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mizzenmast. His flag captain, and the commander of the 750 men on the ship, was Captain Richard Norbury.
    At this stage in the Seven Years’ War between Britain and France, the Royal Navy was engaged in a holding operation that involved a constant blockade of the ports where the French ships were gathered. From the summer of 1759 to the autumn of 1760, HMS
Sandwich
joined the extended line of British warships patrolling the seas off Ushant. The Bay of Biscay has always been notorious for its storms—so bad were the conditions that every two months or so the ship was forced to head back to England and put in to Plymouth in order to carry out repairs, take fresh provisions on board, and allow sick and exhausted crews to recover. Mary Lacy learned to survive the gales, but at one point she was so badly affected with rheumatoid arthritis that she could not walk and had to be confined to the sick bay for several weeks. She had another severe bout of arthritis when the
Sandwich
was in Portsmouth in the autumn of 1760 and was confined to the naval hospital. By the time she recovered, the ship had sailed.
    She now joined the
Royal Sovereign
as a supernumerary. This 100-gun ship was the guardship for the port and was permanently stationed offshore at Spithead. Although the crew were in sheltered waters and in sight of land, they were seldom allowed ashore. Mary was confined to the ship for a year and nine months. Fortunately she made a number of friends, notably a young woman who was living on board with a sailor named John Grant. She writes, “The young woman and I were very intimate, and as she was exceeding fond of me, we used to play together like young children.” Grant did not see their friendship in such an innocent light and became so resentful that he took his jealousy out on the young woman by beating her and threatening to send her ashore.
    Although Mary’s autobiography provides a vivid picture of life on board a British warship, she makes surprisingly few references to any problems she might have experienced in disguising her sex. One of the few occasions when she might have been discovered took place on the
Royal Sovereign.
While working on deck, she tripped and fell down an open hatch. She cut her head badly and was taken to the doctor.
When I came to myself I was very apprehensive lest the doctor in searching for bruises about my body should have discovered that I was a woman, but it fortunately happened that he being a middle-aged gentleman, he was not very inquisitive, and my messmates being advanced in years, and not so active as young people, did not tumble me about or undress me.
    Mary now decided to become a shipwright’s apprentice, and thanks to recommendations from her former shipmates and her own determination, she succeeded in her aim. In March 1763, she was signed on as apprentice to Alexander McLean, the acting carpenter of the
Royal William,
an 84-gun ship that was out of commission and based at Portsmouth Dockyard. McLean was currently living on board the ship together with his mistress and several other warrant officers and their wives, but he later rented a house ashore.
    For the next three or four years, Mary put in twelve-hour days in the dockyard and in the evenings joined their drunken revels. She must have had stamina as well as considerable ability as a craftsman, because she not only survived the long hours and physical demands of the job, but she also earned the men’s respect. She records that they would say she was “the best boy on board.” She also continued to attract the women. McLean’s mistress was obviously fond of her and on one occasion “came and placed herself in my lap, stroking me down the face, telling the watermen what she would do for me, so that the people present could not forbear laughing to see her sit in such a young boy’s lap as she thought I was.” She became particularly friendly with a very handsome girl named Sarah