"Composition of Boarding and Landing Parties?" Topic
6 Posts
All members in good standing are free to post here. Opinions expressed here are solely those of the posters, and have not been cleared with nor are they endorsed by The Miniatures Page.
Please do not post offers to buy and sell on the main forum.
For more information, see the TMP FAQ.
Back to the American Revolution Message Board Back to the War of 1812 Message Board Back to the Age of Sail Message Board
Areas of InterestRenaissance
18th Century
Napoleonic
19th Century
Featured Hobby News Article
Featured Link
Featured Ruleset
Featured Workbench Article
Featured Profile Article
|
Nick Stern  | 23 Sep 2025 4:44 p.m. PST |
Aside from Marines, how were sailors chosen for hand to hand fighting roles? We're all sailors eligible? |
| Nick Stern | 23 Sep 2025 4:44 p.m. PST |
Aside from Marines, how were sailors chosen for hand to hand fighting roles? We're all sailors eligible? |
| epturner | 23 Sep 2025 4:52 p.m. PST |
Well, from the research I've done for the early Federalist period, there was no hard and fast approach. It seems captains chose based on a variety of requirements, including experience, situation, availability, time, etc. If you go into the digital records of The Quasi War and the Barbary Wars, there are some nuggets in there. But it can be a bit of a slog. I recommend reading anything by Truxtun, since the records seem to have a lot of surviving communications from him. He would be considered an aggressive commander who chose his crew as closely as he could. Hope that helps. Eric |
| DisasterWargamer | 23 Sep 2025 6:14 p.m. PST |
Not sure how helpful this is but USS Constitution Museum has a site – giving different positions and roles In addition to the Marines there were the Able Bodied Seaman and other ranks – some who crewed the guns, some who could engaging in boarding actions link An article on Nassau Landings 1776 states – Note my guess is during this time the numbers varied – perhaps linked to able bodied seaman – split between tasks that were needed "… for the first time by an American commander, the order, "Land the landing force." Moving his 200-plus Marines (accounts on the number of Marines vary) and 50 picked sailors from the six Philadelphia-based ships over to the two captured loyalist sloops, Nicholas took his force to the eastern end of New Providence Island. Then using the ships' boats, and under the cover of the guns of Providence and Wasp, Nicholas led the force to an amphibious landing …" link |
| 79thPA | 24 Sep 2025 6:05 a.m. PST |
No regulations at the time. As far as I am aware, it was up to the discretion of the captain, and depended on who/what was available. Training officers would typically be a petty officer/s, the master at arms, or any other capable crew member. |
 Old Contemptible | 25 Sep 2025 1:35 p.m. PST |
It's up to the Captain of the ship. |
|
takes another stab at building a more perfect flight stand.