Quarterdeck MARITIME LITERATURE & ART REVIEW

Spring 2020 Compliments of McBooks Press THE DESTINATION FOR NAUTICAL FICTION

www.mcbooks.com / www.rowman.com Quarterdeck 12 MARITIME LITERATURE & ART REVIEW

T S C

Quarterdeck is published quarterly by Tall Ships Communications 6952 Cypress Bay Drive Kalamazoo, MI 49009 269-372-4673

EDITOR & PUBLISHER George D. Jepson Contents [email protected] ASSOCIATE EDITOR SPRING 2020 Amelia A. Yeoman

INTERVIEWS DEPARTMENTS Quarterdeck is distributed by McBooks Press, an imprint of 8 ANTOINE VANNER 4 SCUTTLEBUTT Globe Pequot Britannia’s Victorian Royal Navy 246 Goose Lane, Suite 200 Guilford, CT 06437 comes alive in the Dawlish 21 BOOK REVIEWS Chronicles MCBOOKS PRESS EDITORIAL DIRECTOR George D. Jepson 24 MARITIME FICTION Phone: 269-372-4673 12 MARCUS PALLISER [email protected] Quarterdeck introduces the late www.mcbooks.com American-born novelist to a new 28 MARITIME HISTORY generation of readers Visit Quarterdeck and McBooks Press 29 MARINE ART on Facebook FEATURE Paul Garnett

18 THE SMASHER Philip K. Allan traces the development of the carronade 5 COLUMNS

5 By George! ON THE COVER: England’s Historic Footprints Detail from “HMS Captain, ” an oil-on-canvas painting by American marine artist Paul Garnett. 15 AUTHOR’S NOTES © Paul Garnett Where Life Meets Art by Kathy Stockwin © Tall Ships Communications

3 | QUARTERDECK | SPRING 2020 SCUTTLEBUTT

ROBERT N. MACOMBER NEW BOOK OBERT N. MACOMBER, the RELEASES author of the Honor Series fea- R turing United States Navy Cap- 2020 - 2021 tain Peter Wake, recently received two literary honors. US (United States) The Florida Writers Association UK (United Kingdom) TPB (Trade Paperback) named Macomber Florida Writer of the PB (Paperback) Year for 2020. His latest book Honoring HB (Hardback) the Enemy won the Patrick D. Smith EB (Ebook) Award for the best fictional novel based NF (Nonfiction) on Florida history. Macomber’s “literary acclaim, prolific MAY writing, and communication skills make

Photo courtesy of Robert N. Macomber. him the perfect honoree,” said Chrissy Rocks and Shoals (USTPB) Robert N. Macomber Jackson, FWA’s Director Emerita and by Chris Durbin Conference Director. “FWA looks for an author based in Florida each year who An Eye of the Fleet (USTPB) exemplifies our motto of “Writers Helping Writers” while providing us with rivet- by Richard Woodman ing reads. Macomber is just that person.” The author’s next Peter Wake novel, Word of Honor, will be published in Octo- The Darkening Sea (USTPB) ber by the Naval Institute Press. by Richard Woodman

JUNE

Matthew’s Prize (USTPB) WILLIAM C. HAMMOND by Marcus Palliser CBOOKS PRESS has acquired the rights to the award-winning Cutler The Hooligans (USHB) M Family Chronicles by American nov- by P. T. Deutermann elist William C. Hammond. The historical fic- tion saga features American naval officer Richard AUGUST Cutler in the years from the country’s War for Deep Strike (USHB) Independence to the War of 1812. by Rick Campbell “I am pleased and honored to be associated with McBooks Press, an esteemed publisher of SEPTEMBER nautical and historical fiction that is giving new life to my Cutler Family Chronicles series,” said Devil of a Fix (USTPB) Hammond. “I look forward to a long, strong, by Marcus Palliser Photo courtesy of William c. Hammond. and meaningful relationship.” William C. Hammond No Sacrifice Too Great, the sixth title in the OCTOBER series, will be published in hardback in the fall of 2021. He is currently working on the seventh entry in the chronicles. The first five Balkan Glory (UKHB) titles – A Matter of Honor, For Love of Country, The Power and the Glory, A Call to by Julian Stockwin Arms, and How Dark the Night – will be published in new trade paperback editions beginning in spring 2021. Word of Honor (USHB) Hammond, a lifelong student of history and a sailing enthusiast, lives and writes by Robert N. Macomber in New Zealand.

4 | QUARTERDECK | SPRING 2020 By George! England’s HISTORIC FOOTPRINTS

ISITING ENGLAND over twenty-three 74-gun ship-of-the-line launched at Harwich in 1801, years, we’ve trod on the historic ground captured French Admiral Pierre-Charles Villeneuve at with nearly every step we’ve taken. On the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. occasion, following the footprints of Chatting over a pub lunch near the waterfront, Vthose that came before us, we’ve stumbled upon hid- Richard revealed that he had arranged for us to visit den treasures or real-life scenes from the pages of mar- the local Guildhall. We’re always interested in learn- itime literature. ing about local history, but knew little about the sur- On a brilliant autumn morning in 2018, Amy and prises that lay ahead. I boarded a train at London’s Euston Station bound The red -brick, three-story building stands on for Harwich, the ancient seaport on the English Church Street, a narrow lane in the center of the his- Channel in Essex, to spend the afternoon with Cap- toric old seaport. It was initially the site of an inn tain Richard Woodman, author of the Nathaniel called “The Bear,” before the Council purchased it in Drinkwater novels, and his wife, Christine. 1673. The present structure, which dates from 1769, Richard has lived in Harwich for many years, is the administrative home and meeting place for the based there during his time working for Trinity Harwich Town Council. House, the official authority for lighthouses in Eng- The current mayor, Charles Powell, and one of the land, Wales, the Channel Islands and Gibraltar. Re- councilor members, Gary Calver, who is blind, greet- tiring in 1997, he turned to writing maritime fiction ed us at the entry. After our introductions, these gen- and history full-time. tlemen led us up the stairs to a room where we viewed Disembarking at Colchester, we met Richard in the the town’s original Royal Charter granted by King car park and drove to Harwich. The small town, James I in 1604. † which dates back to the twelfth century and possible to Roman times, is located near the North sea. Its rich maritime tradition stretches over one thousand years. The town’s name means “military settlement,” from the Old English here-wic. Captain Christopher Jones, part owner and master of the Mayflower, lived a stone’ s throw from the waterfront. In 1652, the Kingdom of England established a Royal Dock- yard there eight years before official- ly creating the Royal Navy. The dockyard converted to private owner- ship in 1713 but maintained a na- val presence until 1829. During Britain’s wars with the French and Dutch up until 1815, Paul Garnett the shipyard built and repaired many warships. HMS Conqueror, a 74-Gun Ship-of-the-Line

5 | QUARTERDECK | SPRING 2020 By George! Photos by George D. Jepson except for the Royal Charter which is courtesy of the Harwich Town Council. ABOVE LEFT The Harwich Guildhall which dates in Its present design from 1769 and remains the meeting place and administrative home for the Har- wich Town Council. ABOVE Two examples of ship carvings created by pris- oners of war held in the Guildhall in the late eighteenth century. LEFT The Harwich Royal Charter granted by King James I in 1604.

tury when Britannia ruled the seas. During this period, the room was a holding cell for prisoners awaiting trial or sen- tencing. Among those detained were sailors captured by the Royal Navy, including Americans taken during the War for Independence. Detailed carvings by prisoners adorn the walls, including The large two-page document was beautifully written in ships, gallows, and symbols warding off evil spirits. One im- magnificent, closely-spaced calligraphy and decorated with age depicts a vessel flying the Stars and Stripes, most likely elaborate designs around the edges. The instrument is in a the work of a Yankee seaman. At some time in the past, the remarkable condition after more than four centuries. walls were plastered. A few years ago, during remodeling, the On the main floor, our hosts opened the door into what is plaster was stripped away, revealing the wooden boards cov- now called the Carvings Room. At first glance, it appeared to ered in prisoner-etched images. be only another office, but we soon realized that it harbors a Standing before the walls, I wondered what these Jack once-hidden treasure dating back to the late eighteenth cen- Tars thought as they scratched away. Each etching details †

