Hell at Sea: The Lives of Clipper Ship Sailors

Clipper ships and packet ships were driven hard for economic gain and profit. Speed and efficiency was the name of the game and the comfort and even safety of the crew was of little concern. Many sailors suffered and perished from accidents, exposure, and more.
This video is a clip from my video on How to Become an Ocean Liner Captain: • How to Become an Ocean...
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[@TheGreatBigMove]

What would be the worst part of being a sailor on a clipper ship for you?

[@SQUAREHEADSAM1912]

Working up on the height of the sails. I don’t like heights.

[@minecraftandrandomstuff7053]

Working and also can you do shout outs really good video can you make one about the ss Atlantic please

[@chalichaligha3234]

Nasty captain!

[@greglivo]

Being away from my family for months or years at a time at such a young age would be difficult.

[@0_1_2]

There was an unknown5 KZbin video on punishments that talked about some brutal methods of punishment in the age of sail. One method talked about having a rope tied to you and then you were thrown in front of the ship and you would go underneath being cut and scraped by the barnacles and then they would pull you back up when you passed through to the back. I’m sure they must have done away with this by the early 1900s but perhaps you could have mentioned some of the punishments they endured?

[@scottholman3982]

Thank you for a frank and honest look at life on clipper ships. Someday, we may see sailing cargo ships again, albeit totally different than those in the past.

[@shorttimer874]

A good book to read from this era is Two Years Before The Mast, you'll find lots of people that will try to sale you a copy but it's available as a free download from Project Gutenberg, along with a lot of the classics whose copyright has expired. Another is Life on the Mississippi, Mark Twain's time as a riverboat pilot.

[@DavidOfWhitehills]

Also "The Last Grain Race" by Eric Newby.

[@mabamabam]

@@DavidOfWhitehills anything by Eric Newby is worth reading

[@zenolachance1181]

2 years before the mast as one of the best books I have ever read pertaining to the Sea. And I have read many

[@DardanellesBy108]

Another good one I’ve read and recommend on Gutenberg is “Ocean Life In The Old Sailing Days” by Captain John D. Whidden. It’s his autobiography that covers his career on civilian cargo sailing ships during the mid-19th Century. Lots of fascinating details about sailing life, the cargo business, and descriptions of cities as they were back then. Some items that come to mind are: -The tactics of Chinese Pirate that seasoned sailors would lookout for in order to distinguish ahead of time an imminent attack and thus be prepared. The pirates would have a sailor climb high on the mast in order to throw a jar of super fowl substance on the victim’s deck. The jar would burst on deck and the smells would distract the sailors on the target boat thus making it easier to attack. -The frequent Yellow Fever outbreaks in New Orleans as well as elsewhere in the world where they would stop. -Cockroaches “exploding” out of cargo nets as soon as they touched the dock. If one liked Two Years Before The Mast, which I did, I think they’ll enjoy the Ocean Life book as well.

[@haduwolff]

"Bully" Waterman was a hardcast. But - he was no villain. Whe he changed his command, the most of his crew followed him on the new ship! (B.Lubbock). He accepted only real sailors, not drunkards and thugs.

[@Openbaarmaker]

Haha... Seamen

[@rogersmith7396]

Pirates would get a percent of the take so they always followed the captain who got the most plunder.

[@kevinboothby5260]

Waterman was a superb sailor, as his voyages in the Sea Witch attest. It seems his notoriety came from the fateful NY to SF voyage in the extreme clipper Challenge, in which he was tasked with a very demanding ship, a lousy crew, and at the last minute took on a terrible, sadistic mate called Black Douglas (his original mate jumped ship at the start, a wise move in retrospect).

[@spunktaneouscumbustion8109]

It's always sad when even seamen get Stockholm syndrome. It's why I have a lil tugboat time every now and again... if ya catch my drift

[@erobinson1612]

It's a testament to the quality and detail of this channel that the "clips" are almost 8 minutes long

[@johnshields6852]

The sailors of those older ships had to be brave, resilient, strong, their jobs of unfurling those huge canvases, climbing the ropes in rough seas, toughest job ever at sea, you talk about separating the men from the boys, that's them.

[@funnelvortex7722]

It’s truth. A huge part of the reason a lot of ships from that era had young crews is because they took a lot of apprentices because most would not come back on board after the first voyage. The experienced ABs who did most of the hard work and everyone envisions as the archetype of a salty “sailor” were typically much older since they were the ones who chose to stay at sea, they were the hardy seaman in it for the long haul. The OSs were given a fraction of the work and most ran as a result, but the ones who didn’t run went on to have long prosperous careers in the trade. Separated the men from the boys indeed. Of course these days such working conditions are entirely unacceptable and I would never condone going back to that and I’m happy worker’s rights are a thing, but I gotta admire how hardy people were back then.

