Britain at Work
A Pictorial Description of Our National Industries

380 BRITAIN AT WORK. Photo: W, M. Crockett, Plymouth. SWORD DRILL : ATTACK AND DEFENCE. the watch and mess he belongs to, his place at the fire stations and in the boats, and his location for duty when the ship goes to quarters. It should be added that the men are divided into two watches, those on the left-hand side of the vessel being known as the Port watch, and those on the right-hand side as the Starboard. Nothing could be more perfect than the working of the marvellous mechanism that comes into force when one of His Majesty’s ships hoists the pennant. From lower deck to bridge, every man knows his place, and what he has to do when he gets there. To the uninitiated the work may seem easy, simply because everything moves smoothly and well ; but the fact of this smoothness and perfection implies that a vast amount of forethought and care has been exercised in advance. When the stores and provisions and am- munition have been taken on board, the ship weighs anchor for the purpose of undergoing her steam trials, which proving satisfactory she departs for good to whatever part of the ocean the Admiralty has assigned to her. Every bluejacket is sent on foreign service for a period of three years. Of course, the routine observed on board ship differs slightly according to the part of the world the latter may be in at the time, but the following description of a seaman’s day afloat may be accepted as fairly repre- sentative: Work starts at 4 a.m., and the ship must be clean by 8 a.m. The cleaning process usually commences with “something with sand,” and in fine weather “ Jack” loves paddling about with a scrubbing-brush and hose in an inch or two of sand and water. Cleaning wood and brass-work with the bath- brick and emery paper follows, and every man takes a pride in trying to make his own little bit of brass brighter than those of others. The work of cleaning is punctuated by breakfast between 6.30 and 7 a.m., and at 8 a.m., or thereabouts, the guns come in for attention. At 8.30 a.m. the men parade in divisions and are inspected by the officers, while after “ Divisions ” come prayers. The latter being performed, the bluejacket has a little leisure, in which to enjoy a “ relish ” from the canteen and a whiff of his pipe ; then he has to attend drills and exercises lasting till 11.30 a.m. At 12 (eight bells) the bo’sun pipes to dinner, which consists either of 1 lb. of salt pork with split peas or I lb. of salt beef with flour, raisins, and suet, or preserved beef or mutton in lieu of the pudding materials. Every alternate clay | lb. of preserved potatoes or rice are issued, while there is also a weekly issue of 3 oz. of oatmeal and small quantities of mustard, pepper, salt, and vinegar. Grog is served out after dinner,