6 | QUARTERDECK | SPRING 2020 Infamous Dartmoor

pending time in the Harwich Guildhall Carving Room rekindled memories of a visit to southern S Devon some years ago when we traversed the moorland in Dartmoor National Park, scene of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes mystery, The Hound of the Baskervilles. Approaching the village of Princeton high on the moor, we came upon Her Majesty’s Prison Dartmoor, the infamous penal in- stitution that opened in 1809, ac- © Can PhotoStock / Morphart cepting French prisoners during the Napoleonic Wars. During the War of 1812, cap- tured Americans, primarily seamen, were also incarcerated. The prison Dartmoor Prison, circa 19th century population reached nearly 6,000 during this period. At the war’s height; and thirty feet from it was the inner rim of the wheel: end in 1815, approximately 270 a similar wall twelve feet in height as well. Around the top of Yankee prisoners had died. each wall was stretched a wire to which bells were hung, and In 1931, New England’s preeminent novelist Kenneth if any part of the wire were touched, no matter how lightly, Roberts portrayed Dartmoor in his novel The Lively Lady the bells set up a clangor; and every guard in hearing came when Yankee Captain Richard Nason and the crew of his running with his loaded musket.” privateer are seized by the British. In Nason’s words: Two centuries on, the Harwich Guildhall gaol and “The shape of that miserable place . . . was vaguely the Dartmoor Prison, which still operates today, each remain shape of a monstrous millstone or cartwheel. The outer rim of a small remnant of American history. n the wheel was a stone wall a mile in length and twelve feet in – GDJ

By George a distinctive vessel. It is unknown what tools were employed string of circular Martello towers and other forts built along to create the rough art. Knives, which most sailors carried, the southeast coast in the years 1807 to 1809 as a defense would have been confiscated. against a possible French landing. After our visit to the Guildhall, we strolled through the Richard added a footnote to the town’s history: “In the historic district in the footsteps of luminaries like Christo- bad old days,” he said, “it was regarded as a Rotten Borough, pher Jones, Sir Francis Drake, Horatio Nelson and Emma sending two MPs to Parliament. These in the late 1600s were Hamilton, and American President John Adams and his wife, the great shipbuilder Sir Anthony Deane and Samuel Pepys, Abigail. All lived or spent time in Harwich. the diarist, Naval Administrator, and Chief Secretary to the Jones was born in the town. The Three Cups Inn, which Admiralty.” opened in the sixteenth century and is now a private home, Steeped in Harwich’s rich past, we spent a lovely late after- hosted England’s two great seafarers, Drake and Nelson, as noon with Richard and Chris, who is an artist, in their gar- well as the Adams. “Better is not to be had,” John Adams den, which has a clear view of the sea. n wrote on August 5, 1786. Our tour ended at the Harwich Redoubt, part of the – George Jepson

7 | QUARTERDECK | SPRING 2020 FEATURE PD – Art

Antoine Vanner aboard HMS Warrior at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard. Photo courtesy of Antoine Vanner. Antoine Vanner Britannia’s Victorian Royal Navy Comes Alive in the Dawlish Chronicles

NTOINE VANNER’s real-life adventures them those written by English novelist Douglas rival those of his fictional Victorian Reeman, inspired the next chapter in Vanner’s life British naval hero, Nicholas Dawlish. The when he left the business world and embarked on a novelist has settled in England with, he new course as an author. The dearth of naval fiction Asays, “a wife, a dog, six horses, and my laptop” in the set during the “Dawn of Fighting Steam” in the wake of a distinguished international business career second half of the nineteenth century drew him to spanning eight countries and all continents, except the British Victorian Royal Navy. Antarctica. Along the way, he endured military Creating Nicholas Dawlish, Vanner launched an coups, treacherous seas, an armed insurgency, and engaging new saga, with eight volumes published to cut-throat corporate boardrooms. date by Old Salt Press. The latest title in the Dawlish A passion for naval history and sea stories, among Chronicles, Britannia's Innocence, is a prequel to †

8 | QUARTERDECK | SPRING 2020 FEATURE

the series, as the young midshipman electricity, submarines, radio, and to take on challenges that others won't returns to England from service in the aircraft. if it will gain him advancement. He is West Indies. frequently faced with moral ambiguity The author recently shared his story How would you characterize The and ethical dilemmas. He’s “earnest,” a with Quarterdeck. Dawlish Chronicles? quality the Victorians prized – and he is a Victorian, with many hang-ups, – George Jepson It’s a series in which men and women particularly social ones, but also some face not only military and political freedoms which we don’t have today. What drove you to write about this challenges, and conflict ashore and He develops as a man who will not period? afloat, but self-doubt and ghastly shirk responsibility, whether moral or ethical dilemmas. Some of these material, but he remains self-critical. The passage of time and the changes to characters are successful, some fail, which we must adapt in our lives some compromise, and some remain His wife, Florence, seems almost as im- fascinate me. The 1860 - 1914 period true to what they stand for. They’re portant in the series as Dawlish himself. was notably challenging in terms of similar to people of our own time and How did that come about? politics, science, technology, industry, the to those who have inspired me. I’ve and medical advances. It was decisive met them all over the world in the Largely because she demanded it her- in making the sort of world in which course of my own somewhat adventur- self! She’s an equally real person to me we now live. When I combined this ous life; they’re the ones who grit their since Dawlish first encountered her in with my interest in naval history, I teeth, face the storm, and are never Britannia’s Wolf, in which she played a discovered a man creating himself in conquered even if sometimes beaten. key role. She’s a presence in all the later my imagination. Dawlish emerged as a novels and a very pro-active one in Bri- Royal Navy officer born in 1845 and Your protagonist, Nicholas Dawlish, tannia’s Shark. She pleaded with me for killed in 1918. seems to be a real person to you. Is this so? a volume in which she’s the main pro- Like others of his generation, most tagonist – Britannia’s Amazon – and notably Admirals “Jacky” Fisher and He became real very early on. I’ve she got it. It plays out in Britain con- Charles Beresford, he would have known his birth and death dates and temporaneously with her husband joined in his teens a navy still many of the main events of his career. Nicholas’s service in Korea in Britan- commanded by veterans of the That essential biography expands with nia’s Spartan. Loyal, compassionate, Nelsonic Age, but who would create each new volume, or short story, ex- clever and courageous, she’s the moder- the Grand Fleet that would face posing some unique aspect of his life. ating influence on the harder aspects of Germany in 1914. In the intervening He first sees action at fourteen in Chi- Dawlish’s character while still helping years, such officers had to cope with na in 1859. Called back from retire- to advance his career. the end of sail and the introduction of ment, he’ll die at Zeebrugge in 1918. armor, big guns, turbines, torpedoes, He's fiercely ambitious, and he’s ready You’ve linked your books very firmly to †

9 | QUARTERDECK | SPRING 2020 FEATURE

events and personalities of the period. Korea and the quintessential Victorian and transporting heavy guns over diffi- Why? hero, General Charles Gordon. cult terrain. Such naval brigades were deployed in locations as varied as Chi- Dawlish’s life happens against a back- A large part of the action in several of the na, Zululand, the Gold Coast, Nigeria, ground of the growth of the British novels takes place ashore. Does this reflect Egypt, and New Zealand, and some- and German Empires, the blundering the realities of the period? times as deep inland as Delhi, in Cen- progress of Russia, the decline of Aus- tral India. Much of the action in tro-Hungary, French defeat followed Other than shore bombardments in the Britannia’s Gamble relates to the actual by colonial expansion, and the emer- Crimean War, 1854-56, and at Alexan- role played by Royal Navy units in the gence of Japan as a major industrial, dria in 1882, the Royal Navy’s main deserts of the Sudan in 1884-85. military and naval power. And the battle fleets fought no actions with hos- United States was developing, almost tile forces between the fall of Napoleon What’s the most significant challenge in unnoticed elsewhere, into an industrial and the outbreak of World War One. writing about Nicholas Dawlish’s career? and economic titan, though not yet a The Navy was, however, almost con- military one. There was little direct tinuously employed as what today we Dawlish was a man of his time – 1845 confrontation between these powers, call “a rapid reaction force.” Trouble to 1918 – and as such, his views and but their rivalries were often played out often flared up in remote locations, to attitudes are very different not just to by proxies, just as the Communist and which it would be too slow and diffi- my own, but to anybody’s nowadays in Western blocks did during the Cold cult to send Army units. The Navy was the Western World. He’s not a twenty- War. That’s why we see volumes relat- in a position to land ad-hoc forces first-century man in fancy dress. He ed to events in countries as diverse as made up of marines and “bluejackets” grew up in a Britain that had endless Denmark (Britannia’s Innocent), Tur- (sailors fighting as infantry). Most optimism and endless energy, which key (Britannia’s Wolf), Paraguay (Bri- ships carried light field-guns, typically over the previous century and a half tannia’s Reach), Cuba (Britannia’s seven-, nine-, or twelve-pounders, de- had moved from being a second-rate Shark), Korea (Britannia’s Spartan), signed to be broken down into their European power to being the domi- East Africa (Britannia’s Mission) and components (barrel, wheels, etc.) for nant global one. He would have been the Sudan (Britannia’s Gamble). In transport and to be easily reassembled confident that Britain had a civilizing some cases, the action is dovetailed on for action. The Navy was ahead of the mission in the world, even though how a day-by-day basis to more significant British Army in use onshore of early to execute that mission wasn't always historical events. Real-life personalities semi-automatic machine guns: clear. But by his middle years, doubts influence the plots strongly. These in- Gatlings, Nordenvelts and Gardners were creeping in about what had previ- clude Hobart Pasha, the British head of and, later, the fully automatic Maxim. ously been certainties: Darwin and the Turkish Navy; Sultan Abdul The traditional “handiness” of British Herbert Spenser and Matthew Ar- Hamid II; John Philip Holland, inven- seamen made them valuable for bridg- nold being only a few of those chal- tor of the submarine; Queen Min of ing, construction of armored trains, lenging accepted wisdom. So Daw- †