[@malafunkshun8086]

An honest look at life at Sea, with a special emphasis on Clippers. Aloha 😊⛵️🤙🏼👏🏼

[@BlackheartCharlie]

Don't underestimate the role of the bosun in creating a living hell for sailors. On a visit to a tall ship at Mystic Seaport museum I was discussing how fearful new sailors might be of going over 100' high in the rigging on an icy, storm-tossed night. The docent aboard the tall ship related to me of how the sailors were more scared of a guaranteed beating by the bosun than the possibility of slipping and falling from the rig. Capt. Blackheart Charlie Key West, Conch Republic

[@toddbrown4935]

Thank you for this fantastic video. I've been fascinated by the age of sail for many years and I learned so much from this.

[@TheGreatBigMove]

Glad you enjoyed it, Todd!

[@gorillaguerillaDK]

I went to sea at 16, had crossed the Atlantic Ocean twice on a Full Rigged ship before I turned 18

[@tonysmith2618]

My grandfather George Donaldson served on the Thermopole, sister ship to Cutty Shark at about age 13 as cabin boy. In very rough seas he spilt the coffee taking it to the Captain, Chief Mate/Bosun threw a belaying pin at him and broke his arm for spilling the coffee, the captain thereafter set the arm for him and he never had a days trouble with it later. He was warned, "Do not spill the Captains coffee! My grandfather went on to become a legend he was a Man amongst Men, Love you Da.

[@ripwednesdayadams]

It seems totally counterintuitive and sadistic to break a cabin boy’s arm over such a small thing. Good thing your grandfather survived!

[@funnelvortex7722]

@@ripwednesdayadams Unfortunately it was a reality where even if the captain was a reasonable man he'd often be stuck with a sadistic first mate or bosun, many great captains had their names smeared because whatever some psychopath mate or bosun did was inevitably blamed on them.

[@MizNomer22]

Yyyyyeeeeeeesssss a new video from The Great Big Move is always a good day!!!

[@ericdee6802]

Outstanding Show My Friend!!!✌

[@dave_sic1365]

Reminds me of "Das boot" The captain tells his crew how he started his maritime career on a clipper

[@davel4708]

The Last Grain Race by Eric Newby is a good read. The conditions he experienced sailing on a clipper don't seem as bad as what is described here.

[@tryazeve9420]

The creator is sensationalising the story in strange places

[@davidwright7193]

The steel barques that Newby sailed on weren’t as tough as the clippers but being on the Australia run he did circumnavigate. The first days out of Belfast were particularly hard. To tack across the Irish Sea from Anglsea to Dublin and back and not even weather Holyhead island with only 5 or 6 miles made good is awful weather.

[@williamthomas1889]

@@tryazeve9420 There is a youtube about 18th? century British Navy. Analysis of crews ration documents show that they consumed approx. 5000 calories per day. They had the good sense to understand a lot of 'fuel; was required to get the job done ! Why wouldn't Clipper skippers know this ?

[@BeKindToBirds]

Conditions varied extremely widely depending on officers, cargo, route, etc... Many sailing ships were practically slave crewed. Some were extremely well paid professionals with gold leaf and silver in the cabin. Really it is much more common to be in the poor conditions described in this video. Overwhelmingly the more common experience.

[@BeKindToBirds]

@@tryazeve9420 No he isn't, there are endless first hand sources of even much worse conditions than any be touched on here. It was extremely common for it to be poor conditions. Kidnap and imprisonment were literally aspects of keeping ships crews. This is historically accurate information, all of it.

[@michaelw.6957]

Very informative as always, excellent work!

[@brentmeg922]

Thoroughly enjoying your Chanel!!

[@jarrowmarrow]

I knew an old man who sailed large cargo sailing ships round the horn. They delivered grain from Alviso. A silted up grain port in the S.F bay. Doors and windows from the Pacific northwest to the U.K. He said what ended sailing shipping was nobody wanted to do it any more. Don Martin was his name and he was an S.F bay harbor pilot. I worked on his cars he brought them in once a year and said make em perfect.

[@alexmarshall4331]

My great grandfather... Frederick Marshall was able bodied on the Cutty Sark...he did 4 times around the Cape on her...we have his diaries 👉🇬🇧👈

[@nickbell678]

I'm just editing and transcribing the log that my great grandfather, 1st mate of the Cleonome kept of a voyage (round the Horn) from Newport, South Wales to San Francisco and back during 1881.

[@ag-om6nr]

For fascinating story of the last of the clippers , Eric Newby's " The Last Grain Race " is well worth reading !

[@0_1_2]

Extremely well written!

[@TheGreatBigMove]

Thank you!

[@martinphilip8998]

This was a fascinating period. These ships were complex, and state of the art. One of my siblings asked our mother who our richest ancestor was. She thought of one of her great aunt who owned a line of clippers. Likely she participated in the opium trade with China. Great to see book recommendations from the group here. My sister in Massachusetts has a home with a widow’s walk on the High Street. Keep posting.

[@VB83280]

This is why humans are awesome, innovation is always a few decades away. Sooner of later, these sailors would have the best luxury imaginable and relatively easy work.

[@kixigvak]

"Certain members of the crew are doing the most abominable things to the cabin boy" - Richard Henry Dana in Two Years Before the Mast

[@david9783]

I've read it twice. Imagine being literally stuck with that caliber of men, with the captain himself murderer of one of the crew! Dana made a huge difference for the common sailor later in his life.

