Grim & perilous waters: Life on the open sea in the Old

World

Seas
• Great Western Ocean: prevailing wind is south-west, called Mannan’s gift
as it bring many fish
• Middle Sea: probably the safest in the Old World, also has a south-west
prevailing wind but it is much calmer, as such it is called “Mannan’s Kiss”
• Sea of Claws: probably the wildest in the Old World, especially in Autumn
& Winter, it suffers a blisteringly cold wind that prevails from the east,
called the “Klaueshcrei”, this sea also suffers very strong tides of over a
fathom
• Southern Sea: perhaps the most unpredictable with terrible currents and
many pirates
• Ice begs are called “The frozen rage of Mannan”

Weather

D10 Wind Effects Modifi Ship’s Full per day

speed er rate speed
01- Calm 0 Becalmed - -
05
06- Light air +30 Drifting Steerage Steerage
11
12- Light +20 Crawling 1 knots 8 leagues
19 breeze
20- Gentle +10 Coasting 2 knots 16
28 breeze leagues
29- Moderate - Breezing 3 knots 24
38 breeze leagues
39- Fresh - Sailing 4 knots 32
49 breeze leagues
50- Strong 10% chance of rain, - Gliding 5 knots 40
59 breeze close-reef top leagues
gallants,
single-reef other sails
60- Moderate 20% chance of rain, - Cruising 6 knots 48
69 gale close-reef lateen sail, leagues
double-reef other
sails
70- Fresh gale 40% chance of rain, -10 Flying 7 knots 56
78 close-reef courses, leagues
triple-reef other sails
79- Strong gale 60% chance of rain, -20 Careering 8 knots 64
86 close-reef all sails leagues
87- Whole gale 80% chance of rain, -30 Thundering 9 knots 72
93 reef all sails leagues
94- Storm Driving rain, -40 - Steerage Steerage
98 ship takes water
99- Hurricane Torrential rain, -50 - - -
00 ship begins to
capsize

Season Mod Waters Mod Locale Mod

Spring +10 The Sea of Claws +5 Inland water -10
Summer - The Southern Sea - Sheltered -
Autumn +10 The Tilean Sea -10 water +10
Winter +20 The Black Gulf - Open sea
The Middle Sea +5
The Great Western -
Ocean

Prevailing winds
Generally:
Day = onshore breezes
Night = offshore breezes

The tip of Cape Horn

Winds were frigid and fierce. Ships were often pulled far south toward the
Antarctic.

The Strait of Magellan

An experienced captain could shave weeks off the journey if he was familiar
enough with the strait to avoid crosscurrents, riptides, sudden storms,
craggy cliffs and reefs.

Maritime distances from Erengrad (1 league = 3 miles)

Erengrad-Salkalten = 65 leagues (3-5 days)
Erengrad-Norden= 100 leagues (4-7 days)
Erengrad-Neues Emkrank = 130 leagues (5-9 days)
Erengrad-Olricstaad = 280 leagues (11-19 days)
Erengrad-Marienberg = 370 leagues (14-23 days)

Length of uninterrupted sea voyages

Short haul = 1 week = 120-150 leagues
Fair haul = 2 weeks = 250-300 leagues
Long haul = 3 weeks = 350-450 leagues
Epic haul = 4 weeks = 500-600 leagues
 Navigating

Tools of the trade

Compass, hourglass, lead, astrolabe (measures height of sun above horizon
so as to determine a position on the north-south axis) & charts.

Sighting (during day)

2-3 times per day a navigator tries to determine the ship’s position by
sighting the position of the sun and cross-referencing the angle in his log
tables to find their latitude.

Clear Cloudy O’cast

Quadrant -10 -20 No sight
Astrolabe - -10 No sight
Cross- +10 - No sight
staff

Logging
2-3 times a day, a log is thrown overboard attached to a long (100-fathom)
line and the hourglass watched for a minute.
Line is marked at regular intervals (a fathom) with a knot.
The log is left to float down past the ship’s side for a minute.
As the log floats past it pulls the line out and with it the knots.
Since 1 mile = 880 fathoms.

Knots pulled / Ship speed

minute (knots)
15 1
30 2
45 3
60 4
75 5
90 6
100 7
> 100 8 or more

Dead reckoning
Using a map and the ship’s last recorded position, the latitude sighted and
the speed logged, the navigator can try calculating the ship’s position. This
process known as “dead reckoning” though primitive is accurate 90% of the
time! (Int test) Then, based on the wind and the prospects (Int test to
guess the wind direction and force in the next 4 hours), the navigator will
order a course and sail settings (see below).

Currents
Can be seasonal and/or tidal and/or fluvial.
Ebb and flow.

Heading
A helmsman steered the ship using a whipstaff (7-yard long tiller) from
inside the wheelhouse (protected from inclement weather and enemy fire).
Even with the course determined, the risks are not eliminated; the
helmsman must stay true to the course (Sail test) set by the navigator.

Steering Clear Cloudy O’cas Fog/nigh

aid t t
None - -10 -20 -30
Sunstone +10 - -10 -20
Lodestone +20 +15 +10 +5
Compass +30 +25 +20 +15

Not forgetting the weather modifiers (see above).