10 | QUARTERDECK | SPRING 2020 FEATURE

The Dawlish Chronicles Short Stories lish would have been aware of the mor- of Empire and economic power, not Britannia’s Innocent, when Dawlish is al ambiguities involved in implement- recovering pride or assurance until the nineteen years old, and continuing to ing British policy and would be faced 1980s. Britannia's Wolf when we meet him in with some tough choices. You get a Although never a naval officer, An- his thirties. Reach, Shark, Spartan, Am- sense of that in all books of the series, toine Vanner shares with Nicholas azon, Mission, and Gamble follow. In reflecting the fact that Victorians took Dawlish a love of technology and a two of these books, there are flashbacks ethics and religious belief – and disbe- challenge in “marginal areas”: parts of to formative experiences in his early lief – very seriously indeed. the world where the comfortable cer- youth. But regardless of challenges, Dawlish tainties of daily life in Europe, North would have two things, in addition to America, and Australasia don't apply. You mentioned short stories too, but they his splendid wife, to fall back on. The These include the rule of law, respect don’t seem to be available for sale. first would be the Royal Navy, with its for human rights, government account- pride in professionalism, the comfort ability, provision of medical services, The short stories are sent free to any- of being part of a larger team, and reli- corruption, and social justice. My ca- body who joins my mailing list. ance on the loyalty of all ranks to the reer in international business involved They’re formatted for reading on Kin- death. And the second thing would be amazing contrasts between working in dles or tablets, and downloading is easy fast-evolving technology and the de- such marginal areas and functioning in They cover significant events which do light that it always provides to creative more sophisticated environments: con- not, however, provide enough material minds and the opportunities it offers struction in a mangrove swamp or off- for a whole book, and they range in for solving problems in ways never shore on one extreme and negotiating time from the 1860s to 1914. Sign-up hitherto considered. Dawlish, and at a ministerial level on the other. details are available on my website. many like him, operated on a global And the bridge between Dawlish scale, made possible by the steamships and Vanner was my interest in nine- Have you a message for new readers? and telegraph cables that shrunk dis- teenth-century history and technology, tance so rapidly in the second half of resulting in myself asking “What if…?” As it says on my website: “Welcome to the 19th century. about certain times in history. So a the Adventure!” Dawlish’s career still Victorian Naval Officer, a job I'd have has a long way to go before he has his Do Nicholas Dawlish and Antoine Van- liked to have had myself had I been final appointment on the Zeebrugge ner help each other in creating the born a century earlier, gave me a peg Mole in April 1918. n Chronicles? on which to hang the “What if…?” sto- ries. And these are the Dawlish Chroni- Well, Antoine Vanner was born a cen- cles. tury later when the certainties Dawlish had taken for granted were gone, and What’s the best volume with which to Visit Antoine Vanner online at the world had become smaller still. start? www.dawlishchronicles.com Britain was in decline after World War and on Facebook. II, a drop of the spirit as well as a loss I suggest commencing with the latest,

11 | QUARTERDECK | SPRING 2020 INTERVIEW

“Becalmed - Off Whitby” by George Weatherill (1810 - 1890), one of Yorkshire’s finest water- colorists. Whitby, a seaport on England’s north- east coast, plays a significant role in Matthew’s Prize by Marcus Palliser. PD – Art Marcus Palliser American-born author fulfills a passion for the sea

N AN EARLY AUTUMN DAY IN trade wars are at an end, and England’s na- 1999, I received an email val conflicts with France are on the horizon. from Douglas Reeman’s edi- Matthew longs for a life at sea, when his tor at Random House in Lon- hopes and dreams are dashed on the Essex Odon, singing the praises of a new author in shoals. maritime fiction. A fresh voice in nautical fiction, Palliser’s Within the week, a copy of Matthew’s debut novel was a welcome addition to the Prize by Marcus Palliser arrived in the post. genre. Two more titles soon followed: Devil Over several evenings by the fireside, I was of a Fix in 2000, and To the Bitter End in captivated by the story of young Matthew 2001. Stalbone, a ship’s apprentice sailing aboard In February 2000, I interviewed Palliser, a collier from Whitby on England’s north- who was living and writing in Truro, Corn- east coast. wall, for Quarterdeck’s predecessor, Bow- The 18th century is about to dawn, with sprit. Although born in Massachusetts, he Marcus Palliser †

Britain on the cusp of Empire. The Dutch © J. J. Rowe and his brother, best-selling novelist

12 | QUARTERDECK | SPRING 2020 INTERVIEW

Charles Palliser, moved to England the Mediterranean and then on to the my family members were great readers, with their mother early in life. Canaries and back again to Falmouth. so I was also on Dickens, et al., from Marcus left southwest England to Many people said it was “easy” for a about eleven years old onwards. I had attend university and pursue a career in single person to arrange to do this, yet read most of Hornblower by fifteen, corporate communications, living in most of the long-term sailors I met and remember loving Robert Louis various locations around the world, but were couples, and many had children Stevenson (Treasure Island, etc.) and R. in the early 1990s he returned to Corn- aboard. One or two even had aunts M. Ballantyne (Coral Island, etc.) more wall. Unattached, he indulged his pas- and grannies. Jobs, mortgages, school than anything. sion for sailing and the sea, which . . . they overcame all these “impossi- eventually led to Matthew’s Prize. ble” obstacles and went off to enjoy the Have other authors influenced you? Late in 2002, while anticipating the seaborne life. fourth story in the series, news arrived Very much, both in making me want that Marcus had died unexpectedly in Did you grow up reading sea stories? to write in the first place, as well as Truro at age 53. making me think harder about how I Nearly two decades later, the Palliser Yes, but not just sea stories. Luckily, write. In general fiction, it’s the great † stories remain as engaging and fresh as a sea breeze. In June, McBooks press will publish Matthew’s Prize in a new trade paperback edition. Devil of a Fix publishes in September 2020, and To Matthew’s Prize the Bitter End in June 2021. BY MARCUS PALLISER To introduce the author to a new th generation of readers, we’re publishing n the final decade of the 17 century excerpts from my original interview in England, the Dutch trade wars are with Marcus. I coming to a close, and the struggles with the French for naval supremacy are – George Jepson just starting. Meanwhile, young Matthew Loftus has no intention of spending his At what stage in your life did the sea and life underground in the coal mines of sailing become important? Whitby. Living in a seaside town, he studies nav- Late in life, I regret to say. It was 1986 igation and yearns to go to sea, following before a mountain walking friend got in his late father’s footsteps. Matthew me out on a yacht, which till then I eventually leaves the port of Whitby, ex- thought were the preserve of the rich pecting a short voyage, but after he risks and snooty. How wrong, I was! After his life to save a man who fell overboard, that one weekend I was hooked and he is rescued by a passing Dutch trader signed on for a course of sailing les- that turns out to be a pirate ship. sons. I began reading about sailing, The Dutch vessel sweeps Mathew to the Spanish Main where he, surpris- learning that people actually lived on ingly, plunges into a bloody life of pillage and prize money. Struggling to ad- boats and traveled the world having here to his code of honor yet seduced by life at sea, he carries in his heart the marvelous adventures, often for less hope of reclaiming his rightful legacy. Furthermore, he longs to be worthy of than the cost of living ashore. Within the woman he loves and left behind in Whitby, who was on the brink of mar- eighteen months I had learnt the rudi- riage to another man. Fierce sea battles, lawless privateers, naval skirmishes, ments of sailing, mortgaged the house, and ruthless slave traders combine in this dramatic adventure. bought a 34-four footer, arranged an McBooks Press, $18.95 unpaid sabbatical from work and set US Trade Paperback off on what became a year-long, six- JUNE thousand-mile sojourn across the Bay of Biscay to Spain and Portugal, into

