Finding Your Way Around a Warship - 2 Quiz

Answer: Ordinary seaman

Some men never made it past Landsman, but most were rated Ordinary with varying degrees of speed, depending on their abilities, the captain's approach to his job, the first lieutenant's view of you and other factors. Able seamen, the next step up from ordinary, could "hand, reef and steer", the key functions of sailors on a square rigged ship.

Answer: Eighth of a pint

The rum ration was introduced in the 1740s by Admiral Edmund Vernon (known as "Old Grog" for his grosgrain, or to the lower deck, grogram cloak), as a measure to control the daily consumption of alcohol by the crew. It was highly valued by the crew, who would, for the birthday of a messmate (messes consisted of around eight seamen) contribute a portion (or all) of their ration to his delectation, resulting in paralytic stupor on his part, often a flogging for drunkenness and occasionally death by alcohol poisoning.

Answer: A no-meat day

Banyan day (taken from the East Indies Banyan caste, who were vegetarians, was typically one day out of the week, also referred to as "starvation day". The typical weekday, however, saw the provision of about 5,000 calories, which were burned in the very hard physical labor of shipboard life of the era. The main meal of the day, dinner, was served to the seamen at noon.

Answer: Sponge out the gun after firing

Gun crews were typically consisted of six or more crewmen, swabbing out the gun with the sheepskin "sponge", ramming down powder, shot and wad and heaving the gun to the porthole to be fired. A quite strenuous and noisy process accomplished (if the crew were very competent) at a rate of three shots every five minutes.

Answer: You are to windward of the enemy, and so you can force action

The weather gage was of great significance in an era for which sails were the principal means of propulsion. A ship upwind, or windward, to another ship normally had its choice of whether to engage. For the predatory Royal Navy of the period, this was, given reasonably equal forces, this was an invitation to action and an opportunity for prize money.

Answer: An East Indiaman

East Indiamen were big, roomy vessels that were run at least nominally Royal Navy fashion, with hierarchy and discipline that was normally far more professional than typical merchant ships. Their armament and more disciplined crew often caused predatory privateers and enemy naval vessels to sheer off and retire, despite East Indiamen's reputation as the fattest prizes on the ocean, after Spanish treasure galleons.

Moreover, they often sailed alone, instead of in convoy under naval protection, a major risk factor dictating their design and crewing.

Answer: Chronometer

Ships kept chronometers onboard to measure the difference in time between Greenwich mean time on the chronometers and the local time. For every four minutes of difference between local and Greenwich mean time the ship had traveled one degree of longitude. Accuracy in chronometers was key; even a minute a day of inaccuracy could result in positions being off by hundreds of miles, and so many ships carried two chronometers to provide as much certainty as possible.

Answer: Royal

Royal masts and royal sails were generally only to be found on warships, since they were needed for extra speed. Merchant ships had smaller crews, and were therefore not able to handle the far more extensive sailing rigs found on square rigged warships, which could include not only royals but drabblers, skysails, Bentinck sails and so forth, as well as more complex rigging.

Answer: A chance for prize money

A sloop (commanded by a Master and Commander), a frigate or other smaller ships that were not line of battle ships occasionally received orders to independently "cruise" for enemy shipping, especially for merchant vessels. From the admiralty's perspective, the goal was disrupt enemy commerce.

But this was also a chance for crews to receive prize money, a major incentive for sailors and officers to exert themselves to the utmost in pursuit of capturing enemy shipping.

Answer: Lieutenant

Midshipmen were not commissioned officers, but had the con during watches and were called "sir" by the men. They had to take an often very challenging oral examination by a panel of officers and have their captain's recommendation to make the "step" to lieutenant.