Excavation of the Dauphine revealed a hold filled with spare blocks and ropes, large oak casks filled with water and wine for the voyage, ballast laid out on either side of the pump-well, and barrels of meat stored near the stern. Depending on the firepower aboard, there were between 90 and 182 crew members, and the men's quarters were on the ship's single deck, which was already occupied by 22 cannons and partly open to the sky. The officers' quarters were beneath the quarter-deck and in the grand cabin, while the forecastle housed the kitchen and the quarters of the seamen, who placed their hammocks between the guns.
Although it was somewhat more spacious and fitted with two decks, living conditions aboard the Aimable Grenot were probably little better, since it housed nearly 400 men. From all indications, the guns were located on the upper deck, in order to free up the lower deck for goods and freight. The lower deck was devoid of any ports, except at the aft, where three small ports a foot square provided light and air for the officers' quarters when the ship was at anchor or in good weather. The kitchen, located at the fore of the first deck, must have been badly ventilated.