Failure indicates that the helmsman’s heading is off-course (equal chance of
starboard & port):
• Unlucky (1-10) = D10° off course
• Clear (11-20) = 2D10° off course
• Horrific (21-30) = 3D10° off course
• Disastrous (31+) = 4D10° off course

Sails & rigging

Rig = sails, masts as well as devices for hoisting & manoeuvring
The amount of sail hoisted is divided into quarters:
• Quarter sail
• Half sail
• Three quarters sail
• Full sail

Navigator’s order
Examples include:
“Full sail ahead”
“Three quarters sail and 10° to starboard”.

Sail types
Lateen = for sailing across the wind
Square sails = power for speed
Fore sail = manoeuvrability
Top gallants = even more speed

Topgallants can weaken, even damage masts in high winds.

Topgallants can be dangerous in crosswinds due to the increased risk of
capsizing.

Heights
Reefing sails is both difficult (Climb test + 20) and slipping is dangerous (it’s
a long way to fall):
main yard = 10 yards or 30 feet
top yard = 20 yards or 60 feet
lookout nest = 25 yards or 75 feet
topgallant yard = 30 yards or 90 feet

The largest ships had masts 150ft high!

Manoeuvring
Big ships are generally unwieldy but good at tacking
Most rudders (hinged to the stern with pintlets & gudgeons) allowed only
limited movement 7°!
To “go about” required using the sails & the wind (i.e. impossible if
becalmed unless under oar).

Sailing speed
Knots = number of miles sailed per hour
But maritime distances are measure in leagues (1 league = 3 miles)
Ship’s sailing speed depends on:
• The wind speed (see beginning)
• The wind direction (see below)

Wind Top speed

direction
On the quarter Full speed
Abeam 2 knots below full speed
Astern 2 knots below full speed
On the bow 1/5 normal speed
(tacking)

Trireme
“could reach 7 knots under oars”
“cruise at 5 knots and developed a battle speed of 7 knots”

Longships
“replica of the Gokstad ship was found to be able to attain speeds of 10 to
11 knots”
“Modern replicas have achieved speeds of up to 14 knots”
 Inside a ship

Anchors
These were huge wooden & iron, sometimes entirely iron structures that
were attached to the ship then dropped into the water to slow or even halt a
ship.

Bitt = large wooden beam inside the ship to which the anchor was attached.
The rope which connected the anchor to the ship was the thickest of all the
ship and was called a cable (it was often the thickness of a man’s arm!).

On all but the smallest ships, the anchors were so heavy that a single man,
even a team of men were unable to raise it unassisted. Ships were therefore
fitted with upright winches called capstans.

For example, the Vasa had two capstans:

A large capstan on Vasa’s top deck = for sails = required 20 men

A smaller capstan on Vasa’s battery deck = for anchors = required 8 men

Decks
Orlop deck = used for storage, e.g. sail bin, carpenter’s store, barber’s room
& oars for longboat.

Storage deck = dry provisions, rope, timber & blocks.

Galley = consisted of a stone slab surrounded by a brick wall. Over an open

fire hung a huge (180 litres) cauldron that cooked for the whole ship.

Hold = contained the ballast, the victuals (barrels of salted meat & fish) and
(in the stern) gunpowder barrels as well as (in the fore) the anchor cables.
 Daily routine

Watches
Day light from 8am to 8pm +/- 4 hours for summer/winter.
Measured by an hourglass.
Announced by the ship’s bell.
Within a watch there are teams:
• One team per mast (state of ropes & sails)
• One team for ship (cargo, armaments)

Time Watch Duty

Midnight - Middle Port
4am
4am – 8am Morning Starboar
d
8am – noon Forenoon Port
Noon – 4pm Afternoon Starboar
d
4pm – 8pm Dog Port
8pm - Night Starboar
midnight d

Duty of helmsman and lookout are rotated hourly due to the difficulty of
remaining vigilant on these monotonous but vital roles.

Regular duties include:

• Changing sails
• Trimming sails
• Maintenance of sails and/or rigging

Crew not assigned to watches normally serve a day watch (6am-6pm)

During emergencies (storms or battle) “all hands on deck”.

Pumping
No ship was totally waterproof.
As a result every ship’s bilge slowly filled with water.
To prevent a large accumulation of water than may lead to capsizing all ship
had to bail water.
Most ships, especially large ones, were fitted with bilge pumps to help
remove water from the base of their cargo holds (the Vasa had 4!).
The pumps were worked by hand, usually every morning for about an hour.

Lookout
“[Land/Sail/Breakers] Ho!” or “[Point of interest] [x]° off the [port/starboard]
bow”

The following points of interest can be spotted up to:

Breakers = 3 leagues away
Sail = 6 leagues away
Land = 10 leagues away

But visibility is considerably reduced in (cumulative):

Drizzle: -10
Moonlit night: -10
Fine mist: -20
Light snow: -20
Driving rain: -20
Moonless night: -30
Thick fog: -40
Blizzard: -40
 Combat

Orders
“All hands on deck!”
“Reef all sails!”
“Clear the decks!”
“Fire the stove!”
“Heat the tar”
Tar placed to heat on cook’s stove (used in repairs and amputations).
“Batten down the hatches!”

