How Sailors Went to the Loo in the Age of Sail

Going to the loo on a ship of the age of sail was a real adventure. Depending on the seaway, a sailor even risked his life to poo. This is because the latrines for the crew were located on the outside of the ship and—as you can see in this clip from the film Master and Commander—were exposed not only to prying eyes but also the elements. In this video, we venture deep into the smelly secrets of seafaring to explore the toilet situation aboard ships of the age of sail.

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Bibliography
Dash, Mike, Batavia's Graveyard. The True Story of the Mad Heretic Who Led History's Bloodiest Mutiny, London 2002.
Kemp, Peter, The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea, New York 1976.
Monson, William, The Naval Tracts of Sir William Monson, ed. by M. Oppenheim, Ontario 1980.
Munday, J. 1978, Heads and tails: The necessary seating. In Ingrid and other studies. Maritime Monographs and Reports, No.36, 125-140.
Parry, J. H., The European reconnaissance. Selected documents, New York.
Simmons, Joe J., Those Vulgar Tubes. External Sanitary Accommodations aboard European Ships of the Fifteenth through Seventeenth Centuries, College Station TX 1997.

[SandRhomanHistory]

This is a military history channel’s version of an April fool’s video, I guess (the information is not a joke; it's correct to the best of our knowledge).

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[KitchenFSink]

2 AM
"Ughh I gotta stop scrolling and go to bed"
*shitting on ships*
"I need this knowledge"

[MatthiasStaudt-cr]

As a child, I always had a nightmare where I was sitting on the toilet and was about to take a bad dump, when the toilet and I suddenly found ourselves in the middle of a pedestrian zone.
Now I finally know that it was just a memory from a past life as a pirate.

Thank you!

[theblackprince]

Gives a whole new meaning to the captain's log....

[franknb]

Okay, I’ve seen Master and Commander about 100 times and never once noticed the sailor pooping on the bow. Movie never ceases to impress me with its attention to detail.

[JohnPotts-kqkk]

I remember when I was a little kid back in a one room country school asking my teacher how they went to the toilet on the Mayflower & getting in trouble for asking! NOW, I think I finally have an answer over 70 years later!

[Akkodha-]

Finally, some useful information from the Internet

[Seahag-xxzp]

Makes crapping at a truck stop look high class..

[steadytrousers]

This is probably the most important YouTube video of all time

[DanR-kcyt]

It's videos like this that remind me how far we really have come and how much I should appreciate modern conveniences.

[adrianpritchard]

I served in Australia Navy for about 13 years, never thought of what happened in early days of sailing, after watching and hearing i thank God I never had to go through what sailors had to go through before me.

[prcrtion]

Every time I sit on my toilet, I am grateful after this.

[scampykaynine]

Not sure why I was recommended this video but I clicked, so... the mighty algorithm knows.

[Dayvit]

From staggering sieges to splattering feces.

[skbiswas]

In 1960 (I think) when I was about 4 years old kid, we went to visit relatives in Bangladesh with our family. Bangladesh then wasn't like today and we had to take big river steamboat where there were a few toilets. It was over a many hours' journey, and I had to go for it, once. I remember, there was just a hole in the wooden platform through which water below could be seen clearly. I was scared like hell to do the job and in that situation, my pants somehow dropped though that hole and fell into the river water while I was trying to wear them back. Luckily, my Mom was nearby and saw; before I was getting embarrassed in front of other passengers, she got me another pair of pants. It was funny but I still remember that (I am about seventy now).

[everett]

You know. Maybe I wasn't born in the wrong generation.

[bunnerkins]

Finally a channel with the questions I want answered.

[jebbohanan]

Makes me extremely appreciative when I find a clean public restroom.

[edwardprice]

This is the kind of knowledge you can only find on YouTube, thanks for posting.

[conortkeane]

Gives a whole new meaning to the Captain's mess...