In general, no, British sailors did not carry weapons. Weapons were not commonly issued to individual sailors. Ships did carry some small-arms. These were handed out when they were needed, mostly for boarding actions or for sentry duty in harbour. Ships, especially the larger ones, carried a detachment of Royal Marines. This was 60-80 for a cruiser, and 200-350 for a battleship. The Marines provided sentries, servants for the officers, and manned part of the armament. They were more experienced with small-arms than sailors, but they too were not issued with them on a day-to-day basis. Sailors did often carry work knives, for cutting ropes and the like. However, many sailors went ashore in their best uniforms, which had little space for tools like knives. There were armed sailors in many British ports and near many naval bases, but these were members of the naval police, preventing drunk sailors causing havoc.