Prison ship

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A prison police boat on its way in Venice

A prison ship is a boat or ship that is used as a prison. They are considered an antiquated method of housing prisoners and have largely been replaced by land-based prisons. In the UK, a prison ship may be referred to as a hulk, and was a common form of interment in Britain in the 18th and 19th centuries.

More American prisoners of war during the American Revolutionary War died on British prison ships than died in every battle of the war combined.^{[citation needed]} One such Revolutionary War ship was the HMS Jersey.

[edit] Modern prison ships

The HMS Maidstone was used as a prison ship in Northern Ireland in the 1970s for suspected Nationalist guerrillas and non-combatant activist supporters held without trial. Current president of the Nationalist political party Sinn Fein, Gerry Adams spent time on the Maidstone in 1972. He was released at the time in order to take part in peace talks.

The United Kingdom Government established in 1997 a new prison ship, HMP Weare, as a temporary measure to ease prison overcrowding. Weare was docked at the disused Royal Navy dockyard at Portland, Dorset. On 9 March 2005 it was announced that the Weare was to close. Since then, the government has advertised for a contractor to supply 800 prison ship spaces to alleviate overcrowding.

[edit] Literary references

Charles Dickens' novel Great Expectations opens in 1812 with the escape of a convict from a hulk moored in the Thames Estuary. In fact, the prison ships were largely moored in the neighbouring River Medway, but Dickens combined real elements to create fictional locations for his work.^{[citation needed]}