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A scrimshawed and polychromed double comb, sailors love token, British, mid 19th century

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I think humans are meant to see the ocean.

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Writing pirates: Pirates vs Privateers (part one)

Before we dive into the glamour and destruction of a pirate’s life, it’s important to establish and difference between the crews who operated the seven seas in the 1700s. 

PIRATES

A group of men who robbed and plundered the sea, but also committed felonies, robberies and murders in any haven, river or creek where the Lord High Admiral had jurisdiction. 

The Lord High of Admiral = The ceremonial head of the Royal Navy (also known as someone who appears to be in charge, but holds very little influence, like most monarchs today) 

Jurisdiction: The official power to make legal decisions and judgements

BUCCANEER

Pirates who preyed on Spanish ships and ports in the Caribbean Sea. To Spain, they were nothing more than ordinary pirates, but for their nations, they were much more than that. 

Spain strived to keep all their possessions from the rest of the world, and the rise of buccaneers came apparent when the English occupied Jamaica, which provided them with a base to attack Spanish settlements. 

CORSAIRS

Pirates (and privateers) who operated in North Africa. Their base primarily in the ports of Salé, Rabat, Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli.

(also referred to as: barbary pirates, barbary corsairs or ottoman corsairs)

PRIVATEER

An armed vessel, consisting of a commander and his crew, who was licensed to attack, seize and loot ships of hostile nations. 

The license was issued in form of a document, which was called the Letter of Marque (and Reprisal, LOMAR for short). The letter was written in ponderous legal phrases, and decorated with an elaborate pen and ink flourishes. 

The Captain, or commander, of the ship, was expected to keep a journal, as well as hand over ships to the Admiralty court to be assessed and valued. A proportion of the ship’s value went to the sovereign, while the rest was divided between the owners of the ship, the captain, and his crew.

Admiralty court: jurisdiction over maritime law, including cases regarding shipping, ocean, and sea laws

Sovereign: king, queen, or other royal ruler of a country

An authorized privateer, and get this, was recognized by law, and could not be prosecuted for piracy, which in turn caused the system to be wide open for abuse, and most privateers were nothing more than licensed pirates.

Privateers, in simpler words, were basically pirates with papers. They were hired to carry out military activities, and in many ways, their actions mirrored a pirate’s, only difference being, they couldn’t be prosecuted for the crimes they committed. 

Also, fun fact! In the 1700s, also known as the golden era of piracy, 98% of the men operating as pirates in the Caribbean and western Atlantic, had formerly either been seamen in the merchant service, the Royal Navy, or even served as privateers. 

Not every man suffered the same fate, however. Captain Woodes Rogers, a former privateer, became the first Royal Governor over the Bahamas, and was tasked with the dangerous mission of establishing a well-organized government, that would force every last pirate in the Nassau to surrender. [x]

Today, both privateer and buccaneer are being used as a synonym for pirates, but it’s important to know that in the golden era, they were not the same. 

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Effective and elegant—new research reveals the swimming mechanics of gossamer worms.⁠

⁠Unlike its bottom-dwelling kin, the gossamer worm (Tomopteris sp.) lives in constant motion. This graceful swimmer “dances” through the midwater with the rhythmic paddling of its swimming legs. A new study published in Integrative and Comparative Biology this summer from MBARI researchers Joost Daniels and Kakani Katija, with collaborators Karen Osborn and her team @smithsonian​​, has revealed the swimming behavior of gossamer worms in fine detail.⁠

⁠A flexible body plan allows Tomopteris to combine multiple modes of propulsion to achieve effective—and elegant—swimming. This makes the gossamer worm’s anatomy and swimming mechanics interesting for engineers. In the future, this worm could inspire new designs for everything from underwater propulsion to medical technology.⁠ Learn more about this incredible intersection of engineering and biology on our website.

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Tumblr Code.

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the moon asks a question by dirgewithoutmusic

illustrated by purutsukid

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Never light a cigarette with a candle because it will kill a Sailor

In northern Germany there is a saying that even my mother used to tell me: never light a cigarette with a candle because it will kill a Sailor.

The only question is why do people say that? Is it just a saying or is there a background to it? Well, there is indeed a background. But not a mythical one, more a real economic one. Sailors who couldn’t find a job at sea in the 1830s collected matches in pubs and on the street that were still going well, cut them up and tried to sell them to make at least a little money. Only the stingy man did not buy matches from these men, he took a candle to light his cigar or cigarette. And a Sailor could not earn money with that. Hence the saying. Today, this saying is still used in sailor circles, albeit with a somewhat transfigured background and more in a mythical sense, because whoever lights his cigarette on a candle ensures that a sailor will soon die at sea.

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Sailors and excotic Birds

However, many people associate sailors, especially when it comes to pirates, with a very special companion. The Bird, mostly a parrot.

Already Columbus brought back five long-tailed macaws from his voyage in 1492 and sixty parrots from his next voyage. They were not only fabulous gifts for his patrons, but also tangible proof of his discoveries. As a result a real hype broke out. And many ships that were on their way to foreign worlds during the Age of Discovery brought back home beautiful and rare birds. But not only as companions during the voyage but rather to sell them. At home a sailor could get up to 10£ for a bird, a good profit. And they were easy to handle during the crossing, they hardly took up any space and feeding was possible with leftover food. The value of a bird could be increased by teaching it to talk and some tricks. This kept the birds busy on board and provided a fuller purse when the animal was sold.

