A Sailor's Life at Sea (Resources)
It has rather occurred to me that some of our sailors and observers may not be so well versed in the life on board a naval Man o' War, and so I shall reserve this post for the collation of links and resources that may prove useful in the upcoming weeks!
I would also like to... gently is not such the term for it, but to bring your attention to the deadline of the first Action Report's submission to tomorrow at Monday 20th of July GMT 12am / GMT+10 10am. I do promise to be far less bothersome in the following weeks, but as you can imagine, this being our very first report, there is no small amount of worry and excitement on my behalf!
But yes, let us proceed. I shall be citing the works of @ltwilliammowett, a fantastic naval history web log dedicated to charting the unknown waters of history. Reading these are by no means required, but it may enrich your understanding of the world of this game - but of course, you do not need to be entirely accurate, for this is but a game!
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Here is a masterlist of various posts about a sailor's life in general
A masterlist of posts about sailors' superstitions
And a masterlist about medicine in the age of sail
The various crafts and handiworks associated with the sea
A day aboard a man of war
Weekly duties aboard a man of war
A post about the etiquette in the wardroom, where the commissioned officers and the wardroom warrant officers ate and socialised
Combat between Men o' War
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Another blog I heartily recommend is @marryat92 for excerpts from the works of Captain Frederick Marryat, a naval captain who fought in the Napoleonic Wars and wrote novels inspired by his experiences! These give quite a good impression of the life and times of the world that Shipshape is set in, as accompanied by quite suitable art
This is a glossary of Age of Sail terminology
This is a fansite for Age of Sail fiction with some information and resources
Living Conditions in the 19th Century U.S. Navy
If one would like to peruse some books, I also recommend:
The wooden world: an anatomy of the Georgian navy by N A M Rodgers
Stephen Biesty's Cross-Sections Man of War (a very colourful illustration of the setup of a man of war!)
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This post will be edited and updated as your humble ship's clerk organises the captain's library.