If the sawyers were the first to work on the new hull of a new ship, the caulkers, who filled the seams between the planks on the sides and decks of the ships, were the last. According to Burney’s Universal Dictionary of the Marine, to caulk was to drive a quantity of oakum, or old ropes twisted and pulled asunder, into the seams of planks in order to prevent the entrance of water. After the oakum is driven very hard into these seams, it is covered woth hot melted pitch or tar, to keep it from rotting.

Caulking Ships at the Bothuisje on the Y at Amsterdam by Reinier Nooms

That means that a caulker used a beetle ( a caulking mallet) to drive reeming- irons with the rope or the oakum into the seams.The seams were gone over with a hardening iron to firm up the caulking material in them before they were sealed with pitch or tar.

A caulking mallet, tar pot and a piece of petrified tar found on board the 16th century Mary Rose and Caulkers at work 

It was unpleasant work which offered none of of the satisfaction of an shipwright in seeing a huge and beautiful hull take shape.

Ships Careened for Caulking the Hull, 17th century

Caulkers often had to work in uncomforatable positions and in 1724 the Deptford officers reported that they cannot in the winter season see to perform their day work in the dock as it ought to be unless they work their dinner time, it being so dark under the ship’s bottoms between three and four o'clock in the afternoon…

The Blackwall Frigates

In 1833, the East India Company ceased its trading activities. Followed by the first regular steamship service across the atlantic in 1838 and a line from red merr to india was established in 1840. This meant that large sailing vessels capable of carrying both passengers and cargo were needed. But the old design the company had used had become unsuitable, so a new ship had to be planned and built.

The first Blackwall Frigate, Seringapatam, by Thomas Dutton 1843 (x)

One vessel of the new type that would later become known as Blackwall Frigates was the Seringapatam. She was built in 1837 and was 45 m long, 11 m wide, similar to the last East Indianmen but lacking the mighty poop deck. Between 1837 and 1841, eight ships of the same type were built until the Prince of Wales, with a new design, was introduced in 1842.

The Blackwall frigate Prince of Wales, by John Lynn 1845 (x)

She was 55m long and 12m wide, and had a continuous deck with no visible quarterdeck, as was common with the war frigates of the time. The Monarch, built in 1844, was similar in design to the clippers that followed. Her planking was teak. The upper deck housed 12 guest cabins, a dining room and crew quarters. On the deck below, two large cabins with large windows were located in the stern, and even additional troops could be accommodated forward towards the bow.

The Blackwall Frigate Maidstone at Sea by H.J. Callow 1869, (x)

Unlike the East Indianmen, the Blackwall frigates were not only more elegant in design and equipment, they were also fast. And so they regularly sailed from London to Calcutta or, from 1852, even to Australia. However, the Blackwall frigates slowly lost their value from 1851 onwards, so that they no longer had a chance against the now composite-built clipper ships.

The Blackwall Frigate Northfleet photographed on the Thames a few days before her loss in 1873, by . F C Gould of Gravesend, January 1873

Their number declined, but they still built high quality frigates that even had a certain luxury. In 1866 the first iron Blackwall frigate named Superb was built and in 1875 the Melbourne was the last to belong to the class of these frigates.

Also among the unrated ships were the sloops, bomb vessels and fire ships. Further in this list are the brigs and the schooners.

Brigs
The name derives from the brigantine, which was first shown in the 13th century as a small rowed ship with a lateen sail. Only later, in the 17th century their rigging resembles that of a schooner, and they were used both in navy and in merchant service. Only in the 18th century they became a brig with a different rigging.

Model of a Brig with 14-guns, ca. 1830 (x)

They had two masts with their main mast at the aft. Armed was a brig mostly with 14, 24-pdr. carronades.They were fast and manoeuvrable and that made them to excellent scout or coastal defender. But also as warships, as they proved in the Battle of lake Erie.

The Lady Washington is a Brig replica of the Brig of the same name from 1780 (x)

At the beginning of the 19th century the Royal Navy owned 21 ships, but towards the War of 1812 the armament was changed to 14, 18 pdr. and two 6 pdr long guns and 18 ships of this new class were added. The command was given to a lieutenant.

Schooners

The Schooner had originated in North America in the early 1700s. It was not a well established rig in Britain before 1800, and such ships remained quite rare in both naval and merchant service. Apart from the gunboats, there were only 10 in the Navy in 1801. In 1803 the Navy started to take several schooners into service because they were good despatch and advice vessels.

Model of a Schooner, 14- guns, 1820 (x)

However, only 12 (all named after birds) were built in england, 12 others (all named after fishes were built in Bermuda). 28 were former French ships and three were formerly in Dutch services. So the Royal Navy had 43 schooners in its service until 1815. Their armament was mostly 4-6 guns, with a crew of 20 men. But there were also bigger ones that could have 12 guns and a crew of 60 men.

HMS Pickle a 21th century Top sail schooner named after the original HMS Pickle but not a replica of her (x)

One of the most famous in British services was HMS Pickle, which was used to deliver the news of the Battle of Trafalgar. Here too, the command was given to a lieutenant.