I've been going over this in my head for some time and just can't get a grip on it. How is it that you always seem to hear of the old sailors having plenty of rum to drink and dying for the lack of water?
How is it they never figured out that the still that was making the rum could have given them drinking water from salt water. A small still on the ship would have put out all they ever needed.
Old sailors,,,, and no water
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butt wheat
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Re: Old sailors,,,, and no water
All the stories I've ever heard were about running out of rum and mooring up with full water tanks 
The following tale is from the history of the oldest commissioned warship in the world, the USS Constitution. It comes by way of the National Park Service, as printed in "Oceanographic Ships, Fore and Aft", a periodical from the oceanographer of the US Navy.
On 23 August 1779, the USS Constitution set sail from Boston, loaded with 475 officers and men, 48,600 gallons of water, 74,000 cannon shot, 11,500 pounds of black powder and 79,400 gallons of rum. Her mission: to destroy and harass English shipping.
On 6 October, she made Jamaica, took on 826 pounds of flour and 68,300 gallons of rum. Three weeks later, Constitution reached the Azores, where she provisioned with 550 pounds of beef and 2,300 gallons of Portuguese wine.
On 18 November, she set sail for England where her crew captured and scuttled 12 English merchant vessels and took aboard their rum. By this time, Constitution had run out of shot. Nevertheless, she made her way unarmed up the Firth of Clyde for a night raid. Here, her landing party captured a whiskey distillery, transferred 13,000 gallons aboard and headed for home.
On 20 February 1780, the Constitution arrived in Boston with no cannon shot, no food, no powder, no rum and no whiskey. She did, however, still carry her crew of 475 officers and men and 18,600 gallons of water.
The math is quite enlightening.
Length of cruise: 181 days
Booze consumption: 1.26 gallons per man per day (this does NOT include the unknown quantify of rum captured from the 12 English merchant vessels in November)
Naval historians say that the re-enlistment rate from this cruise was 92%.
The following tale is from the history of the oldest commissioned warship in the world, the USS Constitution. It comes by way of the National Park Service, as printed in "Oceanographic Ships, Fore and Aft", a periodical from the oceanographer of the US Navy.
On 23 August 1779, the USS Constitution set sail from Boston, loaded with 475 officers and men, 48,600 gallons of water, 74,000 cannon shot, 11,500 pounds of black powder and 79,400 gallons of rum. Her mission: to destroy and harass English shipping.
On 6 October, she made Jamaica, took on 826 pounds of flour and 68,300 gallons of rum. Three weeks later, Constitution reached the Azores, where she provisioned with 550 pounds of beef and 2,300 gallons of Portuguese wine.
On 18 November, she set sail for England where her crew captured and scuttled 12 English merchant vessels and took aboard their rum. By this time, Constitution had run out of shot. Nevertheless, she made her way unarmed up the Firth of Clyde for a night raid. Here, her landing party captured a whiskey distillery, transferred 13,000 gallons aboard and headed for home.
On 20 February 1780, the Constitution arrived in Boston with no cannon shot, no food, no powder, no rum and no whiskey. She did, however, still carry her crew of 475 officers and men and 18,600 gallons of water.
The math is quite enlightening.
Length of cruise: 181 days
Booze consumption: 1.26 gallons per man per day (this does NOT include the unknown quantify of rum captured from the 12 English merchant vessels in November)
Naval historians say that the re-enlistment rate from this cruise was 92%.
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butt wheat
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Re: Old sailors,,,, and no water
Oh..and Todays sailors do have "stills" onboard, they are know as evaporators.
As for sailors of old...how would they heat a still onboard? Wooden hull boat sailors dont like fires...even if they are set of purpose. Just my .02
As for sailors of old...how would they heat a still onboard? Wooden hull boat sailors dont like fires...even if they are set of purpose. Just my .02
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heynonny
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Re: Old sailors,,,, and no water
In the movie "Master and Commander, far side- - - " when they go ashore in the Galapagos, they set up a still. And it appears to be of a functional design. -hey-
Oh,look!! Its a hole in the space-time contuum!!
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UnclePaul
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Re: Old sailors,,,, and no water
I love that movie,,,
I joke all the time with my ole lady about that ole sailor with "hold fast" tattooed onto his knuckles sitting there at that still saying "oh yeah,,, that's good!"
They cooked on those ships. Even whalers would cook down the whale blubber to get the oil, so fires weren't much of a problem.
Still, you see them rejoicing when a rain finally comes and they can collect water.
I joke all the time with my ole lady about that ole sailor with "hold fast" tattooed onto his knuckles sitting there at that still saying "oh yeah,,, that's good!"
They cooked on those ships. Even whalers would cook down the whale blubber to get the oil, so fires weren't much of a problem.
Still, you see them rejoicing when a rain finally comes and they can collect water.
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butt wheat
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Re: Old sailors,,,, and no water
UnclePaul wrote: Fires weren't much of a problem.
....Yeah, OK.I can just picture a pot full of gasoline being heated on the deck of a ship while underway....
Guess some folks think ships are stationary objects in the sea
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smokerscully1
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Re: Old sailors,,,, and no water
Ships in the old days rarely ran out of water. That water went stale pretty fast too. Water while in the dories or the life boats was another matter.
The math is rather interesting--1and quarter gallons per man per day--maybe possible with light alochol wine but totally impossible with rum. Remeber the rum had to be 100proof -- in case a barrel broke and ran into the powder--powder would still fire the cannon.
92% recruitment rate?--Must have been a pretty good paying job--considering you could get shot at while doing it. I suspect the spoils included the ship stores also and were split amongst the crew, offloaded, before the ship ever officialy docked.
Good Rum from the West Indies was incrediably cheap-- the shipping is what made it expensive.
The math is rather interesting--1and quarter gallons per man per day--maybe possible with light alochol wine but totally impossible with rum. Remeber the rum had to be 100proof -- in case a barrel broke and ran into the powder--powder would still fire the cannon.
92% recruitment rate?--Must have been a pretty good paying job--considering you could get shot at while doing it. I suspect the spoils included the ship stores also and were split amongst the crew, offloaded, before the ship ever officialy docked.
Good Rum from the West Indies was incrediably cheap-- the shipping is what made it expensive.