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White Jacket; Or, The World on a Man-of-War

Chapter 1: White-Jacket
By Herman Melville
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About This Book

The narrator recounts extended service aboard a warship, mixing vivid episodic scenes and reflective commentary on shipboard routine and hierarchy. Chapters depict daily life — meals, watches, sleeping arrangements, drills, entertainments, and a library — alongside personalities and informal clubs. Close attention is given to authority, discipline, punishments, and their effects on morale and health. The narrative also traces a hazardous passage around Cape Horn and uses humor and moral observation to critique naval customs and the hardships of life at sea.

The Project Gutenberg eBook of White Jacket; Or, The World on a Man-of-War

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Title: White Jacket; Or, The World on a Man-of-War

Author: Herman Melville

Release date: January 1, 2004 [eBook #10712]
Most recently updated: March 14, 2025

Language: English

Credits: Geoff Palmer

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WHITE JACKET; OR, THE WORLD ON A MAN-OF-WAR ***

White-Jacket

OR

THE WORLD IN A MAN-OF-WAR

by Herman Melville

AUTHOR OF “TYPEE,” “OMOO,” AND “MOBY-DICK”

NEW YORK
UNITED STATES BOOK COMPANY
5 AND 7 EAST SIXTEENTH STREET
* * * * *
CHICAGO: 266 & 268 WABASH AVE.

Copyright, 1892
BY ELIZABETH S. MELVILLE

“Conceive him now in a man-of-war;
    with his letters of mart, well armed,
victualed, and appointed,
    and see how he acquits himself.”
                 —FULLER’S “Good Sea-Captain.”

NOTE. In the year 1843 I shipped as “ordinary seaman” on board of a United States frigate then lying in a harbor of the Pacific Ocean. After remaining in this frigate for more than a year, I was discharged from the service upon the vessel’s arrival home. My man-of-war experiences and observations have been incorporated in the present volume.

New York, March, 1850.

