#midshipmen

The Royal Chaloupe, or Royal Barge of the Netherland was designed for King William I by Cornelis Jan Glavimans and was built between 1816 and 1818 on the Navy shipyard in Rotterdam. King William I never used it himself. It was up to King William II to use it for the first time during his inauguration in 1841. By now, the Royal Barge has been used some thirty times for state visits and other official occasions. Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard used the Royal Barge for the last time during the celebration of their silver wedding anniversary in 1962.

With a length of 17 metres, the Royal Barge is not only long, but also very slender and richly decorated with gold-leaf ornaments. Neptune and his three sea horses decorate the bow. Neptune is of course the symbol for the greatness of the head of state, but also of a safe voyage. The barge is decorated with numerous other, smaller ornaments such as crabs and water plants.

Jommy Harte

From Sharp Point, a midshipman on Spicetown Girl, the Sea Snake, and the True Heart. First appearance chapter three - every single thing i touch becomes sick with sadness.

Clifford Sunglass

From Sweetport Sound, a midshipman on the True Heart, the Sea Snake, and Spicetown Girl. First appearance in chapter two - when the party’s over.

Luke’s Besties💙

Apart of Corlys’ little Shipbrats

England's Pride and Glory, by Thomas Davidson, 1894. A British naval cadet of about 1890 is shown looking at Lemuel Abbott's portrait of Horatio Nelson.

An analysis of the background and careers of the Trafalgar captains shows that they were as much like their contemporaries in the Navy List as Nelson implied. All had first gone to sea as boys in their early teens (some indeed, as young as eight or ten). On average they had become midshipmen by the age of fourteen, though Rotheram, who began in the Merchant service, and Prowse, who was promoted from the lower deck, did not reach this rank until their mid-twenties. In theory, no one could become a midshipman without two years of reckonable sea service over the age of thirteen (or eleven in the case of sons of sea officers) but, in practice, this rule was commonly disregarded. Promotion from midshipman to lieutenant was notionally dependant upon completing at least six years’ efficient seagoing service (including at least two as a midshipman or master’s mate), reaching a minimum age of twenty, passing a viva voce examination by a board of captains and, above all, selection to a vacant post in this rank.