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
01-05
06-11
12-19
20-28
29-38
39-49
50-59
Wind speed
Calm
Light air
Light breeze
Gentle breeze
Moderate
breeze
Fresh breeze
Strong breeze
60-69
Moderate
gale
70-78
Fresh gale
79-86
Strong gale
87-93
Whole gale
94-98
Storm
99-00
Hurricane
Season
Spring
Summer
Autumn
Winter
Mod
+10
+10
+20
Effects
Modifier
0
+30
+20
+10
-
Ship’s rate
Becalmed
Drifting
Crawling
Coasting
Breezing
Full speed
Steerage
1 knots
2 knots
3 knots
Steerage
8 leagues
16 leagues
24 leagues
-
Sailing
Gliding
4 knots
5 knots
32 leagues
40 leagues
-
Cruising
6 knots
48 leagues
-10
Flying
7 knots
56 leagues
-20
Careering
8 knots
64 leagues
-30
Thundering
9 knots
72 leagues
-40
-
Steerage
Steerage
-50
-
-
-
10% chance of rain,
close-reef top gallants,
single-reef other sails
20% chance of rain,
close-reef lateen sail,
double-reef other sails
40% chance of rain,
close-reef courses,
triple-reef other sails
60% chance of rain,
close-reef all sails
80% chance of rain,
reef all sails
Driving rain,
ship takes water
Torrential rain,
ship begins to capsize
Waters
The Sea of Claws
The Southern Sea
The Tilean Sea
The Black Gulf
The Middle Sea
The Great Western Ocean
Prevailing winds
Generally:
Day = onshore breezes
Mod
+5
-10
+5
-
Locale
Inland water
Sheltered water
Open sea
per day
Mod
-10
+10
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.
Quadrant
Astrolabe
Cross-staff
Clear
-10
+10
Cloudy
-20
-10
-
O’cast
No sight
No sight
No sight
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 / minute
15
30
45
60
75
90
100
> 100
Ship speed (knots)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
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 aid
None
Sunstone
Lodestone
Compass
Clear
+10
+20
+30
Cloudy
-10
+15
+25
O’cast
-20
-10
+10
+20
Fog/night
-30
-20
+5
+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 direction
On the quarter
Abeam
Astern
On the bow
Top speed
Full speed
2 knots below full speed
2 knots below full speed
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
Midnight - 4am
4am – 8am
8am – noon
Noon – 4pm
4pm – 8pm
8pm - midnight
Watch
Middle
Morning
Forenoon
Afternoon
Dog
Night
Duty
Port
Starboard
Port
Starboard
Port
Starboard
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
Small oared
Large oared
Small sailed
Medium sailed
Large sailed
Huge sailed
Per round
30° turn
20° turn
15° turn
10° turn
5° turn
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!
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 9 rounds, i.e. 1½ minutes
Extra gunners were far from useless. They step in to replace injured gun crew.
This ensures that cannons continue to fire even after sustaining heavy injuries.
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
1
2
3-4
5-6
result
Ship hits bottom (sits on shallow area without completely submerging)
Sinks gently (takes 5D10 rounds to submerge)
Lists to Port (Port takes 3D6 rounds to submerge, entire ship submerges in
3D10 turns)
Lists to Starboard (Starboard takes 3D6 turns to submerge, entire ship
7-8
9
10
submerges in 3D10 turns)
Ship breaks up in (pieces submerge in 2D10 rounds)
Ship goes straight to the bottom (submerges in D10 rounds)
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
Owner
Captain or
Master
Pilot
First mate
Midshipman
Boson
Able-bodied
seaman
Ordinary seaman
Deck boy
Ship’s carpenter
Marine sergeant
Marine
Roles
Owns the ship
Ultimate authority
Navigator (same as captain
on small vessels)
Officer: executes orders and
is reserve Captain
Port watch,
Starboard watch, discipline
Team leader of mate,
helmsman, sounding
Rigging (at least 2 years)
Cleaning, pumping bilges,
swabbing decks (at least 30
days, probably 1 year)
or “chippy”
Pay
(shillings/day)
13
Share
Liberty
chests
60
20
5
8
15
4
5
8
3
4
4
3
6
6
4
2
2
1
2
1
2
1
1
1
3
2
1
4
4
3
3
2
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
Compensation
Loss of an eye
Loss of right arm
Loss of left arm
Loss of a finger
Loss of right leg
Loss of left leg
2, 10/15
12, 10/2, 10/12, 10/10
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,
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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
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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
3
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
Type of provision
Fresh vegetables
Fresh fish (Take from the ocean and she'll take from you)
Fresh meat
Fresh water
Biscuits
Salted fish
Smoked fish
Dried vegetables
Beer
Rum
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
Fresh vegetables
Fresh fish
Fresh water
Biscuits
Salted fish
Smoked fish
Dried vegetables
Beer
Rum
Pickled vegetables
Total
Per bushel
“Take from o ocean & she'll take from you” per barrel
Per hogshead
Per bushel
Per hogshead
Per hogshead
Per bushel
Per hogshead
Per keg
Per hogshead
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
Weight
(CWT)
.5
2
5
.5
5
5
.5
5
1
5
Cost
(rouble)
3
10
1
.5
98
80
11
3
5
35
No.
32
8
35
64
2
2
32
35
8
3
Total
(CWT)
16
16
175
32
10
10
16
175
8
15
473
24 tons
Total
Cost
96
80
35
32
196
160
352
105
40
105
1201
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
Sailmakers
Ship’s carpenters
Sawyers
Joiners
Turners & blockmakers
Woodcarvers
Blacksmiths
Nailsmiths (up to 2 yards long & 8,000
used)
Anchorsmiths
Locksmiths
Ropemakers
Master ship builder
Captain of the shipyard
Mast & maintop makers
Gun carriage makers
Borers
------Masons
Painters
Porters
Hauliers
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
Typical river vessels 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
Storage: 80 tons
Rigging: square and lateen sails
Original construction: carvel-fitted
planks
Original Construction Date: 1608
Replica Construction Date: 1989
Masts: fore, main, mizzen
Sail Area: 2,757 square feet
Anchors: 4
Cannons: 2 starboard, 2 larboard, 2
stern chasers
8t = medium fishing boat
15t = large fishing boat
30t = small barge
60t = medium barge
90t = large barge
200t = largest barge
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!