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warspite1 -> RE: Quotes from historical figures (6/4/2016 9:28:53 PM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Matti Kuokkanen
quote:
ORIGINAL: Orm
Has the Royal Navy ever been of a higher standard, in war, than in 1805?
How were sailors recruited at the time & place? I recall reading from somewhere random men at/near harbors were arrested or otherwise rounded up and forced to join. But I forgot when that was done.
warspite1
It was called the press gang. The practice pretty much ended with the end of Napoleonic wars. I wouldn't have said that, in terms of being able to train and bring the crew up to a state of efficiency, there were that much different to conscription. Either way, chances are the poor buggers didn't want to be in the situation they found themselves in. Of course with impressment there was the added complication that there were a high number of foreigners aboard so not only were they forced into the navy, but they were not even necessarily fighting for their own "side". However I am sure the disciplinary regime - keel hauling, the lash etc, had a way of concentrating the mind and anyway, once at sea a zillion miles from shore, what are you going to do? I do not have the numbers to hand but somewhere I have a breakdown of the nationalities that served on Victory at Trafalgar. It is quite surprising.
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