Press gangs sound like something from a pirate story: men prowling waterfront taverns, seizing sailors and forcing them aboard ships.
The startling part? They were not pirates. Impressment was carried out for the Royal Navy.
From the Tudor period onwards, the Crown claimed powers to compel seafaring men into naval service, particularly during wartime. In the 18th and early 19th centuries, when Britain needed enormous numbers of experienced sailors, authorised impressment became a notorious feature of life in naval ports.
Portsmouth was an obvious hunting ground. Its docks, inns, taverns and waterfront streets were full of men who knew ships and the sea.
Press warrants could authorise officers and their parties to find men for naval service. The experience could be frightening and violent, and resistance could have serious consequences.
In September 1770, records describe press warrants in Portsmouth and men being seized from merchant ships, drinking places and the streets.
Then in 1803, with Britain again facing war with France, press gangs were active around Portsmouth and Gosport.
So the next time somebody mentions a 'press gang', forget the image of freelance rogues kidnapping sailors for themselves. The uncomfortable truth is much more extraordinary: impressment formed part of Britain's official system for manning its warships.
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