Cutty Sark making a good 17 knots. Robert Olivey, second officer on Britannia , watched the lights of the sailing ship overhauling his vessel with amazement and then wrote in Britannia ’s log: ‘Sailing ship overhauled and passed us!’
In harbour – and a riotous time is had on the mess deck .
A NIMALS COMING ABOARD
Many sailing ships carried a variety of pet animals to sea, and officers and crew alike found respite from a hard life in their companionship and affection. All kinds of creatures found their way aboard: birds, dogs, cats, guinea pigs – even tame monkeys.
Cats often slept in miniature hammocks, lovingly crafted by sailors from old pieces of canvas. One of the most famous ship’s cats was Trim, the affectionate and intelligent companion to Matthew Flinders during his epic voyages of discovery from 1799 to 1804. Flinders called him ‘the best and most illustrious of his race’ and wrote a moving biographical tribute to the feline, which remained hidden in the archives of the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich for many years. In 1966 a bronze statue of Trim was installed in the Mitchell Library in Sydney, Australia.
Dogs were popular pets, too. When HMS Salisbury , flagship of Vice-Admiral John Campbell on the Newfoundland station from 1783 to 1785, received orders to return to England, the admiral gave permission for any person who pleased to take home a dog – 75 were embarked.
Cuthbert Collingwood, perhaps second only to Nelson as one of the great sea heroes of the age, was respected for his seamanship and courage, but a somewhat cool and aloof leader. His warmth and humour were reserved for his family at home in England, and for Bounce, his canine companion at sea for many years. When Collingwood became admiral, Bounce seemed aware of his master’s new status. Collingwood wrote home to his wife: ‘The consequential airs he gives himself since he became a right honourable dog are insufferable. He considers it beneath his dignity to play with commoners’ dogs, and truly thinks that he does them grace when he condescends to lift up his leg against them. This, I think, is carrying the insolence of rank too far.’
When he died Collingwood was deeply saddened, writing in a letter to his family, ‘Bounce is dead. I am afraid he fell overboard in the night. He is a great loss to me. I have few comforts but he was one, for he loved me. Everybody sorrows for him. He was wiser than a good many who hold their heads higher.’
Bounce hid below-decks when the guns were fired, but some dogs relished a good sea fight. In January 1799 Captain Lewis Mortlock of HMS Wolverine found himself outnumbered two to one; in a desperate hand-to-hand fight he and his crew repulsed a ferocious attack with the aid of his fearless Newfoundland dog.
A parrot aboard HMS Hinde in 1793 had learnt to imitate the calls of the boatswain’s whistle. Sometimes the bird would pipe an order so accurately that the ship was thrown into temporary confusion. One day, when a party of ladies was being hoisted on deck from a boat, the parrot piped ‘Let go’ – with the inevitable disastrous results.
----
Captain, Spare That Pig
On occasion seamen made a special pet of one of the animals destined for the table. In the brig Onyx in the late 1820s the crew grew attached to a piglet that travelled with them from Portsmouth to the West Indies. When they learnt that the pig, by now grown, was about to be butchered, a group of seamen took the brave step of sending a deputation to the captain to plead for its life. ‘You see, sir,’ they told him, ‘he is just like one of us; he knows us all and takes his grog daily like any Christian.’ The porker was spared the cooking pot .
----
When it was clear that the mighty Santissima Trinidad would not survive the storm that followed the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, every effort was made to save those on board. They were lowered with ropes from the stern and quarter gallery windows as
In harbour – and a riotous time is had on the mess deck .
A NIMALS COMING ABOARD
Many sailing ships carried a variety of pet animals to sea, and officers and crew alike found respite from a hard life in their companionship and affection. All kinds of creatures found their way aboard: birds, dogs, cats, guinea pigs – even tame monkeys.
Cats often slept in miniature hammocks, lovingly crafted by sailors from old pieces of canvas. One of the most famous ship’s cats was Trim, the affectionate and intelligent companion to Matthew Flinders during his epic voyages of discovery from 1799 to 1804. Flinders called him ‘the best and most illustrious of his race’ and wrote a moving biographical tribute to the feline, which remained hidden in the archives of the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich for many years. In 1966 a bronze statue of Trim was installed in the Mitchell Library in Sydney, Australia.
Dogs were popular pets, too. When HMS Salisbury , flagship of Vice-Admiral John Campbell on the Newfoundland station from 1783 to 1785, received orders to return to England, the admiral gave permission for any person who pleased to take home a dog – 75 were embarked.
Cuthbert Collingwood, perhaps second only to Nelson as one of the great sea heroes of the age, was respected for his seamanship and courage, but a somewhat cool and aloof leader. His warmth and humour were reserved for his family at home in England, and for Bounce, his canine companion at sea for many years. When Collingwood became admiral, Bounce seemed aware of his master’s new status. Collingwood wrote home to his wife: ‘The consequential airs he gives himself since he became a right honourable dog are insufferable. He considers it beneath his dignity to play with commoners’ dogs, and truly thinks that he does them grace when he condescends to lift up his leg against them. This, I think, is carrying the insolence of rank too far.’
When he died Collingwood was deeply saddened, writing in a letter to his family, ‘Bounce is dead. I am afraid he fell overboard in the night. He is a great loss to me. I have few comforts but he was one, for he loved me. Everybody sorrows for him. He was wiser than a good many who hold their heads higher.’
Bounce hid below-decks when the guns were fired, but some dogs relished a good sea fight. In January 1799 Captain Lewis Mortlock of HMS Wolverine found himself outnumbered two to one; in a desperate hand-to-hand fight he and his crew repulsed a ferocious attack with the aid of his fearless Newfoundland dog.
A parrot aboard HMS Hinde in 1793 had learnt to imitate the calls of the boatswain’s whistle. Sometimes the bird would pipe an order so accurately that the ship was thrown into temporary confusion. One day, when a party of ladies was being hoisted on deck from a boat, the parrot piped ‘Let go’ – with the inevitable disastrous results.
----
Captain, Spare That Pig
On occasion seamen made a special pet of one of the animals destined for the table. In the brig Onyx in the late 1820s the crew grew attached to a piglet that travelled with them from Portsmouth to the West Indies. When they learnt that the pig, by now grown, was about to be butchered, a group of seamen took the brave step of sending a deputation to the captain to plead for its life. ‘You see, sir,’ they told him, ‘he is just like one of us; he knows us all and takes his grog daily like any Christian.’ The porker was spared the cooking pot .
----
When it was clear that the mighty Santissima Trinidad would not survive the storm that followed the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, every effort was made to save those on board. They were lowered with ropes from the stern and quarter gallery windows as
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