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Small Red boxes aboard Royal Navy ships?

Jackseno

Jackseno

Landlubber
Hopefully someone here can help me out with this one.

I've lately been recreating a Ship of the Line for my game. Of particular use is an extensive library of pictures I took of the HMS Victory in Portsmouth about a year ago.

20140908_161137.jpg


These boxes intrigue me though. They lined the decks and were mostly present next to the shot garlands. I'm unsure what their purpose is? They could be just generic storage boxes, but they seem too important and uniformly placed for this. Something relating to the guns perhaps?
 
Hm, yes I was thinking the same thing. But they are awfully small boxes. The only component I can think of fitting in there would be tools to light fuses. But wouldn't Victory would have had gunlocks by then?

At this stage I would totally take suggestions for something neat to store in these boxes, even if it wasn't accurate. I might make some of them pistol boxes.
 
@Jackseno , it's a salt box for active cartridge storage; a very important component in the use of the guns :) I originally read about them in a book called 'Naval Battles, from 1744 to the peace in 1814'. Not sure I can tell you much about them beyond their function.

EDIT: A quick search online confirms this. Check out this book:

HMS Victory Pocket Manual 1805

Pages 97 and 101 contain some basic explanations of use. Overall they're a pretty elusive subject though.

Just noticed how out of date this thread is too. Whoops! :facepalm If anyone knows if Jackseno's still around, do convey this to him if he hasn't already figured it out!
 
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@Robert Nutter, you tagging him in the post should send him an alert pointing to this thread. :onya

No worries about bringing up an old thread around here, just as long as the post is pertinent to the discussion, and yours certainly was! Btw, thanks for the information, I was curious about this one myself.
 
Thank you!!!

Really glad this got answered. It's not of capital importance to my game (as I've decided to draw inspiration from the Royal Navy to create fictional factions rather than straight up replicating them), but I did do a great deal of wondering about it. It's also a cool use for the boxes that I will definitely incorporate.

Thanks for the manual link also, looks like a good source of information. When it mentions a cartridge, this is simply a powder charge yes?

Thanks again
 
Pleasure, glad to have helped :onya

I believe so, as it describes the powder monkey distributing the cartridges to the boxes and from what I know, this was likely his primary function so it'd make sense. Also, I meant page 98 not 97.

Your game has piqued my interest; where can I find more info? :)
 
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