Ship manoeuvrability

Ship type Per

rou
nd
Small oared 30° turn
Large oared 20° turn
Small sailed 15° turn
Medium 10° turn
sailed
Large sailed 5° turn
Huge sailed 2° turn

Other ship’s attitude

A ship’s attitude to the wind is either described as:
Beating (actually sailing a series of short hauling tacks to windward)
Hauling (perpendicular to the wind)
Running (wind from behind)

Inside ship
Decks are 4-5 foot high (-10WS) and dark (-10WS) = -20WS
Gunwales open in port to provide ventilation, were closed at sea (stops
water entering)

Boarding
Nets draped on side to hamper boarding actions
Distance that must be crossed between 2 ships = 4-12 feet
Swivel gun usually locked down at the last moment (preserves the element
of surprise)

Cannons sizes
• 1lb = swivel gun
• 2lb = robinet
• 3lb = falconet
• 5lb = falcon
• 7lb = minion
• 9lb = saker
• 12lb = demi-culverin
• 18lbs = culverin
• 24lb = demi-cannon
• 32lbs = cannon
• 48lbs = cannon royal
Cannon ranges
Falcons were usually accurate to 300 yards with a maximum range of
2000+ yards!
Minions were usually accurate to 400 yards with a maximum range of
almost 3000 yards!
So suggested ranges (in terms of WFRP mechanics) are 100/400/2000.

Reloading cannons

Rounds required to reload a gun = (gun’s poundage) x 4 – number of

gunners x 2

• Maximum gun crew for small (<12lb) guns = 4 gunners

• Maximum gun crew for great (>12lb) guns = 8 gunners
• Reload time can be reduced by:
o Increasing the gun crew’s effectiveness through repeated
training, at the cost of time (months, even years of training),
barrels power & crates of shot. Each level of gunnery gained by
a gunner reduces reload time by 1 round. So effectively:
 Gunnery = no bonus, simply allows gun crew to fire at
full BS (unskilled = BS –20)
 Expert gunners (Gunnery level 1) = -1 round
 Famous gunners (Gunnery level 2) = -2 rounds
 Legendary gunners (Gunnery level 3) = -3 rounds
o Reducing the time spend pouring water onto the barrel (to cool
it), though this increases the risk of misfires (see Firearms
section of Fumbles table). Add an extra D10 for every round
“rushed”, i.e. gained
• Minimum reload time is 4 rounds

• Once a roll has determined that the vessel has been struck,
determine the hit location accordingly:
 01-10: Below waterline
 11-26: Lower hull
 27-40: Upper hull
 41-50: Maindeck (10% of hitting crew)
 51-60: Forecastle
 61-65: Foredeck (5% of hitting crew)
 66-70: Sterncastle
 71-75: Poop deck (5% of hitting crew)
 76-85: Mast
 86-99: Rigging

Tactics
Keep your broadside bear
Maintain the windward side (ensures the guns are more elevated)
Keep their broadside rare

Ideally, fire at sails & rigging then board.

If boarding is impossible, sail close and direct fire at enemy’s vessel’s
waterline.
If overpowered, the last resort is to set off the powder magazine.

Naval warfare
Cannon quickly became indispensable for naval warfare. Closing with and
boarding an enemy ship became the final stage of the battle, not it’s
beginning. The preliminary stages were manoeuvre to gain advantage,
bombardment of the enemy ship to destroy its masts and rigging, and so its
ability to manoeuvre, to sweep its weather decks of defenders, and to stave
in its wooden sides and set it on fire. Fire was set by heating the shot red-
hot in a furnace and lodging it in the enemy's flanks. The engagement did
not begin at full range of the cannon, but usually at 'half pistol shot' or
about 100 yards, frighteningly close, when the broadsides would have their
maximum effect.

The heaviest guns were placed on the main gun deck, low in the ship.
Lighter guns were placed on higher decks, and even on the top deck. Ships
with several gun decks tended to be top-heavy and in danger of capsizing if
the weight carried was not properly distributed. These guns fired broadside,
so the ship had to be manoeuvred to direct their fire. Guns on the weather
deck could be aimed more flexibly, and the cannon placed at the bows and
the stern were especially valuable to protect the ship from attack from
these directions, which were favoured by attackers since they were not then
exposed to the ship's broadside. It was found that ships of greater
armament (weight of broadside), competently handled, could always defeat
a ship of lighter armament, but that the more lightly armed ships, if
competently designed, could always outrun a more heavily armed ship.
When two ships encountered one another, their captains carefully
considered their chances, so the result was that nearly all individual battles
were between ships of about the same size. Slow lightly armed ships did not
survive long in warfare.

By the time he died, and Henry VIII became king, there were 5 royal
warships. Two of them were new four-masted carracks that were much
larger than the usual English merchant ship. By the time that Henry VIII
died, in 1547, the navy had been built up to about 40 ships

Warships now carried much heavier cannon on board, about 20 heavy, and
60 light ones

Capture
Most of the time, captains preferred to capture ships rather than destroy
them.

