One thing about the manning of warships of the period and the attractiveness of a naval career.

For Officers - Old established order of inheritance in the UK at that time:
- Eldest son inherits the lot
- Second eldest son goes to the Navy
- Third eldest son goes to the Army
- Fourth eldest son goes to the Church

For those on the Lower Deck, they were either volounteers, or pressed from shore or prison. In the early part of of the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars, somewhere between 60 & 80% of the Royal Navy's sailors were pressed. Why did people go? and what kept them there once they had been taken into a ship. Naemanson mentioned conditions ashore, conditions afloat in comparison had little to recommend it - hard living conditions, poor food, little or no opportunity to leave the ship, harsh discipline, strong likelyhood of death or injury. One advantage the RN had over the Army was the opportunity for prize money. Able Commanders with a reputation had no real problem recruiting. If such Commanders were fortunate enough to sail under independent orders, then officers and men stood to gain quite hansomely. Another lure, not so insignificant at the time, on offer from the Royal Navy was drink - lots of it - the daily allowance per man per day would absolutely stagger you - it certainly did them.

In the RN Museum in Portsmouth Dockyard there is this cartoon dating back to the late 1790's. The scene is of a British warship cleared for action, the captain notices a sailor knelt in prayer beside his gun. The Captain asks, "Are you a-praying for victory Jack" To which the sailor replies, " I'm a-prayin' Sir, that the distribution of enemy shot matches that of the prize money - the major share amongst the officers."