The History had a program on tonight 'Pirates of the Barbary Coast', I caught the last 30 minutes or so, covering the American Navy and their fight against these pirates. At the very end they left this fact: Bellbottom trousers were introduced into the Navy in 1817. The men sometimes used them for emergency flotation devices by filling them with air and wrapping them around their neck (this part is vague, I can't exactly remember where they wrapped them to be perfectly honest, in any case, I suppose you could use a shirt for the same purpose!). My question is, WHOSE navy?

Patricia