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Argues that patronage served a very useful function and should not be seen as a form of corruption.This book, based on extensive original research, examines the rich and varied nature of patronage in the British navy at the end of the long eighteenth century. Patronage underpinned naval advancement, determined where officers, seamen and dockyard workers were stationed, and fashioned their reputations. It was also a system of trust whereby an individual's connections acted as guarantors of their ability, character and suitability for a position. This book moves beyond considering patronage as being primarily about promotion to uncover its deeper social and cultural implications. Considering not just the officer class, but also warrant officers, ordinary seamen and dockyard tradesmen and workers, it reveals the fuller extent of naval patronage as it operated between both elite and non-elite men and women, within all forms of friendship, not just professional or political alliances, and beneath veneers of fashionable sensibility, duty and honour. Historians of the navy in this period are well aware of the importance of patronage, but the subject has never previously been studied in such detail. The book will be very welcome for uncovering the full nature of patronage, both for naval historians and also for cultural and social historians interested in the period more generally. Catherine Beck completed her doctorate at University College London in collaboration with the National Maritime Museum.

The Trafalgar Chronicle is the publication of choice for new research on the Georgian era navy, sometimes called ‘Nelson's Navy'. Its scope extends to the maritime world of 1714 to 1837. In this volume, authors from five countries provide tales of adventure, battles, conquests and intrigue that span the world's oceans, taking readers to the UK, the US, South America, Venice, France, the Caribbean, South Africa and the Ionian Islands.The theme for this New Series 9 is naval intelligence in the Georgian era. The contributions include two articles on the methods of gathering naval intelligence – one by author Steve Maffeo who has written the definitive book on the subject. Two articles explore how Nelson and Rodney respectively applied naval intelligence in their missions. Three articles about intelligence agents follow, including a featured monograph on Baron d'Imbert, a royalist spy during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.Biographical portraits include a discussion of Duckworth's dilemma of choosing between his mission in the Caribbean and safeguarding the health of his men from the threat of yellow fever. The tale of Joshua Penny tells of a Royal Navy sailor who deserted and found refuge in a cave in South Africa. A third article documents the last survivors of the Battle of Trafalgar as they reached their final years.Five more articles of general interest cover a range of topics, to include the parliamentary debates concerning the War of 1812, the cruise of the US Frigate Essex, copper bottoms on Royal Navy ships, political wranglings in South America, and the origin of the name of Villeneuve's flagship, Bucentaure. This richly illustrated, peer reviewed, scholarly journal of naval history is a ‘must-read'for all enthusiasts and historians of the Age of Sail.••‘Well written, well researched, well-illustrated, this is a publication that will both delight and inform. A most enjoyable read.'D J Paul in Naval Review••••‘The Chronicle is a wonderful collection of articles, and a delight to dip into.'••••Warship World••

A survey of the activities of the British navy in the Caribbean from the voyages of sixteenth century English adventurers such as John Hawkins and Francis Drake through the great wars of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries against the Dutch, Spanish and French and Britain's declining role thereafter.This book charts the involvement of the British navy in the Caribbean from the earliest times to the present. It recounts the voyages of sixteenth century English adventurers such as John Hawkins and Francis Drake and their attacks on Spanish territories, outlines the capture of Jamaica during the time of Oliver Cromwell's rule and describes the growth of the British slave trade. It goes on to discuss the late seventeenth century and eighteenth century conflicts and wars with the Dutch, Spanish and French and the War of American Independence, analyses the effect of the abolition of the slave trade and explores the British dominance which prevailed throughout much of the nineteenth century. The book concludes by examining how in the twentieth century the British navy withdrew almost entirely from the Caribbean, tacitly ceding control to the United States. Throughout the book relates developments in the Caribbean to developments in Britain and in the British navy more widely. John D. Grainger is the author of numerous books for a variety of publishers, including eight previously published books for Boydell and Brewer, including The British Navy in the Baltic, Dictionary of British Naval Battles and The First Pacific War: Britain and Russia, 1854-56.

In General Naval Tactics, Naval War College professor and renowned tactical expert Milan Vego describes and explains those aspects of naval tactics most closely related to the human factor. Specifically, he explains in some detail the objectives and methods/elements of tactical employment of naval forces, command and control, combat support, tactical design, decision-making and planning/execution, leadership, doctrine, and training. Vego derives certain commonalities of naval tactics that occurred in recent and distant wars at sea. Many parts of his theoretical constructs are based on works of a number of well-known and influential naval theoreticians such as Admirals Alfred T. Mahan, Bradley A. Fiske, Raoul Castex, and René Daveluy.and influential naval theoreticians. Whenever possible, the author illustrates each aspect of theory by carefully selected examples from naval history--making the theory more understandable and interesting. Vego aims to present theory that is general in nature and therefore, more durable in its validity. The more general the theory, the greater the possibility of accommodating changes based on new interpretations of past events and as a result of gaining fresh insight from the lessons learned.

