How old was the youngest crew member aboard HMS Victory in Oct. 1805?
Ahoy Matey, Life aboard Man-O-War, HMS Victory #1 12. Thomas Twitchet was 12 years old in Oct.1805. Samuel Robbins was 13. William Huchinson was 14. James Ludford was 15. There were a total of 31 boys aboard, the oldest being 19 year old George Smith. In some cases, a boy was a ‘young gentleman apprentice’, hoping to become an officer himself. These boys acted as servants to the officers. Commissioned officers were entitled to 1 or 2 servants. The captain was allowed 4 servants for every 100 members of the ship’s crew. There were 21 midshipmen aboard, young naval officers in training. Some boys were “powder monkeys” ,the 6th member of a 6 man gun crew, who rushed dangerous gunpowder cartridges from the handling chamber deep inside the ship, back to their guns. During battle, all nonessential crew, including any women aboard, helped with this task. Including Vice-Admiral Nelson, how many souls make up the crew of HMS Victory in Oct. 1805?Ahoy Matey, Life aboard Man-O-War, HMS Victory #1
