8 Bells Lecture | J. Ross Dancy, Volunteers, Impressment and British Naval Manpower, 18th Century

J. Ross Dancy, Volunteers, Impressment, and British Naval Manpower in the 18th Century, Eight Bells Book Lecture, Naval War College Museum, March 7, 2019.

The press gang is generally regarded as the means by which the British navy solved the problem of recruiting enough seamen in the late 18th century. However, extensive original research demonstrates that this view is false and argues that the majority of seamen in the age of sail British navy were there of their own free will. This lecture will explore how the British Royal Navy of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic era recruited the thousands of highly skilled men necessary to man a navy that commanded the oceans of the world.

J. Ross Dancy is an assistant professor in the John B. Hattendorf Center for Maritime Historical Research.

Disclaimer: The views expressed are the speaker's own and do not represent an official position of the U.S. Naval War College or the U.S. government.

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