Holystone
Encyclopedia
Holystone is a soft and brittle sandstone
that was formerly used for scouring and whitening the wooden decks of ships. It was used in the British and American Navy for scrubbing the decks of sailing ships.
The term may have come from the fact that 'holystoning the deck' was originally done on one's knees, as in prayer. In realistic reference to their size, smaller holystones were called "prayer books" and larger ones "Bibles"; also, a widely quoted legend attributes the name "holystone" to the story that such pieces of stone were taken for use from St. Nicholas Church in Great Yarmouth. More plausible is the use of stones taken from the ruined church of St Helens, Isle of Wight
; tall ships would often anchor in St Helens Roads (the strip of water immediately adjacent to St Helens) and take provisions and fresh water from St Helens before setting off on their journeys.
According to one source holystoning was banned in the US Navy by General Order Number 215 of 5 March 1931, as it wore down the decks too rapidly and caused excessive expense to replace the deck. However, a photo on the US Navy's Navsource photo archive of the USS Missouri) purports to show Navy Midshipmen holystoning the deck of the USS Missouri
in 1951 (albeit in a standing position) A Time Magazine article (June 8, 1931) discusses the end of holystoning (archive article (fee) ) in the US Navy.
A 1952 graduate of the Naval Academy (Val Smith)states that he holystoned the deck of the Missouri on his Youngster (sophomore) cruise to England in the summer of 1949. It was with a stick in the depression of what we were told was brick normally used as insulation in the boilers. A group of 30-40 would stand behind an estimated 4-5" board and would move the brick back and forth in coordination with the others while the person in charge would establish the cadence, and then command 'shift' when we would all back up one board and repeat the process. As I recall sea water and sand were used to aid the effort.
The result, once finnished with a sea water rinse and a sun bleach, was a clean white deck, just in time for our arrival in Portsmouth England.
John Huston's
1956 film
Moby Dick, and most recently Peter Weir's
2003 film
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
, shows sailors scrubbing the deck with holystones. Holystoning is referenced in Richard Henry Dana's diary, the 1840 classic Two Years Before the Mast
in what he calls the "Philadelphia Catechism":
The Iowa class battleship
s (New Jersey, Wisconsin, Missouri, and Iowa) all had wooden decks (over the steel decks) and were holystoned regularly until they variously came out of commission during the 1990s.
The Baltimore class of heavy cruisers all had wooden decking in the area around and near the quarterdeck, and extending fore and aft along the sides of the ship. The USS Saint Paul (CA-73)
was the last of this class left in commission, serving in the Vietnam War as Seventh Fleet flagship. It was decommissioned in 1971. Her "cruise books" have many photographs of the deck divisions holystoning the wooden decks.
Holystoning in the modern navy was not generally done on the knees but with a stick resting in a depression in the flat side of the stone and held under the arm and in the hands and moved back and forth with grain on each plank while standing - or sort of leaning over to put pressure on the stick driven stone.
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
that was formerly used for scouring and whitening the wooden decks of ships. It was used in the British and American Navy for scrubbing the decks of sailing ships.
The term may have come from the fact that 'holystoning the deck' was originally done on one's knees, as in prayer. In realistic reference to their size, smaller holystones were called "prayer books" and larger ones "Bibles"; also, a widely quoted legend attributes the name "holystone" to the story that such pieces of stone were taken for use from St. Nicholas Church in Great Yarmouth. More plausible is the use of stones taken from the ruined church of St Helens, Isle of Wight
St Helens, Isle of Wight
St. Helens is a village and civil parish located on the eastern side of the Isle of Wight. The village is based around village greens. This is claimed to be the largest in England but some say the Village Green is the second largest. The greens are often used for cricket matches during the summer...
; tall ships would often anchor in St Helens Roads (the strip of water immediately adjacent to St Helens) and take provisions and fresh water from St Helens before setting off on their journeys.
