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Originally Posted by Jim McDougall
Well said Mark!
Virtually any type of sword could have ended up in a maritime context in the years before any sort of regulation was in effect, end of the 18th c. primarily. The notion of regulation patterns is a bit difficult, as typically 'regulation' often was simply an official designation of a form already in use and established as a general type which might have variation in degree.
In naval settings, the rank and file of course used 'rack' weapons issued as required. The officers wore swords as an element of rank and status, and were not traditionally expected to 'do battle'. As gentlemen of station, they of course had considerable latitude in the swords they chose to wear. It must be remembered that before cameras, the only depictions of important figures, including naval officers, were portraits, and the fashion as well as weapons were often chosen to reflect status and character.
When turning to the wider scope of maritime context and looking to the merchants including East India companies, as well as their nemesis, the ever lurking pirates and privateers.....the possibilities of any closely set guidelines in weapons in use were virtually unlikely if not impossible.
I remember trying to find out if it was possible that Highland basket hilts were ever used at sea, and that notion further empowered by the compelling notice that Blackbeard was actually dispatched by one, dispelling much of the previous lore about his end. While the actual circumstance was a Highlander among a contingent of local Carolina men enlisted by the famed Lt. Maynard aboard his sloops in the 'chase'......the potential for such a sword even on tight decks seemed more feasible.
The idea of pitched swashbuckling melee aboard vessels is a notion propounded by Hollywood, and fanciful literature. There was not really such sword to sword combat in most cases, and most men in these times and these circumstances were not really fencing or sword combat trained nor experienced. If anything, surrender was gained by intimidation, or use of guns with the dreaded deck clearing langrage as convincing action.
So really, in my view, the use of silver on a hilt, whether on ship or land, was simply a matter of fashion and prestige, with little thought toward potential use in combat. A captain or officers of a vessel might have such swords aboard for dress or diplomatic occasion, as well as a service weapon (often termed 'fighting' sword) worn regularly on duty.
Determining the intent or placement of use of a weapon such as this in naval context is of course purely speculation without sound provenance, and as was suggested to me by the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich in my quest for maritime use of the basket hilt......cannot be 'confirmed nor denied'.
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Excellent points, Jim. In particular is your point (one I hadn't thought of) about officers carrying flashy weapons as symbols of rank and not necessarily 'battle-worthy' swords. Case in point, Spanish naval officers often wore small swords as a badge of rank while on deck as well as at formal functions. Hand-to-hand during boarding did occasionally occur, but for the most part, there were hand-picked boarding parties who were rank and file with what they would be armed with, who would lead the charge, etc. In Gilkerson, he showed how there might be pikemen in the front, sailors welding cutlass in the middle and possibly some marines armed with firearms leading up the rear. I would imagine that a captain or officer would have been fitted with several swords, one for dress/rank, one for fighting, etc. In 'Master and Commander', we see Jack Aubrey retrieving his fighting swords from his cabin just before battle (it took, after all, quite a bit of time for two ships to maneuver into battle position, each adversary trying to get the advantage of angle and position).