'Knows his coppering, mind you,' said Knock.

Inflation had ground away the value of the naval wage, and the coppering of ships had removed the chance of frequent leave.

Quick to anger and tenacious, with a sarcastic sense of humour, he is better at traditional "coppering" and is very proud of his job, and what he feels is his duty to protect the city.

As the coppering was expensive, only the better ship owners tended to invest in the method, and as a result the use of copper sheathing tended to indicate a well-found and maintained ship, which led to Lloyd's of London charging lower insurance premiums, as the vessels were better risks.