John D Grainger charts the careers of the thirteen vessels that have served the Royal Navy under the name HMS Shark. Despite the ferocious name, they have all been relatively small vessels including one brigantine, five sloops, one Sixth Rate, a gunvessel, four destroyers and a submarine. Collectively they therefore give a good representation of the various roles of these types, which receive far less attention than larger, more glamorous ships. Furthermore, as the first entered service in 1699 and the last was sunk in 1944 (having the dubious distinction of being the only Allied vessel lost on D-Day), they illustrate the changes and continuities in the Royal Navy and war at sea across almost 250 years. In each case the author considers the origin of the ship, the purpose for which it was designed and employed, its captains and where possible its crew, as well as the activities of the ship itself and its final fate; in addition background information of a general nature is included as a necessary context for those actions.

Letters of seamen below the rank of commissioned officer which tell us a great deal about shipboard life and about seamen's attitudes.Letters of seamen below the rank of commissioned officer are rare, both in original form and in print. This edited collection of 255 letters, written by seamen in the British Navy and their correspondents between 1793 and 1815, gives voice to a group of men whose lives and thoughts are otherwise mostly unknown. The letters are extremely valuable for the insights which they give into aspects of life below decks and the subjects close to the writers'hearts:money matters, ties with home and homesickness. They also provide eye-witness accounts of events during a tumultuous and important period of British and European history. One group of letters, included as a separate section, comprises the letters of seamen and their family and friends which were intercepted by the authorities during the mutinies of 1797. These letters shed a great deal of light on the extraordinary events of that year and of seamen's attitudes to the mutinies. The editors'introductory material, besides highlighting what the letters tell us about seamen's lives and attitudes, also discusses the extent of literacy amongst seamen, setting this into its wider contemporary popular context. The letters are supported by a substantial editorial apparatus and two detailed appendices containing biographies of seamen and information on select ships which took part in the mutinies of 1797.Helen Watt, a professional archivist and researcher, is currently Project Archivist with the Borthwick Institute for Archives, University of York, and has also worked on other research projects at The National Archives, Kew, theNational Library of Wales and the University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies, Aberystwyth. Anne Hawkins, a retired civil servant, was Secretary of the Ships'Names and Badges Committee in the early 1990s and has family links with the Navy and Admiralty.

The “acclaimed naval historian... takes the reader through the intricacies of warship design and construction in both French and British navies.” —Historical Novel Society In the series of wars that raged between France and Britain from the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries, seapower was of absolute vital importance. Not only was each nation's navy a key to victory, but was a prerequisite for imperial dominance. These ongoing struggles for overseas colonies and commercial dominance required efficient navies which in turn insured the economic strength for the existence of these fleets as instruments of state power. This book, by the distinguished historian Jonathan Dull, looks inside the workings of both the Royal and the French navies of this tumultuous era, and compares the key elements of the rival fleets. Through this balanced comparison, Dull argues that Great Britain's final triumph in a series of wars with France was primarily the result of superior financial and economic power. This accessible and highly readable account navigates the intricacies of the British and French wars in a way which will both enlighten the scholar and fascinate the general reader. Naval warfare is brought to life but also explained within the framework of diplomatic and international history.“A welcome and concise source of information... Military historians will find data about the numbers of ships in each navy for each period covered. Diplomatic historians will find brief descriptions of the various heads of state and the ministers whose decisions led to wars, victories, defeats, and economic disasters.” —International Journal of Naval History

Examines how and why the Australian navy has evolved to the type of force it is today.The development of Australia's navy has been a vital factor in its history and evolution as a nation in the century since Federation. Australia has a maritime environment and its national interests stretch far beyond its coastline. Southern Trident examines the influences on the rise of Australian naval power and discusses current international and strategic issues in the light of history. The authors show how the creation of the Australian navy was no simple display of nationalism, but rather the culmination of various complex and often revolutionary developments in such areas as politics, diplomacy, strategy, economic relations and technology in the Asia-Pacific region and far beyond. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of Australian history, of naval issues and of international and strategic studies as well as to the general reader.