The jolly boat was a type of
ship's boat
A ship's boat is a utility boat carried by a larger vessel. Ship's boats have always provided communication with the shore and with other ships. Other work done by such boats has varied over time, as marine technology has changed. In the age o ...
in use during the 18th and 19th centuries. Used mainly to ferry personnel to and from the ship, or for other small-scale activities, it was, by the 18th century, one of several types of ship's boat. The design evolved throughout its period in service.
Origins
The term 'jolly boat' has several potential origins. It may originate in the Dutch or Swedish ''jolle'', a term meaning a small
bark or boat.
Other possibilities include the English term
yawl
A yawl is a type of boat. The term has several meanings. It can apply to the rig (or sailplan), to the hull type or to the use which the vessel is put.
As a rig, a yawl is a two masted, fore and aft rigged sailing vessel with the mizzen mast p ...
, or the 'gelle-watte', the latter being a term in use in the 16th century to refer to the boat used by the captain for trips to and from shore.
[Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea, p. 340] According to the
Oxford English Dictionary
The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a co ...
, the term appears in ''Chamber's Encyclopedia'' between 1727 and 1741. It is called simply 'jolly' in the early 19th century novels of
Frederick Marryat
Captain Frederick Marryat (10 July 1792 – 9 August 1848) was a Royal Navy officer, a novelist, and an acquaintance of Charles Dickens. He is noted today as an early pioneer of nautical fiction, particularly for his semi-autobiographical novel ...
. The word may have been in use considerably earlier, as the record of the voyages of
Francis Drake and
John Hawkins
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Second ...
has 'That day the Pegasus jolly was going on shore for water, carying no guarde. The Spaniards perceiving it came downe upon them.'
[More Words Ancient and Modern, pp. 92-3]
Design and use
Jolly boats were usually the smallest type of boat carried on ships, and were generally between and long.
They were
clinker-built
Clinker built (also known as lapstrake) is a method of boat building where the edges of hull planks overlap each other. Where necessary in larger craft, shorter planks can be joined end to end, creating a longer strake or hull plank. The techni ...
and propelled by four or six oars.
[Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea, p. 434] When not in use the jolly boat normally hung from
davits at the stern of a ship, and could be hoisted into and out of the water.
Jolly boats were used for transporting people and goods to and from shore, for carrying out inspections of the ship, or other small tasks and duties that required only a small number of people, and did not need the use of the larger boats, such as the
launch or
cutter. Jolly boats were carried on practically all types of warships of the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
during the
age of sail, from
ships of the line down to
sloops and
brigs.
Ships of the line would carry a barge, launch,
pinnace
Pinnace may refer to:
* Pinnace (ship's boat), a small vessel used as a tender to larger vessels among other things
* Full-rigged pinnace
The full-rigged pinnace was the larger of two types of vessel called a pinnace in use from the sixteenth c ...
, two cutters, all of various sizes, and a jolly boat, while the brigs might carry only a jolly boat and a cutter.
The application of the jolly boat was developed further during the
French Revolutionary
The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are consider ...
and
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
, particularly by the
frigate commander
Sir George Collier.
Collier, who was active in the close blockade of the Spanish coast during the
Peninsular War
The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain ...
, combined the features of a jolly boat with those of a
whaleboat
A whaleboat is a type of open boat that was used for catching whales, or a boat of similar design that retained the name when used for a different purpose. Some whaleboats were used from whaling ships. Other whaleboats would operate from the sh ...
and found the result extremely seaworthy and particularly effective in carrying out shore landings.
The design was particularly buoyant and was often described as a type of lifeboat. Several captains ordered these boats for their own ships, while the
Admiralty
Admiralty most often refers to:
*Admiralty, Hong Kong
*Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964
*The rank of admiral
*Admiralty law
Admiralty can also refer to:
Buildings
* Admiralty, Traf ...
considered the possibility of ordering a general replacement of old-style jolly boats with the new 'lifeboat' design on several occasions, but were deterred by the cost.
By 1815 however the Stores Committee had authorised the replacement of the old-style jolly boats with the improved versions as and when it proved practical for a ship's commander to carry this out.
See also
*
''Betsey'' (schooner), tale of shipwrecked crew who took to a jolly boat
*The survivors of the sinking of the SS
''Anglo Saxon'' in 1940 who survived 70 days adrift in a jolly boat.
*
HMY Britannia
Her Majesty's Yacht ''Britannia'', also known as the Royal Yacht ''Britannia'', is the former royal yacht of the British monarchy. She was in service from 1954 until 1997. She was the 83rd such vessel since King Charles II acceded to the th ...
– now a floating museum in Leith, Scotland – carries two modern jolly boats in davits, one port and one starboard
Notes
References
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{{Ship's boats