What The Records Show,

What the records show,

The floats of boats,

Desertion

After many of the men were rather involuntarily brought aboard a warship, many also tried to leave immediately. Not only those who were pressed, there were also many who arrived voluntarily and wanted to leave after some time.  This was not very easy, of course, as the ships were secured by the marines. But according to Admiral Phillip Patton (1739-1815), 5662 Seamen, 3909 ordinary Seamen and 2737 landsmen deserted in just two years between 1803-1805. Vice- Admiral Horatio Nelson (1758-1805) , on the other hand, estimated that about 42,000 deserted in the years 1793-1802. One unfortunate ship in particular was HMS Alfred, 74 guns. She lost 6% of her crew in just four days.

But if the ships were so well guarded, how could the men disappear? Well, it has to be said that not all men who disappeared deserted. Some of them found themselves dead on land a short time later, either because they had been murdered or because they had fallen from the rigging. But those who really did desert usually did so when the men went out to fetch water, or on other occasions when they were supposed to go ashore. Now and then some of them tried it in the night with one of the boats. Since not many men could swim, swimming attempts were quite rare. In 1811, however, Robert Hay and a companion with air-filled bladders on their backs attempted to swim away from HMS Ceres, a guardship in the Nore. The men who made it, tried their luck in America, but also in France and Spain.

To prevent disruptions, the boats that were left astern overnight in the late 18th century for emergencies, but they were brought back on board and the emergency principle was discontinued around 1800. In harbours it was normal to have a watchboat circling the ship. And as already mentioned, the marines were deployed to provide protection on board.

But as mentioned above, many managed to escape, but not everyone managed to start a new life. Those who were recaptured and could not hide were court-martialled and should have been hanged. But there were also cases where men were punished by flogging round the fleet, usually with 300 lashes or more. Men caught during the attempt or shortly afterwards were punished directly on board by the captain with 12 or more lashes.