The Children's Hulk

In the center of this painting (done in 1815) is the Bellerophon. Crowds
gathered in smaller boats to see Napoleon, who'd been incarcerated there in 1815.

It wasn't until 1823 that the powers that be decided it might be a good idea to house criminals under the age of 16 on a separate hulk. Until that date, children as young as 9 were incarcerated with some of the worst offenders. By 1824, this plan was put into action and the adults aboard the Bellerophon were moved to different hulks, leaving that ship with no one over the age of 14, according to prison hulk records.

Retribution's hero, Wolf, would not have been placed on the children's hulk as he'd just attained his 16th birthday at the time of his conviction—and the year was only 1819, so no such hulk for children existed yet. No, he was incarcerated as an adult (so to speak—they didn't really try anyone as anything other than an adult at the time) and sentenced to the hulks as punishment.

Is that what his enemy wished? No. His enemy (not really his, but his mother's enemy) wanted him transported or dead. Since the hulks killed so many, he was reasonably satisfied with the result. He could not have known that Wolf would not only survive but emerge, desiring...retribution. 

Prison Hulks : A Definition

If you are not all that familiar with penal history, you may not know what a prison hulk is. 

Simply: 

A prison hulk was a decommissioned ship, moored, and equipped (for the most part) to house criminals. 

Longer version: 

When Britain warred with the colonies in the late 1700s, they could no longer send their criminals there. Somebody suggested they turn decommissioned naval vessels into a sort of holding ground for those prisoners sentenced to transportation, where they could wait until space was available on a prison ship bound for a penal colony. 

This was supposed to be a temporary measure but the prison hulk system lasted about 80 years. Eventually, criminals were sentenced to the hulks instead of just sent there to wait until they could be transported.