Prison hulk

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"These old Navy ships were hulked out to hold prisoners until they were assigned a convict ship leaving for the colonies."

―Evie Frye on the prison hulks, 1888.

A prison hulk was a vessel, usually unseaworthy, that acted as a prison to hold convicts or civil internees. At least two such vessels were beached at Deptford, south-east of London, in 1888.

That year, the Deptford prison hulks were guarded by Chief Warder John Billingsworth, a sympathizer and operative of Jack the Ripper. He was responsible for maintaining Jack's prisoners, and relished in the opportunities to maltreat and execute his detainees almost at will.

Trivia

• Historically at least three separate Royal Navy warships—HMS Discovery, HMS Levan, and HMS Thames—served as prison hulks stationed at Deptford, though all three had been completely decommissioned by 1864.