Reply To: HMS Bellona 1760 – question regarding crew’s duties

[Nicholas Blake]

It was probably more making than repairing. Flannel cartridges were only universally introduced by order of 3 January 1816 (PRO: ADM 7/226), before then they were often parchment or paper. Parchment cartridges did not last more than three weeks; paper was more durable and less expensive, Shipboard Life and Organisation, 30; R&I, 1790, p. 102, art. VII; he is to keep only three rounds filled at a time.