13 | QUARTERDECK | SPRING 2020 INTERVIEW storytellers I like best. In specifically teenth-century warship. Three years are in the military, whether army or nautical writing, I love nonfiction ago, I settled back in Cornwall, though navy, I chose an outsider. In the mili- adventures – true seafaring and moun- my boat remains in the Caribbean, tary, your hero fights for his nation, taineering stories. Henry Dana’s Two which is idiotic. She should be here, right or wrong, but I thought it would Years Before the Mast is profoundly but since beginning my writing career I be more interesting for Matthew to wonderful, and writers like Slocum, simply haven’t found the time to sail make up his own mind about wars, Tilman, Villiers, and the rest are semi- her back. colonialism and slavery. nal. Today my favorite by a sea-mile is Cornwall is a long, narrow peninsula The reader can either go along with Jonathan Raban. Looking at moun- jutting into the ocean, with a rugged him or disagree. Matthew falls amongst taineering writers, I particularly admire northern coast battered by Atlantic pirates, as it were, so readers get a dif- Joe Simpson and Stephen Venables. gales, and a softer southern shore in- ferent viewpoint from that of an officer dented with fishing villages, coves, and high on a warship’s quarterdeck. I also What else do you read for pleasure? beaches. All two-hundred and fifty gave him an interest in the science of miles of coast have a public footpath, navigation, which brings him to the All of the above, as well as literary fic- and in a short ramble you are likely to privateer captain’s attention in Mat- tion from Daniel Defoe to Cormac walk over three-hundred million years thew’s Prize. McCarthy. My preference is for strong of geology and ten-thousand years of The theme continues in the second narrative. One great present-day novel- human history. book, a Devil of a Fix, when various ist is William A. Boyd (A Good Man in Cornwall lived for centuries on elements want to get their hands on a Africa, An Ice-Cream War, Brazzaville farming, mining of tin and copper, and secret almanac Matthews possesses, Beach, etc.) Then there’s William vast seasonal harvests of pilchards and containing observations for the Lunar Golding’s wonderful sea trilogy, Rites herring. Even today, the fishing indus- Distance Method. of Passage. For work, as it were, natu- try is important, though stocks are dis- In the third book, To the Bitter End, rally I read loads of history. appearing. Two Looe (a small coastal there’s an important role for chart work town on the English Channel) luggers and surveying, at which Matthew ex- How did you select Cornwall as your were once named after my grandmoth- cels. This was a time when traditional home base? er Eileen and her sister Kathleen, and navigation (chiefly dead reckoning and at least one still exists. latitude sailing) held sway with many I’ve lived in the US, Switzerland, sailors, and it was widely believed that Spain, and the West Indies, but for me What was the genesis of Matthew’s the longitude problem could never be Britain’s got it all – such varied land- Prize? solved. scapes, civilized traditions, a half-intel- ligent media, It’s more amenable in I settled on a seafaring tale, because of Did you begin writing Matthew’s Prize every way, simple as that. my sailing, my love of sea stories, and with the idea that it would be the first I was born in Massachusetts, but my also, frankly, because there is a market book in a series? mother came to live in Cornwall when for it. No one but a blockhead writes I was ten, so I grew up here until uni- except for money, said Dr. Johnson. Well, I sincerely hoped it would be- versity. About six years ago, when I was What’s the point of your novel lying come a series! Even so, each book forty-four and between boats, houses, unread in a bottom drawer? The next stands entirely on its own. jobs, and everything else, my roots decision was historical period. The Na- drew me back and I bought a small poleonic / Nelsonian era is so well Can you imagine a way of life that would house here. Still footloose, I promptly trodden I set my story about a century better suit you than writing, sailing, and rented it out and spent another three earlier, when piracy was rift, colonial- living near the sea in beautiful Cornwall? years sailing my current boat, a thirty- ism in its infancy, the Dutch rule of the two-foot long-keeler. seas only recently ended and England’s Not really, except that where many I achieved an ambition by crossing naval supremacy very much a thing of people dream of winning a lottery and the Atlantic alone, taking twenty-five the future. It was also when France and having one house here and another days from Gran Canaria to Barbados, England embarked on their century- there and a third somewhere else, with an average speed of about five miles an long rivalry for sea power. me it’s boats. One boat is simply not n hour, even slower than an early eigh- Because most series writers’ heroes enough.

14 | QUARTERDECK | SPRING 2020 AUTHOR’S NOTES

Kathy and Julian Stockwin his ear, jabbing with a finger. work closely together as a cre- He was expected on the ative team producing the main deck, down in the waist. much-loved Thomas Kydd He turned to go back down the naval adventure titles. A for- ladder, but something made mer magazine editor-in him pause. The length of deck chief, Kathy reflects on the forward was barely visible, but autobiographical elements of there was a furious grandeur the books in this sixth install- about it, seeing and feeling the entire length of deck rise and ment in a series of special fall, an eager and responsive features for Quarterdeck. coupling of the ship with the wildness of the sea. A N KYDD, the young Where Life mounting exhilaration wigmaker from Guild- replaced Kydd's fear, and ford Thomas Kydd, is instead of returning down the cruelly press-ganged companionway he staggered Iand finds himself lost in the MEETS ART forward along the side of the alien environment of a Royal deck, holding on tightly as he BY KATHY STOCKWIN Navy man-o’-war, sailing off went. It was impossible to see to fight the French. Yet there out to the sea itself, but waves comes a moment when he discovers his true smashed on the ship's bluff sides and he tasted vocation: the salt spray on his lips. Looking up he saw that only some of the Still befuddled with sleep, he emerged up the sails were still in place, each pale and taut as a main companionway to the open deck. As soon board. A strident chorus of thrums and as his head topped the coaming he was into the musical harping in the rigging gave a full force of the gale, a turbulent streaming dramatic urgency to the scene. He hung on at wind hammering and lashing at him, wild and the mainchains, reluctant to leave. fearful. In the darkness he could see by the light Something in him reached out and was of the binnacle that now there were four men on answered. A fierce joy touched his soul. It the wheel, leaning into it hard, grappling, didn’t matter if the situation was perilous or straining. Spray whipped past in spiteful blasts the ship doomed. From that moment on Kydd as he staggered in the hammering wind to the knew in his heart that he would be a sea- binnacle, where an unknown figure shouted in man. He clung to this revelation, taking †

15 | QUARTERDECK | SPRING 2020 AUTHOR’S NOTES

Julian Stockwin, who is never far from the sea, overlooks Plymouth Sound in Devon, with Drake’s Island in the background.

way a boy. His mother used to recount low, grey shapes slipping away over the the bursts of spray in his teeth and that as a toddler, he went up to sailors horizon, taking his imagination with grinning madly. The bows would rise, on the street, and on one occasion them. In the hope of having the then smash down, flinging the seas apart, shuddering and racking, then gloriously dragged home a dead sea bird, because nonsense knocked out of him, his rise again. it smelled of the sea. His uncle Tom father sent him at the tender age of Clay, a seaman in square-rigged ships, fourteen to Indefatigable, a tough sea- who sailed around Cape Horn in Cutty training school. This only strengthened Readers often wonder how much of an Sark, took him over his ship and was a his resolve for a life at sea, and he author is in his or her writing. Of great influence on him. But no one else joined the Royal Navy at fifteen. His course, this depends on the genre and in his family had any connection with family emigrated Down Under, and he personal circumstances. Julian calls on the sea; his father served in the army transferred to the Royal Australian a great deal of his some three-score- during the Second World War. As a Navy. and-ten life experiences to create the young boy, Julian read everything authentic and vivid eighteenth-century about the sea, and remembers being world, which appeals to so many especially terrified by a description of a Naval Service readers. great storm, but longed to experience a Over the years, Julian has personally real one! witnessed both the majesty and Attending a decent grammar school grandeur of the ocean and the darker Formative Years was wasted on him; on the school bus, side of Neptune’s Realm. He served in Julian wanted to go to sea ever since he he’d gaze out across the Channel at the the Vietnam War and was present at †

