hm_jollies | Entries tagged with organisation

The RM Museum site has a table here giving the complements of Marines to rates of ship - the first two tables are of most interest to us, as they give complements for 1747 and the 1770s.

The 1747 table differs a little to the table given in Appendix A of The Formative Years (copied out here.)

For example, the 1747 table gives 100 privates aboard a ship of 90-100 guns, as well as 1 captain, 3 lieutenants, 4 sergeants, 4 corporals and 3 drummers, making a total of 115 altogether.

The Formative Years gives the complements (between 1803-1806) as 1 captain, 3 lieutenants, 4 sergeants, 4 corporals, 2 drummers and 131 privates, with a total of 145 altogether. (The RMM table for the 1770s gives 5 corporals and 130 men, with the other numbers and the total the same as The Formative Years.)

Current Mood: excited

I've come across references to boy Marines, but again I'm not sure of where they fall in with the duties &c of a detachment. These aren't drummers, but regular Marines, if younger than most.

Their duties? Powder monkey in battle, possibly nippers when weighing anchor (check this) but otherwise?

Were they still training? Learning musket drill?

Pay?

At what age did they stop being mustered as 'boy Marines' and start mustering as adult Marines?

( Information Below )(Appendices are posted here - including numbers of Marines per rate of ship)

Minor error: St Vincent's instructions are duplicated; the original post is here.