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Abstract

This thesis aims to be the first study of how the receiving ships operated in Plymouth during the Napoleonic Wars. It will also investigate the Impress Service and the wider implications manning the navy had on the immediate area. By utilising the muster roll of the Salvador Del Mundo receiving ship and cross-referencing with the musters of Resolue, Achille, Caesar, and the tender ship Lord Melville, it will use statistical data to demonstrate how important the receiving ships were in the distribution of men, although not necessarily in the way in which receiving ships have been traditionally thought of.
The Salvador, nestled in the Hamoaze, was not just a mutilated hulk being used as a vessel to distribute men to ships-of-the-line but was actively used as a place of justice, a place of captivity, and a home to almost six hundred prisoners of war. It was the centre of a web of networks that brought men, from many nationalities, into the area and ultimately, into the service of the Royal Navy. This thesis, by straddling both statistical and social data, aims to broaden the topic of impressment and manning within the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars.

Course: Naval History - MA - C2457P

Date Deposited: 2022-07-25

URI/permalink: https://library.port.ac.uk/dissert/dis13933.html