Captured fortresses could be ransomed (in 1613 Sweden paid Danemark 1

million daler for Aulborg fortress)

Sinking
If and when a ship has taken so much water onboard that she can no longer
stay afloat, roll a D10 dice to determine her descent in the crushing
darkness:

D10 result
1 Ship hits bottom (sits on shallow area without completely
submerging)
2 Sinks gently (takes 5D10 rounds to submerge)
3-4 Lists to Port (Port takes 3D6 rounds to submerge, entire ship
submerges in 3D10 turns)
5-6 Lists to Starboard (Starboard takes 3D6 turns to submerge, entire
ship submerges in 3D10 turns)
7-8 Ship breaks up in (pieces submerge in 2D10 rounds)
9 Ship goes straight to the bottom (submerges in D10 rounds)
10 Ship goes down immediately, sucking down everything within 50 feet.
Swim test or get dragged under and drown

Sea burials
Bodies are stitched into their sailcloth hammocks and weighed down by a
cannonball at each end. The Captain then recites a prayer before the bag is
slid off a plank down into the waters below:
We therefore commit these bodies to the deep, to be turned back to the
womb of this world, looking for the resurrection of the body, when Mannan
shall give up his dead and join his place beside his mother and father, Rhya
and Taal to seek their counsel. Until that day, may Morr guide their souls…
 Trading

Capacity
Small: <60t
Medium: 60-300t
Large: 300-700t
Very large: >700t

Cargo
Burthern is the tonnage available for cargo.
Crew = 2 cwt
10-pounder = 1 ton
Shot = weight of shot
Powder = ½ weight of shot
Provisions = 12lb/man/day

Liberty chests
Trunks or sea chests than usually measure 3ft x 2ft x 2ft.
Usually contain personal possessions but can carry trade goods.

Equipment
Spares (for repairs)
Pindas
Anchors

Anchors
Used for keeping the vessel’s head to the wind, thus reducing the danger of
swamping.
Sea anchor: used to ride out gale/storm.
Bottom anchor: used in relatively shallow water (<30 fathoms)

Navigational instruments (30lb, 50GCs)

Compass
Cross-staff (measures latitude)
Astrolabe (measure altitude)
Dividers
Hourglass
Charts
Logbooks
Spyglass = x8 magnification
 Maritime life

Maritime encounters
Land encounters
Pirates/native trying to flag down/swim out to vessel
Wild animals (opportunity for fresh meat)
Castaways in need of rescue
Fishing boat
Local merchant vessel
Foreign merchant vessel
Pirates
Local warship
Foreign warship
Mutiny/dissent/argument
Maelstrom/tidal bore/whirlpool
Squall/Freak wind
Fire onboard
Equipment failure
Food/water spoilage
Disease/scurvy
Fighting onboard
Man over board
Whales/dolphins
Seals/walruses
Sea monster
Sirens
Harpies
Unchartered island
Doldrums
Accident onboard
Ship damaged
Abandoned ship

Maritime pastimes
Song
Fiddling
Dance
Storytelling
Carving/whittling
Gunnery practice
Board games
Gambling (illegal aboard ship)
Smoking (illegal aboard ship)

Sleeping
Crew lived on battery decks among the cannons. Sleeping & eating on bare
wooden decks. Often as many as 7 between each cannon. Only the officers
had dedicated sleeping quarters called bunks or cots.

Sounding
Conducted by the leadsman.
Using a 10-pound lead to check water depth.
Uses 25-fathom line marked every fathom (6 feet) and tallow insert in base
(to check nature of sea-bed)
Only performed when ship is moving very slowly 1-2 yards per second

Grounding
Risks are present from:
Shorelines
Rivers
Reefs
Particularly bad news if the hazard is leeward and the vessel is drifting!

Kedging
If grounded and requiring help, a ship raises its flag upside down.
“Kedging” is possible by putting a bottom anchor in a longboat and then
dropping it leeward of the ship. Then using the winch the crew pulls the ship
towards the anchor and off the obstacle.
A ship attempting to enter a harbour without a pilot is running the “Dance of
the Dead”
But only possible in waters of less than 25 fathoms.

Fire
All flints, candles, lanterns or other sources of fire are forbidden, as they are
the sole custody of the purser. The only exception is the cook and his
kitchen, usually placed at the stern, well away from the powder room.

Disciplinary rules
• No running
• No gambling
• No smoking
• No women
• All flints, candles, lanterns or other sources of fire are forbidden, as
they are the sole custody of the purser. The only exception is the
cook in his kitchen and the captain.
• No one other than the quartermaster is to visit the hold without the
Captain’s permission
• No one other than officers, passengers, midshipman and bosun are to
visit the steerage without the Captain’s permission
• No one other than officers are to visit the great cabin without the
Captain’s permission
• A sacrifice to Mannan is required every time that a ship sets sail
• A prayer to Mannan is said by every sailor starting his watch:
o We, here today, pledge to honour thy name and respect your
realm,
o Please allow us to cross your vast dominion unharmed.
o For this we do humbly pray,
o And beseech your forgiveness.
o For thy art the master and we are but the humble children of
Rhya…
• The captain must always be saluted by a sailor
• The presence of a captain on the bridge is always heralded:
o “Captain on the bridge”
o “Captain off the bridge”
 • No sailor or passenger is allowed to carry arms other than a dagger
without the Captain’s permission. All other arms are to be handed
over to the midshipman who’ll store them for safekeeping in ship’s
armoury safely under lock & key (the Captain holds the only key)
• Sailors not on watch are confined to the top and main decks unless
they have the Captain’s permission
• The captain is the ship’s master. Other than Sigmar himself, he is the
ultimate judicial authority. He is bestowed with the power to
investigate, try and punish all crimes.

