Powder monkey

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A powder monkey on a Northern ship during the American Civil War.

As powder monkeys or powder monkey children were referred to in the age of sailing ships primarily on war and privateers as a runner in the gun decks were used. They had the task of fetching black powder from the ship's powder chamber during the battle and bringing it to the gun crews. Boys between the ages of 10 and 14 were often used for this task ("powder boys") who were too small or too weak for the regular work of a cabin boy . Their small size was an advantage in the narrow and low gun decks.

Powder monkey (left) on a ship of the line

Powder monkeys were at the bottom of the ranking within the ship's crew and were the whims of z. Sometimes violent sailors , boatmen and officers are often left defenseless. The boys in question - often orphans or runaways - were brought onto the ships by the recruiters, sometimes with tricks, empty promises and sometimes forcibly, similar to the widespread practice of pressing or Shanghai by seafarers. In some cases, their parents gave them to the ship's captains or even sold them out of economic hardship.

However, older men (and sometimes women) also served as powder monkeys in combat. Up to 90 people were required on a triplane to bring powder and projectiles to the cannons, but even Nelson's triplane HMS Victory only had 31 boys on board with a crew of 850. Stronger men were posted in the steps between the decks , while the boys ran from the steps to the guns. Since mostly only the cannons were in action on one side of the ship, the boys could walk back and forth relatively easily on the other side to fill the powder boxes, which were a safe distance behind the guns, so that there were always two ready-to-fire cartridge bags. The boys also had the important task of immediately rendering spilled powder harmless with water and thus preventing explosions.

Powder Boy was an entry-level position on warships and thus in the Navy , but it was rare that someone could reach a position beyond the crew ranks.

English youth literature

The English-language literature for young people contains numerous books on the subject of "Powder Monkey", such as B .:

Trivia

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