Reading wartime manpower figures carefully

The quoted figures concern the combined seafaring workforce. They rise from roughly 50,000 sailors in 1736-38 to about 76,000 during the War of Jenkins' Ear, with merchant sailors falling by about 5,000, privateers increasing by 2,600, and the Royal Navy adding roughly 29,000. Another comparison rises from about 58,000 in 1753-55 to 115,641 during the Seven Years' War, while a later one moves from about 70,000 in 1773-75 to 116,000 during the American Revolutionary War. These periods differ in length, and experienced sailors remained available after a war ended. Men could return to civilian life, work in the press service, or re-enter naval employment when another war began. Officers could likewise return with followings built during earlier service and their time ashore. Impressment contributed to expansion alongside the return of experienced personnel and recruitment encouraged by prize money. Repeated conflict sustained a heavily navalized and militarized society whose professional and social networks supported renewed mobilisation.