Sentences
• Minor offences
o Fined 1-10 days pay
o Fined rum rations 1-10 days
o Flogged for 6-12
o Repeat offender = 12-24 lashes
• Severe offences
o Striking an officer = loss of a hand
o Marooning
o Keel-hauling (could be keelhauled not just once but twice, even
thrice!)
• Capital punishments
o Hung from the yardarm
o Sold into slavery

“In the name of Sigmar and our beloved king/emperor,

I sentence you to receive one score strokes of the whip,
delivered on the bare back,
for falling asleep during watch.
A further dozen strokes shall be delivered for questioning the decision of the
boatswain.
May the gods have mercy with your soul.“

Executioner = boatswain or boat’s swine

Types of punishment
• The irons – the punished are sat in several inches of freezing bilge
water. Its dark, it stinks and rats frequently scamper past, sometimes
gnawing at their extremities. Food is given once a day in silence. The
deprivation and the harshness of the conditions require a WP test
every day to avoid gaining 1 Insanity Point.
• Cat’o’nine tails – public punishment, between 5 and 30 lashes with an
aim to discipline not to kill. D3 + Str for each lash. Remember that
past 0 Wounds, a character’s Wound cannot lower. However each
critical inflicts 1 Insanity Point.
• Keel hauling – victim is attached to a cable and dragged down the
side, into the water, underwater, over the keel and up over the
opposite side. The entire process takes 2 to 3 minutes and is lethal in
the majority of cases. If the victim doesn’t die of drowning (after T
rounds, victims looses 1 W per round) he is likely to survive being
 dragged over the molluscs (D4 W to a random body location per
round)
• Hanging – the most severe punishment, the accused is hung from the
yardarm (the main mast’s arm) until thoroughly dead. Indeed the
hanged may be displayed for days on end.

Mutiny
• Generally only occur on long and/or perilous voyages
• Mutineers are desperate men as the sentence for their crimes is
death
• Mutinies aren’t unleashed unless at least a third of the crew are
committed
• The first objective for mutineers is the gun locker
• The second is to eliminate the captain either by marooning him,
putting him to boat (usually with his officers) or by execution

Careening
Necessary every 4 months as ship speed slows by 10% every month (due to
accumulation of molluscs) and toredo worms risk weakening the hull.
 Crew
Life as sailor
Onboard life was awful:
• Stench (bilge water was stagnant as well as rotting provisions
and/or cargo)
• Disease
o Legs shrivelling
o Teeth falling out
o Neck swelling such that the victim could not speak
• Tedium
Irrespective of rank and seniority, everyone aboard wore headgear.

Example of the crew for a large, fighting vessel:

1 admiral
1 captain
2 lieutenants
1 barber
1 priest
1 trumpeter (signalman?)
4 steersman
2 shipmasters
1 leading seamen
6 deck officers
4 quartermasters
90 seamen
20 gunners
1 flog master
1 cook
1 cook’s assistant
4 cabin boys

In large navies, a vice admiral presides over a squadron of ships (#?)

Shipmaster helps the captain
Lieutenants & leading seamen = looked after gunnery & artillery
Deck officers = lowest officers in the navy

Pilots
Best way to begin is to have the PC employed on a vessel whose captain
(the GM) is seeking a new pilot. After one or two voyages between known
ports, a commission to explore and open up new trade routes will keep the
interest high. Eventually, the PC will (hopefully) have earned enough money
to buy his own vessel, or to persuade a usurer to finance his purchase.

A veteran pilot would have charts for several different regions and together
with his rutter he will slowly generate an impressive body of knowledge. A
private rutter is a compendium of maps, charts, facts, experiences and
hearsay. In fact it is probably the single most valuable item aboard a ship.
So much so that the unauthorised possession of a rutter is a capital crime.
As a result, in the right circles, the rutter of a famous master pilot can fetch
hundreds, if not thousands of gold pieces.
Apprentice pilots are not paid. Instead they receive the honour of their
master’s teachings, an occasional gift as well as board and lodging aboard
the ship. Nearly all pilots have at least one apprentice. Certain wealthy or
famous pilots may have two. Apprentice pilots usually train first at one of
the few naval academies. Baron Hendryk’s College of Magick & Navigation
in Marienberg is probably the most famous in the Old World. Thereafter
apprentices must have served under at least two pilots, before attempting a
difficult oral test.

All sea-going vessels over 30’ long are required by law to carry master
pilots.
Although captains command a vessel, a pilot navigates it:
• Calculates the vessel’s position
• Plots the courses to be steered
• Calls the quartering of the sails

Above all other ranks navigators are respected by other seafarers. This is
also reflected in their high pay (almost as much as the captain).

Barber
Was vital as most men died not of combat but of disease!
• Blood letter = let blood or “run out” an illness
• Culperer = prepare medicines
• Surgeon = extract teeth & amputate limbs
Common diseases (bone ailments, skin complaints, shivers, scurvy) were
responsible for 90% of deaths.

Scurvy = terrible disease which rotted the skin and gums and caused teeth
to fall out, prevented by daily doses of orange or lemon juice

Diseases common to the Panama route

* Yellow fever
* Malaria
* Dysentery
* Cholera - an epidemic in Panama City killed many as they waited.

Diseases common to the Cape Horn route

* Scurvy - due to lack of fresh fruit and vegetables.
* Cholera

Carpenter
Repairs the ship & prepares coffins for dead officers (dead sailors are
wrapped in canvas & heaved over board. Captain is returned to port in a
barrel, pickled with rum).

