The Medallion - Watch Assignments

This document outlines the standard watch assignments for the crew of "The Medallion".

The Seven Watches of the Day

A typical watch system on a sailing ship divided the 24-hour day into shifts. The period from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. was divided into two shorter, two-hour "dog watches" to ensure the watch teams rotated their duty times each day.

Watch Name	Time Period	Description
Middle Watch	Midnight – 4:00 AM	The "Graveyard Watch." Extremely cold and dark.
Morning Watch	4:00 AM – 8:00 AM	Included the sunrise and the "washing of the decks."
Forenoon Watch	8:00 AM – Noon	The main period for heavy maintenance and drills.
Afternoon Watch	Noon – 4:00 PM	Often the hottest part of the day; drills continued.
First Dog Watch	4:00 PM – 6:00 PM	A short, 2-hour watch.
Last Dog Watch	6:00 PM – 8:00 PM	The second 2-hour "half" watch.
First Watch	8:00 PM – Midnight	The first watch of the "night cycle."

Watch Bill

The crew is organized into a two-watch system (Starboard and Larboard). Senior Officers (except for watch leaders) and Specialists are generally not required to stand a regular watch.

Total Watch-Standing Crew: 62 (3 Mates + 7 Named Able Seamen + 5 Named Deckhands + 47 Unnamed Crew)

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Starboard Watch (31 crew)

• Watch Leaders (Rotating): Captain, Master of Fog
• Mates:
  • Tyler (Sergeant-at-Arms)
  • Salter (Bosun's Mate)
• Able Seamen:
  • Wat (Whaler)
  • Guy (Boarder)
  • Jacopa (Rigger)
• Deckhands:
  • Wulf (Blacksmith)
  • Roland
• Unnamed Crew: 24

Larboard Watch (31 crew)

• Watch Leaders (Rotating): Master of Sail, Master Gunner
• Mates:
  • Arballister (Gunner's Mate)
• Able Seamen:
  • Mathias (Hunter)
  • Radult
  • Naymes
  • Arnim (Boarder)
• Deckhands:
  • Robin (Lookout)
  • Jean
  • Tolly (Ship's Boy)
• Unnamed Crew: 23