Final answer:
Prison hulks in England served as a temporary overcrowding solution in prisons, where conditions were notoriously poor. They housed inmates until they could be transported to penal colonies, but were phased out with better penal solutions.
Step-by-step explanation:
Prison hulks were indeed used as a temporary solution to handle the problem of overcrowding in English prisons during the 18th and 19th centuries. These decommissioned ships were repurposed to confine prisoners due to the lack of adequate prison facilities.
The use of hulks was primarily a result of penal reforms and the cessation of transportation to America after the War of Independence. Prisoners were held on these ships until they could be transported to penal colonies, such as Australia. The living conditions on board were typically dire, exacerbating the spread of disease and leading to high mortality rates.
Eventually, the hulks were phased out as more permanent prison structures were built and transportation to colonies became a more regular process.