Pirate with a Parrot by Thomas Blackshear ; Long John Silver and his Parrot by N. C. Wyeth 1911

Others tried to sell these animals, not only parrots, to faculties as research objects. This meant that researchers who could not travel themselves had a certain quota and, together with the travel reports, which the captains were also happy to sell, they had a basis for researching such exotics. But not only birds were brought home, monkeys were also very popular. Small anecdote from my own family, my great great grandfather, lieutenant of the German Imperial Navy, had taken a monkey home for his daughter, my great grandmother, when he was in Africa. But the animal didn’t live long, on the one hand he had problems with the North German weather and on the other, a power line he had climbed on was his end.

Signalman Tim Ryley with his beloved, but vexatious, parrot Mac, 1908; Woman at the Piano with Cockatoo by Gustave Léonard de Jonghe, 1870

Some of them were not sold, but travelled with the captains as companions. Admiral Thomas Cochrane reports in his autobiography that when he sailed with his uncle Captain Alexander Cochrane on the HMS Thetis in 1794 (he served there as a midshipman) there was a parrot on board. This bird was even allowed to fly freely on deck. Much to everyone’s chagrin, however, this animal had learned to speak and liked to imitate orders, which caused great confusion. For example, the parrot made sure that a lady who was brought on board with a boatswain’s chair was pushed into the sea just because the bird shouted “Let go”. The Astrolabe, a French research vessel that sailed to Antarctica in 1837 under the command of Jules-Sébastien-César Dumont d'Urville, had a cockatoo on board. This animal was probably much appreciated even though it had destroyed the captain’s barometer.

Nehemiah Slade, Able Seaman with his Parrot, Master and Commander

This suggests that the association of sailor with parrot was not a sailor’s yarn or the fanaticism of painters, although it is based on true facts. Especially since this kind of exotic animal trade existed far into the 20th century before it was banned. 

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Channel Fleet

For much of the age of sail the Channel Fleet (first introduced 1650)  represented Britain’s front line, her bulwark against foreign invasion. In effect, Britain’s survival depended on the efficiency of her Channel Fleet. The strategic picture was simple. In a war, if the British managed to defeat the French, Spain or Dutch fleet, the result would be a respite, while the enemy rebuilt their fleet. Britian didn’t have an army large enough to fight on the European continent, unless it enjoyed the support of Allies. This meant that the British could never really follow up a great naval victory by launching an invasion of an enemy country.

The Channel Fleet in heavy weather, by John Wilson Carmichael (1799-1868) (x)

By contrast if the Channel Fleet destroyed, the southern coast of England would be left defenceles. Britain’s polyglot collection of regular troops, militiamen and conscripts, and her limited coastal defences, would be hard pressed to resist a determined invasion by the veterans of the French Navy, or a similarly professional military force. This meant that the Channel Fleet was priceless asset. Its defeat would be a disaster. Its mere existence was a guarantor that Britain wouldn’t be invaded. Risking it simply to win a battle wasn’t an option. Its real job was to remain in existence, a fleet in being, a strategic asset rather that a tactical tool.

The Channel Fleet off Greenock, by William Clark (1803–1883) (x) 

During the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, Britain was threatened by French invasion in 1804-1805, when Napoleon massed his Grand Armée on the coast of the English Channel. Invasion barges wer built, supplies were gathered, but the invasion itself never came. The reason was that the French and their Spain allies never managed to remove the latent threat posed by the Channel Fleet. Of course, this isn’t to say that the Channel Fleet was a purely defensive entity.

The Channel Fleet in a Sailing Trial Off Lisbon, August 1847, by Harold Wyllie   (1880 - 1973) (x)                                 

On the contrary, it also practised very successfully the distance blockade of big enemy ports. Observation squadrons kept watch on enemy ports in all weathers and seasons, while the main battlefleet cruised over the horizon in the Channel. More frequently it rode at anchor in Torbay, its main place of refuge, replenishment and reinforcement. Although its existence was often criticised for its boredom and constant readiness, it was the British main fleet and was always ready to thwart any enemy attack.

By the way, the Channel Fleet remained until 1967 when it was integrated into the Home Fleet.

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Apparently dead whales explode sometimes🚪🏃🏻‍♀️🏃🏻‍♀️

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Join the Royal Navy in pursuit of Equality and the Rights of Man.

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SEE?? EVEN BIG MANS GEORGE MEMEULOUS GETS IT

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It may be 4am currently,, and I may have been listening to sea shanties on repeat for the past 2 hours, but believe me when I say it's worth the sleep deprivation

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Pictures of sailors,, as a treat

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Oh to be a captain of a ship in the 1700's and hire on a crew of misfits and sail the open seas with them. To have your first mate slowly, secretly fall in love with you, but you noticed. For you're the captain and notice everything happening aboard your ship. So you toy with him, watch him squirm around you.

Cause weeks can turn into months very quickly on the sea when you don't occupy yourself. But one day while the seas were turning, your first mate got hurt on a fishing gaff. Blood mixed with the rain on the deck and not even the eye of a hurricane had you so scared. So you took him into your quarters . Gave him your last glass of port and sewed him up; not the cleanest stitch you've ever done but your hands shook too much as you did it.

You than realized one thing you didn't notice happening on your ship while you were staring at him... that you were falling in love yourself.

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My favorite thing right now is the phrase “Get off my fucking blog” cause it gives me the mental imagery of a pirate captain who just got into an argument with her shipmate and shes just like “Get the fuck off my ship” and her shipmate shamefully dives over the edge into the sea and its my favorite thing i MUST draw it

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OH ABSOLUTELY

Paintings of shipwrecks rb if you agree