American Crossroads: Teaching History on the Great Plains

Developed by Randy Hansen-Fergus Falls School Independent District 544

Objective:  To understand the jobs aboard a 17^th century sailing ship

Lesson Plan Time:  1-2 days 

Grade level:  9-12

Description: Students will speculate on jobs aboard a ship and then look at the definitions of 17^th century ship duties. They will then read about the duties of a ship’s boy and attempt to determine the speed of a sailing ship. Finally they will read the article “The journey that changed the world” and write 3 diary entries pretending they are aboard one of the ships on the way to Jamestown.

Directions:

I. Ask students if they have ever been on an airplane.  Ask they what jobs are a part of getting that plane from one airport to another.  (ticket takers, baggage handlers, ground crew, pilots, flight attendants, etc.)

II. Ask students to speculate what kind of jobs would be necessary to sail a ship in the 17^th century. (look at the enclosed pictures of the Mayflower and the 3 ships from Jamestown to help spur discussion)

III. Have the students read the section on the crew and duties aboard a 17^th century ship.

a.     Discuss the types of duties on the ship and the difficulty of each one.

IV. Read about the duties of a ship boy and work through the measuring nautical speed exercise individually or with the whole class.

a.     Discuss your reaction to it.  Are you surprised at how much work is involved in this job?

V. Read and discuss the article “The journey that changed the world”

VI. Have the students complete 3 diary entries pretending they are aboard one of the ships on the way to Jamestown. 

a.     What are you thinking and feeling?

b.     What is your job on the ship?

c.     What have you seen or experienced?

d.     What do you miss most about England?

 

 

Resources:

Hogge, David. "America's 400th Anniversary." 2007: 35-41.

Kelso, William. Jamestown Rediscovery III, APVA, 1997.

Misc. resources from the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation

Crew and duties on 17^th century ships

Master

The master's duty was to command everything on board his ship. He told the officers to what port he wished to go. The Master's place was on the half-deck.

Mates

The mates are second in command only to the master. The mates are to direct the course and command all the sailors in the steering, trimming, and sailing the ship. The mate's place is in the midship.

Steersman and Conner

The steersman was the man who served at the whip-staff, or steering mechanism. He could not see where the ship was headed from his location on the 'tween deck. His view was obstructed by the forecastle and the main mast which was directly in front of him. Therefore, it was necessary for him to receive direction from a man on the deck above him. That second man was called the conner. The term "conning" is still used in the navy today.

Pilot

The pilot took charge of the ship when they were about to make land. It was his job to take the ship into safe harbor.

Surgeon

The surgeon was exempted from all duties other than attending to the sick and caring for the wounded. Whenever possible the surgeon was expected to have a certificate from the Barbers' Surgeon Hall to prove his sufficiency. He was also expected to have a surgeon's chest, which was well stocked for both physic and surgery. He had to take into account the clime into which the ship would be traveling and stock his supplies accordingly.

Master Gunner

The master gunner had charge of the ordnance and shot, powder, match, ladles, sponges, worms, cartridges, arms and fire-works

Gunner’s Mates

The rest of the gunners or quarter gunners received their orders from the master gunner according to directions, and were required to give account of their stores.

Carpenter

The carpenter and his mate were to have nails, clinches, roove, and clinch nails, spikes, plates, rudder irons, pump nailes, skupper nails and leather, saws, files, hatchets and any other needed tools which would be needed in caulking, breaming, stopping leaks, fishing, or splicing the masts or yards as occasion required. He was also required to give an account of his stores.

Boatswain (bosun)

The boatswain was to have charge of all the cordage, tackling, sails, fids, marling spikes, needles, twine, sail-cloth, and rigging for the ship.

Boatswain’s Mate

The boatswain's mate was in charge of the long boat, for the setting of the anchors, weighing or fetching home an anchor, warping, towing, or mooring. He was to give an account of his stores.

Cook or Steward

The cook was to prepare and deliver out the food according to the master's directions, and mess them four, five, or six at a time as the men were free from duty.

Quartermasters

The quartermasters were to have the charge of the hold in the matter of stowing supplies. They were also responsible for trimming the ship in the hold [some of the rigging lines were attached in the hold area]. Their men were also called to serve on watch. Their duties also included fishing, and for this purpose they were required to have a seine, a fish gig, a harpoon iron, and fish hooks, for all of the various breeds of fish which they might encounter on a voyage.

Cooper

The cooper was to look after the casks in the hold and to check their hoops regularly for leakage or spoilage. It was his job to stave or repair the buckets, baricos, cans, steep tubs, runlets, hogsheads, pipes, butts, etc., for wine, beer, cider, beverages, fresh water, or any liquor.