16 | QUARTERDECK | SPRING 2020 AUTHOR’S NOTES the tragic collision between HMAS the majesty of a ship Voyager and HMAS Melbourne, in under sail. which 82 souls lost their lives. Uniquely for a maritime novelist, he has been both a seaman before the Kydd and Renzi mast and an officer on the quarterdeck. Nicholas Renzi and Thomas Kydd, his two central characters, form a A “Chippy” very close bond. Kydd is On visits to maritime museums around the wigmaker who the world, we often linger at exhibits of eventually achieves shipwrights’ tools where Julian, who command of his own qualified as a naval shipwright, inspects ship (and will go on to various implements of the chippys’ become an admiral). trade. I can now readily identify an Renzi is the aristocratic, adze, an augur, or a caulking maul. highly intelligent And if we could undertake time travel, individual who no doubt Julian would opt to be sentenced himself to a transported back to an eighteenth- period at sea on the century wooden warship and be quite lower deck to make at home both on the quarterdeck and amends for what he saw in the carpenter’s store. as a family sin. Photo courtesy of Julian and Kathy Stockwin. I have always seen Julian and Kathy Stockwin pause outside Buckingham Pal- aspects of both Kydd ace in 1988, after he received the prestigious MBE (Mem- Academia and Renzi in Julian’s ber of the Order of the British Empire) from Queen After leaving the navy, Julian enrolled character. Kydd is a man Elizabeth II. for a university degree, and two of action who leads from subjects, in particular – psychology and the front, who is “true north.” Renzi is went off to sea-training school at 14 and history – would later be deployed in his a thinker with a deep appreciation of joined the Royal Navy at 15. books in his portrayal of life aboard culture and the legacy of history, with a Later, he transferred to the Royal and ashore. Although he writes about capacity for involvement in danger and Australian Navy and became a petty the Georgian period, in many ways the dark arts for a cause in which he officer. But he was a great deal more different to modern times, the psycho- strongly believes. complex than your average swabbie; he logical underpinnings of human Re-reading reviews of Julian’s books later dove into university studies and did motivations and relationships have ahead of writing this piece I came post-graduate work in psychology; became many constants. across these comments in the American a software and computer manufacturer newspaper, The Toledo Blade: designer, joined the Royal Naval Reserve, became a lieutenant commander, and Other Influences You won’t fall asleep reading a Kydd title. was awarded the prestigious MBE – As a writer, Julian draws inspiration Action and adventure is one thing, but Member of the Order of the British from external things, too: his collection all Stockwin’s books have a genuinely Empire. of eighteenth-century sea artifacts, authentic feel to them, and there’s a Having accomplished all that, what contemporary music, diaries and reason for that. Julian Stockwin is a man else was left but to become a novelist? n recollections from those serving at the of the modern era – but he really did go time, and ships’ logs. And he acknow- off to sea as a boy. ledges his debt to artists such as Domi- Not impressed into service, as was the Visit the Stockwins online at nic Serres, Nicholas Pocock, and J. M. fictional Kydd. Instead, he joined Her www.julianstockwin.com W. Turner, who eloquently visually Majesty’s Navy. Stockwin seems to have capture the many moods of the sea and been born with saltwater on his veins. He

17 | QUARTERDECK | SPRING 2020 FEATURE

HMS Victory (center right) bat- tered the French 80-gun ship of the line Bucentaure with carron- ades at the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805. Detail from “The Battle of Trafalgar” by English artist Clarkson Frederick Stanfield (PD - Art). The “Smasher” BY PHILIP K. ALLAN

URING THE AGE OF SAIL, the design of na- The carronade – a short, smooth-bore, cast iron cannon – val cannon hardly changed for the best part was the invention of the British General Robert Melville. He of three centuries. Improvements over time was an artillery officer with a keen interest in scientific im- included more reliable metal casting provement. In the 1750s, he investigated how merchant Dand better gun tackles, but the basic arrangement ships might protect themselves from attack by priva- barely altered from the sixteenth to the end of the teers or pirates trying to board them. eighteenth century. Warships carried long, muzzle- The standard ship’s cannon was a large piece of loading guns mounted on movable carriages. ordnance weighing several tons. It required a sub- If gunners from Henry VIII’s flagship Mary stantial crew to operate, plenty of room for its pow- Rose, which sank in 1545, were transported two erful recoil, and strong timbers to absorb the stress and a half centuries through time to the lower deck when it fired. Unfortunately, none of this fitted the of HMS Victory at Trafalgar in 1805, they majority of civilian ships. Melville decided to would have had little difficulty recognizing completely redesign the naval cannon so that the weapons around them. But they might it could operate within these constraints. have been puzzled by the carronades mount- His first step was to reduce the weight of ed on the first rate’s upper deck. Philip K. Allan the gun by giving it a much shorter barrel, †

18 | QUARTERDECK | SPRING 2020 AUTHOR’S NOTES drastically decreasing its range. Since he saw its primary use as helping a merchant vessel battle an attacker try- ing to come alongside, this was a minor disadvantage. He soon realized that giving his weapon a short barrel produced other benefits. It only needed to throw its ball a limited dis- tance, requiring a third of the usual powder charge of a conventional can- non for the same size ball. Using a smaller charge meant that the barrel needed much thinner walls to contain the blast, saving yet more weight. Mounting carronades on a slide, in- stead of a traditional gun carriage, took up much less space in action. A gun crew ran out a cannon after loading by heaving it on its wheeled carriage across the deck. A carronade’s lighter barrel PD - Art on a slide could be run out by fewer sailors. A 12-pounder carronade aboard a brig-o’-war Melville had the first of his new weapons cast at the Carron Company ironworks in Falkirk, Scotland. The “After initial trials, the Royal Navy began to firm was managed by Charles Gascoi- gne, who has also been credited with deploy carronades on the upper decks development of the carronade. Melville liked to refer to his inven- of their warships . . .” tion as a “smasher,” but it became known as a “carronade,” named for the foundry that built them. Their first throw a ball with reasonable accuracy began to deploy carronades on the up- demonstrations were successful, and for up to a mile. But captains rarely per decks of their warships to replace merchantmen operating in waters with employed this capability. the small cannons that were tradition- a high likelihood of a pirate attack, The Royal Navy’s preferred tactic in ally mounted there. Aboard the 38- such as in the Indian Ocean, purchased battle was to engage an opponent at gun frigate Diana nine-pounder guns them. close range, firing quickly into their on her quarterdeck and forecastle were The weapon’s popularity increased hull and knocking the fight out of replaced by 32-pounder carronades. and drew notice from the Admiralty them. Early encounters with the enemy during the American War of Indepen- In these circumstances, how rapidly quickly showed the benefit of such ar- dence when an over-stretched Royal a ship could fire its guns and the weight mament, and by 1800, apart from spe- Navy struggled to protect Britain’s ex- of its projectiles was more critical than cialist long-range chase guns, most tensive commerce from American and the need to fire accurately at long upper deck cannons had been similarly French privateers. range. Carronades scored well in both changed. At the heart of the Navy’s interest in regards. Not only could they be fired One of the French Navy’s earliest the carronade was a paradox between more quickly, but a carronade of the exposures to the new weapons came in how traditional naval cannons were same overall weight as a cannon could September 1782 against HMS Rain- designed and deployed in practice. A fire a much bigger ball. bow, a frigate equipped entirely with ship’s gun, with a long barrel, could After initial trials, the Royal Navy carronades as an experiment under †

