seven o'clock in the morning
We woke to find a big coal barge on either side of the ship . After breakfast the order `` turn to '' was given . `` All hands coal ship , starboard watch on the starboard lighter , port watch on the port lighter . '' From seven o'clock in the morning till twelve o'clock that night , the crew of the `` Yankee '' -- aforetime lawyers , physicians , literary men , brokers , merchants , students , and clerks -- men who had never done any harder work than play football , or row in a shell -- coaled ship without any rest , other than the three half hours at meal times . About the hardest , dirtiest work a man could do . The navy style of coaling is different from that customary in the merchant service . In the latter , the dirty work is done in the quickest , easiest way possible .