Why did sailors sleep in hammocks on their ships for many centuries, and not on ordinary beds, as in our time?
If you are familiar with historical Hollywood films or popular literary novels about sailors and pirates of the Golden Age, you may have noticed the fact that many sailors constantly slept in their hammocks.
But have you ever wondered why the choice fell on hammocks? Indeed, in modern times, sailors sleep on ordinary beds while sailing and will not experience any discomfort, so why was this a problem in the past?
A small digression into history
Sailors who lived more than 500 years ago, for most of history slept on simple bare boards, bags filled with fresh leaves, spread out straw, or, in rare cases, mattresses stuffed with horsehair.
What was the main problem with these beds?
These berths quickly got wet due to leaking decks during storms or downpours, rotted and were unhygienic. The sheets could sometimes hide a terrible sight, but the terrible smell was even more difficult to mask. Microbes and bacteria in just a short amount of time turned these sleeping places into breeding grounds for the worst infectious diseases.
Who invented the hammock and when?
The hammock or the so-called “floating bed” was an invention of the inhabitants of Central and South America long before the Europeans, and even more so the ancient Greeks or Romans. The early Indians slept in such hammocks and traveled everywhere with them.
Ethnologist and textile researcher Annemarie Seiler-Baldinger in her writings says that it is likely that the Indians made hammocks from vines, agave leaves, palm trees, and later cotton. In colder regions like Northern Colombia, Indians used animal skins and fur to create warm hammocks.
It was Columbus and Amerigo Vespucci who in the 1500s brought this curiosity from the jungle, straight to Europe, where the nobility first saw these unusual primitive “floating beds”, which at that time were incredibly popular with the natives in the territories of South and North America.
But some historians point out that the hammock was depicted in the English manuscript of Luttrell’s Psalter, dated 1330, and thus proves the existence of hammocks in Europe before the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus. However, the technologies for manufacturing the most durable and comfortable hammocks were not known to Europeans.
But even if this type of bed was known to Europeans, then why is Columbus surprised in his ship’s logs by the hammocks of the Indians? Here is his text from the ship’s log of 1492: “The beds on which these people slept are a kind of ordinary wicker net.”
Why did hammocks become actively used in the Navy?
After Columbus showed the Indian miracle bed to all noble Europeans, including the unique techniques for making hammocks, most of the people did not see any sense in them. However, 50 years later, the hammock suffered the same fate as the famous potato, also brought to Europe by the Spaniards in the middle of the 16th century. It became popular throughout Europe.
Already at the end of the 16th century, almost all the sailors of the Elizabethan fleet were swinging in hammocks. The Royal Navy of England officially adopted the canvas hammock in 1597 as the main sleeping place for every sailor sleeping on the gun decks of warships.
Why?
The limited space inside the ships did not allow for a large number of sleeping berths, and hammocks were a great space saver, since they were easy to roll up and put away after sleep. Shortly thereafter, virtually the rest of the European fleet also switched to hammocks.
In addition to saving space, the hammock had a number of hygienic advantages, which allowed it to become a real sensation among all European sailors. Not only did it save sailors from lying in the mud and on rotten mattresses, it also made it easy for sailors to clean the tarpaulin.
But in addition to economy and hygiene, the hammock also allowed sailors to sleep much more peacefully, since the freely swinging hammock followed the movement and rocking of the ship, which was very beneficial for the vestibular apparatus.
Physician Gerhard Becken of the Naval Medical Institute in Kiel recommended the following: “Sufferers of seasickness should, if possible, sleep in a hammock, which counterbalances the rocking of the ship and provides a more comfortable sleep than a classic bunk.”
Another advantage of such a sleeping place as a hammock is also that when a suspended hammock sways along with the movement of the ship, the sailor does not risk being thrown onto the deck during rough seas or severe storms, and he will not fly into him lying somewhere in side and a poorly tied shot, barrel, or some dangerous piece of equipment.
Before the advent of naval hammocks, sailors (especially pirates) were often injured or even killed when they fell from their berths and then rolled all over the deck during violent storms, along with heavy cannonballs, cannons and even sharp weapons.
A canvas sea hammock wrapped around the sleeper like a cocoon, making an unintentional fall almost impossible.
Many sailors became so accustomed to this way of sleeping that the use of hammocks in the Navy continued well into the 20th century.
For example, during World War II, the military sometimes used hammocks for both navies and soldiers to increase available space and cargo capacity. Many recreational sailors even today prefer hammocks to berths for greater comfort while sleeping on the high seas.
Hammocks have even been used on spacecraft to make the most efficient use of the available space. During the Apollo program, the US lunar module was equipped with hammocks so that the lunar module commander and pilot could sleep in comfort.
