On warships why did the young boys getting ammo (powder monkeys) run barefoot?

Question

Here is the full question that I received: Two hundred years ago young boys called “powder monkeys” ran below the decks of warships to pick up bags of black gunpowder for the cannons. To do this task, they were required to run barefoot. Why?

Answer 1

It would NOT do to have sparks come off of the nails holding the soles to the tops! It could happen if they skidded off of any kind of iron fittings.

Answer 2

Static sounds like a good answer but consider how difficult is is to generate a charge by scuffing your feet on a wood floor. Also consider that water and humidity serve to disapate and dampen static build up. It would be most likely that the wooden decks of a ship would be quite high in moisture content (Same for leather).

Metal nails in shoes would best be used on horse hoofs. Shoes are sewn together and glued and most were hand made in a labor intensive process.


A powder monkey was a small boy who served on board ship in the Royal Navy. He could be a young as 10 to 12 years of age and there were usually as many as 30 powder monkeys asigned to a ship. During battle it was his job to bring charges of powder to his cannon crew. He had to be fast and small; fast because the powder was stored at least one level below the cannons and small so that he would not be in the way of the gun crews. He served barefoot as it was believed that it was easier for bare feet to grip the deck during battle and would not slip as much in the blood of the fallen men. It was an incredibly dangerous job and he was considered the lowest of the ship hierarchy. You might become a powder monkey by being pressed into it, being sold to the navy by your parents or he might enter the marine society where he would be trained and taught the basics of reading and writing until he was old enough to go to sea. Life was so amazingly different 200 years ago that sometimes it is hard for me to even comprehend it.

Answer 3

Powder Monkeys

Answer 4

Actually it has to do with static electric discharge. Shoes had leather soles and if they rubbed on the deck the wearers would build up a static charge and it could discharge below decks and set off the powder storage.

Without the shoes it would be much harder to build up a static charge and if you should pickup a static charge you feet would ground. Where the shoes would act an an insulator.