19 | QUARTERDECK | SPRING 2020 AUTHOR’S NOTES

Captain Trollope. The aging ship car- ried massive 68-pounder carronades on her main deck, replacing 18-pounder long guns, creating a four-fold-heavier broadside than might be expected of a ship that size. Trollope was operating off the coast of Brittany when he came across a small French convoy under the protec- tion of the frigate Hébé. The two frig- ates spent over an hour maneuvering, as Rainbow attempted to close the range before opening fire. When she finally succeeded, a single broadside brought down the Hébé’s foremast and wounded her captain. He surrendered, fearing the next barrage would sink his ship. After several such encounters with Photo by Brian Jenkins (CC BY-SA 3.0). A 68-pounder carronade aboard HMS Victory at the Portsmouth Historic Dock- carronade-armed Royal Navy ships, yard in Hampshire, England. other navies began to develop their ver- sions of the new weapon, which took time. effective, their short range meant that artillery General Henri-Joseph Paix- During the French Revolutionary ships overly reliant on the weapon hans developed an exploding shell for and Napoleonic Wars, these guns were could be defeated by cannon-armed warships, replacing the solid cannon- more prevalent in the Royal Navy. opponents who kept their distance. ball. The shell’s fuse lit when a gun Carronades gave the British a distinct Such was the fate suffered by the US fired, and the projectile exploded soon advantage over their opponents in Navy frigate Essex during the war of after it penetrated its target. close-range encounters. When HMS 1812. The French Navy asked the general Victory passed astern of Bucentaure at She was almost exclusively armed to demonstrate his invention in 1824. Trafalgar, she fired 68-pounder carron- with 32-pounder carronades and sent A redundant two-decked warship, the ades on her forecastle, unleashing can- into the Pacific to attack British whalers Pacificateur, served as a target. After a ister rounds containing over five operating there. In 1813, she fought brief bombardment, the ship broke up hundred musket balls along the ene- the Royal Navy frigate Phoebe. Both and sank, shocking the watching naval my's gun deck. Smashers, indeed! ships were of almost identical size, and officers. Although carronades could be highly both had a smaller sloop to support Subsequently, Paixhans worked them. The decisive difference was that with American Colonel George Bom- the Phoebe had a main arma- ford to design a gun to fire his projec- ment of 18-pounder cannons tile. The French, US, British, and and skillfully kept Russian navies quickly adopted the her distance, battering Essex until new weapons for decades to come. n she surrendered. Despite their effectiveness, the Philip K. Allan is the author of the Alex- age of the carronade was short- ander Clay naval adventure novels. lived. The quickening pace of naval gunnery development ren- dered the weapon and the Visit Philip K. Allan online at: smooth-bore cannon redun- www.philipkallan.com. Geoffrey Huband dant. In the 1820s, the French

20 | QUARTERDECK | SPRING 2020 BOOK REVIEWS

thought that privately gladdens his American-born wife, Faith, his duty to King and Country, and the officers and Jack Tars aboard Ares, remains stead- fast. When HMS Storm, a 38-gun frigate, drops anchor at English Harbour, Cap- tain Joseph Galicky delivers details of Admiral George Rodney’s “bloodless victory” over the Dutch-held island of St Eustatius. Rodney’s incursion draws piercing criticism within the Admiralty and halls of Parliament when he sends a convoy to England with plunder from the island, rather than sailing to the Colonies with his fleet to support the British cause. This latest entry in the Anthonys Ares saga stretches from English Harbour to Perilous Shore BY MICHAEL AYE Spithead off Portsmouth in England to BY CHRIS DURBIN Gibraltar and back again across the At- Boson Books, US Trade Paperback lantic. Old Salt Press, US Trade Paperback $20.99 Gabe Anthony lives up to his fami- $14.28 AVAILABLE NOW AVAILABLE NOW ly’s moniker, sailing into harm’s way n ill wind sweeps across the Ca- against a two-deck Spanish man-of-war ommander George Holbrooke A ribbean in Ares, the eighth chapter in the Caribbean, defending the British C faces several weeks ashore in early in Michael Aye’s Fighting Anthony sloop Pickle being chased by a Dutch spring 1758, as His Britannic Majesty’s naval adventure series, with Britain fac- brig and French corvette, and protect- sloop-of-war Kestrel undergoes repairs ing increasingly daunting odds in the ing a merchant convoy en route to Gi- and refitting in the Royal Dockyard at War for Independence with her Ameri- braltar. Portsmouth. can cousins. Carrying two Foreign Office agents While his ship rests in drydock, As 1781 dawns, French, Spanish, to England, Ares anchors off Ports- Holbrooke’s thoughts turn to the love- and Dutch naval forces, who have sid- mouth, allowing Gabe and Faith a few ly Ann Featherstone, a winsome young ed with the Colonies, are at large in the days respite from the turmoil in the lady in Wickham, a small village in islands, along with privateers, threaten Caribbean – or so they believe. Hampshire near Portsmouth. His Majesty’s Royal Navy. On a visit to Deal, a band of brig- Durbin’s splendid Seven Years’ War Aye’s breezy, character-driven yarn ands falls upon Gabe along a narrow narratives – which now number six splices intrigue ashore with action at lane, with one waving a blade and de- with Perilous Shore – dramatize a peri- sea, from the dramatic end to a hang- claring, “Once ’e’s down, it’s ’is ’eart od in world history, specifically the ing to romantic interludes to thunder- I’m after . . .” In an instant, a young hostilities at sea, little written about in ing ship-to-ship battles. boy leaps into the fray to thwart the maritime fiction. Captain Gabriel Anthony, based at attack and is gravely wounded, leading The conflict – known as the French English Harbour, Antigua, commands to an astonishing discovery. and Indian War in North America – is HMS Ares, a 44-gun frigate, in his Ares, like preceding titles in the moving into its third year. At the Ad- brother Vice-Admiral Lord Gilbert An- Fighting Anthonys saga, is a scintillat- miralty in London, First Lord George thony’s squadron. ing sea story infused with the scent of Anson grapples with William Pitt the Although Gabe harbors doubts powder smoke and tarred rigging, and Elder’s plan to carry out descents – or about Britain’s prospects in the war, a chock full of memorable characters. assaults – on French ports. †

21 | QUARTERDECK | SPRING 2020 BOOK REVIEWS

During an earlier attempt to land the Royal Navy to maintain its block- British soldiers at Rochefort, ship’s ade off France. “No Baltic trade means boats built primarily for their seawor- no ships in the Channel to keep the thiness proved inadequate for ferrying Frogs on their side of it,” says Spencer. an army ashore, and the operation “If it means war, then so be it.” failed much to Pitt’s dismay. Griffin, under Admiralty orders, car- Summoned aboard the 64-gun Essex ries British diplomat Nicholas Vansit- anchored in the Solent, Commander tart north to Copenhagen where he Holbrooke meets youthful Commo- hopes to meet with the Danish Crown dore Richard Howe, who explains the Prince to negotiate a peaceful agree- Prime Minister’s strategy: “Put the ar- ment over the League, averting hostili- my ashore, take a port, hold it or sack ties in the region. it and re-embark.” A Royal Navy fleet commanded by In the wake of the debacle at Roche- Sir Hyde Parker and Horatio Nelson fort, the Admiralty orders the Navy sets sail for Denmark from Yarmouth Board to commission a fleet of custom to enforce the British position should flat-bottom boats to accommodate half diplomacy not succeed. a company each of soldiers during am- Arriving in the neutral port bristling phibious landings. with armed warships and evidence of Howe directs Holbrooke to oversee In Northern Seas preparations for war, Griffin, much to tests of the new landing craft and then BY PHILIP K. ALLAN Clay’s surprise, is assigned a mooring orders the young officer to sail for next to the French 44-gun frigate Lib- Saint-Malo and Cancale Bay along the Penmore Press, US Trade Paperback erté unsettling Clay and the ship’s com- $19.50 French coast to locate fortifications and AVAILABLE NOW pany. a suitable landing site. The Griffins at once become entan- With Ann Featherstone on his n the wake of a court-martial ac- gled in a deadly game of espionage and mind, Holbrooke believes that he must I quittal after the loss of His Majesty’s intrigue that reaches from the Danish reach post-captain if he is to win her ship Titan, Captain Alexander Clay capital’s cobblestone streets across the hand. The current amphibious opera- receives a new command, the 38-gun Baltic to the Russian court in St. Pe- tions offer an opportunity to prove frigate Griffin, during a meeting with tersburg. himself in the eyes of his superiors. Earl Spencer, First Lord of the Admi- When negotiations with the Danes His relationship with David Chalm- ralty. flounder, Vansittart insists that the so- ers, chaplain aboard Kestrel, is especial- By early 1801, Napoleon Bonaparte, lution to the “sorry mess” in the Baltic ly stirring. Although commanding a frustrated by France’s inability to “de- is to convince Tsar Paul to leave the warship, the young officer is naïve in feat these damned English” after nearly League of Armed Neutrality, with the matters of the heart and looks to his eight years of war, seeks to “ingratiate expectation that the other members friend for guidance. himself with the Russians,” to sever will follow his lead. When a landing on a French beach British trade with the Baltic and Scan- Clay drives Griffin through icy seas goes wrong, Holbrooke is surrounded dinavian states. to the Russian shore, stalked by Liber- by “white-clad figures thrusting their Thwarted by England’s naval block- té, which is intent on foiling the British glinting bayonets toward him.” And ade, the French are unable to acquire mission. Arriving in the Russian capi- suddenly his future is in doubt. necessary naval stores – timber, tar, tal, Vansittart and Clay find themselves Durbin enriches his rousing sea sto- hemp, and canvas – for its ships. Tsar caught up in a murderous plot in the ries with exacting attention to histori- Paul, once a British ally, formed the corridors of the Palace of Mikhailov- cal details while drawing on his career second Northern League of Armed sky. as an officer in the Royal Navy. The Neutrality with Denmark, Sweden, In Northern Seas is another brisk na- Carlisle & Holbrooke naval adventures and Prussia. val thriller from the pen of Philip Al- continue to cast a light upon a mo- The compact threatened the supply lan, blending vivid historical episodes mentous era in British naval history. of timber and naval stores necessary for with a provocative narrative. †