According to one source holystoning was banned in the US Navy by General Order Number 215 of 5 March 1931, as it wore down the decks too rapidly and caused excessive expense to replace the deck. However, a photo on the US Navy's Navsource photo archive of the USS Missouri) purports to show Navy Midshipmen holystoning the deck of the USS Missouri
USS Missouri (BB-63)
|USS Missouri is a United States Navy Iowa-class battleship, and was the fourth ship of the U.S. Navy to be named in honor of the U.S. state of Missouri...
in 1951 (albeit in a standing position) A Time Magazine article (June 8, 1931) discusses the end of holystoning (archive article (fee) ) in the US Navy.
A 1952 graduate of the Naval Academy (Val Smith)states that he holystoned the deck of the Missouri on his Youngster (sophomore) cruise to England in the summer of 1949. It was with a stick in the depression of what we were told was brick normally used as insulation in the boilers. A group of 30-40 would stand behind an estimated 4-5" board and would move the brick back and forth in coordination with the others while the person in charge would establish the cadence, and then command 'shift' when we would all back up one board and repeat the process. As I recall sea water and sand were used to aid the effort.
The result, once finnished with a sea water rinse and a sun bleach, was a clean white deck, just in time for our arrival in Portsmouth England.
John Huston's
John Huston
John Marcellus Huston was an American film director, screenwriter and actor. He wrote most of the 37 feature films he directed, many of which are today considered classics: The Maltese Falcon , The Treasure of the Sierra Madre , Key Largo , The Asphalt Jungle , The African Queen , Moulin Rouge...
1956 film
1956 in film
The year 1956 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* October 5 - The Ten Commandments opens in cinemas and becomes one of the most successful and popular movies of all time, currently ranking 5th on the list of all time moneymakers * February 5 - First showing of documentary films by...
Moby Dick, and most recently Peter Weir's
Peter Weir
Peter Lindsay Weir, AM is an Australian film director. After playing a leading role in the Australian New Wave cinema with his films such as Picnic at Hanging Rock, The Last Wave and Gallipoli, Weir directed a diverse group of American and international films—many of them major box office...
2003 film
2003 in film
The year 2003 in film involved some significant events. Releases of sequels took place with movies like The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions, Pokémon Heroes, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines,...
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World is a 2003 film directed by Peter Weir, starring Russell Crowe as Jack Aubrey, with Paul Bettany as Stephen Maturin and released by 20th Century Fox, Miramax Films and Universal Studios...
, shows sailors scrubbing the deck with holystones. Holystoning is referenced in Richard Henry Dana's diary, the 1840 classic Two Years Before the Mast
Two Years Before the Mast
Two Years Before the Mast is a book by the American author Richard Henry Dana, Jr., published in 1840, having been written after a two-year sea voyage starting in 1834. A film adaptation under the same name was released in 1946.- Background :...
in what he calls the "Philadelphia Catechism":
- “Six days shalt thou labor and do all thou art able,
- And on the seventh—holystone the decks and scrape the cable.”
The Iowa class battleship
Iowa class battleship
The Iowa-class battleships were a class of fast battleships ordered by the United States Navy in 1939 and 1940 to escort the Fast Carrier Task Forces which would operate in the Pacific Theater of World War II. Six were ordered during the course of World War II, but only four were completed in...
s (New Jersey, Wisconsin, Missouri, and Iowa) all had wooden decks (over the steel decks) and were holystoned regularly until they variously came out of commission during the 1990s.
The Baltimore class of heavy cruisers all had wooden decking in the area around and near the quarterdeck, and extending fore and aft along the sides of the ship. The USS Saint Paul (CA-73)
USS Saint Paul (CA-73)
USS Saint Paul , a Baltimore-class cruiser, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for St. Paul, Minnesota....
was the last of this class left in commission, serving in the Vietnam War as Seventh Fleet flagship. It was decommissioned in 1971. Her "cruise books" have many photographs of the deck divisions holystoning the wooden decks.
Holystoning in the modern navy was not generally done on the knees but with a stick resting in a depression in the flat side of the stone and held under the arm and in the hands and moved back and forth with grain on each plank while standing - or sort of leaning over to put pressure on the stick driven stone.