[@XrayxRich]

Nice presentation. May I suggest that you read, "Voyage: A Novel of 1896," by actor/author Sterling Hayden. It's a tremendously well written high seas adventure of a coal ship voyage from East Coast to West Coast rounding Cape Horn.

[@johnzeszut3170]

I read "Voyage" years ago and worthy of another read. I think that the big thing in the book was that the ship was all metal but I might be wrong. I recall that the crew's quarters were in the bow.

[@BeKindToBirds]

@@johnzeszut3170 quarters for crew bring in the bow was the main location for hundreds of years so it's a direct evolution from the wood ships days. Hence the name "before the mast" as the common sailors would be housed in the forcastle before or in front of the foremast unlike the officers or captain in the cabinhouse.

[@johnzeszut3170]

@@BeKindToBirds Thanks - I figured that it might be the roughest part of the ship during any sort of rough weather.

[@vaughnslavin9784]

Thank you!

[@rickhoffman9756]

Great video .

[@david9783]

Imagine being shanghaied and waking up with a sever hangover to a life like that! HUGE bummer.

[@rbnhd1976]

Yeah I'm thinking more than a few of those guys "fell" on "accident"

[@jimpiccini1036]

I joined the navy to see the world, but all i saw, was the sea! A sailors joke. USN 67-72, the best experience of my life. Navigation DEPT, Home port naples italy. What a different experience, i certainly can feel for all those brave sailors!

[@hibraisil]

I grew up playing on the ruins of Donald McKay's shipworks in East Boston. Luckily I can appreciate what a rare opportunity it was.

[@Lucius_Chiaraviglio]

Thanks for the footage of sailing ships in revenue service.

[@hurri7720]

Gustaf Erikson ships were not driven by bastards mentioned here.

[@michael42158]

Great work. A good source for this is the journal "Two Years Before the Mast" by Richard Henry Dana Jnr.

[@TheGreatBigMove]

I’ll add it to my list to check out

[@jeffreybarton3014]

I did the navy on an aircraft carrier but this sounds like utter hell. Running those catapults wasn't heaven though

[@ABQRT]

Nice video but with some corrections though: The ships most illustrated are not clippers, they are Barques, " Clipper Ships" would have square sails on ALL masts, fore, main, and mizzen along with the spanker sail. What is illustrated in the video version of sailing ships build for hauling cargo cheaply not speed as were clippers. "Clipper ships" had more canvas plus studding sails and larger crews, whereas the sailing ships of later years only had 6-8 man watches, 16 man crews plus officers approximately. My grandfather began as a cabin boy on my great grandfathers trading vessel on the Baltic at age 12. He rounded Cape Horn on a square rigger in 1896 to Chili then onto San Francisco where he was shanghaied onto a whaler for a 9 month voyage to the Bering Sea whaling and trading with the natives. His pay was 1/150th of the value of the whale oil.The Carlo was an auxiliary whaler which mean it had square sails and a steam engine. My grandfather came onboard with nothing and didn't speak English. So they put him in the engine room where he learned Steam engines and English. After his whaling days he worked on the Pacific Coast Steam lumber schooners and mail packets, being shipwrecked on the "SS Valencia" Jan 1906 (Google it, the Titanic of the Pacific Northwest and ghost ship of the coast) He was one of the survivors of the tragedy. He did sail to Alaska with the well known Alaska Packers Fleet (Also something to Google) to the Salmon canneries in Alaska. All the sailing ships were named "Star" of some country ( I believe you have the Star of Chili in you video) He sailed on the Star of Greenland AND the Star of Alaska (Balclutha) still afloat in San Francisco. He told me many stories of life aboard the sailing ships. When he wanted to go back to Germany to visit family he'd work as a ships engineer and buy a Steerage ticket for the trip back to the USA. His nephew, my cousin made one trip with the Alaska Packers to Nushagak, AK aboard the Star of Holland. 30 days from Oakland CA to the Cannery at Nushagak. Where he worked as a fisherman in the 2 man dories. Their fresh water was rationed to 1/2 qt per day on the trip, the meat they ate on the ship was preserved by salting and stored in wooden casks. So it was soaked in sea water in the Galley for 3 or more days to leech the salt out before the cook could ue fresh water to cook the meat. More factoids: The various types of sailing vessels were all rigged the same, the running rigging went to the same locations. Why? Well there were NO DECK lights aboard Sailing vessels so a Watch would have to know by position and feel the correct ropes to haul in or pay out. In stormy seas frequently the crew were armpit deep in water or desperately hanging onto lifelines strung along the decks. Not unusual to lose an entire watch overboard with no chance of rescue. NO heat in the foc'sle (until 1933 when the Seamans Union) made the steamship owners put heat in the crews quarters, but still not on sailing ships. Many of the old sailor weren't even swimmers, they knew if they went overbaord on asailing vessel the ship couldn't be stopped to pick them. Many cousin saw this right outside the Golden Gate, a man fell off the main yard while the crew was setting sail and picking up speed, "all we saw was him waving his arm then he was gone!"

[@TheGreatBigMove]

It’s just because it’s hard to find public domain footage of old ships.

