During the late 1700s, the lack of locations for transport brought on by the American Civil War meant that England struggled to find places to hold prisoners indefinitely. With land-based Prisons fit to burst, the authorities turned their eyes to the dormant or captured vessels, that could be moored out of the way with prisoners safe and, more importantly, out of sight and mind of the public.
In 1875 the first privately owned and managed Hulks, the Justitia and the Censor, were moored on the Thames near to the Royal Arsenal. The inmates were employed in cleaning the muck of the Thames away from the Arsenal. At all times, the inmates were fettered with heavy chains and overseen by men armed with sabres and guns to ward off bad behaviour.
If, as was often the case, these men died then there was no church grave awaiting them and instead, an unmarked plot at the side of the river. The first Hulks had no chaplain, no reformatory expectation, and were purely holding pens for the masses.
After several large outcries by various penal reformers, an inspectorate role was created and this marked a significant change in the life of inmates in the burgeoning business of hulks. Improvements such as a blanket per inmate, rather than one between two, a stipulated allowance of clothes and better quality rations increased the overall health and wellbeing of inmates.
Despite these improvements, the hulk system was still riddled with issues. On some hulks as many as one in three people died and, as there were no large fires on a wooden ship, inadequate clothing and poor hygiene, the result would be disease and hypothermia wreaking havoc on the ranks of interred men.
The hulk system continued into the 1850s, with men and boys being the main inmates, and there are multiple accounts of boys as young as 10 being confined to the ships. Often the infirm were restricted to specialised hospital hulks, in which even the distraction of work was denied them.
Revolts and attempts to escape were frequent, although mostly unsuccessful. It was not uncommon for some warders and inmates to die in the execution of these often ill thought out plans. The demands made by inmates usually focused on the poor treatment they received, bad rations, cramped conditions, the constantly worn leg irons, and the cruel floggings that came as punishment.
The Hulk system continued until 1857 and the death knell came with the accidental burning of the Defence Hulk. After an impressive transfer of all inmates safely to the local Prison, it was deemed sensible to allow the Hulk Act to relapse and relocate all inmates to Prisons on land. This was so they could do hard labour and be reformed from their previous lifestyles, whilst contributing to the good of the nation.
The last surviving example of a Hulk in England was a floating museum from Australia: The Success.
| Name | Alias | Location | Active |
| Antelope | Ireland Island | 1824 | |
| Bellerophan | Sheerness | 1815 -1825 | |
| Briton | Portsmouth | ||
| Canada | Chatham | ||
| Captivity | Portsmouth | -1834 | |
| Censor | Woolwich | ||
| Ceres | Woolwich/Portsmouth | ||
| Chatham | Portsmouth | 1780s | |
| Coromandel | Ireland Island | ||
| Cumberland | Chatham | ||
| Defence | Woolwich | ||
| Discovery | Deptford | 1824-1834 | |
| Dolphin | Chatham | ||
| Dromedary | Ireland Island | ||
| Dunkirk | Portsmouth | ||
| Essex | Kingtown | ||
| Euryalus | Chatham | 1825-1844 | |
| Fortitude | Chatham | ||
| Fortunee | Portsmouth | ||
| Ganymede | Woolwich | ||
| Hardy | Tipnor | ||
| Justitia | Woolwich | ||
| La Fortunee | Langston | ||
| Laurel | Portsmouth | ||
| Leven | Woolwich | Attached to Ganymede | |
| Leviathan | Portsmouth | ||
| Lion | Portsmouth | ||
| Meday | Ireland Island | ||
| Portland | Langston | ||
| Prudentia | London | ||
| Retribution | London | ||
| Retribution | Sheerness | -1834 | |
| Saesse | Portsmouth | ||
| Stirling Castle | Portsmouth | ||
| Surprise | Cork | ||
| Tenedos | Ireland Island | ||
| Unite | Woolwich | ||
| Warrior | Woolwich | ||
| Weymouth | Ireland Island | -1836 | |
| Wye | Woolwich | ||
| York | Portsmouth | ||
| Zealand | Sheerness | 1810- |
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