Where were life boats kept on 1800s merchant ships?
They had tenders or smaller boats that could be rowed, or sometimes sailed into shallow areas where the larger merchant vessels couldn’t go, but I don’t think they had lifeboats at all. As far as I know, coz I’ve never sailed an actual tall ship, which is what I think you mean (ones I’m thinking of are actually 1600’s – 1700’s but I know they had them in the earlier 1800’s as well), I believe they kept them lashed to the flagship and lowered them into the water when they were needed. Merchant (and other) fleets also kept smaller sloops and such with them, sailing under their own power and with their own crews.