Sailors
Known as “jack tar” due to the habit of painting with tar or “tarring” not only
their clothes and hats but also the tops of their heads (should they go bald).

Only about half of seafarers could actually swim.

Wages
Paid every 30 days
Crew are obliged to serve until the vessel returns to their home port
Equally, although the captain may discharge a sailor in any port, if it is not
the sailor’s home part he obliged to pay compensation.
Crew taking their leave for good usually expect a golden handshake of 10-
30 days.
Should a crew member die, a report is expected to be filed in the first port
of call and compensation paid to the local Seaman’s Guild (pay due + 30
days widow bonus)
Should crew “jump ship” (leave secretly) they forfeit all wages due - despite
this forfeit, desertion was quite common (30-45%), especially as it was
perfectly legal to serve another man’s conscription.

Position Roles Pay Shar Liberty

(shillings/d e chests
ay)
Owner Owns the ship - 60 -
Captain or Ultimate authority 13 20 5
Master
Pilot Navigator (same as 8 15 4
captain on small vessels)
First mate Officer: executes orders 5 8 3
and is reserve Captain
Midshipman Port watch, 4 6 2
Boson Starboard watch, 4 6 2
discipline
Able-bodied Team leader of mate, 3 4 1
seaman helmsman, sounding
Ordinary Rigging (at least 2 years) 2 2 1
seaman
Deck boy Cleaning, pumping 1 1 1
bilges, swabbing decks
(at least 30 days,
probably 1 year)
Ship’s or “chippy” 3 4 3
carpenter
Marine 2 4 2
sergeant
Marine 1 3 1

It may not sound like very much given the harsh conditions but bear in that
in addition to their coin, all crewmembers benefited from regular meals &
fixed lodging.
A final form of payment was cloth (homespun wool).
This permitted every man to makes is own garments.
Usually a long canvas undershirt + homespun wool undergarments.

Duties to the dead

1. A report must filed at the temple of Mannan in the ship’s next port of
call
2. Full payment of wages owed must be paid to the temple (goes
towards a fund that cares for local widows and orphans)
 3. As well as a widow’s bonus of 30 days’ wages (DB= 30/-, OS = 60/-,
AB = 90/-)
4. Often pay more since the vessel’s reputation is at stake

Sailors have been maimed during their duties aboard a ship can also expect
compensation depending on the severity of their disability:

Injury Compensati
on
Loss of an eye 2, 10/-
Loss of right 15
arm
Loss of left arm 12, 10/-
Loss of a finger 2, 10/-
Loss of right leg 12, 10/-
Loss of left leg 10

Privateers
Similar to pirates except that:
• Letter of Marque is required to prove that the ship isn’t a pirate
• Only nobility are licensed to grant Letters of Marque
• Captains must only attack ships belonging to enemy nations
• To capture an enemy ship, the captain usually places ¼ of his crew
onboard
• To claim their prize, captains must bring their ship back to a
“friendly” port
• An enemy vessel returned, the privateers can claim ¼ of its total
value

Superstitions
Before setting sail, every ship and its crew seek to be blessed by a priest of
Mannan. Sometimes even blessing every plank of the ship’s hull!
You, believers or not in Mannan, who are about to embark upon the vast
dominion of the Lord of the Seas, gather ye and pray us together… for it is
together, on the same fragile and uncertain embarkation that you shall
cross a wild and unknown realm; a territory that is not yours, on which you
have no right, but only duties; a duty of humility and reverence, for nothing
is more powerful than the surge of the seas and the fury of winds; a duty of
solidarity, for united and adrift alone in the vastness of this ocean, you all
share a single and like destiny. The moment you quit the protective and
caring earth of Rhya, mother of our Lord, your one and only master will
become the almighty Manann. He be a wild and turbulent god, pray thus
that none among you incur his wrath. Thus should there be one among you
who feels his soul too blemished to face the judgement of Manann, abandon
ye now this voyage lest he lead his companions to their peril

Onboard, sailors regularly pray at the tiny shrine to Mannan (built into the
figurehead) and offer a thimble of grog to “her”.
A regular service is held every second Festag,

