Reply To: HMS Victory cutter and the Captain’s gig

[Frank Scott]

Looking through various editions of the Admiralty Manual of Seamanship, from 1908 to 1951, it seems most likely that HMS Indefatigable’s Gig was a 30 foot carvel boat (double diagonal mahogany) with two dipping lugs and a drop keel. Ship’s boats are covered in Vol One for 1908 and 1937 editions, but by 1951 they have migrated to Vol Two, and the gig has disappeared. The 1937 edition has the best diagram, and the most extensive description (pages 272 & 274).

W. E. May, The Boats of Men of War (London 1974, revised edition 1999) covers the evolution of ship’s boats up until 1914 in considerable detail.