When the ship reached land, it was his job to see that enough oak was cut and prepared to send back on the ship to replace all of the wood which had been used in staves for barrels, hogsheads and casks on the voyage. England was very short on wood at this time in history, and it was very important to replace any wood lost in shipping of these wooden containers.

 

Swabber

The Swabber was in charge of scrubbing the decks and keeping the ship clean. Every Monday a liar was placed under his command. The Liar was to hold his place for a week. The seaman who was first to be caught in a lie each week, was so proclaimed at the main mast (every Monday) by a general cry, "a liar, a liar, a liar!" He was then placed under the Swabber's command. It was his job to keep the beak head and chains clean. The beak head was the location of the holes where the crew relieved themselves -- in other words, the latrine. The navy word head, which comes from this old term, is still used by seamen today.

Sailors

The Sailors were to be the older and stronger men who would do the hoisting of the sails, getting the tacks aboard, hauling the bowlines, and steering the ship when needed.

Younkers

The Younkers were the young men (sometimes called "the foremast men") who took in the topsails, or top and yard, or furled the sails, or slung the yards, bousing and trussing. They might also take their turns at the helm.

Ship’s Boys

 

Ships boys were between the ages of ten and fourteen.  They signed on as the youngest crew members aboard ships.

 

Ships’ boys were taken on board not only to work, but to learn the skills needed to become a mariner, boatswain, pilot or other crew member.  As a ship’s boy, you might work for one of these men to learn their jobs, much like an apprentice would learn a trade or craft on land.  Your duties on board the ship were important to help you learn these jobs, and to boatswain made sure you learned your duties well.

One of your duties might be to keep track of time on board the ship.  This sounds simple but can be kind of hard. The ship’s crew was divided into two groups called “watches”;  the starboard watch and the larboard watch.  The men on one watch would run the ship while the men on the other watch rested.  Every four hours the two watches changed, and the me who had been working had a chance to rest.

 

 

 

The ship’s boys had to ensure that time was kept correctly, and that the watches only worked for four hours at a time.  This was done by using a thirty minute sand glass.  Ship’s boys turned the sand glass every half hour, and then rang the ship’s bell one time for every thirty minutes of the watch, to let the sailors know the correct time.  For example, if your watch started at noon, you would ring the bell five times at 2:30, seven times at 3:30 and so on.  Every watch ended with eight bells.  Mistakes would be punished by the boatswain.

 

Measuring Nautical Speed

 

If someone drives a car down the interstate, and it takes that person exactly one minute to travel one mile, then how fast is he or she driving?  (60 miles per hour). 

 

How about if that person takes two minutes to travel one mile?  (30 miles per hour).

If you know how long it takes you to cover a given distance, you can figure out how fast you are going.

 

Late 16^th and early 17^th century sailors measured speed with the chip log.  They threw a piece of wood called a chip into the water, and the ship sailed away from it.  They weighted the chip with lead and attached a line to it.  The chip floated vertically and stayed in one spot as the ship sailed away. The attached line had a knot tied in it every 42 feet, and the number of knots that passed in thirty seconds was the ship’s speed.  If four knots passed in thirty seconds, then the ship travelled four knots. A knot equaled one nautical mile per hour.

 

A nautical mile equals 5,000 feet.  (Today it equals 6, 077 ft.)

42, the number of feet between knots, is 1/120^th of 5,000

30 seconds is 1/120^th of an hour, which has 3600 seconds.

The ratio of distance to time is the same.  If the ship sails 42 feet in 30 seconds, it should travel 5,000 feet in 1 hour, so it travels 1 nautical mile per hour or 1 knot.  If the ship sails 168 feet in 30 seconds, then it should travel about 20,000 feet in one hour.  This is 4 nautical miles an hour or 4 knots.

In the 18^th century, scientists decided that the earth was larger than once thought, and they changed a nautical mile to 6,077 feet.  The knots in the line should be 51 feet apart to reckon modern nautical miles an hour.

 

       1.  Reduce the following fraction:  30/3600  (1/120)

       2. If you drive a car down the interstate and it takes one minute to travel one mile, what is your speed?  (60 mph)

        3. If you drive that same car down the interstate and it takes you 30 seconds to travel one mile, you will be arrested. What is your speed?  (120 mph)

        4. If you drive a car down the interstate and it takes you two minutes to travel one mile, what is your speed?  (30 mph)

        5. Reduce the following fraction and round it out: 51/6,077 (1/119, rounded to 1/120)

        6. Divide 5,280 (feet in a mile) by 120. (44)

        7. If you walk 44 feet in 30 seconds, and you keep walking at the same speed, then how far will you walk in one hour? (5280 feet or one mile)

        8. If you walk 176 feet in 30 seconds, then how far will you walk in one hour?  (21,120 feet or 4 miles)

        9. What is your speed in question 7 and 8? (#7:  1 mph, #8:  4 mph)