22 | QUARTERDECK | SPRING 2020 BOOK REVIEWS

nel, a man involved with the court, and a close-mouthed American with ties to his country’s navy. At breakfast one morning, Captain FitzBaldwin begs a word with Dawlish in his study and persuades him to join a band of British volunteers to fight for Denmark aboard a new steam-driven ironclad ship with a brig sailing rig. Geoffrey Huband The Galveston, ultimately bound for the Confederate Navy in America to break the Union blockade, is on loan Online Book to the Danish Navy for three months Sources between February and May. Com- manded by an ex-officer of the United McBooks Press States Navy, she is “crewed by British seamen lured by high pay.” www.mcbooks.com Appointed gunnery officer, Dawlish realizes that this is “a sudden moment Rowman & Littlefield Britannia’s Innocent of self-realisation . . . the transition www.rowman.com BY ANTOINE VANNER from youth to manhood, that would set the course of his life, and maybe Old Salt Press, US Trade Paperback death.” Lyons Press $12.49 AVAILABLE NOW Sailing as the Odin – a false name www.lyonspress.com while in Danish service – the ironclad icholas Dawlish, a midshipman steams into the North Sea, the mission, Sheridan House N in Her Britannic Majesty’s Royal according to Captain FitzBaldwin, is to Navy and barely turned eighteen, re- seek and destroy merchant trading ves- www.sheridanhouse.org turns home to Shrewsbury from service sels “to put the fear of God in them” in the West Indies, anticipating confir- and “Keep the rascals in port . . .” Amazon mation of his promotion to sub-lieu- Britannia’s Innocent is a masterful www.amazon.com or tenant. chronicle of the Victorian period told It’s 1864. Across the Atlantic, Amer- by Antoine Vanner in vivid, sobering www.amazon.co.uk ica is alight with the war between the terms. Dawlish realizes his naiveté North and South, while in Northern when confronted with war’s raw reali- Barnes & Noble Europe hostilities rage between Den- ty. With Odin briefly crippled, he is www.barnesandnoble.com mark and military powers Austria and among volunteers going ashore to fight Prussia during the Second Schleswig in the redoubts with a company of War fought for control of the duchies British ex-regulars. The Book Depository of Schleswig, Holstein, and Lauenburg. All the while, the Union steam frig- www.bookdepository.com After a letter arrives from Albemarle ate USS Conewago lies outside Den- FitzBaldwin, a fellow midshipman but mark’s territorial waters, waiting to Abe Books hardly a close friend, Dawlish accepts intercept CSS Galveston before the an invitation to visit the FitzBaldwin ironclad raider can cross the Atlantic www.abebooks.com estate for a fortnight near Taunton. and enter the American Civil War. Over several days, FitzBaldwin’s fa- This is a brilliant prequel to Van- Alibris ther, a captain in the Royal Navy on ner’s Dawlish Chronicles, which bring www.alibris.com half-pay, receives several strange Britannia’s Victorian Navy to life. n friends, including a British army colo- – George Jepson

23 | QUARTERDECK | SPRING 2020 MARITIME FICTION

An Eye of the Fleet The Darkening Sea The Hooligans BY RICHARD WOODMAN BY RICHARD WOODMAN BY P. T. DEUTERMANN

Nathaniel Drinkwater’s life at sea be- This modern seafaring epic follows the Loosely-organized swift PT (patrol tor- gins with HMS Cyclops’ capture of the Martin family through nearly 70 years pedo) boat squadrons were dubbed Santa Teresa during Admiral Rodney’s of British maritime history, from the “devil boats” for their daring raids dramatic Moonlight Battle of 1780. clash of mighty battleships at Jutland against Japanese ships during World Subsequently, Drinkwater’s courage in 1916 to the cold splendor of the War II in the Pacific. After the Pearl and initiative are put to the test as Cy- present-day Arctic. James and John Harbor attack, young surgical resident clops pursues American privateers Martin see varied action from service Lincoln Anderson enlists in the Navy threatening British trade and is later on battle-cruisers in the North Sea medical corps. His first deployment dispatched to the swamps of South during the Great War to cargo-passen- comes in August 1942 at Guadalcanal, Carolina, where many lives are lost ger ships on the exploited coast of triaging hundreds of casualties under both at sea and ashore. Gradually, 1930s China; from the war of corvette relentless Japanese air and land attacks. Drinkwater matures into a capable and vs. U-boats in the North Atlantic to But with the navy short of doctors, An- self-assured sailor. As he contends with the long slog of Pacific Fleet protection derson is transferred to a PT boat enemy forces, the tyranny of the Cy- in a World War II destroyer. Along the squadron. From Guadalcanal to the clops’ midshipman and the stark con- way, they find love, disillusion, and climactic, tide-turning battle of Leyte trast between the comfort of home life fulfillment. The women in their lives – Gulf, Anderson and his boat’s crew and the brutality of naval service, he sisters, wives, and lovers – also have confront submarines and surface ships, finds strength and sustenance in the their ambitions in an ever-changing are attacked by the dreaded Kawanishi love of his beloved Elizabeth. world. flying boats, and hunted by destroyers.

McBooks Press, $16.95 McBooks Press, $18.95 St. Martin’s Press, $27.99 US Trade Paperback US Trade Paperback US Hardback MAY MAY JUNE

24 | QUARTERDECK | SPRING 2020 MARITIME FICTION

The Last Lieutenant Nelson’s Wake Larcum Mudge BY JOHN J. GOBBELL BY M. C. MUIR BY PHILIP K. ALLAN

In the spring of 1942, Bataan falls to On 21 October 1805, the British fleet On a hot night in the Caribbean, a the Japanese. The Philippines seem under the command of Admiral Lord lone Royal Navy ship commanded by a sure to follow. When an American gen- Nelson defeats the French and Spanish sadistic captain, succumbs to bloody eral surrenders the country’s last out- fleets at the Battle of Trafalgar. But at mutiny. With the Peace of Amiens im- post in the West Pacific, US Navy an enormous cost – Nelson’s death. minent, Captain Alexander Clay and Lieutenant Todd Ingram refuses to After witnessing HMS Victory limp the crew of HMS Griffin are sent to give up the fight. Taking to sea under back to Portsmouth, Oliver Quintrell track down and recapture the rebel cover of darkness, he leads his ten-man joins other officers and men mourning ship. But when they arrive in the Lee- crew to accomplish the impossible: slip the loss of Britain’s greatest seaman. ward Islands, they find that much through Japanese naval blockades, trav- The funeral at St Paul’s Cathedral is an more is at stake. Smuggling and cor- el 1900 miles to Australia, and single- awful spectacle. But the ramifications ruption seem to be rife in those sunlit handedly stop a ruthless Nazi spy. of the battle are far reaching and many waters, while ghosts from the past stir There are no reinforcements. There post captains find themselves without a in the shadows. The discovery of a hid- will be no rescue. And if Ingram fails, commission. Surprised by his good den French ship of the line, threaten- he won’t just lose his crew; he’ll lose fortune, Captain Quintrell is granted a ing to cut loose and devastate British the woman he loves. This is a heart- command, a 50-gun ship anchored in commerce, will test Clay and his crew pounding thriller brimming with raw Cork Harbour. Within days he departs to the limit. And who is Larcum courage, non-stop action, and an un- Ireland and heads south but without Mudge, the mysterious new recruit forgettable villain. the support of his regular crew. who has joined the crew of the Griffin?

