How young could British sailors potentially be during the time of the Napoleonic Wars?

by D_Aukh

I'm reading the biography of a British general of the 18th century and at a certain point he celebrates in a letter to Sir Henry Clinton that his third son, at the time eleven years old (1779) was being taken on board the man-of-war Roebuck as a midshipman.

This comment by u/jschooltiger pretty much corroborates the idea of child officers in the Navy.

Now I'm asking if children were also used as ordinary sailors in the Royal Navy. And did other crews also employ children (like merchants, smugglers or privateers) and if they did, in what positions?

Also, how young could these children be? Was 11 the youngest or did younger children went out to sea?

Moldplayer

There were certainly young boys in the Royal Navy at this time. They were called "powder monkeys" their main job was to ferry gunpowder and ammunition to the guns from the powder magazine. They were chosen to do this because of their height and speed which would allow them to maneuver in the cramped bulkheads. They were ussually inbetween 12-14 years old.