Beat to Quarters

I welcome you honorable lords and ladies. You can call me William Mowett and I will bring you closer to the Age of Sail and the ancient seafaring. Here you can learn the history of seafaring with pictures, articles and artefacts. Because history is not boring, it can explain things of this time and be extremely exciting. I'm looking forward to you and should you have any questions once, please don't be shy I will answered them gladly. I will follow you as @fleur-de-paris  -

[ltwilliammowett]

1st Lieutenant Thomas Pullings

[ltwilliammowett]

A pair of cut steel scissors, possibly given by a a naval officer to his lover due to the motifs of an anchor & coronet, english ca. 1800-1830

[rowan-e-ravenwood]

SERIOUS: NEW BOT SCAM ALERT

heya!

this right here?

THIS IS ABSOLUTELY NOT REAL.

the "@staff" is just the bio text.

tumblr staff will not contact you through anything other than email or their official accounts, which will all have this badge:

DO NOT ENGAGE WITH THIS OR SIMILAR ACCOUNTS AND ABSOLUTELY DO NOT CLICK ANY LINKS FROM IT.

report and block. i'd also appreciate it if you shared this post, bc that blog was JUST created and was already tagging a LOT of people, and i know not everyone has the scam-sensing instinct, even if this might seem obvious to some.

@staff @tumblr @support

[heywriters]

I was laughing at this account when they told one of my sideblogs it had won money in a giveaway. All the "bots" were like, half-hearted fandom accounts for fandoms Gen Z is into, and since when does tumblr have money to give away? No website does that XD

Fakest scam yet.

[tuulikki]

Any time you see a whole bunch of people getting tagged in one post, it’s such a dead giveaway for a scam. That and “hello dear”

[illustratus]

On the High Seas by Michael Zeno Diemer

[ltwilliammowett]

Masthead lantern, 19th century

[ltwilliammowett]

Carved and Scrimshawed Antique Walrus Tusk, 19th Century, the length of the tusk carved overall with vines and serpent. Scrimshawed phrase: Carved during interment on board USS Prison Ship San Francisco. Grounded. Awaiting the rains. Orlando. Florida. May 1885. When I die I’ll go to Heaven. Because I spent my time in HELL.

[ltwilliammowett]

Clipper portrait of the Flying Cloud, Glass painting, 19th century

[devilfokke]

From Stamps Bot

[the-golden-vanity]

Sails on the Potomac tall ship festival, June 13-14, 2026.

William Henry, a modern replica of a traditional Potomac River oyster fishing dory.

HMS Sultana, a replica of a 1760s British Royal Navy schooner.

Kalmar Nyckel, a replica of the 17th century Dutch-built ship that brought the first Swedish and Finnish settlers to North America.

Gazela Primeiro, a 20th century fishing barquentine that saw 68 years of service before becoming a museum ship.

Sunset on the river with the masts of Gazela Primeiro, Providence, and Sultana visible.

Photos ©️ @the-golden-vanity.

[ltwilliammowett]

Sails of a Four Mast Barque in: The Visual encyclopedia of nautical terms under sail, by Basil W. Bathe, 1978

[ltwilliammowett]

Why Midshipmen were also called Snotties

Since I have already received several questions as to why they were called that, well, that is relatively simple. If you look closely at the uniforms of the 18th and 19th century you will notice that they have buttons on the sleeves. Now relatively useless, but according to legend they were put on to keep the young middies, mostly the very young and still new aboard a ship and therefore often still homesick and therefore often crying, from wiping their tears and runny noses on the sleeve. Hence the name Snotty or Snotties.

Memento Portrait of a Young Midshipman,by John Downman late 18th–early 19th century (x)

However, the origin of this legend is unclear. On the one hand, it is attributed to Napoleon who, during the Russian campaign, ordered his men to wear tasteless cloths at last and not always to use their uniform sleeves and therefore to sew the buttons of their dead comrades onto their sleeves. Nice theory, but unfortunately it doesn’t fit in with the time period, as the naval uniforms from 1748 already had these buttons. Therefore the theory of Nelson, who gave his Midshipmen the same order as Napoleon, only that they should buy extra buttons and sew them on, doesn’t fit either. Similarly, Prussia’s King Frederick the Great was tried to be the origin of this legend.

However, the uniforms, especially the first ones, were strongly based on the prevailing men’s fashion and there are already buttons on the sleeves. Therefore, it was probably simply adopted from there. And the fact that the young midshipmen were also called snotties may simply come from the fact that we were dealing with boys aged 10 and upwards and the young ones were simply homesick and therefore perhaps cried a little more in the evenings than the others and went to bed with a tear-stained face and a runny nose, and probably needed the handkerchief more often than others.

Weiterlesen

[2squeakyshoes]

Svea

[ltwilliammowett]

A bone in her teeth, by unknown, 1932

[ltwilliammowett]

Fishing off the Labrador Coast, by William Bradford (1823-1892)

[ltwilliammowett]

Nautical Terms

Here are just a few terms that might be of interest to some of you.

Before the mast – refers to the sailors’ quarters, which were located in the fore part of the ship (the bow), whilst the officers’ quarters were near the stern. The term can also be used as a synonym for a common sailor.

Clap on – to increase power by adding more rigging or deploying more men. Also: to set more sails.

Deck passage – accommodation for passengers on deck when there was insufficient cabin space. Often used on short voyages.

Hail – a greeting at sea

Handsomely – slowly and carefully; particularly when handling ropes under tension.

Maiden Voyage – the first voyage of a ship that has recently been fitted out and is finally fit for service.

Salt – nickname for a sailor. Also ‘Old Salt’ for a very experienced sailor.

Slew – to turn something around its own axis: to swing a mast round.

Stand by – to be ready

Stave off – to push a boat or floating object away from a jetty or the side of a ship using a pole, a boat hook or a similar tool.

The sailor's word-book, by Smyth, W. H (William Henry), 1788-1865; Belcher, Edward, Sir, 1799-1877

The Visual encyclopedia of nautical terms under sail, by Basil W. Bathe 1978

[ltwilliammowett]

Being a ship's cat is hard work – here's the mascot and presumably the chief mouser aboard HMS Hermione, WWII

[ltwilliammowett]

Shipping on the Clyde, by John Atkinson Grimshaw, 1881