[@BazookaToe]

Bully Waterman was my 4th great grandfather. It’s kind of hard to feel one way or another about the way he ran his ships because these were different times. It was through him that maritime laws of the day were changed. So I’ll look back with pride that he was my grandfather, rather than one of the poor derelict’s who had to sail under him.

[@yoyo762]

Remember, your life expectancy dropped to 3 years once you went to sea. It was a near death sentence to do that job.

[@williamscoggin1509]

The only thing I might change about the comment the narrator was making is about sleep. I worked on an aircraft carrier in our birthing quarters were one deck below the steam catapults that chunked the planes off of the light deck. You can't imagine how loud a noise it makes as a steam catapult drives across the ceiling above you and the WHAM that it makes when it hits the end and releases the aircraft. When you are tired enough and only after a couple of days that can be going on constantly and you sleep right through it. And the same is true when aircraft lands one after another. No matter how big that ship is it is a horrendously loud racket when that plane hits the deck and the entire ship shakes from top to bottom. You truly have to have been there to really understand. 👍🏻🇺🇲🇺🇲

[@forestwiids9710]

I ready appreciate this video, Im a trainee officer at sea at this moment in time, can you suggest a reading or audiobook list related to this topic, cheers

[@RocketGurney]

Excellent stuff! Though wasn't this one uploaded before at one point?

[@TheGreatBigMove]

Yes, this is a clip from the video on How to Become an Ocean Liner Captain. I thought this section warranted its own video (note the 'GBM Clips' thumbnail, intro, and outro)

[@RocketGurney]

@@TheGreatBigMove Ahh alrighty, makes sense, and certainly a subject worth highlighting in its own right!

[@seadog2396]

Who gives a damn if it was?

[@lombardmordesian]

Really interesting

[@torgeirbrandsnes1916]

I guess it is here we hear the saying learning the ropes. In Norway the shipowners on the west coast went from sail to steam in a heart beat compare to the shipowners in the rest of the country because on the west coast you needed to get the fish to market asap. While grain and timber had no rush to get to market.

[@johnjephcote7636]

There was 'bully Forbes' of the Black Ball line as well.

[@jamesbaldwin7676]

It should be noted that the one of the fastest sailing ships in the world was the fully-loaded extreme clipper ship, Flying Cloud, with a passage from New York to San Francisco (round the horn) in 89 days, 8 hours. That was a record that stood from 1854 to 1989 (more than 130 years) and then only exceeded by modern, ultra-light, multi-hulled, racing catamarans. And the Flying Cloud's chief navigator, was a woman! Now "that's a whale-of-tail and it's all true."

[@truthseeker3236]

It is true also true, it was built in the east Boston ship yard by Donald mckay. Launched in 1851 its record new York to san francisco stood for 130 years

[@jamesbaldwin7676]

@@truthseeker3236 Another record holder and perhaps the only Extreme Clipper Ship faster than Flying Cloud, was Sovereign of the Seas. Both came from the mind and shipyard of Donald Mckay. It's totally unfair to compare speed records of commercial trading vessels with anything sailing today (unless you load the modern racing yacht down with 750 tons of cargo.)

[@truthseeker3236]

I have a special place in my heart for the mckay shipyard i grew up around the coner from it and played and swam in the waters there all my life I even went to the Donald mckay school from 6th thru 9th I went to the Sam Adam's k thru 5. The shipyard is on an island a half mile off Boston. Originally called nodle island back in revolutionary days Logan Airport occupies most of South western shore of it now

[@jamesbaldwin7676]

@@truthseeker3236 I live on a sailboat with a bowsprit. It's cutter-rigged with a clipper bow. No modern roller-furling but old-fashion hank-on sails. It's not particularly fast but makes-up for it in classic looks. I too have a great respect for old sailboats and 19th Century shipbuilding. Marine architects of that era, don't come any better than Donald Mckay.

[@truthseeker3236]

That's wonderful James congratulations on living a dream if your ever near bath maine in your travels I have acess a deep water dock where I have a summer home and made a would love to entertain you with a fine dinner 43.7290*N , 69.8531*W The dock is on the back side of the island

[@thesh8101]

The youngest enlistment age for the usn is 17. I joined the usn at 17 myself I graduated high school I wasn't feeling 4 more years of school after I just finished 12 straight years of school (13 if you count kindergarten). I can say with all honesty it was 1 of the best decisions I ever made. 13 years old is way too young though. Really anything younger than 17 is too young and really 17 or 18 depends on the maturity level of the individual. As you pointed out in your video times were different back then.

[@TomLongusa]

Yep…if anything went wrong on any voyage the Captain was to blame. If it was ever noted he was soft on the crew it would be seen as the reason for his failure. A sea captain was an iron willed and usually physically powerful man holding the complete and unquestioned power of life and death over the crew. As brutal as it may seem to us it was a critical component to the success of any voyage.

[@jamesmordovancey517]

For the whaling angle on this, try Cruise Of The Cachalot -- my favorite read about ships of sail. Unlike Moby Dick, it's non-fiction. ( And please, I know Moby Dick is based on the sinking of the Essex, but it's still a novel.)

