How far from land were prison hulks placed?

September 17, 2014 10:27 AM

I teach a course on corrections and while going over a brief history of the evolution of prisons I mentioned how decommissioned sailing vessels were used to hold prisoners. A student asked me how far from land might they be placed and I didn't know the answer. Does anyone know?

I have looked into some articles in journals and the internet and can't seem to find an answer to this question. I assumed they'd be close enough to land for those working on the ships but am not certain.

posted by DorothySmith to Education (9 answers total)

The hulks were either wharved or at most anchored in a river or estuary. They weren't out at sea.

I will try to find something more solid such as a picture.
posted by Thing at 10:36 AM on September 17, 2014 [1 favorite]

A hulk, by definitition, is an old, unseaworthy ship. As such, they were generally kept moored in harbours. They wouldn't have survived at sea for long enough to be any use at all.
posted by pipeski at 10:38 AM on September 17, 2014 [1 favorite]

A little internet browsing has prison ships (as opposed to convict ships) moored or attached to land.

Wikipedia:
"A prison ship, often more precisely termed prison hulk, is a vessel (usually unseaworthy) salvaged as a prison"

"Charles Dickens' novel Great Expectations opens in 1812 with the escape of the convict Abel Magwitch from a hulk moored in the Thames Estuary. In fact, the prison ships were largely moored in the neighboring River Medway, but Dickens combined real elements to create fictional locations for his work."

There are drawings of moored prison ships on wikipedia
posted by pseudonick at 10:40 AM on September 17, 2014

Here's a link to a video on the National Archive with a picture - I'd estimate the hulks in the background are at most a couple hundred yards from shore?
posted by winna at 10:42 AM on September 17, 2014

Here is a painting of prison hulks in Portsmouth Harbour. You can see that they're anchored in a line just off shore.
posted by Thing at 10:49 AM on September 17, 2014

I believe the picture in the film pseudonick links to is Chatham. Here is a painting of the estuary (the Medway) from 1815 with hulks clearly in the middle.
posted by Thing at 10:55 AM on September 17, 2014

Best answer: Generally, they'd be moored out in the harbor or estuary: you wouldn't want to moor next to a dock where it'd be easier for prisoners to make an escape. Also, for extra security, they might have guards continuously rowing watch around the hulk, especially at night.
posted by easily confused at 11:23 AM on September 17, 2014

Response by poster: Thanks everyone! Clearly my research could have been better! I appreciate the help.
posted by DorothySmith at 11:51 AM on September 17, 2014

More recently, HMP Weare was the only prison ship in the UK until she was decommissioned in 2005. She was located in Portland harbour in Dorset, basically right alongside the dock. (In reality she wasn't so much a ship as a floating accommodation block, but maybe of interest.)
posted by penguin pie at 3:09 PM on September 17, 2014