How sailors prepared shipmates for burial at sea

What did sailors do for dead shipmates before the captain conducted a burial service?

They prepared and watched over the body, said farewell, and followed customs intended to confirm death before burial.

The period before a captain's service was a communal act of care rather than an administrative pause. Sailors would make the dead presentable, say goodbye, and sometimes stand watch over the body. The chat also raises the tradition of a final prick or stitch through the shroud to ensure that the person was not merely unconscious. The specific claim about a stitch through the nose remains uncertain; the discussion is more confident about pricking through the shroud. That caveat preserves the difference between a widely repeated naval custom and the exact form remembered by participants. The practice offers a human-scale view of shipboard death and mourning.