[@johnbuchan3678]

To understand better why the sailors put up with such abuse, have you considered their employment prospects on land? I assume that they were often choosing the lesser of two evils.

[@rogersmith7396]

When gold was discovered in 1848 CA. all the sailing ships were abandoned by their crew and left to rot in SF.

[@yoyo762]

Much like the Roman Empire galley ships. There were men who VOLUNTEERED to row those ships where the discipline was so hard they were not allowed to slap at biting black flies. The alternative must have been worse.

[@billp4]

It was either this or working in an office.

[@funnelvortex7722]

This was during the late industrial revolution when most work on land was in factories with horrific safety standards, very long shifts, and slavedriver bosses while breathing in smog and industrial fumes all day. It was really this or that. You couldn’t hope to get a cozy office job unless your family was rich and connected enough. Thank goodness for worker’s rights movements...

[@brianperry]

When I sailed in the sixties/seventies I read the book by Richard Dana ''Two Years before the Mast'' he describes his life aboard and landings for cargo.....pretty grim reading....trouble was although sailing ships looked very impressive, A moving art form, working on them must have been horrendous...my life at sea was cosy by comparison..

[@funnelvortex7722]

The unfortunate thing is that it didn’t HAVE to be this way, as modern shipping crews clearly demonstrate, it was moreso a result of the class culture of the time. A lot of things from the time were absolutely beautiful, but before worker’s rights classism and horrific working conditions at sea OR on land were in no short supply.

[@rogersmith7396]

Sounds great. Where do I sign on?

[@TheHylianBatman]

I'm kinda not glad this style died. It sounds degrading. Sailors ought not to be put down for their hard work.

[@rogersmith7396]

We are still dealing with heirarchical disrespect today.

[@BeKindToBirds]

It was a natural evolution to abuse from the requirements of having a strong captain to manage the rough conditions and education standards. Those ships and captains who erred on the side of softer were more likely to fail so the culture of sailing selected for even more brutal. Same thing applied to limits of food storage and cost saving causing a culture of being horrible to the common sailor ad a matter of financial reality. That passed on well to today

[@funnelvortex7722]

This was before worker’s rights. Back then, just like today, all the companies cared about was maximizing profit but unlike today they had little regulation so if it meant hiring psychopaths to literally drive their crews like slaves to save a few dollars they do it. Was just the economic reality of the time. Workplaces on land were not much better, factories were especially horrible. Worker’s rights has come a long way.

[@athame57]

This brutality to crew in the late age of sail was very much an American thing. Blue nosers their sailing ships got called, 'belaying pin soup' (a pool of blood) a common sight! Result was often super clean decks and crews who wouldn't stay. On his last voyage 'Bully Waterman' could only recruit two English speaking sailors.

[@cyruz6756]

Can u do a bremen and europa vid?

[@psychedelicprawncrumpets9479]

I bet those sailors really did have arms like popeye.. Hard yakka as we say here in Australia 💪

[@rogersmith7396]

Sailing ships were common up until WWII. The big ones would have 4-500 crew. When the cost of labor went up the ships became uneconomic. There are several late iron sailing ships on the west cost and Hawaii. Before, sailors mainly got room and board as compensation. Modern freighters usually have less than 30 crewmen.

[@the_retag]

Actually the flying p-liner preußen, one of the largest and fastest freight sailors ever built, had five masts and a crew of only 50

[@DavidOfWhitehills]

Crews that big would only be on warships. HMS Victory has a hundred guns, four men for each gun.

[@JimGDMAC]

@@DavidOfWhitehills They needed more than 4 men per gun, especially the largest on the lowest gun deck. Victory had a crew of 850 men and officers although it could be less depending on availability of men. The smallest 12 lb guns it carried needed a crew of 10, 24 lb had a crew of 12 and the largest 32 lb had a crew of 15. These numbers were to allow half of the crew to work the guns on the opposite side if needed as normally only the guns one one side were manned. The whole crew could move to the other side if the ship tacked bringing their target on the opposite beam. Not all of the crew worked the guns as they still needed enough sailors to work the ship during the fight. Warships in general were highly overmanned except in battle compared to merchantmen.

[@petermartin9494]

The entire crew of the Cutty Sark was 18 to 28 men... Real men. www.rmg.co.uk/sites/default/files/Cutty_Sark_Facts_Pack.pdf

[@2011Matz]

None of the vessels in these films are clipper ships, they are all from later days of sail 1880 - 1900+. better known as windjammers and not to be confused the post-war schooner business in Maine.

[@TheGreatBigMove]

Good luck finding public domain footage of sailing ships from the late 19th Century. Lucky I found anything.

[@smithwesson7765]

Neat bit of history for sure. A hard life at sea at a very young age must have produced some very capable young men. Pardon my trivia but, sails were not "canvas" but linen from flax not cotton. Canvas when wet is far too heavy and stiff to be used as a sail. It would take weeks to dry out and then rot would set in. Linen, an ancient textile from Ireland, was much lighter, just as strong and dried very quickly due to its more pourous nature. Of course today, we use synthetics such as kevlar or nylon.