Contents

CHAPTER  
I.   THE JACKET.
II.   HOMEWARD BOUND.
III.   A GLANCE AT THE PRINCIPAL DIVISIONS, INTO WHICH A MAN-OF-WAR’S CREW IS DIVIDED.
IV.   JACK CHASE.
V.   JACK CHASE ON A SPANISH QUARTER-DECK.
VI.   THE QUARTER-DECK OFFICERS, WARRANT OFFICERS, AND BERTH-DECK UNDERLINGS OF A MAN-OF-WAR; WHERE THEY LIVE IN THE SHIP; HOW THEY LIVE; THEIR SOCIAL STANDING ON SHIP-BOARD; AND WHAT SORT OF GENTLEMEN THEY ARE.
VII.   BREAKFAST, DINNER, AND SUPPER.
VIII.   SELVAGEE CONTRASTED WITH MAD-JACK.
IX.   OF THE POCKETS THAT WERE IN THE JACKET.
X.   FROM POCKETS TO PICKPOCKETS.
XI.   THE PURSUIT OF POETRY UNDER DIFFICULTIES.
XII.   THE GOOD OR BAD TEMPER OF MEN-OF-WAR’S MEN, IN A GREAT DEGREE, ATTRIBUTABLE TO THEIR PARTICULAR STATIONS AND DUTIES ABOARD SHIP.
XIII.   A MAN-OF-WAR HERMIT IN A MOB.
XIV.   A DRAUGHT IN A MAN-OF-WAR.
XV.   A SALT-JUNK CLUB IN A MAN-OF-WAR, WITH A NOTICE TO QUIT.
XVI.   GENERAL TRAINING IN A MAN-OF-WAR.
XVII.   AWAY! SECOND, THIRD, AND FOURTH CUTTERS, AWAY!
XVIII.   A MAN-OF-WAR FULL AS A NUT.
XIX.   THE JACKET ALOFT.
XX.   HOW THEY SLEEP IN A MAN-OF-WAR.
XXI.   ONE REASON WHY MEN-OF-WAR’S MEN ARE, GENERALLY, SHORT-LIVED.
XXII.   WASH-DAY AND HOUSE-CLEANING IN A MAN-OF-WAR.
XXIII.   THEATRICALS IN A MAN-OF-WAR.
XXIV.   INTRODUCTORY TO CAPE HORN.
XXV.   THE DOG-DAYS OFF CAPE HORN.
XXVI.   THE PITCH OF THE CAPE.
XXVII.   SOME THOUGHTS GROWING OUT OF MAD JACK’S COUNTERMANDING HIS SUPERIOR’S ORDER.
XXVIII.   EDGING AWAY.
XXIX.   THE NIGHT-WATCHES.
XXX.   A PEEP THROUGH A PORT-HOLE AT THE SUBTERRANEAN PARTS OF A MAN-OF-WAR.
XXXI.   THE GUNNER UNDER HATCHES.
XXXII.   A DISH OF DUNDERFUNK.
XXXIII.   A FLOGGING.
XXXIV.   SOME OF THE EVIL EFFECTS OF FLOGGING.
XXXV.   FLOGGING NOT LAWFUL.
XXXVI.   FLOGGING NOT NECESSARY.
XXXVII.   SOME SUPERIOR OLD “LONDON DOCK” FROM THE WINE-COOLERS OF NEPTUNE.
XXXVIII.   THE CHAPLAIN AND CHAPEL IN A MAN-OF-WAR.
XXXIX.   THE FRIGATE IN HARBOUR.—THE BOATS.—GRAND STATE RECEPTION OF THE COMMODORE.
XL.   SOME OF THE CEREMONIES IN A MAN-OF-WAR UNNECESSARY AND INJURIOUS.
XLI.   A MAN-OF-WAR LIBRARY.
XLII.   KILLING TIME IN A MAN-OF-WAR IN HARBOUR.
XLIII.   SMUGGLING IN A MAN-OF-WAR.
XLIV.   A KNAVE IN OFFICE IN A MAN-OF-WAR.
XLV.   PUBLISHING POETRY IN A MAN-OF-WAR.
XLVI.   THE COMMODORE ON THE POOP, AND ONE OF “THE PEOPLE” UNDER THE HANDS OF THE SURGEON.
XLVII.   AN AUCTION IN A MAN-OF-WAR.
XLVIII.   PURSER, PURSER’S STEWARD, AND POSTMASTER IN A MAN-OF-WAR.
XLIX.   RUMOURS OF A WAR, AND HOW THEY WERE RECEIVED BY THE POPULATION OF THE NEVERSINK.
L.   THE BAY OF ALL BEAUTIES.
LI.   ONE OF “THE PEOPLE” HAS AN AUDIENCE WITH THE COMMODORE AND THE CAPTAIN ON THE QUARTER-DECK.
LII.   SOMETHING CONCERNING MIDSHIPMEN.
LIII.   SEAFARING PERSONS PECULIARLY SUBJECT TO BEING UNDER THE WEATHER.—THE EFFECTS OF THIS UPON A MAN-OF-WAR CAPTAIN.
LIV.   “THE PEOPLE” ARE GIVEN “LIBERTY.”
LV.   MIDSHIPMEN ENTERING THE NAVY EARLY.
LVI.   A SHORE EMPEROR ON BOARD A MAN-OF-WAR.
LVII.   THE EMPEROR REVIEWS THE PEOPLE AT QUARTERS.
LVIII.   A QUARTER-DECK OFFICER BEFORE THE MAST.
LIX.   A MAN-OF-WAR BUTTON DIVIDES TWO BROTHERS.
LX.   A MAN-OF-WAR’S-MAN SHOT AT.
LXI.   THE SURGEON OF THE FLEET.
LXII.   A CONSULTATION OF MAN-OF-WAR SURGEONS.
LXIII.   THE OPERATION.
LXIV.   MAN-OF-WAR TROPHIES.
LXV.   A MAN-OF-WAR RACE.
LXVI.   FUN IN A MAN-OF-WAR.
LXVII.   WHITE-JACKET ARRAIGNED AT THE MAST.
LXVIII.   A MAN-OF-WAR FOUNTAIN, AND OTHER THINGS.
LXIX.   PRAYERS AT THE GUNS.
LXX.   MONTHLY MUSTER ROUND THE CAPSTAN.
LXXI.   THE GENEALOGY OF THE ARTICLES OF WAR.
LXXII.   “HEREIN ARE THE GOOD ORDINANCES OF THE SEA, WHICH WISE MEN, WHO VOYAGED ROUND THE WORLD, GAVE TO OUR ANCESTORS, AND WHICH CONSTITUTE THE BOOKS OF THE SCIENCE OF GOOD CUSTOMS.”
LXXIII.   NIGHT AND DAY GAMBLING IN A MAN-OF-WAR.
LXXIV.   THE MAIN-TOP AT NIGHT.
LXXV.   “SINK, BURN, AND DESTROY.”
LXXVI.   THE CHAINS.
LXXVII.   THE HOSPITAL IN A MAN-OF-WAR.
LXXVIII.   DISMAL TIMES IN THE MESS.
LXXIX.   HOW MAN-OF-WAR’S-MEN DIE AT SEA.
LXXX.   THE LAST STITCH.
LXXXI.   HOW THEY BURY A MAN-OF-WAR’S-MAN AT SEA.
LXXXII.   WHAT REMAINS OF A MAN-OF-WAR’S-MAN AFTER HIS BURIAL AT SEA.
LXXXIII.   A MAN-OF-WAR COLLEGE.
LXXXIV.   MAN-OF-WAR BARBERS.
LXXXV.   THE GREAT MASSACRE OF THE BEARDS.
LXXXVI.   THE REBELS BROUGHT TO THE MAST.
LXXXVII.   OLD USHANT AT THE GANGWAY.
LXXXVIII.   FLOGGING THROUGH THE FLEET.
LXXXIX.   THE SOCIAL STATE IN A MAN-OF-WAR.
XC.   THE MANNING OF NAVIES.
XCI.   SMOKING-CLUB IN A MAN-OF-WAR, WITH SCENES ON THE GUN-DECK DRAWING NEAR HOME.
XCII.   THE LAST OF THE JACKET.
XCIII.   CABLE AND ANCHOR ALL CLEAR.