (Eighteenth C) | Press Gangs
Subjects include: Manpower & Life at Sea
Note: Echoes of a Distant War
An exploration of the naval history of Sydney and New South Wales during the Napoleonic Wars from 1797 to 1814, touching on proposed conscription of convicts to fight in South American possessions, Matthew Flinders’ meeting with Nicolas Baudin, shipbuilding and traffic through Sydney Naval Yard, the operation of press gangs, privateering and whaling. Read More
Filed under: Napoleonic War | Indian Ocean | Pacific | Press Gangs
Subjects include: Harbours & Dockyards | Navies | Pirates, Corsairs & Privateers | Science & Exploration | Whaling & Fishing
Loose and Unknown Persons: Listing Seamen in the Late Seventeenth Century
The confusion evident in the placing of responsibility and over the nature of the listing required makes it necessary to check the reliability of the lists. The masters listed in 1690 can be checked against the Exchequer Port Books and the 1689 lists of ships taken up as troop transports, though unfortunately no such check […] Read More
Filed under: Dutch Wars | Other (Early Modern) | Other (Eighteenth C) | Press Gangs | Other (location)
Subjects include: Administration | Harbours & Dockyards | Manpower & Life at Sea | Merchant Marines | Navies
The Life Blood of the Navy: Recruiting Sailors in Eighteenth Century Spain
In this article the author explores Spain’s approach to naval recruitment during the 18th century. In an effort to increase the number of mariners in its service without resorting primarily to the use of crimping and impressment both France and Spain instituted forms of ‘enlightenment’ to encourage their marine population to accept service in the […] Read More
Filed under: Mutiny & Discipline | Mediterranean | Other (Eighteenth C) | Press Gangs
Subjects include: Manpower & Life at Sea | Merchant Marines | Ship Handling & Seamanship
Soldiers at Sea and the Inter-service Relations during the First Dutch War
The article takes an in-depth look at the role of the soldiers-at-sea on both sides of the conflict during the First Dutch War 1652-1654. This crucial step in the evolution of the ‘fighting sailor’ in the Royal Navy has long been neglected. The author delves into the reasons why such a transition for both the […] Read More
Filed under: Baltic | English Channel | Dutch Wars | North Sea | Mutiny & Discipline | Health at Sea | Press Gangs
Subjects include: Manpower & Life at Sea
The Voyages of Barzillai Pease, American Seaman, 1789-1826
An account of the maritime career of an American seaman, captain and ship owner. Pease was born in 1773 and left full journals that covered his experience largely of whaling up to 1826. The many episodes quoted include several shipwrecks and describe the sometimes brutal nature of eighteenth century shipboard life. The ill-feeling that […] Read More
Filed under: Atlantic | Other (Nineteenth C) | Other (Eighteenth C) | Press Gangs
Subjects include: Biography | Manpower & Life at Sea | Whaling & Fishing
The Sinews of War: Manning and Provisioning English Fighting Ships c.1550-1650
This article surveys the methods of recruitment of complements for both royal and private fighting ships and their provisioning. It demonstrates how inadequacies and problems reflected the administrative and political fragility of the early modern state. While, on the one hand, wars drained resources and threatened regimes, they also stimulated the growth and development of […] Read More
Filed under: Tudors | Francis Drake | Dutch Wars | The Armada | Mutiny & Discipline | Health at Sea | Press Gangs
Subjects include: Administration | Manpower & Life at Sea | Navies | Pirates, Corsairs & Privateers
The Mutiny in the John and Thomas
This article gives a background to press gangs operating in the mid 18th century navy. The events of the John and Thomas mutiny are recounted in the reports of Captain George Johnstone, sent to convoy and subsequently recover the press tender John and Thomas. Following these events Lieutenant Robert Sax commander of the John and […] Read More
Filed under: English Channel | Seven Years’ War | Mutiny & Discipline | Press Gangs
Subjects include: Administration | Navies
A Levy of Seamen in the Cinque Ports 1602
Keeping a fleet at sea to intercept the Spanish fleet, anticiapted off Ireland, meant that manning the English ships became a prime concern. Orders were sent to the Cinque Ports ordering the appropriate authorities to assist ‘with all expedition’ in drafting men into the navy. The men were to be properly clothed, having been properly […] Read More
Filed under: Tudors | Press Gangs | Other (location)
Subjects include: Administration | Manpower & Life at Sea
The Cost of Impressment During the Seven Years War
During the Seven Years War (1756–1763), as in the wars before and after, the Government had the problem of manning the Royal Navy in times of war without handicapping the merchant marine upon which the nation’s wealth, and ultimately its survival, depended. Larry Neal uses contemporary statistics and collates them against some of the proposals […] Read More
Filed under: Seven Years’ War | Press Gangs | Other (location)
Subjects include: Administration | Manpower & Life at Sea | Navies
The Naval Aspects of the Nootka Sound Crisis
While the diplomatic exchanges between Britain and Spain relating to the Nootka Sound crisis of 1790 have been well studied, the naval aspects have not and some authors have dealt with them summarily and, at times, inaccurately. This article sets out in detail the naval armaments undertaken by both Britain and Spain. The author shows […] Read More
Filed under: Atlantic | Pacific | Press Gangs
Subjects include: Logistics | Strategy & Diplomacy