[@kevinrussell6530]

I thought canvas back in the day, as well as rope, was made from hemp and not cotton.

[@smithwesson7765]

@@kevinrussell6530 That's true. Cotton does not perform well when wet as it is too hydrophilic and gets very heavy. Hemp indeed was the choice for rope. Burlap is another fibre used extensively on the sea. From sisal or jute fibres, it is very strong.

[@funnelvortex7722]

"Canvas" is a slang, even on modern sailboats the sails are often called "canvas" even when they are made from synthetic materials.

[@wmgthilgen]

There's a reason why we say "only the strong survive". And " The cream rises to the top". It's also stated that the meek will inherit the Earth; Which has always caused me to wonder, if so, who will attend to them.

[@scottholman3982]

Because the meek don't get killed being macho. You can be strong and still be meek.

[@erwinb3412]

Reminds me also a bit of "Mutiny on the bounty" .

[@JimGDMAC]

Why? Bligh was said to be a good captain who looked after his men well, he was given the job due to his excellent record. His big mistake was in his choice of officer as Christian was a poor character who couldn't keep proper discipline amongst the sailors. The book "Mutiny on the Bounty" was written by a mutineer who went out of his way to bring down Bligh and contains little truth.

[@erwinb3412]

@@JimGDMAC Hello , i do not know what the ttruth was , i only relied on the movie i saw . With regards .

[@cleverusername9369]

Fun fact: boys would go to sea as young as 7 in the Royal Navy in the Age of Sail. They'd be employed to clean officers' cabins, or to fetch gunpowder from down in the magazine and run it up to the gun crews working the cannons, hence the nickname "powder monkey".

[@funnelvortex7722]

The fact that boys that young were ever sent to war in the first place is nothing short of horrific tbh.

[@Elhesh]

Huge difference to the speed built ships of today. Running 1 or 2 wings rather than sails. And often running single masts. Incredible

[@scottholman3982]

Yes, but the boats today are not carrying cargo. They are built just to go fast, like Comanche, or the new foiling catamarans used in the America's Cup. 18 knots is very fast for a boat under sail, for those days. 5 or 6 knots was considered good speed for most sailing vessels until the 1980's.

[@Elhesh]

@@scottholman3982 Yeah you’re 100% correct. Crazy how the times have changed hey.

[@burkevelanovich6358]

I think I saw this video before is this a re-upload

[@TheGreatBigMove]

Sort of. I sometimes upload small parts of older videos which cohesive enough to constitute a separate video. That way, if someone isn't interested in the topic of the longer video, they get the chance to watch a part of it they might be more interested in. I call these GBM Clips and the thumbnail, intro, and outro are different for theses videos to differentiate them from the regular videos.

[@corydorastube]

I went to sea at the age of sixteen in 1977. Sailed fro Hull to Santa Marta and the Puerto Limon for bananas.

[@whatisheartscont2be645]

I have read sailors memoirs about them at the end of the 19. century. In general these cargo sailing ships were very dangerous and a hard life. I can't even imagine it. But still, many men lived it, which is amazing. A completely different work life than todays modern cargo ships. Also makes me feel happy that I live in the 21. century. 😄

[@forestwiids9710]

im onboard just now, can you suggest a good reading list / audiobooks

[@whatisheartscont2be645]

@@forestwiids9710 Sailors memoirs in English sadly I don't know what to recommend. However I wish You a safe contract, stay strong.

[@scottholman3982]

Yes, they had crews of 40 or 50 people, or more. Today, a large cargo vessel might have a crew of 25.

[@whatisheartscont2be645]

@@scottholman3982 True, the crews are today as small as possible. I worked on board a Supramax size bulk carrier, the personnel was only 22.

[@edp2260]

So Captian Edward Smith and Second Officer Lightoller as young men were badass? Wow.

[@robertevans9897]

Great stuff but these people were ten times tougher than us living on a clipper was like crewing the queen Mary everything and everyone moved by water boats were like lorries hundreds crashed or wrecked all the time accidents and injuries were every day occurrence. People are soft and removed from the reality of life these day tv and computers most people can't even make a fire

[@m2heavyindustries378]

Cool story, why don't you go ahead and volunteer for sailing ship service for us, boomer? What a joke

[@BlackHe4rtQueen]

Looks like you'd have much better time being a pirate under Stede Bonnet than an apprentice under these captains.

[@funnelvortex7722]

That’s how pirates were able to get crews. Blackbeard unironically treated his crew much better than many merchant captains of his time.

[@mrsaturngamingandstories]

Where's this clip come from

[@TheGreatBigMove]

This clip is from my video on How to Become an Ocean Liner Captain.

[@mrsaturngamingandstories]

Nice well one time my grandad went to sea on an Old Sailing I don't know what year it was but it was a tough time for him

[@stevenmagdefrau158]

I think I could have been a sailor.

[@erwinb3412]

Very interesting info about the toxic clipper-worksphere . It seems logical because long periods on a ship enlarge the human frustrations when there are problems and when one cannot escape them . The frustrated or money-hungry captains fit that picture . Sadists however one can find everywhere . Well , there goes the romantic idea of clipper sailing . Of course , when people are shanghai-ed in order to be a forced sailor that also already implies injustice and oppression , but i thought shanghai-yng was only done on military vessels .

