The Perfect Wreck—“Old Ironsides” and HMS Java: a Story of 1812
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Naval War College Review Volume 65 Article 11 Number 2 Spring 2012 The eP rfect Wreck—“Old Ironsides” and HMS Java: A Story of 1812 Phillip S. Meilinger Steven Maffeo Follow this and additional works at: https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/nwc-review Recommended Citation Meilinger, Phillip S. and Maffeo, Steven (2012) "The eP rfect Wreck—“Old Ironsides” and HMS Java: A Story of 1812," Naval War College Review: Vol. 65 : No. 2 , Article 11. Available at: https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/nwc-review/vol65/iss2/11 This Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at U.S. Naval War College Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Naval War College Review by an authorized editor of U.S. Naval War College Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Meilinger and Maffeo: The Perfect Wreck—“Old Ironsides” and HMS Java: A Story of 1812 BOOK REVIEWS “OUR FIRST TRUE WAR” Maffeo, Steven. The Perfect Wreck—“Old Ironsides” and HMS Java: A Story of 1812. Tucson, Ariz.: Fire- ship, 2011. 382pp. $19.95 Singapore Harbor, 1845—Commodore The two sides were not a match. The Henry Ducie Chads, Royal Navy, is Royal Navy possessed 180 ships of the rowed over to an American frigate visit- line—the battleships of the day, sport- ing the port where he is senior officer. ing at least seventy-four guns (some Chads is met by the second in com- had over a hundred). The U.S. Navy had mand of USS Constitution and ushered nothing so large, but its pride was six below to pay his respects to the captain. frigates, some carrying over fifty guns. After a friendly chat, Chads notes that The most famous of these was USS he has been on the ship before, in 1812. Constitution, nicknamed “Old Ironsides” He had then been first lieutenant of during a victory over HMS Guerrière HMS Java, and he had stood on that when British round shot bounced off its very spot while surrendering his ship thick oak sides. The Royal Navy hoped to Commodore William Bainbridge. to redress this embarrassment, but the This opening scene is a poignant and frigate HMS Java, commanded ably by accurate account of an actual meeting. Captain Henry Lambert but saddled So begins this outstanding and fascinat- with a raw crew, left Portsmouth in ing novel by Steven E. Maffeo, a retired November with a load of passengers U.S. Navy captain and author of two and cargo, hoping to avoid a fight. previous books on the age of sail. In contrast, Constitution was newly During the war between Britain and commanded by Commodore William France, both countries routinely Bainbridge. Not well liked, Bainbridge violated American neutrality at sea. was known throughout the service as The stakes were high, and the sensi- “Hard-Luck Bill.” He had been the first bilities of small powers were easily U.S. Navy captain to surrender his ship overlooked. The depredations of the to the enemy; indeed, within a period British were much worse, however, of five years Bainbridge “hauled down than those of the French, and in June the flag of the United States three times 1812 the United States declared war. in the face of the enemy—without any fighting.” Nonetheless, Constitution Published by U.S. Naval War College Digital Commons, 2012 1 172 NAVAL WAR NavalCOLLEGE War REVIEW College Review, Vol. 65 [2012], No. 2, Art. 11 left Boston in late October to seek to board Constitution so as to carry on out and engage British shipping. the fight with cutlasses and pistols is Maffeo alternates between the two skillfully thwarted by Bainbridge. Java vessels and their crews, providing an is a perfect wreck and strikes its colors. outstanding primer on the workings This ripping yarn fascinates, educates, of a large warship two centuries past. and entertains. The exploits of the U.S. He is adept at describing everything Navy in our country’s first true war from victualing to lading and storage, after independence should never be for- rigging, discipline, sail maintenance, gotten. This terrific account is a must- and gunnery. In a clever device, the read for naval personnel of all ranks. author uses three British Army of- COL. PHILLIP S. MEILINGER, U.S. AIR FORCE, ficers traveling aboard Java as props. RETIRED These men—who were actually pres- West Chicago, Illinois ent on the voyage—are tutored by Chads on the strategy and tactics of naval warfare. The reader listens in on these chats and learns a great deal. The climax of the book occurs on 29 Vogel, Ezra F. Deng Xiaoping and the Transfor- December 1812, when the ships meet mation of China. Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap of Harvard Univ. Press, 2011. 928pp. $39.95 off the coast of Brazil. The description of the battle itself is masterful. Lambert For those seeking to understand worries about his largely untrained crew China’s place in the world, Ezra Vogel of “landmen,” but Maffeo implies that has performed a great service through he had not trained his green crew nearly his meticulous decadelong work on often or rigorously enough. Bainbridge, this biography of Deng Xiaoping, who a stickler for discipline, had made no emerged as China’s leader following such mistake. The sea battle at close the death of Mao Zedong in 1976. range, with heavy cannon disgorging Vogel may be overstating the case when round shot, grape, and canister—as he suggests that Deng was the most well as the continuous musket fire of important world figure of the twentieth the marines on board both ships—takes century, but it is hard to find a serious a murderous toll. Although initially rival for the last quarter of that century. Constitution suffers worse and Bain- Deng ruled China between 1978 and bridge himself goes down twice with 1992, when he retired at the age of wounds, the battle slowly and in- eighty-eight. Since his retirement, to exorably reverses. The bigger guns and the present day, Deng’s policies have thicker sides of the American frigate, continued, in contrast to the immedi- combined with its more seasoned crew, ate changes that took place following allow “Old Ironsides” to wreak havoc on the death of Mao. No Western scholar Java. Dismasted and its bowsprit shot of China in 1976 predicted the “rise off, Java’s ability to maneuver is lost. of China” that resulted from Deng’s Lieutenant Chads, taking command leadership. How did Deng come to be from his mortally wounded captain, sees central to the transformation of China? that all hope is illusory—an attempt https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/nwc-review/vol65/iss2/11 2.