Unlike merchantmen, naval vessels were crewed at a level allowing for substantia...

		aebtebeten 10 months ago \| parent \| context \| favorite \| on: Too much efficiency makes everything worse (2022) Unlike merchantmen, naval vessels were crewed at a level allowing for substantial attrition (bad attrition would be casualties; good attrition would be prize crews); I believe they traditionally (pace Churchill) had many, many activities which were incidental to force projection (eg polishing the brightwork) but could be used to occupy all hands.

Yes. And, well, you can also always train more. Especially in the age of sail.