05/31/2026
Kids have been employed as sailors for ages.
In fact, in the Age of Sail (mid-16th to mid-19th century), both merchant ships and navy vessels recruited boys as young as seven years old for crew. Lot of boys, and even girls, might be onboard.
What did they do? They could be a cabin boy (also called ship’s boy), midshipman and even a powder monkey. Cabin boys helped the cook in the galley, and carried meals to the crew in the dining hall, as well as to officers in their quarters. Some carried messages back and forth between officers and crew. When needed, ship’s boys would go aloft to stow sails with the crew, and on clear days they might stand watch at the helm and learn how to steer.
Midshipmen were Navy officers-in-training. They received instruction in navigation and seamanship, plus other classes to prepare for a career as an officer.
Powder monkeys were younger boys, most often small enough to fit in cramped spaces of a warship. Their job was to carry gunpowder from the lower section of a ship, to the gun crews up top who manned the cannons. This was a dangerous job.
📸 Powder monkey aboard USS New Hampshire, 1864, courtesy Library of Congress