Severn River Publishing, $19.99 Amazon.com Services, $4.99 Independent, $26.99 US Trade Paperback Kindle US Trade Paperback AVAILABLE NOW AVAILABLE NOW AVAILABLE NOW

25 | QUARTERDECK | SPRING 2020 MARITIME FICTION

The Hero’s Curse Fast Attack Sea Witch BY DAVID DONACHIE BY WILLIAM WALLACE & DON KEITH BY HELEN HOLLICK

1793 . . . Fresh from the first engage- A belligerent Russian president seeks to The Time: The Golden Age of Piracy, ment of a new war with Revolutionary reunite the Soviet Union – beginning 1716. The Place: The Pirate Round, France, Lord Charles Wormwood, with Lithuania. But before the US can from the South African Coast to the though he has no real idea why, is send military support, Russia’s navy Caribbean. Escaping the bullying of his hailed as a hero. Fame brings the mid- forces a dangerous face-off in the elder half-brother, from the age of fif- shipman into the sphere of Admiral Sir Atlantic. As a Russian fleet maneuvers teen, Jesamiah Acorne has been a pirate Andrew Braeburn. It also makes him into a blocking position, a pair of spies with only two loves - his ship and his deeply attractive to the man’s daughter attempts to sabotage the American freedom. But his life is to change when Kate, a rampant nymphomaniac with a navy. With a hurricane bearing down he and his crewmates unsuccessfully ruthless addiction to getting her way. on the Atlantic and the US fleet attack a merchant ship off the coast of She has set her heart on marrying ordered to port, two American South Africa. He meets Tiola Old- Wormwood, with the support of her submarines and a small team of Navy stagh, an insignificant girl, or so he as- adoring father, but first he must pass SEALs are all that remain. Together, sumes, until she rescues him from a the examination for lieutenant, one set Commander Joe Glass and his fast vicious attack, and almost certain up by his Uncle Harry Hamilton, with attack submarines must defeat the death, by pirate hunters. And then he the questions and answers provided in Russian forces, or risk losing the global discovers what she is: a healer, a mid- advance. How can a man as ignorant of balance of power for good. wife, and a white witch. the sea, and sailing a warship, pass such a test? Divine intervention?

Two Fingers Books, $3.93 Severn River Publishing, $24.99 Penmore Press, $19.50 Kindle US Hardback US Trade Paperback AVAILABLE NOW AVAILABLE NOW MAY

26 | QUARTERDECK | SPRING 2020 MARITIME FICTION

Nelson and Emma Trilogy BY DAVID DONACHIE On a Making Tide Tested by Fate Breaking the Line A chronicle of the fascinating early It’s 1784 and Nelson is sent to the Ca- In 1799, having evacuated the King years of Horatio Nelson and Emma ribbean to enforce the hated Naviga- and Queen of Naples ahead of Napo- Lyon. Both determined to rise from tion Acts. While there, he marries leon’s advancing army, Nelson must obscurity, they set about making their Fanny Nisbet. Ordered next to the now await developments in Sicily. In ways through the world with corre- Mediterranean, he engages in a string the meantime, he and Emma savor sponding recklessness and precocious of spectacular naval battles: Cape St their passionate affair, and when Nel- ambition. Nelson enters the Royal Na- Vincent, Tenerife, and the Nile. The son travels back to Britain with the vy at the age of twelve and is made ravages of war take their physical toll Hamiltons, he finds he is the toast of post captain at the age of twenty. Em- on Nelson, even as he gains the fame Europe. To the British elite, however, ma, luscious but penniless, cannily and honor he desperately craves. Nelson is a dangerous upstart, and his confronts her limited prospects to rise At the same time, Emma, mistress pf love for Emma is his weakness. With through the social ranks from teenaged Charles Grenville, sits as an artist’s rising resentment, Nelson and Emma bawd to noblemen's courtesan to cele- model, her pictures selling briskly. must keep up appearances, unable to brated artist's model. Rich in historical When Charles’s uncle, Sir William acknowledge their love. As the war detail, this novel offers authentic sea Hamilton, joins them in Naples, Em- with Napoleon drags on, Nelson en- action and a rare peek into London’s ma finds herself the object of Hamil- gages the Danish fleet at Copenhagen demimonde, where the lives of a beau- ton’s desire, and when the mercurial with stunning results. Finally, he is giv- tiful courtesan and Britain's greatest Nelson pays them a visit, she is drawn en the chance he’s been waiting for: off naval hero collide. to the brash sea captain. a Spanish cape, called Trafalgar.

McBooks Press, $23.95 McBooks Press, $22.95 McBooks Press, $22.95 US Trade Paperback US Trade Paperback US Trade Paperback AVAILABLE NOW AVAILABLE NOW AVAILABLE NOW

27 | QUARTERDECK | SPRING 2020 MARITIME HISTORY

Catastrophe Sovereign of the Seas Chasing the Bounty at Spithead BY JOHN McKAY EDITED BY DONALD A. MAXTON BY HILARY L. RUBENSTEIN Sovereign of the Seas was the most Popular films about the Bounty mutiny spectacular, extravagant, and only scratch the surface of its history. In one of the most sensational and per- controversial warship of the early The rebellion on a British vessel in plexing incidents in naval history, Rear seventeenth century. Her armament 1789 spawned a sequence of engross- Admiral Richard Kempenfelt, a much- was increased by the King’s decree to ing, sometimes tragic, events during voyaged veteran and outstanding offi- the unheard-of figure of one hundred the voyages of HMS Pandora, dis- cer, drowned along with more than guns. The ship finally cost the patched to track down the mutineers 800 crew and many civilian visitors on equivalent of ten conventional and return them to England for court- a calm summer’s morning and in a fa- warships. In this book, John McKay martial, and Matavy, a schooner built miliar anchorage. This new work ex- analyzes the data and reconstructs the by the mutineers in Tahiti. This is the amines that tragedy, the sudden design and appearance of the ship in a first book to include eyewitness ac- capsizing at Spithead on 29 August degree of detail never previously counts from five men who endured 1782 of the mighty British flagship attempted. The results are presented as these voyages. The captain of Pandora’s Royal George. This is the first compre- a folio of superbly drafted plans, official reports have been corrected hensive account of the calamity and is isometric drawings and colored from an older, inaccurate version, and based on a wide variety of contempo- renderings. his complete, unedited statement on rary sources, including reports by survi- the loss of Pandora appears for the first vors and eyewitnesses. time in book form.

Naval Institute Press, $38.95 Naval Institute Press, $68.95 McFarland Publishing, $39.95 US Hardback US Hardback US Hardback AVAILABLE NOW AVAILABLE NOW AVAILABLE NOW

28 | QUARTERDECK | SPRING 2020 MARINE ART

PAUL GARNETT “Witch of the Wave” – Boston Harbor, 1851 15” by 21” oil on canvas

his extreme clipper, considered the masterpiece of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, ship- builder George Raynes, was commissioned by Salem ship owners Glidden & Wil- T liams. Launched in the spring of 1851, her elegant lines and rigging were described by many at the time to be amongst the most beautiful ever seen in a clipper. On her maiden voy- age, she carried 1,900 tons of cargo. After rounding Cape Horn, Witch of the Wave arrived in San Francisco 120 days after leaving Boston. She is seen here at dawn off Boston Light in the summer of 1851, her bow pointing toward the Atlantic.

– Paul Garnett, ASMA

29 | QUARTERDECK | SPRING 2020 NATHAN PEAKE NOVELS BY SETH HUNTER

THE DESTINATION FOR NAUTICAL FICTION

www.mcbooks.com / www.rowman.com