• No magic, even of divine nature on the Ship: it attracts sea daemons

• Women always bring bad luck
• No whistling: it brings bad omens.
• No gazing directly at a Full Morrslieb: it attracts bad waves
• Dolphins cannot be fished, as they are the messengers of Mannan
• Ravens, as messengers of Morr, are not welcome on ships and are
thus shooed away.
• Albatrosses are welcome as they are considered to be good omens
they are not only welcome but fed and watered by the crew.
• The ship’s figurehead is the most holy part of the ship as it contains
the ship’s soul. Damage to the figurehead is considered an omen of
doom.
• Women bring bad luck.
• Wizards are dangerous as they call spirits best left undisturbed,
attract fire and the enemy’s attentions
• A bowl of water and platter of grain is left on the deck every night for
Klabaster, king of the Kobolds. Though he doesn’t dine every night,
you can be sure that he’ll take his share every once in a while.
• The Black Freighter is attracted to death. Sailors take pains never to
kill anything they don’t need to while at sea.
• The Black Freighter hunts wreckers and takes revenge on those who
trick sailors to watery graves.
• Having any kind of criminal on a ship is bad luck, but murderers
attract the ship like blood attracts sharks.
• Hanging a dead man’s shoes from the mast will keep the black
freighter at bay.
• Some sailors keep a cat onboard in the belief that the cat can smell
the ship and keep sailors clear of it.
• Mutiny attracts the ship as certainly as murderers and plots of murder
do.
• The ship travels in a perpetual storm preceded by a ghostly mist that
seems to have a mind of its own.
• Some ships keep a fire burning all night long, thinking that the ghost
ship can only travel in complete darkness.
• Some claim that if the ghost ship finds you, giving it one of your own
crew will make it go away.
• Whenever a ship enters a storm, sailors blindfold the figurehead.
They believe if the figurehead sees the ship, it will sink out of fright.
• At night, the bosun never strikes the sixth bell. Instead he calls it out.
This little custom comes from the belief that the ship struck the reef
on the sixth bell.
• Black seems to be an important colour when speaking of the ghost
ship. Some captains refuse to let anyone wear black on board ... just
in case
• Black birds are also bad omens, especially when they land on the
figurehead. Many captains refuse to carry a corpse on board for the
same reasons.
• If a man dies on board, it is customary to never have another man on
the ship with the same name. If a man has the same name as the
corpse, he must take a nickname and never be called by his real
name.
 Ship’s supplies
Supplies = provisions (victuals or foodstuffs) & stores (stuff for the ship)

Food
Food was monotonous = beer, bread, dried/salted meat.
With up to seven men per wooden bowl.
Other than garments, spoons were just about the only personal possession.
Only officers enjoyed glass, pewter & ceramic utensils.
Terrible aboard military ships, especially oared vessels.
Slightly better aboard merchant ships.
Consisted of:
• Gruel or Nurgle’s spit (grain porridge, served daily)
• Salt beef (often salted years before, sometimes decades before,
therefore can be as hard as stone, boiled then grated, served once or
twice a week)
• Waterfowl (chickens that prowl on deck, served for the captain)
• Biscuits (hard and weevil-infested) known as “hard tack”
• Dried beans, lentils, prunes and currents

Daily diet = bread, peas, beans, oatmeal, fish, biscuit & dried, salted or
pickled meat.
Drinking water fouls 20 days after being casked.
Purchased by purser from marine chandler.
Access controlled by purser/quartermaster and/or bosun.

In order of perishability
Provisions generally consisted of 2-3 months of beer, water, salted meat &
fish.

Days Type of provision

3 Fresh vegetables
5 Fresh fish (Take from the ocean and she'll take
from you)
10 Fresh meat
15 Fresh water
20 Biscuits
25 Salted fish
30 Smoked fish
35 Dried vegetables
40 Beer
45 Rum
50 Pickled vegetables

The BIG 4
lumber
pitch
canvas
rope

powder & shot

Typical supplies
Cheese, beans, oats, malt and barley for beer, wine, bread, eels, venison,
herrings, rice, figs, and raisins were other food items the garrison received.
Other non-food supplies would include horses and harnesses, hauberks,
suits of mail, crossbows, cables, cords, coal, arrows, bolts, iron, and lead.

handmill
112 ½ quarters of corn
10 ½ quarters wheat malt
112 ½ quarters beans
7 bushels of mixed beans and barley
2 tons of pilcorn
9 1/2 quarters of oatmeal
78 carcases of salted meat
81 oxhides
40 mutton carcases
72 hams
1,856 stockfish
wine, honey and vinegar

Salt pork, salt beef, ham, hard bread, salt, 40 pounds of butter and cheese,
tea, sugar and spices.

Problems with supplies:

* Salt meat often went bad.
* Wine turned to vinegar.
* Bottles of fruit juice blew up.
* Candles melted near the equator.
* Rats ate cheese.
* Butter and lard went rancid.
* Weevils got into flour, rice and hard bread.

Sailors complained their food was so bad that it included mouldy bread and
diseased meat. Pepys met with suppliers and agreed rules about the
standard of food purchased from them to make up crews' rations. Every
day, sailors were to get one gallon of beer, 500g of biscuit, 100g of salt beef
or fish, butter and cheese. The absence of fresh fruit and vegetables
ensured that the terrible disease of scurvy would continue.

They lived mainly on ships' biscuit (about half a kilogram a day) and dried
salted meat, usually pork or beef. Each sailor was also given 10 pints (5.7
litres) of beer every day.
For crew of 50 on a 4-week voyage:

Type Details Weight Cost No. Total Total

(CWT Cost
)
Fresh vegetables Per bushel .5 3 32 16 96
Fresh fish “Take from o ocean & she'll take from you” per 2 10 8 16 80
barrel
Fresh water Per hogshead 5 1 35 175 35
Biscuits Per bushel .5 .5 64 32 32
Salted fish Per hogshead 5 98 2 10 196
Smoked fish Per hogshead 5 80 2 10 160
Dried vegetables Per bushel .5 11 32 16 352
Beer Per hogshead 5 3 35 175 105
Rum Per keg 1 5 8 8 40
Pickled Per hogshead 5 35 3 15 105
vegetables
Total 473 1201
24
tons

Wet goods measures

Keg (12 gallons or 60 bottles) = 600 enc (100lb)
Barrel (25 gallons) = 2 kegs
Hogshead = 2 barrels
Butt = 2 hogsheads (½ ton)

