What did British sailors wear, on board, during the late Victorian era. I know that in the early 1800s, shipboard dress was, um, informal (except for officers), but what was the average Jack Tar wearing in, say, 1898?
I’m building a model of a ship in action and would like to be reasonably correct. Man, 1/350 figures are small. 
There is a picture of an Able Seaman from the period here.
Thanks! I suppose he’s wearing his dress uniform to have his photo taken–would he wear that for everyday work around the ship?
Definitely not an expert but I think so. I do not believe other ranks had separate “dress” uniforms. Having said that I believe that sailors doing very dirty jobs wore overalls - pretty sure I have seen pictures of stokers (and sailors recoaling) wearing them. 'Fraid I can’t find a picture at the moment.
Just found this pictureof signalmen from 1910. Looks like a useful site, there is also a picture of a ship about to take on coal but it is not really clear enough to see uniforms in detail. Note that they are wearing white “tropical” uniforms.
A nice site!
I see that in one of the other pictures lower on the page, there are sailors in the white uniform and some in dark uniforms (presumably blue). Looks like I can have some sailors in white and some in blue-add a little visual interest!
Here’s another photo that doesn’t look too staged:
Scroll down to the photo labeled “The Fore Barbette”, a little over halfway down the page. (Photo probably from around 1902…)
Here’s a typical sailor from 1880.
If you want an official description, go here. It’s so official, they don’t even have pictures 
On the other hand, there’s nothing wrong with being a little whimsical.
The “Birds” picture is very interesting-quite a mix of clothing there!
