“Conceive him now in a man-of-war; with his letters of mart, well armed, victualed, and appointed, and see how he acquits himself.” —FULLER’S “Good Sea-Captain.”

NOTE.

In the year 1843 I shipped as “ordinary seaman” on board of a United States frigate then lying in a harbor of the Pacific Ocean. After remaining in this frigate for more than a year, I was discharged from the service upon the vessel’s arrival home. My man-of-war experiences and observations have been incorporated in the present volume.

• Chapter I
  The Jacket.
• Chapter II
  Homeward bound.
• Chapter III
  A glance at the principal divisions, into which a Man-Of-War’s crew is divided.
• Chapter IV
  Jack Chase.
• Chapter V
  Jack Chase on a Spanish quarter-deck.
• Chapter VI
  The Quarter-Deck Officers, Warrant Officers, and berth-deck underlings of a Man-of-War; Where they live in the ship; How they live; Their social standing on ship-board; And what sort of gentlemen they are.
• Chapter VII
  Breakfast, dinner, and supper.
• Chapter VIII
  Selvagee contrasted with Mad-jack.
• Chapter IX
  Of the pockets that were in the jacket.
• Chapter X
  From pockets to pickpockets.
• Chapter XI
  The pursuit of poetry under difficulties.
• Chapter XII
  The good or bad temper of men-of-war’s men, in a great degree, attributable to their particular stations and duties aboard ship.
• Chapter XIII
  A man-of-war hermit in a mob.
• Chapter XIV
  A draught in a man-of-war
• Chapter XV
  A salt-junk club in a man-of-war, with a notice to quit.
• Chapter XVI
  General training in a man-of-war.
• Chapter XVII
  Away! Second, third, and fourth cutters, away!
• Chapter XVIII
  A man-of-war full as a nut.
• Chapter XIX
  The jacket aloft.
• Chapter XX
  How they sleep in a man-of-war
• Chapter XXI
  One reason why men-of-war’s men are, generally, short-lived.
• Chapter XXII
  Wash-day and house-cleaning in a man-of-war.
• Chapter XXIII
  Theatricals in a man-of-war.
• Chapter XXIV
  Introductory to Cape Horn.
• Chapter XXV
  The dog-days off Cape Horn.
• Chapter XXVI
  The pitch of the Cape.
• Chapter XXVII
  Some thoughts growing out of Mad Jack’s countermanding his superior’s order.
• Chapter XXVIII
  Edging away.
• Chapter XXIX
  The Night-Watches.
• Chapter XXX
  A peep through a port-hole at the subterranean parts of a man-of-war.
• Chapter XXXI
  The Gunner under hatches.
• Chapter XXXII
  A dish of dunderfunk.
• Chapter XXXIII
  A flogging.
• Chapter XXXIV
  Some of the evil effects of flogging.
• Chapter XXXV
  Flogging not lawful.
• Chapter XXXVI
  Flogging not necessary.
• Chapter XXXVII
  Some superior old “London Dock” from the wine-coolers of Neptune.
• Chapter XXXVIII
  The Chaplain and Chapel in a man-of-war.
• Chapter XXXIX
  The frigate in harbour.—The boats.—Grand state reception of the commodore.
• Chapter XL
  Some of the ceremonies in a man-of-war unnecessary and injurious.
• Chapter XLI
  A man-of-war library.
• Chapter XLII
  Killing time in a man-of-war in harbour.
• Chapter XLIII
  Smuggling in a man-of-war.
• Chapter XLIV
  A knave in office in a man-of-war.
• Chapter XLV
  Publishing poetry in a man-of-war.
• Chapter XLVI
  The Commodore on the poop, and one of “the people” under the hands of the surgeon.
• Chapter XLVII
  An auction in a man-of-war.
• Chapter XLVIII
  Purser, purser’s steward, and postmaster in a man-of-war.
• Chapter XLIX
  Rumours of a war, and how they were received by the population of the Neversink.
• Chapter L
  The bay of all beauties.
• Chapter LI
  One of “The People” has an audience with the Commodore and the Captain on the quarter-deck.
• Chapter LII
  Something concerning midshipmen.
• Chapter LIII
  Seafaring persons peculiarly subject to being under the weather.—The effects of this upon a man-of-war captain.
• Chapter LIV
  “The People” are given “Liberty.”
• Chapter LV
  Midshipmen entering the navy early.
• Chapter LVI
  A shore emperor on board a man-of-war.
• Chapter LVII
  The Emperor reviews the people at quarters.
• Chapter LVIII
  A quarter-deck officer before the mast.
• Chapter LIX
  A man-of-war button divides two brothers.
• Chapter LX
  A man-of-war’s-man shot at.
• Chapter LXI
  The surgeon of the fleet.
• Chapter LXII
  A consultation of man-of-war surgeons.
• Chapter LXIII
  The operation.
• Chapter LXIV
  Man-of-war trophies.
• Chapter LXV
  A man-of-war race.
• Chapter LXVI
  Fun in a man-of-war.
• Chapter LXVII
  White-jacket arraigned at the mast.
• Chapter LXVIII
  A man-of-war fountain, and other things.
• Chapter LXIX
  Prayers at the guns.
• Chapter LXX
  Monthly muster round the capstan.
• Chapter LXXI
  The genealogy of the Articles of War.
• Chapter LXXII
  “Herein are the good ordinances of the sea, which wise men, who voyaged round the world, gave to our ancestors, and which constitute the books of the science of good customs.”—The Consulate of the Sea
• Chapter LXXIII
  Night and day gambling in a man-of-war.
• Chapter LXXIV
  The main-top at night.
• Chapter LXXV
  “Sink, burn, and destroy.”
                  Printed Admiralty orders in time of war.
• Chapter LXXVI
  The chains.
• Chapter LXXVII
  The hospital in a man-of-war.
• Chapter LXXVIII
  Dismal times in the mess.
• Chapter LXXIX
  How man-of-war’s-men die at sea.
• Chapter LXXX
  The last stitch.
• Chapter LXXXI
  How they bury a man-of-war’s-man at sea.
• Chapter LXXXIII
  What remains of a man-of-war’s-man after his burial at sea.
• Chapter LXXXIII
  A man-of-war college.
• Chapter LXXXIV
  Man-of-war barbers.
• Chapter LXXXV
  The great massacre of the beards.
• Chapter LXXXVI
  The rebels brought to the mast.
• Chapter LXXXVII
  Old Ushant at the gangway.
• Chapter LXXXVIII
  Flogging through the fleet.
• Chapter LXXXIX
  The social state in a man-of-war.
• Chapter XC
  The manning of navies.
• Chapter XCI
  Smoking-club in a man-of-war, with scenes on the gun-deck drawing near home.
• Chapter XCII
  The last of the jacket.
• Chapter XCIII
  Cable and anchor all clear.
• The End.