Although Stone Frigate takes place in the era of World War II, the war itself is distanced and plays only a minor role. Having some general knowledge of any related historic events is useful, but not a necessity. What's more useful is that participants have a grasp of the life, conditions and customs of the Royal Navy during World War II, and an understanding of the reasoning that has led to your character suddenly being extracted from Naval life, branded C/Q and sent to HMS Standard.

 

Much of this material will be supplied in each player’s character sheet, alongside some choice contextual reading. However, there are many online sources and books regarding Royal Naval life during World War II. If you have time to delve into these, a good starting point would be the website www.naval-history.net, which includes a broad range of materials covering the period 1939-45. Worth reading is the book 'Naval Life and Customs' by Lieutenant Commander John Irving, which can be found on this site at:

 

http://www.naval-history.net/WW2aaNavalLife-Customs1.htm#4

 

http://www.naval-history.net/WW2aaNavalLife-Customs2.htm

The book offers an upbeat description about what life at sea was like for Royal Naval personnel. It indicates the various functions and layout of a ship, routines and rituals (including a glossary of Naval slang), and the camaraderie amongst a ship's crew. However, it is less suggestive of the inherent sense of confinement and hardships that are often highlighted in post-war recollections of Royal Naval personnel.

 

The breadth, and means of intake to the Royal Navy, especially during wartime, plays an important role in establishing why some personnel might have been considered ‘questionable material’. Ratings encompassed many different walks of life, ages and diverse outlooks.

 

In the years leading up to the outbreak of World War II, Admiralty generally took the time-honoured stance that "Training at sea ought to begin at an early age if the best results are to be obtained".

 

Since 1850s, a standard route into the Royal Navy as a Seaman (rating) was to sign-up between the ages of fifteen and sixteen for a term of ten, or later twelve, years, which only started when the boy reached the age of eighteen. After this could sign on for extra ten years taking the recruit to forty and a pension. Some recruits came from Naval families, others were young men enthusiastic about the sea or the chance to travel. Many were orphans, or came from families who wanted to get children off their hands – and during high unemployment of the 1930s, recruiting boys to sign on for rather unattractive conditions was made a much easier proposition.

 

Life in the training establishments could be harsh on boys, as a former recruit recollects his experience as "… a brain-twisting, body-racking ground of mental bullying and physical strain."

 

With Seamen making up the largest part of the Royal Navy fleet, coupled with other young recruits, particularly those that made up the Stokers and Royal Marines, many had little, if any, experience of outside life before they joined.

 

Over the course of World War II, over one million people served in the Royal Navy. Enlistment was driven by huge recruitment campaigns to inject manpower to assist in its maritime war efforts, which included the revival of the Women's Royal Naval Service (WRNS or Wrens). As a result thousands of ‘hostilities only’ personnel joined the service and played vital roles, despite their inexperience in military life.