The actual handling of the ship was left to the Master. At the end of the sixteenth century the war vessels no longer carried soldiers, the sailors being trained to fight and sail the ships themselves. In the reign of Elizabeth, too, the custom of putting landsmen in command was modified, and seamen-captains, such as Drake, Hawkins, and Frobisher, commanded some of the fighting ships of the Royal Navy. After any special service on which the vessels had been engaged was completed, the ships were laid up, the captains retired to private life, and the seamen, who were paid by the week or the month, were discharged; only a small body of officers and men, ship-keepers, being retained to take charge of the vessel in harbour. It is interesting to find that the following was the pay of some of the various ranks of the Navy about 1588: Admiral, from £3 6s. 8d. to 15s. per day; Captain, 2s. 6d. per day. All the other ranks were paid by the month: Lieutenant (one only on each ship), £3; Master, £1 to £3 2s. 6d.; Preacher, £2 to £3; Boatswain, 13s. 9d. to £1 10s.; Master Carpenter, 17s. 6d. to £1 5s.; Surgeon, £1; Cook, 13s. 9d. to 17s. 6d.; Sailor, 10s. (In the time of Henry VIII. the sailor only received 5s. per month.) As an instance of the religious feeling that existed in those times, the Preachers said prayers twice a day, “and there was, besides, the singing of a psalm at watch setting, a very old custom in the English sea service.” With regard to the clothing of the sailors, Edward IV. is said to have provided “jackets,” probably a kind of uniform, and the practice was continued by Henry VII. Henry VIII. also, as long as he had ample funds (from his late father’s treasury), clothed the sailors in the Tudor colours (white and green), cloth being worn by the sailors and damask and satin, by the officers. Sailors were allowed a gallon of beer a day, as water was not carried on men-of-war until the middle of the seventeenth century. Henry VIII. is said to have “refashioned the Navy in the direction of shipbuilding, armament, and administration. He may be said to have created it, since from his reign it has been recognised as the special national arm.” In Elizabeth’s time the standing strength of the Navy was about 2,000 to 3,000 men. [Illustration: PLATE 30.