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Constitution crew ???

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  • Member since
    March 2003
  • From: On the way to AC+793888
Constitution crew ???
Posted by lolok on Wednesday, March 19, 2008 7:11 AM

 Good morning mates...

            Quick question.. Revolutionary war sailors..their uniforms in particular..Were they shipshape and Bristol fashion or did they wear whatever they had to hand ?????

             If so, what colours were specified.. I did see print with officers looking very sharp and crew in white ducks/red vests/blue coats and caps...Typical ?????

Jim Ryan Ex-Pat Limey in warsaw.Poland. " MENE,MENE,TEKEL U PHARSIN"
  • Member since
    May 2003
  • From: Greenville, NC
Posted by jtilley on Wednesday, March 19, 2008 7:52 AM

During the Revolutionary War the Continental Congress issued a specification for a standard officer's uniform for the Continental Navy.  I'd have to look up the specific details (such as rank differentiation), but the basic "color scheme" was a dark blue jacket with red turnbacks, a red waistcoat, and red breeches.

There was no standard uniform for enlisted men in the Continental Navy - or the British Royal Navy at that time.  There's scarecely any pictorial evidence about what American sailors of the Revolutionary War looked like, but it's a safe bet that they were a pretty scruffy-looking lot - as were their British counterparts most of the time.

The word "Constitution" in the subject line has me a little mixed up.  The U.S.S. Constitution was, of course, launched in 1797 - fourteen years after the official end of the American Revolution.  The Continental Navy (and its uniform regulations) had long since ceased to exist.  The newly created U.S. Navy had its own officers' uniform regulations (the details of which, again, I'd have to look up); most obviously the red breeches and waistcoats of the Continental Navy had been replaced by white.  As was the case in the British Navy, there continued to be no official enlisted men's uniform. 

During both periods, individual captains, if they could afford it, sometimes bought standardized shirts and pants for their crews to wear on dressy occasions - or for such "special details" as boats' crews.  Again, the contemporary pictorial evidence is too scanty to help much, but it looks like enlisted men dressed in whatever they had with them when they enlisted - or whatever they could find in the ship's "slop chest."

I've seen pictures like the one lolok mentioned, but I have trouble believing them.  My inclination, given the realities of shipboard life at the time, is to think that American sailors of both the Revolution and the War of 1812 looked about like their British counterparts - i.e., about like the guys in the movie "Master and Commander."

That's the best I can do without digging into some books.  There probably are some uniform experts out there who can help more than I can.  I think, though, that the most conspicuous difference between the Revolutionary and Early National periods would be in the officers' uniforms.

Youth, talent, hard work, and enthusiasm are no match for old age and treachery.

  • Member since
    March 2006
  • From: California
Posted by Hogan on Saturday, March 22, 2008 8:43 PM

My understanding is that the officers dressed like officers, at least as much as possible.  The crew indeed wore what was available.  I think you pretty much have it. My area is really up around War or 1812, however.   The officers should be in blue coats on both sides.  If you would like more info, I can probably dig some out.  Let me know.

Bob

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