The Navy Kidnapped Its Own Sailors. It Was Legal.

You walk into a tavern, order a drink… and ten minutes later you're locked in the hold of a boat on your way to a warship. No contract, no signature — and it was completely legal. This is the story of the press gang: how the Royal Navy really found the tens of thousands of sailors it needed in the age of sail. We cover the Crown's ancient right of impressment, the rendezvous and the gangs paid by the mile, how they spotted a sailor by his tar-stained hands, the sister who swapped clothes with her brother, the tenders, the "V" and "P" in the muster book, pressing men straight off homecoming merchant ships, protections and the "hot press", Pitt's Quota Acts and the jail recruits, the 1797 mutinies, the Chesapeake–Leopard affair and the War of 1812, the end of the press gang (that was never abolished), San Francisco's crimps and "Shanghai" Kelly, and the myth of the glass-bottom tankard. 0:00 Kidnapped from a tavern 0:42 What we'll cover 1:07 The numbers problem 1:51 Volunteers and the bounty 2:20 Impressment: the Crown's ancient right 2:44 The rendezvous and the press gang 3:13 How to spot a sailor 3:30 Sailors fight back 3:56 The tender 4:08 "V" for volunteer, "P" for pressed 4:22 Pressed at sea 5:10 Protections and the hot press 5:42 Pitt's Quota Acts 6:16 Criminals sent to sea 6:39 The 1797 mutinies 7:00 Pressing American sailors 7:55 1807: Leopard vs Chesapeake 8:18 The War of 1812 8:36 The end of the press gang... sort of 9:11 Shanghaied in San Francisco 9:41 "Shanghai" Kelly's party 10:06 The glass-bottom tankard myth 10:48 So how did the Navy get its sailors? Next episode: the cat o' nine tails — punishment at sea. #history #sailors #navalhistory