Pig-headed stupidity and the wreck of the Vrijheid, 1782 Many maritime disasters have been caused by poor ship designs, inadequate operating procedures, bad maintenance and overwhelming weather conditions. There are however – as with every type of disaster, by land and sea – cases where sheer pig-headed stupidity is the major factor. I came [...]
HMS Hero – the Player’s “Navy Cut” battleship HMS Hero and her sister, HMS Conqueror, both commissioned in the late 1880s, were described by Dr.Oscar Parkes, the ultimate authority on British battleships, as “two of the most useless turret ships ever built for the Navy”. Despite this damning evaluation, which was supported by many [...]
Almirante Lynch – first sinking by torpedo, 1891 The appearance of the successful self-propelled torpedo occurred in the mid-1870s, at the same time as light, efficient steam engines allowed the development of a new type of warship, the torpedo boat. Fast by the standards of the time – typically 18 to 20 knots – [...]
The Bayonnaise and HMS Ambuscade action, 1798 On my blog and website, I have dealt several times with single-ship actions during the Age of Fighting Sail, the protagonists being mainly British and French, though the Americans do figure in 1812-15. In most cases British victory over the French seems to have been all but pre-ordained, [...]
Duel in the Dark: Frigates Blanche and Pique 1795 Though major fleet actions such as Camperdown, The Nile and Trafalgar seem to most as emblematic of the Great Age of Fighting Sail, such engagements were, by their very nature, few in number. Far more common – and in many cases even more savage – [...]
Gunvessels and Gunboats of the 1860s The latest Dawlish Chronicles free short story, Britannia’s Fist, is set on the Caribbean coast of Columbia in 1862 as a vicious civil war is petering out. (Details on how to get a copy are at the end of this article). A key role is played [...]
Another peacetime ramming disaster: Hoche and Maréchal Canrobert 1892 Ramming proved a successful manoeuvre in battle on only one naval battle – at Lissa in 1866 (click here to access an earlier blog-article about it) – but ram bows were seen as essential features for warships of almost all sizes in the half-century prior [...]
Georgian Naval Chaplains - and a rascally journalist One seldom comes across any mention of chaplains in Nautical Fiction, despite the fact that by the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars period both all line-of-battle ships and frigates were allowed them. The decision to have such men – usually referred to as “parsons” – may well [...]
HMS Magicienne’s survival, 1831 Fire at sea has always been terrifying when it occurs, but never more so than in the days of wooden ships. Appalling losses were suffered from this cause and in the absence of modern damage-control systems fire brought for warships the extra threat of magazine explosion. It is therefore all [...]
Port Royal’s Vanished Treasure Antoine Vanner: One of the unexpected pleasures of becoming a historical novelist has been getting to know a wide range of other writers with whom I would not otherwise ever have come in contact. They're always remarkable for their enthusiasm and for the passionate in-depth knowledge they [...]
