Sailors Enslaved by Great Britain

From the 1600s to the 1800s the British Royal Navy rounded up thousands of men and forced them to serve in the British Royal Navy. This practice was known as impressement, and history books and websites are full of stories about British sailors and officers who went out in ports around the world and kidnapped men to serve on their ships. Google 'press gang' and you'll find many accounts of this practice, along with drawings, maps and legal decrees.

In 1807, without provocation the HMS Leopard opened fire crippling the USS Chesapeake within sight of Norfolk , Virginia. The Leopard boarded the Chesapeake and impressed 4 US sailors at gunpoint. Incidents like this generated outrage in the US which eventually led to the US declaring war.

In this episode of the Sea Stories and Science Fiction Podcast, we meet Walter Grafton, a broken wretch of a man who returns to his New Hampshire Village after 25 years spent impressed (forced to serve) in the British Navy.

Watch a 1-Minute Preview of The Impressed American, a Salty Sea Story, on the Sea Stories and Science Fiction Podcast

Listen to Walter Grafton, the Impressed American on the Sea Stories and Science Fiction Podcast on all of these popular podcast websites and apps:

For several hundred years the British forced sailors of many nations into service aboard their ships.

Links to Sites Related Impressment:

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