[@funnelvortex7722]

The good news is that not EVERY ship was like this. It varied a lot from ship to ship, this stuff was usually the lowest quality standard that was deemed acceptable at the time, but ships with much better conditions did sail.

[@erwinb3412]

@@funnelvortex7722 Looking at the video a second time i think the problems described here are universal in all workingplaces where money is at high stake for the leaders and those in charge of making money . In other words , profit over decency . Exploitation of workers , whether on land or sea , whether in a factory or on a clipper . Where there are no labour-unions tp protect workers , the workers cannot defend themselves from employers' greed , and run high risk of being exploited . Even today on cargo and containerships this is sometimes still the case , low pay , or even no pay . That means lack of respect for the work and thus the people doing the work . Sadists are everywhere , on land or sea . Toxic and exploitative working environments for labourors can happen everywhere , and are excluded nowhere . I'm sure there exist humane captains also . In this light i agree with your reaction . My first reaction , and the video could be generalizing , but i think are true in terms of exploitation through lack of protection of sailors by labour-unions , which well likely have been possible in that age of clippers . Being a sailor , especially on a high performing clipper must be hard work . But also , still sailing has a dream-like appeal , a sort of adventurous call . With regards , Erwin .

[@funnelvortex7722]

@@erwinb3412 Indeed, it was a reflection of the economic environment of the time. On land most factories were ran like this as well, a lot of it was over the top, cruel, and unnecessary, but unfortunately positions of authority in the workplace attract bad people and this holds true today. But fortunately labor laws today protect workers from abuse on *this* level. I really think what's telling is how young these crews were on average. Back then it was disturbingly common to send boys as young as 12 off to sea or to work in a factory to be beaten and driven by these slave drivers (who were much older and therefore had much more developed muscle mass) often leaving their bodies broken by the time they were 30, all in the name of profit and greed. These workplaces had to keep recruiting young workers because a lot of them would end up dead, broken, or leaving. And it was almost exclusively kids and young adults from poor backgrounds, while the captains and bosses themselves were often cemented in in a background of wealth and nobility. Breaking (or killing) a man before he is even in his prime is such a waste of the potential of a man. But this is where the "good" ships and captains I mentioned come in. Many of those who chose to stay on the sea well into their 40s and older are those who developed the romantic sailor culture we look back on today. Many of these sailors were hardened, seasoned, and stayed at sea later into life because they were truly passionate about it. They were professional sailors through and through and they would often sign aboard ships with other such like-minded professionals, many a times developing a form of brotherhood. And a few of them were able to rise through the ranks to become captains and officers themselves, and in those cases they'd be much more humane since they had to sail under the trust fund baby slavedrivers when they were young boys, and many of them helped champion the workers' rights movements in the early 20th century. Though it should be stated most men got onto the professional crews only after they were already established enough in the industry (and thus had to have enured the tyrants), but if you were a young lad you could sometimes find mentorship on board a professionally-run ship if you were lucky enough since they still did take on younger apprentices from time to time. The older ABs would often be father figures to the young trainees on such vessels, and while the captain and officers were still stern and distant they typically kept a calmer approach. But of course, that is if you were lucky as a young lad, unfortunately the video is right that much more commonly you got stuck with a slavedriver captain and a rowdy drunken crew especially when starting out. Yeah, sad reality is that life at sea (and workplaces in general) was like this in the majority of cases, but the romantic notion of life at sea isn't entirely unfounded and did come from the few professional crews who did exist.

[@erwinb3412]

@@funnelvortex7722 Hello sir , well written , respect . Happy workers are productive and motivated workers . Oppressed workers are not . Child labour is destructive to the development of a human being . I am completely in favour of labour unions and labour protection . For every force , there must be a counterforce , or inbalance and oppression to one or the other side will automatically happen . It is the same with citizens in a society . Plain citizens are also protected from the government by laws . It is the same with citizens mutually . There are laws that protect people from crime . Without protective laws there will be abuse . The rightwing politicians must balance out the leftwing politicians . The labour unions must balance out the patronage (collective employers) . That is how a good democracy should work . Regards , Erwin , Belgium .

[@erwinb3412]

@@funnelvortex7722 And of course the leftwing politicians must also balance out the rightwing politicians .

[@robertbiolsi9815]

We just don't know how lucky we are

[@vivianhayes6865]

Captain Sisto Santenelli was nothing to laugh about. ATC💯

[@conradmcdougall3629]

I'm not getting notifications from this channel. Does ayone else have this issue?

[@coloradostrong]

Check the settings on your channel. Sometimes they get turned off.

[@sirrandolph7857]

These old fashioned clippers from the 1800s rounding the Cape Horn remind me of a book my 6th grade class read back in 2018. It was about a young 13 year old high class girl who sets sail on one of these ships and befriends the crew. Any idea on what the title of the book is? Its been too long

[@Jacob-W-5570]

extremly young age? Modern sailors take their apprentiship at 17 still lol. Conditions and food changed a lot tho

[@abbush2921]

Read a book about sailing ships that they where best advert for a cowboy's life .

