Marines

In the eighteenth-century, Marines were also deployed aboard naval vessels of exploration to ensure the safety of the ship, survey boats and parties venturing ashore.

The number of marine troops was reduced in 1714 after the Peace of Utrecht signed the previous year ended the War of the Spanish Succession.

England's growth as a naval power saw the creation of new regiments in the 1740s. Some 10,000 men in ten companies were stationed in the vicinity of the Royal Dockyards at Deptford, Woolwich, Chatham, Sheerness, Portsmouth and Plymouth. A further three companies were raised in the American colonies.

Until the Seven Years War (1754-1763), marines served under the command of generals and colonels of the army. The first permanent marine corps under naval command, numbering 5,000 men in fifty companies, was established in 1755 and stationed at Chtaham, Portsmouth and Plymouth. By the end of the Seven Years War, the number of marines under naval command had grown to 19,000.

Marine numbers were sharply reduced after the Peace of Paris in 1763, but grew steadily during the years Britain sought to re-assert control over its North American colonies. By 1783, there were just over 25,000 men serving as marines.

Between 1690 and 1800, marines were involved in over 220 sea fights and 70 operations ashore.

After 1755 a company of Marines under one or more officers was carried aboard every ship of the Royal Navy. The number of men and officers depended on the type and size of vessel, and the aims of a voyage.

Ordinarily marines did not undertake the normal duties of seamen, but were obliged to join in tasks requiring as man-power as possible, such as pulling ropes and working the ship's capstan.

On his first voyage of discovery, Cook was assigned a Lieutenant of Marines, two non-commissioned officers, a drummer and ten marine privates. They were charged with protecting the ship, boats surveying, shore parties and encampments.