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Common Sailor

Common, or ordinary sailors were those one year or less of experience at sea. Nevertheless, as part of a ship’s crew, much experience was learned quickly through day-to-day work to ensure a successful voyage.

Maintaining a ship at sea required numerous jobs and tasks of sailors including working as gunners, carpenters, quartermasters, and cooks. Common tasks involved maintaining the massive sails and rigging that helped move ships across the ocean, keeping watch, and cleaning the decks.

Though many sought adventures at sea, life was not necessarily comfortable for those on large naval ships. While officers had certain comforts such as better sleeping quarters and somewhat better food, accommodations for common sailors were often cramped. Food consisted of rations meant for long voyages including salt pork and ship’s biscuits. Sailors at sea also tended to believe in superstitions at sea, such as not mentioning a previous ship lost at sea, wearing an earring for good luck, and certain events predicting weather patterns.

Reproduction Clothing and Equipment 

This sailor’s clothes reflect practicality as opposed to fashion with loose-fitting clothes that allow for physical movement as one worked at various stations of a ship. He wears an off-white work shirt, off white petticoat slops (trousers), and a maroon patterned scarf.

Additional Lesson Plans and Links  

Daily Life at Sea for Sailors of the American Revolution

The Legacy of the American Continental Navy

Click for a larger view.This common, or ordinary sailor wears clothing ideal for work aboard ship. The cloth material is especially well-suited for work on deck in the open elements.

Click for a larger view.The clothing of the Common Sailor character was inspired by the African American sailor depicted in painter John Singelton Copley's Watson and the Shark. Painted in 1778, the scene illustrates the rescue of cabin boy Brook Watson, who was pulled from the water after a shark attack in Havana Harbor in 1749.

Click for a larger view.This image, taken from an eighteenth century manual on signal flag communication, instructs readers how to communicate numbers to other ships at sea. Sailors familiar with the signal system, as well as how to attach flags to a ship's rigging, would fly these flags to signal numerical information.

Click for a larger view.Sextants were navigational instruments used by sailors and officers at sea to locate their ship's position.

Click for a larger view.This sea service pistol would have been used by officers and men during the boarding of enemy ships. When unloaded, the pistol could also be used as a club in hand-to-hand combat.

Click for a larger view.Compasses, such as this example, were used by sailors and officers aboard ships to locate cardinal directions. These instruments were especially useful on the open sea as there would have been no discernable landmarks such as mountains or structures to help determine one's location.