A major alteration to the interior of the Bellerophon, as with the other convict ships, was the construction of a large chapel which doubled as a schoolroom. A section was cut out of the gun deck to increase the height of the chapel. This created an upper gallery for visitors who wished to attend the church services, and provided a cavernous space in which all the inmates could be assembled for church services. The chapel was dominated by a majestic two-tier pulpit for the chaplain and a reader. The size of the chapel, and its fine panelling and supporting columns, emphasised the importance placed by the authorities on reforming the characters of the convicts. The total cost of fitting out the ship as a convict hulk was £12,081, which was a relatively small sum compared with the cost of building a new prison on dry land but was surprisingly expensive when it is recalled that the original cost of building the Bellerophon and fitting her with masts, yards and rigging was £38,000.
In his report to the Home Office of 10 July 1816 John Capper noted that 'The ship Bellerophon, fitting at Sheerness, as a convict hulk, will (I have every reason to expect) be ready by the end of this month, for the reception of the Portland's establishment.' The work was completed by Sheerness dockyard in September 1816 and in January 1817 Capper was able to report that the prisoners from the Portland in Langston Harbour had been transferred to the Bellerophon 'and have been constantly employed upon the public works carrying on under the directions of the Navy Board'.
From the reports of John Capper and his chaplains, the Home Office instructions of 1815, and the observations of visitors to the Defence in the 1840s, it is possible to build up a detailed picture of the daily regime on the hulks. A typical day on board the convict hulk Bellerophon began around 4 am when the convict cook climbed out of his hammock. He made his way to the galley in the foc's'sle and got the fire going in the great stove which had once provided meals for the sailors of the Bellerophon. He raked the coals, and began heating up several gallons of cocoa in a giant copper pot. The rest of the convicts were still asleep in hammocks strung across the upper part of their caged cells and hung within a few inches of each other. At 5.30 the ship's bell sounded three bells. The warders began shouting at the men to get up and turn out. Within a few minutes all the men were up, dressed, and had their hammocks rolled up neatly. They then filed out of their cages onto the upper deck and stowed their hammocks in numbered lockers in the hammock houses. They clinked and clanked as they walked because every convict had to wear iron fetters on his legs. After a visit to the heads to relieve themselves, they returned to their cells, washed themselves in buckets, brushed their boots, scrubbed the plain deal tables, and waited for breakfast. At this point a roll call took place and the warders checked each cell to make sure everyone was present.
Each cell of eight or ten men formed a mess in naval fashion, and one man was detailed to be messman for the day and fetch the breakfast from the galley. This consisted of loaves of coarse bread which were brought along in a basket, and a large can of cocoa. The men ate and drank out of tin plates and mugs which they were expected to keep highly polished. Breakfast was eaten in a silence broken only by the sound of 400 jaws munching the dry bread. When they had finished, the convicts washed their mugs and plates and arranged them neatly on the tables.
At 7 o'clock the big brass bell on the upper deck sounded nine bells. All the duty warders assembled on deck to be inspected by their senior officers to ensure they were smart and sober. Two longboats, manned by convicts in seamen's glazed hats and jerseys, pulled alongside the gangway, raised their oars smartly in the air, and made fast. Under the eye of several armed warders the convicts filed up from below deck, and tramped down the gangway and into the longboats. The visitors to the prison hulk Defence were much impressed by the military precision of the embarkation of the convicts, and thought it exciting 'to see the never-ending line of convicts stream across the deck, and down the gangway, the steps rattling, as they descend one after another into the capacious boat, amid the cries of the officer at the ship's side - "Come, look sharp there, men! Look sharp!"'
Each boat took about a hundred men and, as soon as the first boat was filled, the oarsmen lowered their oars, pushed off and headed for the shore. By 7.30 the convicts were assembled in gangs in the dockyard and were ready for work. Before setting off, each man was searched by a warder to ensure that he was not concealing civilian clothing to enable him to pass himself off as a free dockyard employee and escape. Having satisfied themselves that all was well, the warders marched the men off to their workplaces. For the next four and a half hours the convicts were engaged in the various types of hard labour currently required by the dockyard officers: unloading ships, shifting and stacking timber, cleaning docks and drains, and filling with rubble and hard core the marshy area called Mayor's Marsh. At noon the men stopped work for lunch. They were rowed back to the Bellerophon for a meal of meat and potatoes. By 1 pm they were back in the dockyard and worked for another four and a half hours in the summer months, three hours in the winter.
At 5.30 pm (4 o'clock in winter) the men returned to the prison hulk. Supper was at 6 o'clock. The basic ration for each man was 6 ounces of bread and 1 pint of gruel (a thin porridge made from oatmeal) and this was augmented on certain days of the week by a pint of soup, and a few ounces of meat and potatoes. Having washed their tin plates and mugs and scrubbed clean their tables, the men had half an hour or so of relaxation which they spent reading or chatting among themselves until they assembled for evening prayers in the chapel. This was not compulsory but, according to the Bellerophon's chaplain, about 350 men out of the total of 435 usually attended. At 8 o'clock the tables and benches in each cell were cleared to one side, and the men slung their hammocks which had been brought down in the afternoon by some of the men left behind on the ship. They were allowed to talk and read until 9 o'clock when all talking stopped, the men climbed into their hammocks and the lights were extinguished. The warders locked each cell and at 10 o'clock the hatches were padlocked as added security.
This was the daily routine for the majority of the convicts who were fit and able to carry out manual labour in the dockyards. On an average day about 300 men went ashore from the Bellerophon, leaving a hundred or more on board. Some of these carried out domestic duties such as scrubbing the decks, mending hammocks, making shoes, and washing the convicts' clothes and hanging them out to dry. Fifty or so men remained on board each day to attend school. The convicts took it in turns to do this and each man would attend school for one day in every nine or ten. The lessons were taken by the chaplain and a clerk or schoolmaster, and were heavily religious. There was some attempt to teach reading, writing and arithmetic but much of the time was spent learning or reciting verses from the Bible. The visitors commented: