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2015-11-30 Home Front: WoT

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Posted by swksvolFF 2015-11-30 00:00|| || Front Page|| [3 views ] Top

#1 I meant to address a question from last week:

Were the oarsmen slaves? I know they weren't in the classical age, and I'd be surprised if they were any other time. OK -- not all that surprised if the Muslims used galley slaves.
-Rob Crawford

The short answer is - some were. Some would be convicts or debtors. Obviously an all volunteer crew is preferred, especially on a ship of war. The men must be fit, and I would think preferably with some experience on the sea. Run out of people who think the oarsman's life is the life for me! then those gaps must be filled.

Take some 350 ships at Lapanto, average 150 oarsmen/ship (I'm making these numbers up, my book is out) that is 52,500 physically able men - quite a number of people back in the day. And that does not include all the other shipping going on.

I will approach this next Books thread with Empires of the Sea. Everyone was involved, some entities more than others; Barbary Pirates for example were so successful they accumulated fleets but could not man the oars without slave raids on the European coast.

Even in the Age of Sail, impressment was well known practice and a key issue for the War of 1812. The Barbary Pirates, who were quite open about seizing ships and enslaving the crew for work or ransom, took the US To The Shores of Tripoli in 1805.

Posted by swksvolFF 2015-11-30 18:14|| 2015-11-30 18:14|| Front Page Top

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