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White Jacket; or, the World on a Man-Of-War

Herman Melville

Drawing from Melville's service aboard an U.S. Navy frigate, this work delivers a fierce critique of American naval life.

"White-Jacket; Or, The World on a Man-of-War" by Herman Melville is a novel. Drawing from Melville's service aboard an U.S. Navy frigate, this work delivers a fierce critique of American naval life.

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It was not a very white jacket, but white enough, in all conscience, as the sequel will show.

When our frigate lay in Callao, on the coast of Peru—her last harbour in the Pacific—I found myself without a grego, or sailor’s surtout; and as, toward the end of a three years’ cruise, no pea-jackets could be had from the purser’s steward: and being bound for Cape Horn, some sort of a substitute was indispensable; I employed myself, for several days, in manufacturing an outlandish garment of my own devising, to shelter me from the boisterous weather we were so soon to encounter.

It was nothing more than a white duck frock, or rather shirt: which, laying on deck, I folded double at the bosom, and by then making a continuation of the slit there, opened it lengthwise—much as you would cut a leaf in the last new novel. The gash being made, a metamorphosis took place, transcending any related by Ovid. For, presto! the shirt was a coat!—a strange-looking coat, to be sure; of a Quakerish amplitude about the skirts; with an infirm, tumble-down collar; and a clumsy fullness about the wristbands; and white, yea, white as a shroud. And my shroud it afterward came very near proving, as he who reads further will find.

But, bless me, my friend, what sort of a summer jacket is this, in which to weather Cape Horn? A very tasty, and beautiful white linen garment it may have seemed; but then, people almost universally sport their linen next to their skin.

Contents

  1. 01Chapter I. The Jacket.
  2. 02Chapter II. Homeward Bound.
  3. 03Chapter III. A Glance at the Principal Divisions, Into Which a Man-of-War’s Crew Is Divided.
  4. 04Chapter IV. Jack Chase.
  5. 05Chapter V. Jack Chase on a Spanish Quarter-Deck.
  6. 06Chapter VI. The Quarter-Deck Officers, Warrant Officers, and Berth-Deck Underlings of a Man-of-War; Where They Live in the Ship; How They Live; Their Social Standing on Ship-Board; and What Sort of Ge
  7. 07Chapter VII. Breakfast, Dinner, and Supper.
  8. 08Chapter VIII. Selvagee Contrasted with Mad-Jack.
  9. 09Chapter IX. Of the Pockets That Were in the Jacket.
  10. 10Chapter X. From Pockets to Pickpockets.
  11. 11Chapter XI. The Pursuit of Poetry Under Difficulties.
  12. 12Chapter XII. The Good or Bad Temper of Men-of-War’s Men, in a Great Degree, Attributable to Their Particular Stations and Duties Aboard Ship.
  13. 13Chapter XIII. A Man-of-War Hermit in a Mob.
  14. 14Chapter XIV. A Draught in a Man-of-War.
  15. 15Chapter XV. A Salt-Junk Club in a Man-of-War, with a Notice to Quit.
  16. 16Chapter XVI. General Training in a Man-of-War.
  17. 17Chapter XVII. Away! Second, Third, and Fourth Cutters, Away!
  18. 18Chapter XVIII. A Man-of-War Full as a Nut.
  19. 19Chapter XIX. The Jacket Aloft.
  20. 20Chapter XX. How They Sleep in a Man-of-War.
  21. 21Chapter XXI. One Reason Why Men-of-War’s Men Are, Generally, Short-Lived.
  22. 22Chapter XXII. Wash-Day and House-Cleaning in a Man-of-War.
  23. 23Chapter XXIII. Theatricals in a Man-of-War.
  24. 24Chapter XXIV. Introductory to Cape Horn.
  25. 25Chapter XXV. The Dog-Days Off Cape Horn.
  26. 26Chapter XXVI. The Pitch of the Cape.
  27. 27Chapter XXVII. Some Thoughts Growing Out of Mad Jack’s Countermanding His Superior’s Order.
  28. 28Chapter XXVIII. Edging Away.
  29. 29Chapter XXIX. The Night-Watches.
  30. 30Chapter XXX. A Peep Through a Port-Hole at the Subterranean Parts of a Man-of-War.
  31. 31Chapter XXXI. The Gunner Under Hatches.
  32. 32Chapter XXXII. A Dish of Dunderfunk.
  33. 33Chapter XXXIII. A Flogging.
  34. 34Chapter XXXIV. Some of the Evil Effects of Flogging.
  35. 35Chapter XXXV. Flogging Not Lawful.
  36. 36Chapter XXXVI. Flogging Not Necessary.
  37. 37Chapter XXXVII. Some Superior Old “London Dock” from the Wine-Coolers of Neptune.
  38. 38Chapter XXXVIII. The Chaplain and Chapel in a Man-of-War.
  39. 39Chapter XXXIX. The Frigate in Harbour.—The Boats.—Grand State Reception of the Commodore.
  40. 40Chapter XL. Some of the Ceremonies in a Man-of-War Unnecessary and Injurious.
  41. 41Chapter XLI. A Man-of-War Library.
  42. 42Chapter XLII. Killing Time in a Man-of-War in Harbour.
  43. 43Chapter XLIII. Smuggling in a Man-of-War.
  44. 44Chapter XLIV. A Knave in Office in a Man-of-War.
  45. 45Chapter XLV. Publishing Poetry in a Man-of-War.
  46. 46Chapter XLVI. The Commodore on the Poop, and One of “the People” Under the Hands of the Surgeon.
  47. 47Chapter XLVII. An Auction in a Man-of-War.
  48. 48Chapter XLVIII. Purser, Purser’s Steward, and Postmaster in a Man-of-War.
  49. 49Chapter XLIX. Neversink.
  50. 50Chapter L. The Bay of All Beauties.
  51. 51Chapter LI. One of “the People” Has an Audience with the Commodore and the Captain on the Quarter-Deck.
  52. 52Chapter LII. Something Concerning Midshipmen.
  53. 53Chapter LIII. Seafaring Persons Peculiarly Subject to Being Under the Weather.—The Effects of This Upon a Man-of-War Captain.
  54. 54Chapter LIV. “The People” Are Given “Liberty.”
  55. 55Chapter LV. Midshipmen Entering the Navy Early.
  56. 56Chapter LVI. A Shore Emperor on Board a Man-of-War.
  57. 57Chapter LVII. The Emperor Reviews the People at Quarters.
  58. 58Chapter LVIII. A Quarter-Deck Officer Before the Mast.
  59. 59Chapter LIX. A Man-of-War Button Divides Two Brothers.
  60. 60Chapter LX. A Man-of-War’s-Man Shot at.

About this edition

Author
Herman Melville
Era
Modern (c. 1800–1945)
Reading level
Advanced: for close, demanding reading
Formats
EPUB, PDF
Length
360 pages
This edition
Modern Philosophers