[@badgerattoadhall]

16 or 17 is not "that young" i had my first fulltime job at 16 and was in the army as soon as i turned 17.

[@badgerattoadhall]

@@Craigx71 yes, powder monkeys. their small size let the run on the gun deck.

[@moriflapan4661]

Like the human story generally, there were very good masters and very cruel masters, but most lay in between. My understanding is that American ships were renowned for being more harsh and cruel to their crews compared to the ships of other nations. This is probably a reflection on what was the comparatively unfettered capitalism of the 19th century in the New World. The British were more circumspect when it came to their treatment of crews as standards were in place through the navigation acts, albeit not very high standards. Logs were kept and reports given to consulates upon arrival. It is probably reasonable to say that most masters realised that their ships would only be as good as the performance of their crew. Those that achieved consistently good records must have had reasonably good relations with their men. A good example is Captain Woodget of the clipper Cutty Sark. His men tended to stay with the ship for long periods.

[@rogersmith7396]

England also had a huge Navy so seamen were probably in short supply. The US did'nt.

[@jgdooley2003]

The Ballad "New York Girls" features a reference to "Yankee Blood boats" by the character featured in the song who berates New York ladies as more dangerous than saling around Cape Horn. The Ballad "Leaving of Liverpool" calls the US ships as "a floating Hell". As a singer I find there is often truth in the words of old ballads which have been handed down through the generations.

[@funnelvortex7722]

True but I'd argue a lot of it was somewhat exaggerated since a lot of those accounts are by British sailors during a time relations between the US and Britain were still tense. It wasn't squeaky clean on British ships either, especially on British steamers (and ESPECIALLY ocean liners) since the chief engineer was every bit of a tyrant, it's just that it all happened below decks in the engine and boiler rooms and thus was out of sight out of mind to most people aboard. It was the reality of any workplace where speed = profit. Many sailors found work easier on coastal trades or on the Great Lakes since speed wasn't as important there.

[@jeffbybee5207]

As for age of shipping david fabricate first admiral us navy shiped out as midshipman at 9 and took command of a captured ship at 10 as prize Master. Captian barney was cabin boy at 12 iirc captian died and he took command sold the goods in Spain contracted to carry troops and returned ship to owners in Boston with a profit by 24

[@jeffbybee5207]

Sorry mistyped, 14 not 24 he latter captioned a ship in contental navy and tried to defend washington in war of 1812 but traped up a creek had to burn his gunboats to prevent capture. Lead troops that delayed the British so they didn't capture president and dolly Madison

[@funnelvortex7722]

That was still incredibly young even for the time. Back then most cabin boys were brought on at 14-16.

[@tryazeve9420]

Rats and cockroaches SOMEHOW survived?? It's almost ideal conditions for both of those creatures...

[@yardarm5]

Sounds familiar, bartenders separate

[@ianstewart2252]

Would a loved it ...23

[@unfinished8kt]

What were the wages of the sailors? It doesn’t seem worth it to me.

[@rogersmith7396]

A few dollars a month plus room and board.

[@johnberry2877]

I thought this was about sailing ships….. sounds like nursing to me !!

[@johnroddy8756]

A Career for Desperate men with no or little option's in life.

[@scottholman3982]

A career that could lead to being an officer, a well-paid position of authority. Most men lead lives of quiet desperation, sailors were not quiet about their desperation.

[@johnroddy8756]

@@scottholman3982 Well it takes all types in general officers were picked from the So called betters of Society, Commission s bought especially Royal Navy.

[@funnelvortex7722]

Just like joining the military today.

[@desirejohnson2124]

I'm so glad child labor laws keeps our children from learning a trade young

[@denizalgazi]

And those not old enough to be apprentices started as cabin boys…

[@dennislaws691]

Kind of ruined the romance of the days of commercial sail.

[@iFlyFree]

My great grandfather was captain of the Thermoplea sister ship to cutty Sark. he vanished at sea under strange circumstances, like Mutiny or something. ... Join the Merchant Navy they said, see the world they said !!!! yikes. Man overboard..... Down to Davy Jones Locker.

[@cindyhuang7021]

meawhile chinase junk ships;im i actully a joke now

[@danielmorris7648]

Why do ignorant people associate capitalism with greed when the most wealthy we've ever been is under capitalism lol

[@TheGreatBigMove]

My point in the video is that the captains were part of the capitalist or owner class rather than the working class. Even the captains of the large express liners in the future were technically working class even though they were well-paid.

[@internetsurferxxx2678]

Whats with this "we" shit? You can be on the streets eating trash in any system, or a rich man under any system.

[@wayneantoniazzi2706]

Capitalism's certainly not a perfect economic system, but it's the only one that works. And Gordon Gekko to the contrary, greed is not good. Pursuit of profit is good, but greed will send your common sense out the window and eventually get you in trouble.

[@Gramscifreedom]

If you’re really interested in the answer to this question read Marx. If not, just call me a woke commie and move on.

[@litote9]

@@Gramscifreedom Or you could just look at the state of Venezuela after it embraced Marxism. Moving on now, comrade.