At night, seamen sleep in hammocks slung between beams – or at least, half of them do. For the crew of Constitution is divided into two “watches” (teams.) One watch sails the ship from 8pm to midnight, then sleeps for four hours while the other watch works. Tomorrow, the two watches swap over their duties.
Shouted orders and pounding feet echo through the ship all night, but the sleeping sailors do not wake. Their work is so exhausting that they slip into a deep slumber as soon as they tumble into their hammocks.
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