In the Royal Navy in the middle of the 18th century, the term Able Seaman referred to a seaman with at least two years' experience at sea. Seamen with less experience were referred to as landmen or ordinary seamen. Jump to: navigation, search The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the senior service of the British armed services, being the oldest of its three branches. ... (17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ... Seaman can be a generic term for sailor. ... Jump to: navigation, search In the Royal Navy in the middle of the 18th century, the term Landman referred to a seaman with less than a years experience at sea. ... Ordinary Seaman is the lowest normal grade of sailor. ...

In time of war (such as the Seven Years' War or the Napoleonic Wars), with many more warships in service, the navy, merchant marine, and privateers competed ferociously for the limited pool of able seamen, leading to the unpopular use of impressment by the Royal Navy to keep its ships manned. In peacetime, with many fewer active warships, there was usually a surplus of unemployed able seamen willing to work in the navy. During the Napoleonic Wars, the navy's practice of stopping American ships to press British subjects serving on them was one of the main factors leading to the War of 1812 with the United States. Jump to: navigation, search The Seven Years War (1754 and 1756–1763) pitted Great Britain, Prussia, and Hanover against France, Austria, Russia, Sweden, and Saxony. ... Jump to: navigation, search The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars fought during Napoleon Bonapartes rule over France. ... USS Port Royal (CG-73), a Ticonderoga class cruiser. ... A privateer was a private ship (or its captain) authorized by a countrys government to attack and seize cargo from another countrys ships. ... Jump to: navigation, search Impressment (colloquially, press-ganging) is the act of conscripting people to serve as sailors. ... Jump to: navigation, search The War of 1812 was a conflict fought on land in North America and at sea around the world between the United States and United Kingdom from 1812 to 1815. ...

Later, the term evolved into a more formal rating.

Reference

N.A.M. Roger. The Wooden World: An Anatomy of the Georgian Navy. W.W. Norton and Company, 1986.