Women in Nelson's Navy

Page 3 of 6

• 1. Attitudes then and now
• 2. On-board wives
• 3. Women on the lower deck
• 4. Passengers and nurses
• 5. Burials on Nelson's Island
• 6. Find out more
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Women on the lower deck

Whenever Royal Navy ships of the period came into port, an armada of 'bumboats' immediately besieged them. Bumboats were small vessels that brought fresh vegetables, supplies and, most notoriously, prostitutes and drink to the warships. In port, most ships' captains allowed prostitutes onboard, and the men were in any case already issued with large quantities of drink - the standard allowance was a gallon of beer a man per day. If beer was not available, then a pint of wine or half a pint of spirits could be substituted.

The warships of the day were very overcrowded, and each man was only allowed 14 inches in which to hang his hammock. Add large numbers of prostitutes to the overcrowding and heavy drinking, and the scenes below decks where the men lived must have been something to behold. A sailor wrote that,

'with the women came drink and what with the drink and the women the ship's discipline came to a stop. The men and women drank and quarrelled between the guns. The decks were allowed to become dirty. Drunken women were continually coming up to insult the officers, or to lodge some complaint. Sometimes the women ran aloft to wave their petticoats to the flagship'.

Other women, disguised as men, are also known to have entered the Royal Navy, and to have served for some considerable time without detection. Much has been written about them, and while some of these stories are likely to be folk myths, there are a number of attested cases in which the women involved became minor celebrities.

For instance Hanna Snell, the daughter of a dyer from Worcester, enlisted in the army in 1745, deserted, and then enlisted in the marines - who were shipboard soldiers (later to become the Royal Marines) who helped keep discipline onboard ship. Hanna saw action in this capacity, and was eventually badly wounded in both thighs. Despite this, her true sex was never identified, and she recovered from her wounds. In 1750 she revealed her true identity, became a celebrity and starred on the stage.

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Published: 2004-02-15