# And now for something completely different.



## Shipbuilder (Jun 30, 2005)

PRISON HULKS
Between working on my BRAEMAR CASTLE (1898), I am building a rotting prison hulk as used during the Napoleonic wars. It is based on HMS YORK.

Who did the hulks belong to, did they still come under the jurisdication of the Royal Navy? The reason I am asking, is to find out if they flew the White Ensign or any other flag. Drawings of the YORK made at the time she was in service show an enormous flagpole sticking out of the poop with what looks vaguely like a White Ensign on it, but rather indistinct.

The model has a scale of 20'=1"

Bob


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## benjidog (Oct 27, 2005)

Use Google and search on "prison hulk" and you will find more information than you could shake a stick at. Suggest you restrict it to UK only if you are interested in just UK hulks.

Regards,

Brian


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## Shipbuilder (Jun 30, 2005)

Hi Brian,
Have already looked in Google before I even started. I have plans of the YORK as a prison hulk, but can find no reference to what flag (if any) that they flew. My hulk is only based on the YORK and is just representative.
I am actually building it at the request of a London maritime auctioneers. I started it in Decmber 2006, but they then discontinued their maritime sales without warning in May 2007, so I shoved it in a box & packed it away. Recently, their former head of maritime (who requested it in the firrst place) has started a new maritime saleroom on his own account, so I dug it out & resumed work a couple of weeks ago. The first sale was last month & was a huge success for both them & me. 
I was on the points of having to give up making models to sell because the EEC Distance Selling Rules now prevent me from selling on the internet unless I comply with all sorts of rules & business regulations. Only avenue now open to me now is to send them to an "agent" such as an auction room, but the advantage of that is that they seem to get two or three times as much for them as I dared ask privately, so, even after deductions - I am receiving greater rewards for my work.
Bob


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## Shipbuilder (Jun 30, 2005)

Finished at last, complete with washing hanging in the sparse rigging. A dismal scene of a typical prison hulk of the Napoleonic war era.


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