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Each original is also photographed in one exposure and is included in reduced form at the back of the book. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6” x 9” black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. UMI A Bell & Howell Information Company 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor MI 48106-1346 USA 313/761-4700 800/521-0600 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. THE LANDSCAPE OF LIFE AND WORK ABOARD H.M.S. DEBRAAK by Nedda Esteila Moqtaderi A thesis submitted to the Faculty of the University of Delaware in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Early American Culture Summer 1998 Copyright 1998 Nedda Esteila Moqtaderi All Rights Reserved Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI N um ber: 1 3 9 1 7 5 7 UMI Microform 1391757 Copyright 1998, by UMI Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. UMI 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. THE LANDSCAPE OF LIFE AND WORK ABOARD H.M.S. DEBRAAK by Nedda Esteila Moqtaderi Approved: Lu Ann De Cunzo, Ph.D. Professor in charge of thesis on behalf of the Advisory Committee Approved: Jam6s (p. Curtis, Ph.D. lair gt the Winterthur Program in Early American Culture Approved: — — — vanaugh, Ph.D. vost for Academic Programs and Planning Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank the following people who made this thesis possible: My advisor, Lu Ann De Cunzo, who introduced me to historical archaeology and material culture studies when I was a freshman at the University of Delaware and has shared the practice, theories, discoveries, and significance of these fields since then. She has seen me through six years of higher education and this thesis with generous advice, support, patience, academic insight, and friendship. Curator of Archaeology for the Delaware State Museums, Chuck Fithian, who acquainted me with the DeBraak collection, granted unrestricted access to the artifacts and research files, and supplied me with his excessive personal knowledge of theDeBraak and the Royal Navy. Kent Slavin, who unlocked cabinets, identified mystery artifacts, contributed his wife Leona’s delicious baked goods, and most importantly filled countless hours with fascinating conversation during long days of research at the Island Field Collection Storage Facility. Ian Henry, who has known me just a bit longer than this thesis has existed, and who exhibited much patience and provided pleasant distraction throughout that very stressful time. Most importantly, I want to express my deepest gratitude to my family; Mehron, who generously devoted his time and skills to help with all the complexities of preparing the figures, and Cyrus who always asked me if the thesis was done yet ("Cyrus, it is now finally finished!"). Finally, my parents for their love, encouragement, support, and many home-cooked meals during the past year of thesis research and writing and every year before. iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. I would also like to acknowledge the following institutions for granting permission to reproduce the artifacts, illustrations, and photographs in this thesis: Delaware State Museums, National Maritime Museum London, and The Winterthur Library. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT....................................................................................................................vi TEXT.............................................................................................................................. 1 APPENDIX A: Figures.................................................................................................88 APPENDIX B: Catalogue of H.M.S. DeBraak Furnishing Objects ...........................135 REFERENCES.............................................................................................................163 v Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT As His Majesty’s Sloop-of-war traveled across the Atlantic Ocean, a multivalent landscape shaped the experiences of the eighty-rive men living and working on the ship’s decks. The Royal Navy Admiralty Board and its subsidiary administrative branches established on the decks of the DeBraak a landscape of spatial organization with the specific intent to maintain the naval hierarchy, impart discipline, and regulate the crew. As a defining factor in die lives of each of the ship’s inhabitants, the design of the decks and the constellation of objects used in the ship’s living spaces embodied the standardized patterns of daily life and expressed the intended crew relations as established by the Admiralty Board, thus satisfying the expectations and requirements the Royal Navy had for the ship. Some scholars assert that this established setting of order and hierarchy created for the eighteenth-century Royal Navy seamen a life devoid of social interaction, sensory stimulation, and meaning. However a closer examination offers insight into the nuances of the ship’s material world and the crew’s experience of it Within the static architectural setting, the crew acted to complete the landscape. As the men shared intimate details of life and work in confined spaces, they imparted color, sound, texture, and smell to the ship’s utilitarian interior, thus creating a reverberating landscape that held meaning for them. In forging group identity, asserting individuality, claiming ownership, and imparting domesticity to the ship accommodations, the artifacts of daily life played an important role in shaping the reality of life aboard die DeBraak. vi Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. The recovery of the DeBraak has brought the texture and details of eighteenth century shipboard life to the present In this synthesis of evidence from artifacts, ship plans, and secondary sources, the material world of the DeBraak 's interiors emerges through a series of narrative vignettes, descriptive text detailed catalogue, and photographs. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. With dark clouds looming in the overcast sky, His Majesty’s sloop-of-war DeBraak sailed towards the waters of the Delaware Bay in the late afternoon of May 25th, 1798. The ship bustled with activity as the entire crew prepared the ship for its approach to the Delaware shore. A few men assigned to hold duty descended into the hold to retrieve the water casks, now nearly empty. Soon these wooden casks would be loaded onto a small boat and rowed to shore to be filled with fresh water to sustain the crew for the last leg o f the ship’s voyage. In his stem cabin, Captain Drew glanced in his small decorative looking glass I as he donned his coat and hat. He exited the cabin, strode past the red-coated marine sentry standing guard at his cabin door, and climbed the ladder through the stem hatch to the top deck. He looked out across the water, quietly awaiting a Lewes pilot who would direct the ship toward the shore. ^ As Commander James Drew and the eighty-four member crew of the British convoy ship entered the Delaware Bay, they neared the end of a two-month voyage that would lead to speculation for the next two centuries. What began in late March for the DeBraak as routine convoy duty became something less than routine, and still not entirely clear, during April and much of May when the ship left the fleet with which she was sailing. While the activities of theDeBraak during the months of April and May may never be explained completely, the circumstances that led to her journey, to her demise, and to her recovery 186 years later are understood. Dispatched on convoy duty from the naval yard in Plymouth, England, Commander Drew of the DeBraak joined