How did press gangs work?

[Tonguez]

A little OT but a true story

My uncle Ike use to work on Fishing Boats. Anyway he says that he got into the job when he and a freind got drunk one day (back when he was 20-something) and fell asleep onboard a boat.

Unfortunately the boat left port EARLY the next morning (like 3am early) and when Uncle Ike and his friend awoke they found themselves out at sea on a 3 month fishing trip with no chance of being let off for a coule of weeks.

Of course the were chucked into the hole (the freezer compartment where fish are kept) and made to work...

Could be an adventure seed in that too

 

[Hand of Evil]

A lot had to with the demand for goods between China, point between and the US. Most sailors were on the east coast, so there was a lack of manpower.

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Good stuff here!

The press gangs were indeed legal, for army units too. their operation isn't germane to a medieval-renaissance RPG campaign, but one set in a period similar to our historical 18th-19th centuries could well have such a factor.

C.S. Forrester's "Hornblower" series--11 books in all, IIRC, is one of my all time favorites.

Shanghaiing is not like the press. It is an illegal taking of persons for service aboard a merchant vessel, not a warship, It happened a lot in San Francisco, as that was a main port for the China Trade.

The US didn't win the War of 1812? Heh, and that's a laugh. The few American warships spanked the Brits roundly, and William James in his lengthy and defensive OCCURRENCES IN THE LATE NAVAL WAR OF 1812 (I think that's right...) attempts an apology for it. This was countered most ably by Theodore Roosevelt in his own THE NAVAL WAR OF 1812. The only real naval loss was when Shannon beat Chesapeake, the British ship well captained and veteran, the American newly fitted out, it's crew green.

US privateers severely affected British merchant shipping, and that won the war. What happened on land was pretty much a side show. Let us not forget the Battle of New Orleans (Chalmette) either, albeit the war was over when it was fought. Those British regulars really took a beating there.
Gary

 

[kenjib]

Thanks for all of the great info. Sorry for not replying earlier at all. I was out on the Olympic Peninsula enjoying the rain forest.

I wanted to work some of this into my campaign. An island vassal state is rebelling and I need to give them more reasons to hate the Empire. Unfortunately the tech level is mostly medieval with just a dash of renaissance (no gunpowder yet), so I will need to do some thinking on how to integrate it. I'm thinking perhaps something like the Shanghai Tunnel idea, but instead of it being profiteering slaver types with merchant ship clientelle, it could be an operation run by similar profiteering slaver types but ultimately having them get their pay from the Empire and the people end up members of the Imperial Fleet.

I think that will work. Thanks so much everyone!

 

[Voadam]

I have not yet begun to fight.

Wasn't 1812 the time of John Paul Jones. I had thought that the british navy was considered great but the U.S. was considered better. The British army was able to sack and burn DC but the americans won the naval battles they did fight in. I think Britain had a bigger fleet however.

Anyway here's the John Paul Jones story I heard. He was a famous american captain known for savaging the english again and again. In one battle, his set of ships was overcome despite savaging the numerically superior british once again. While his ship (the last one on the american side) was sinking, the british came up alongside it. When asked to surrender, he replied "I have not yet begun to fight." He then lead a boarding action onto the british ship, took it over and defeated the last of the british and returned to the american port with captured british ships.

In the hornblower novels I remember a reference to the quality of the american ships among the many disparaging references to the spanish fleet.

 

[Vaxalon]

RE: Galleys

Roman military galleys used professional oarsmen, the same as the Greek galleys, because they work harder, and in battle maneuverability is everything.

The merchant ships, however, used slaves, because they cost less. They don't need to be paid and they don't need to be given good food or rest breaks. At some periods of Roman history, slaves were so cheap that it was more economical not to feed them at all! A galley slave was just about the worst place one could find oneself in Roman times. Sometimes you were better off in the arena.

 

[Stephenph]

I've seen mention of press gangs often in relation to ship crews. What exactly were they and how did they work? Did they just yank random people off of the street and load them onto the ship where they were made to work...or else (which brings up the question - or else what)?

If they were made to work by force, how were they kept in order? Also, what percentage of the crew would they compromise and what types of roles?

Many thanks to anyone that knows something about this.

Press ganga operated mainly around sea ports. Admiral lord nelson reckoned about 50% of British sailors were recruited by press gangs , some 48,000 beteen 1680 and 1805 when they ceased. American sailors were also press ganged!

One amusing incident occured in 1732.
the Whitehall Evening Post called it "The Battle of the Glasshouse AD 1732"
"Yesterday a press gand went into a London glasshouse in White Fryers to press some men at work there, but they were no sooner got in but the molten metal ( glass) was flung about 'em and happy was he that could get out without first, and in hurrying out they ran over their officer who was almost scolded to death!"
As a result there were no glassmakers serving as sailors on British warships!

 

[howandwhy99]

I've run "Press Ganged to the Wayward Isles", a homebrew adventure for OD&D, three times at GaryCons and once as a campaign. It was a blast and not easy for the players. If I knew this thread existed I definitely would have scoured it for advice. My players had the choice of how they were "conscripted" into what amounted to the marines. Thank you for the thread necromancy. This one is a good one.

It's great to see Gary's post here. He had such a wealth of knowledge and insight. He is missed.

 

[Piratecat]

Wow - delightful thread necromancy!

I was wondering why no one had linked to Wikipedia on the subject. Now I know.

 

[delericho]

I've been reading the "Master and Commander" novels by Patrick O'Brian over the last several months which, not surprisingly, have a few things to say about the press-gangs. In particular, it appears that there were some laws about who could and could not (legally) be pressed that have not yet been mentioned here, though I'm inferring that from their comments about who could be pressed...

Specifically, the books make mention that a person could be pressed provided they have "been to sea" in the past. That is, once you've served on a ship in the past, you're fair game to be pressed. And in at least one instance, the books mention an outbound ship being crewed by pressing the crew of a returning ship just before they disembarked.

Of course, ships were also crewed by scouring the jails for criminals who could serve, much as in "Game of Thrones" and the Men of the Knight's Watch.

Finally, I'm not sure if it's related to press-gangs or to conscription, but something I've seen in museums here is a tankard with a coin build into the base. The idea being that the gangmaster would buy the proespective conscript a drink using this tankard. Once they'd drunk it, they were considered to have "taken the king's shilling"... at which point they could legally be conscripted/pressed (even if they then returned the tankard).

It's also important to note that the reality of the situation is that the law was often implemented... unevenly. There was a certain amount of trickery, a certain amount of abduction, and a distinct lack of due process (or any equivalent). And, as noted up-thread, once you're on the ship, you're stuck - work or die.

(Oh, and I'm slightly amused that PC noted nobody had linked to Wikipedia... and then didn't link to it himself. )