The Age of Sail: everything you wanted to know
HistoryExtra podcast
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What's the Myth of the Merchant Navy?
There were press gangs set up in portsmouth, plymouth and chatham. They would find people to crew the navy during a period of war. But they didn't particularly want landsmen who had never been to sea before. You needed men who knew their way round a ship with sails or heave on lines.
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