Dry goods measures

Bag = 100 enc (20lb)
Bushel = 400 enc (60lb)
Sack (3 bushels) = 800 enc

Units of weights
100lb = 1 hundredweight
1 hundredweight = 1 cwt
20 cwt = 1 ton
1 ton = 10,000 enc
 Dockside
Shipyards
Require scores if not hundreds of workers.
Roughly 1 oak tree per tun burthern of vessel.
Facilities include = slipways, sail-lofts, fitting shops, acres of seasoned and
seasoning timber, offices, boathouses, careening cradles
Most work is repairing and maintaining vessels (not building new ones)
Shipmaster Henrik Hybertson worked 400 men in his shipyard.
Ship’s reckoning = table of principal measurements + important design
details
Underwater salvage was possible and to a depth of 30m (!) through use of a
simple diving bell

Shipbuilding professions
Caulkers Master ship builder
Sailmakers Captain of the shipyard
Ship’s carpenters Mast & maintop makers
Sawyers Gun carriage makers
Joiners Borers
Turners & blockmakers
Woodcarvers -------
Blacksmiths
Nailsmiths (up to 2 yards long & Masons
8,000 used) Painters
Anchorsmiths Porters
Locksmiths Hauliers
Ropemakers Tailors

Caulking
Ships were made watertight using a mixture of pitch (wood resin boiled
down to make a sort of tar) and old hemp (or yak hair) called oakum, which
was then driven into all slits, and joints using wedge & sledgehammer.
Rushed caulking can lead to the bilges overflowing, thus damaging cargo.
Bailing is required to empty the bilges.

Shipnames
Black Dog
Unicorn
Mermaid
Orb
Mercury (Quicksilver?)

Typical sea vessel sizes

Medium galleon (Naïve Maen)

Length on Deck: 85 feet
Length on Keel: 64.5 feet
Height: 78 feet
Beam: 17.3 feet
Draft: 8.5 feet
Crew: 15-20
Class: Yacht
Displacement: 112 tons Typical river vessels sizes
Storage: 80 tons
Rigging: square and lateen sails 8t = medium fishing boat
Original construction: carvel-fitted 15t = large fishing boat
planks 30t = small barge
Original Construction Date: 1608 60t = medium barge
Replica Construction Date: 1989 90t = large barge
Masts: fore, main, mizzen 200t = largest barge
Sail Area: 2,757 square feet
Anchors: 4
Cannons: 2 starboard, 2 larboard,
2 stern chasers

Outfitting
Each man aboard requires a minimum of 0.2 tuns living space.
This is doubled for cabins, i.e. ½ tun per passenger.
This doubled again for horses, i.e. 1 tun per mount.
Each large anchor weights 0.5 tuns

Port encounters
Cargo inspection (cursory or thorough) revealing? Inconsistencies in cargo
manifest? Tax evasion? Contraband goods? Confiscation? Fines? Arrested?
Vessel impounded?
Offer of a charter from a [merchant/noble/explorer/officer]
Stowaway
Passengers (steerage and/or cabins)

Fees
Collected by harbourmaster:
Pilot’s fee
Wharfage = 3s/foot/day
Anchorage = 2s/foot/day
Unloading fee (stevedores) = 4s per ton at a rate of 10 cwt (½ tun) per hour
per man
Bonding fee (if stored) = 2s per ton
Hawking fee (if sold) = 4s per ton

Registry fee (able to fly port’s flag = halves wharfage and anchorage fees)
= 15s/foot/year

Rates for passengers

Passage (eat & sleep in a cabin) = 1GC per league
Steerage (eat & sleep with sailors) = 6/- per league
Pirate tongue
“Avast ye” = hailed ship must stop
3 sheets to the wind = drunk
Abaft = rear of ship
Bilge = Nonsense
Black jack = leather tankard stiffened with tar
“Blimey!”
Brass monkey = cold weather
Drop anchor = throw anchor
“Freezing balls off brass monkey”: brass monkey = brass triangle used to
stack iron cannonballs
Gangway
Grog = watered down rum
Hornswaggle = a cheat
Matey = a friendly
Me hearties = crew, term of endearment
Mizzenmast = mast closest to aft
Quarter = a prize given to honourable looser
Quarterdeck = just below poop
Ratlines = lateral lines on shrouds
Rope’s end = flogging
Run a shot across the bows
Scuppers = drainage holes on top deck
Shrouds = standing rigging
“Sink me!”
Son of a gun!
Splice the mainbrace = I fancy a drink
Strike = lower or let down (sails or flag), striking colours denotes a
surrendering ship
Trim = adjust sails to wind
Under bare poles = a ship with no sails set
Weigh anchor = raise anchor
Complex commands
Watch, single reef topsails!
Way aloft topmen!
Take one reef in topsails!
Man topsail clewlines and buntlines,
weather topsail braces!
Hands by the lee braces, bowlines and
halliards!
Clear away bowlines, round in weather
braces, settle away the topsail
halyards!
Clew down!
Haul out the reef tackle!
Haul up the buntlines!
Stand by the booms!
Trice up!
Lay out and take one reef!
Light out to windward!
Light out to leeward!
Toggle away!
Lay in!
Standby the booms!
Down booms!
Lay down from aloft!
Man the topsail halyards!
Let go the reef-tackles!
Clear away buntlines and clewlines!
Tend the braces!
Set taut!
Hoist away the topsails!
Belay the topsail halyards!
Steady out the bowlines!
Clear away on deck!