What Was A Boys Job On A Sailing Ship?

In the Age of Sail, boys were an integral part of sealife, comprising a significant proportion of the crews of both merchant and military vessels. In the British Royal Navy, extensive regulations existed concerning the selection of young sailors to man the vast fleet of the British Empire. Boys were often the arch-criminal brains of pirate operations and helped the cook in the galley and carry meals to the seamen in the mess deck and officers in their quarters aft. On big ships, they carried messages back and forth between officers and the rest of the crew, who occupied different parts of the ship.

Typical jobs on board included cook, parson, surgeon, master gunner, boatswain (in charge of the sails), carpenter, and quartermaster. A young lad who went off to sea most generally began as a cabin boy. In the historical novel Shogun, the main character Blackthorne, a daring explorer finds himself in feudal Japan, there is a moment where he begins as a cabin boy.

In the modern merchant navy, a young lad who went off to sea most generally began as a cabin boy. In Captains Courageous, Rudyard Kipling describes the job as cooks helper an everything. Other members of the crew included cook, parson, surgeon, master gunner, boatswain (in charge of the sails), carpenter, and quartermaster.

Another role for young boys on ship was the Powder Monkey, who ran gunpowder from below decks (such as the orlop) to the cannon crews during battle. The Powder Monkey was a British Naval role, where young boys ran gunpowder from below decks (such as the orlop) to the cannon crews during battle.