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Post by keelhauled on May 16, 2015 21:31:51 GMT
I have been trying to figure out the variations in hats worn by the officers and seamen. The officers had the bicorn but in different styles. Some worn athwart the head and some worn fore and aft. The lieutenants seemed to wear the fore & aft hats. There is also the one that resembles a top hat that seems to be worn by the midshipmen and warrant officers. But the midshipmen also wore the bicorn at times. Hornblower wore the top hat type at times as a midshipman and also the bicorns, but I never saw Kennedy in the top hat, only the bicorn. Did they have the option or did the ship have a uniform of the day policy or what? Ashore they all seemed to wear the bicorn but aboard ship it looks as if anything goes. I've looked on the net but all I found are descriptions of the hats but nothing as to when each was worn. If there are any uniform experts around I would be interested in being enlightened.
k
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Post by Sharpiefan on May 16, 2015 21:48:39 GMT
The athwartships hat is worn earlier in the period - during the 1790s when Horatio is a midshipman, he wears this hat. The fore-and-aft hat for Lieutenants and Captains came in in the 1790s or 1800s, and is the hat worn by the officers aboard HMS Renown set in about 1799. Also at this time the so-called 'round hat' for midshipmen and master's mates was introduced and is the hat worn by Mr Wellard aboard Renown and Jack Hammond aboard Hotspur.
In the film Master and Commander, set in 1805, Lieutenant Pullings wears the fore-and-aft hat, Mr Mowett prefers the round hat (apparently the fore-and-aft hat given to the actor looked far too big onscreen for some reason - though that is the style he wears when in full dress during the scene where Warley is flogged) and the midshipmen all wear the round hat. Jack Aubrey prefers the athwartships hat as he's slightly older and prefers the previous incarnation of the uniform - which is perfectly in keeping with the books, and is also the reason he wears breeches when both Pullings and Mowett wear trousers.
At sea, what 'went' was very much dependent on the Captain and his preferences for how officers appeared on deck. There is a reference somewhere to a captain insisting that all his officers wore Hessian boots (the type with the tassel at the top), for example, though I can't remember which captain or ship. That's an IRL example, but in fiction, Captain Ramage of HMS Calypso insists on all his officers wearing silk stockings in battle because it's easier to get out of a wound and won't lead to the wound's going septic, as wool or cotton would
SF
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Post by LadyJamers on May 17, 2015 13:09:32 GMT
Some little correction for Master and Commander- It wasn't Warley, who got disciplined. He was the one that went overboard. (Now he is a hybrid werewolf/vampire on The Originals.) The person is his buddy, Nagle.
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Post by Sharpiefan on May 17, 2015 17:16:10 GMT
Yes. It was indeed. My only excuse for getting the name wrong was the fact that I'd had a long day and couldn't think straight...
SF
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Post by LadyJamers on May 17, 2015 18:32:02 GMT
Yes. It was indeed. My only excuse for getting the name wrong was the fact that I'd had a long day and couldn't think straight... SF That's all right. :-D
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usHHan
Midshipman
Finding my sea legs once more...
Posts: 66
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Post by usHHan on May 21, 2015 2:38:30 GMT
Keep in mind, too, that this is a period where Royal Navy officers were responsible for outfitting themselves. There were certain regulations as to what the uniforms should look like but there was some latitude within those regulations for an officer to put his own personal spin on what he was wearing. Hats weren't even mentioned in uniform regulations until 1795--a couple of years after Hornblower makes his first appearance on Justinian--and even then they, like other regulations, weren't terribly proscriptive, so depending upon his means and/or his personal style, an officer might adopt (or choose not to adopt) the latest and most fashionable styles where he had the option of doing so.
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Post by shipoftheline on May 21, 2015 15:12:26 GMT
That must explain the various uniforms in your banner. LOL
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DianeGretnaGreen
Commander
Anxious For Promotion
Gathers Heather for Dr. Syn (alias The Scarecrow)
Posts: 751
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Post by DianeGretnaGreen on May 21, 2015 15:37:04 GMT
Keep in mind, too, that this is a period where Royal Navy officers were responsible for outfitting themselves. There were certain regulations as to what the uniforms should look like but there was some latitude within those regulations for an officer to put his own personal spin on what he was wearing. Hats weren't even mentioned in uniform regulations until 1795--a couple of years after Hornblower makes his first appearance on Justinian--and even then they, like other regulations, weren't terribly proscriptive, so depending upon his means and/or his personal style, an officer might adopt (or choose not to adopt) the latest and most fashionable styles where he had the option of doing so. I think this was an issue during the American Revolution, too. Lots of variations.
Yours Aye,
Diane
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usHHan
Midshipman
Finding my sea legs once more...
Posts: 66
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Post by usHHan on May 21, 2015 23:42:48 GMT
That must explain the various uniforms in your banner. LOL LOL! Oh, if only Hornblower en deshabille was regulation! We'll just have to be content that it's canon.
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Post by shipoftheline on May 21, 2015 23:48:06 GMT
LOL! We would never get anything done.
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