imported_Daniel
02-09-2003, 06:17 PM
An excerpt from Derek Lundy's, The Way Of A Ship:
The disparities are astonishing: during the Seven Years War, almost 134,000 seamen were lost to disease or desertion, while 1,512 were killed in action; during the reign of Queen Anne, the navy at any given time averaged 9,000 men sick out of 50,000 in service; from 1774 to 1780, the navy raised almost 176,000 men, the majority by impressment [basically kidnapping], and lost 42,000 of them to desertion; between 1792 and 1815, 81 percent of the total naval casualties of 104,000 were the result of disease (including a small number in accidents), while only 6 percent of losses were to enemy action (twice that were lost in wrecks, foundering or fires, as the sea itself remained a hazardous constant).
He also goes on to tell of sailors being "shanghied", again basically kidnapped to serve on the square riggers as merchant seamen, from whom the Royal navy could draw from. I highly recommend the book, it is a great read.
Not very romantic, is it? :eek:
[ 02-09-2003, 06:20 PM: Message edited by: Daniel ]
The disparities are astonishing: during the Seven Years War, almost 134,000 seamen were lost to disease or desertion, while 1,512 were killed in action; during the reign of Queen Anne, the navy at any given time averaged 9,000 men sick out of 50,000 in service; from 1774 to 1780, the navy raised almost 176,000 men, the majority by impressment [basically kidnapping], and lost 42,000 of them to desertion; between 1792 and 1815, 81 percent of the total naval casualties of 104,000 were the result of disease (including a small number in accidents), while only 6 percent of losses were to enemy action (twice that were lost in wrecks, foundering or fires, as the sea itself remained a hazardous constant).
He also goes on to tell of sailors being "shanghied", again basically kidnapped to serve on the square riggers as merchant seamen, from whom the Royal navy could draw from. I highly recommend the book, it is a great read.
Not very romantic, is it? :eek:
[ 02-09-2003, 06:20 PM: Message edited by: Daniel ]