Prison ship ships at sea, claiming legal authority to do so. In 2009 the US Navy converted the main deck aboard the supply ship into a brig to hold pirates captured off the coast of Somalia until they could be transferred to Kenya for prosecution. The brig was capable of holding up to twenty-six prisoners and was operated by a detachment of Marines from the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit. Charles Dickens' novel "Great Expectations" opens in 1812 with the escape of the convict Abel Magwitch from a hulk moored in the Thames Estuary. In fact, the prison ships were largely moored off
Francis Dickens cities. Francis Dickens is a character in Matthew Pearl's 2009 novel, "The Last Dickens". Dickens also appears in Bill Gallaher's "The Frog Lake Massacre" (2008). "The Diary of Francis Dickens", edited by Vernon LaChance, Kingston Jackson Press, 1930 "Francis Jeffrey Dickens", The Canadian Encyclopedia, (entry by John Evans) Eric Nicol, "Dickens of the Mounted: The Astounding Long-lost Letters of Inspector F. Dickens NWMP 1874–1886." (1989) McClelland & Stewart "Francis J. Dickens, An Ordinary Officer", "Beaver" Vol.78, No.3 June/July 1998 David J. Carter "Inspector F.J. Dickens: "The Christmas Carol baby"" (1998) Francis Dickens Francis Jeffrey Dickens (15 January 1844 – 11