1. Prison Hulks
By Ben Gallego

2. The Beginning of the Prison Hulks In England
The 18th century has been characterised as the era of the 'Bloody Code'
There was a growing opposition to the death penalty for all but the most serious crimes.
Hard labour was seeing as a suitable sanction
Transportation was used for the disposal of convicts until the end of the American Civil War in 1776  other sanctions had to be found
Two alternatives were hard labour and for those unable to do it, the house of correction  led to the use of prison hulks, from 1776 until 1857

3. The Prison Hulks
Prison hulks were ships that were anchored in the Thames river, Portsmouth, and Plymouth
Converting ships into prisons hulks involved the removal of various features for sailing  they were all inoperable, and added jail cells
Those sent to them were employed in hard labour during the day and then loaded, in chains, onto the ship at night
The various horrors of these hulks to tell
These Prison Ships where pain and horror dwell
Where death in ten fold vengeance holds his reign,
And injur'd ghosts, yet unaveng'd complain;
This be my tale — ungenerous Britons, you
Conspire to murder those you can't subdue
— poet Philip Freneau
(was in a prison hulk for some time)

4. The Galleys
A Galley is an ancient ship used between 700 BC till the 16th century
It could be propelled by human oarsmen, used for warfare and trade
The rowers were usually prisoners and slaves
For centuries the sentence to the galleys was one of the cruelest punishments possible

5. Prison Hulks during the American Civil War
Many Americans died as prisoners of war in prison hulks
There was lack of control and poor physical conditions
11,500 men and women died due to overcrowding, contaminated water, starvation, and disease on prison ships
Prisoners were finally released with the treaty of Paris in 1783

6. British use in Napoleonic Wars of prison hulks
The prison hulks housed prisoners of war and captured crews from French corsairs
Between 1803 and 1814, 12,845 imprisoned Frenchmen died in British prison hulks
The HMS Temeraire a famous prison ship
which served from

7. British use in Australia
In New South Wales, hulks were also used as juvenile correctional centers.
Vernon (1867–1892) and Sobraon (1892–1911) were the latter officially a "nautical school ship“
The commander of the two ships, Frederick Neitenstein (1850–1921)  introduced a system of discipline, hard work, physical drill, and a system of grading.
Each new boy was placed in the lowest grade, and through hard work, they would slowly gain a restricted number of privileges.

8. The Nazi German
The Nazi Germans assembled a small fleet of ships in the Bay of Lubeck to hold concentration camp prisoners.
All ships were sunk by British aircraft
The Cap Arcona, a passenger liner,
was converted by the Nazis to hold
concentration camp-bound prisoners

9. Military Regime in Chile
The regime of Augusto Pinochet ( )
The Esmeralda (BE-43)  used as a floating jail and torture chamber for the political prisoners
Probably over a 100 persons were kept there

10. The United Kingdom
In Northern Ireland in the 1970’s the HMS Maidstone was used as a prison ship for suspected Nationalist guerrillas
In 1997 the United Kingdom Gov. established HMP Weare as a new prison ship  temporary measure to ease prison overcrowding
The HMS Maidstone