Does anyone know of a website that might list British naval commands, particulrlay how they might have been stated in the late 19th century?
For example, if a captain declared a crisis how would the alert be stated?
“General Quarters” maybe? “Report to your duty stations”?
And when a crisis was over how might that be said? “Stand down”, or something similar?
I’m trying to write a story with as few anachronisms as possible, so I’m not going to automatically assume terminology is the same today as it was over a hundred years ago.
“Beat to Quarters” (a drummer beating a drum roll on a snare drun) in the days of sail. The ship was “Clear(ed) for Action”. Even in the late Victorian Era, the Ironclads “Cleared for Action”.
I am not sure about the “stand down from x” order. That is the order they use in the USN. Maybe “Set the watch, Mr. Driscole.” sometimes gets used, as well.
This isn’t really a GQ answer, but have you tried reading the Aubrey-Maturin series and/or the Hornblower books (one of which is actually titled Beat to Quarters ( here in the states anyway))? These books may or may not be historically accurate but they certainly set the standard for British naval-themed literature.
There is a companion encyclopedia to the Aubrey-Maturin series that is very informative on jargon, tactics, etc. I know you can find it on Amazon, but my connection is crap today.
Would commands have changed much, from the Aubrey-Maturin period, in the next seventy or so years? If a story takes place when the age of sail is pretty much over?
I do appreciate folks that have helped me out here. I’ve read Hornblower, and a couple of the O’Brians, but wasn’t sure if their jargon would still be used.
“Hands to actions stations, hands to action stations” - this would be the Victorian order, however there is something else too.
It would depend upon when in the Victorian period we are speaking, early on this was a wooden navy, and the command would certainly have been preceded with a Bosun’s pipe.
A bosuns pipe (short for boatswain) Is a type of whistle and it is modulated to produce the characteristic sound. Commands back in the sail days were often given this way, as it carried well even in a gale.
Actions stations would almost certainly be called in this whistle, and then the orders shouted, there would have been several such calls, the first would set off, and this would be repeated throughout the various decks.
In a wooden navy the call to ‘close up and clear away’ would also be given - to clear the decks for action.
In the later Victorian navy, we are talking steel ships, pipe sounds would be sent through tubes to carry throughout and various individuals would have the responsibility to ensure their mess turned out damn quick., but there would be an additional requirement, which would be to close all the hatches throughout the ship to reduce the chances of flooding.
To come from action stations the command would also be on the pipes, but the meaning would be ‘stand down’.