Seafaring Sunday: Rigging Church

Being Sabbath day, a church was rigged out and divine service performed on board the Caesar for the first time since I had belonged to her.  The Rev. Mr. Jones, the chaplain, preached an excellent sermon.  The ship's crew were very devout and attentive.  The rear-admiral was on his knees at prayer time; but it was funny enough to see our captain, how fidgety he was: he neither sat nor stood, and was as unsteady as a weathercock.  Some of our nods thought that a man could not be a good seaman without swearing, but the admiral let them know the contrary.  In the afternoon we saw some chasse-marees stealing along shore, and sent the boats of the squadron after them; they captured two, one laden with rye and the other with sardinian, a fish like dried herrings.  The whole was shared out to the squadron and the vessels broken up for firewood, as their condemnation in England would have cost more than they were worth.

~ William Richardson, gunner aboard HMS Caesar off the coast of France, February 19, 1809

Header: HMS Artemis by Geoff Hunt