Question about Hammock-Netting for you smart folks

[Schweizer]

The netting along the sides of ships used to stow rolled-up hammocks that they might serve as bulwarks to stop small arms fire is something I see a lot in Napoleonic ships, but not in the pirate ships of the early eighteenth century.  I'm looking at doing something with the period in between, but can't find anything on when this practice started.  You lot are well-informed... anybody know when hammock netting started being used?

[Westfalia Chris]

Fascinating problem you have thrown up there. I did some checks with what I have at hand, but could not find a definitive answer. I would dare, however, to make the following educated guess:

Given that they are in widespread use in the Napoleonic era, but not seen in the early 18th century, the practice might have developed as a countermeasure to carronades becoming more widespread (although IIRC, the French only produced comparable guns from the 1790s). As carronades often fired grapeshot, a point could be made that a protective layer of cloth (the rolled-up hammocks) could stop part of a salvo, depending on the range, similar to cotton bales used in the ACW to protect river boats against small-arms fire.

If this assumption should be true, the hammock nets would probably appear around the late 1770s or 1790s, depending on who "invented" the practice.

[FifteensAway]

Smart folk?  Well, here I am...oh, wait, delusional grandeur disease popping up again!

I have no actual knowledge on this but I wonder if the hammocks above deck had something to do with larger crews than could be accommodated below decks - or maybe something to do with sailing in tropical climates.  Good question and will pay attention to see if anyone has a definitive answer.

[Schweizer]

Westfalia Chris,

What a clever hypothesis!  I didn't even think to equate the defense with the development of a new offense, even though that's always clearly the way that such things come about.  Thanks!

[Drachenklinge]

is there a solution meanwhile?


I like to add, that some pirates might not "sea-borne" for long periods, just get out of their lair, kill some merchants, grab their loads, head hme again and that's it. Also it would need a fairly well drilled crew to put there hammocks in the nettings every day, like I would have had the British fleet expect to do.
So I suppose they really hadn't them at all or at least not often.

best wishes
Drachenklinge

[Galland]

Surprisingly enough, and contrary to popular belive, most of the pirate crews have shown a great deal of seamanship during our history, and even been rather sucsessful at it as well. In the early period (later as well to some extent) they did very well both at sea and above all on land, fighting off larger units of well trained soldiers (both spanish and english one might add). So with that in mind, I would not be surprised if it had been a practice both used and invented by pirate crews.
To run a larger ship you really want a well diciplined crew, well drilled and skilled, privatly run or in naval service.

[HerbyF]

Another way to look at this is that this might have started out as a way to clear more deck space. Slinging things in netting over the side is stuff not under foot on the decks. And it just happened that it also added a buffer to small arm & grape shot.

[Galland]

Another way to look at this is that this might have started out as a way to clear more deck space. Slinging things in netting over the side is stuff not under foot on the decks. And it just happened that it also added a buffer to small arm & grape shot.

^^ This, its really how I think it got started.