Pirates and Privateers

Accounts Worth Reading

Pirate Treasures

American Privateers of the Revolutionary War The Annotated Two Years Before the Mast A Confederate Biography Create Your Own Pirate Ship The Cruise of the Sea Eagle The Enduring Journey of the USS Chesapeake Fireship French Warships in the Age of Sail, 1786-1861 Hunting the Essex In Pursuit of the Essex Iron Coffin Knights of the Sea Tudor Warship Mary Rose Victory Warships of the Ancient World 3000-500 BC Warships of the Napoleonic Era

All Hands on Deck America's Privateer American Privateers in the War of 1812 The Billy Ruffian Bonhomme Richard vs. Serapis Building the Wooden Fighting Ship Cutty Sark The Cutty Sark Pocket Manual First Rate The Global Schooner History of Navigation HMS Victory (Goodwin) HMS Victory (Eastland) Jack Tar's Story The Master Shipwright's Secrets Nelson's Victory The Pirate Round The Pirate Ship 1660-1730 Sovereign of the Seas 1637 Spanish Galleon Spanish Galleon vs. English Galleon 1550-1605 Spanish Warships in the Age of Sail 1700-1860 Vasa Voyage to Jamestown Wooden Warship Construction

For some time we could do nothing but hold on, and the vessel diving into two huge seas, one after the other, plunged us twice into the water up to our chins. (32)

These words recall what it was like to endure the freezing ice and snow and howling winds while working a wooden ship through the tempestuous seas of Cape Horn in the 19th century.

The author was Richard Henry Dana and his Two Years Before the Mast became a bestseller in 1840. Although he kept a journal during the voyage, he didn’t set out to write and publish the book. He went to sea to regain his health. After a bout of measles during his sophomore year at Harvard, he chose a unique way to do so. Most affluent men might take a sea voyage, but they would pay to do so. Not Dana. He felt it would be better to work as a merchant seaman and mingle with men less fortunate than him. When he departed Massachusetts in mid-August 1834, the brig Pilgrim was bound for the western coast of North America and would be gone for about two years. Or so he thought.

While previously published books about ships and the sea tended to provide romantic imagery, Dana opted to provide a firsthand look into what life “before the mast” was like and the gritty reality of a seaman’s life. He began his journey as a landsman, a novice with little clue about the strange new world he had entered. He returned home an experienced hand with a better appreciation for those who followed this trade as a career. Throughout the voyage, he never forgot where he came from and the privileges his family’s wealth and connections brought him.

Dana’s story is both a coming-of-age and an adventure narrative. It is also a tale of hard work, tedium, danger, new encounters, homesickness, and loss. He experiences firsthand what it is like to be at the mercy of a tyrannical master which merchant seamen daily faced throughout their lives and often with little recourse when wronged. While much of the book is about what happens on the voyage, Dana includes a chapter where he explains who’s who aboard the ship, what they do, and the ship’s daily routine.

Scher’s enlightening introduction provides a good grounding of who Dana is and the impact this journey has on him. Equally informative are Scher's annotations, which set this edition apart from others. He explains nautical jargon (something Dana often chooses not to do), shares tidbits about quoted literature and other details of interest that Dana omits from or emphasizes in his writing, and points out discrepancies between what Dana writes and what is known about individual crewmen. Scher also includes highlighted boxes that feature “In the news” items, such as August 1834 when the British Emancipation Act abolishes slavery or the March 1836 fall of the Alamo to General Santa Anna’s Mexican army. These current events cement setting and time for readers.

The Annotated Two Years Before the Mast, which uses the text from the original edition of the book, is a worthy addition to any collection. Readers new to the Age of Sail will find the annotations helpful and enrich their reading of Dana’s narrative. Those familiar with sailing ships will learn interesting details that may have been overlooked or unknown in earlier readings of this classic.

Meet the author
Meet the annotator
Study Guide

Review Copyright ©2024 Cindy Vallar

On 19 October 1864, Sea King left England. Designed by William Rennie and built by A. Stephen & Sons, she was a square-rigged clipper with a steam engine. She could cruise comfortably at nine knots, but she wasn’t destined to trade in tea; James Dunwoody Bulloch had other plans for her. He was the chief purchasing agent for the Confederate States of America’s Navy, and he felt Sea King would make an ideal commerce raider. Union spies and government representatives, however, made it unwise for him to openly purchase her. She left England disguised as a merchant ship. When she rendezvoused with another British ship near the Portuguese islands of Madeira a month later, James Waddell came aboard as her captain and she began what would become a successful, ten-month-long voyage around the world.

She was renamed CSS Shenandoah, and her officer corps came from eight different southern states. Some were related to Robert E. Lee, George Mason, Teddy Roosevelt, and Raphael Semmes. Only two men, her captain and her surgeon, were older than twenty-five. Although her initial crew numbered barely enough to work her, she would enlist additional men from captured prizes and foreign ports. They came from Yankee and Rebel states, as well as numerous European countries, the East Indies, and Africa. Some had sailed on her predecessor, CSS Alabama.

Personal journals, memoirs, archival documents, naval records from the American Civil War, and contemporary newspapers provide primary evidence of what transpires on this cruise. The majority of this biography is seen through the eyes of those who sail aboard her as she takes the fight to the enemy, pursuing them almost to the Arctic Circle. In a single week she captures twenty-four whalers.

This account provides glimpses into life at sea, especially in a world where the country of these men isn’t yet recognized by other nations. Those who sail from the South share their hopes, their fears, and their experiences, including what they think and feel as news from home reaches them. Before they fire the last Confederate guns of Civil War, they have to transform their ship into a fighting machine while at sea. They endure storms; almost become trapped in ice; hold prize courts to determine whether their captures are legal or not; deal with captives; and play host to visitors from Melbourne, Australia, while heeding legal dictates of the government and circumventing the American counsel’s attempts to have their vessel seized as a pirate ship.

Events during the last months of the Civil War and the Union government’s attempts to hunt down Shenandoah are interspersed throughout the narrative. To enhance the reading experience, Hughes includes a map of where she cruises, her sail plan and builder’s plans, and a center section of black-&-white photographs of the ship and those who sail on her. The book also includes endnotes, a bibliography, and an index. Two missing items that would be helpful are a complete list of officers and crew and a list of the prizes they capture. As with any biography, Hughes does provide information of what happens to Shenandoah after Waddell surrenders her to the British and to the men who serve aboard her. Anyone with an interest in commerce raiding, the Confederate Navy, and the American Civil War will find A Confederate Biography a revealing account of the ship and her crew.

Review Copyright ©2016 Cindy Vallar

Ever want to jazz up your lawn at Halloween with a spooky pirate ship, but don’t know how? Jim Litchko solves your problems. Using PVC pipes and fittings, some tools, and glue, he shows you step-by-step how to build a collapsible pirate ship measuring 10 feet high by 12 feet long by 3 feet wide, for $200 to $300 with just 24 hours of labor.

The book is spiral-bound, so it lays flat for easy reference while working. The contents are arranged in a logical order, beginning with tools, building components, building techniques, and ship’s plans, and ending with assemblage instructions and how to accessorize your pirate ship. There are warnings and cautions, as well as recommendations throughout. What makes the design worthwhile is that you can reuse the ship over and over again whenever you want.

Since the instructions seem a bit daunting at times, this project is geared more toward people who like to build things from scratch, rather than rookies with no experience. I suspect those with less experience will actually take longer to construct the ship. Although there is some humor, for the most part the writing style is dry and technical. Some errant word choices and misspellings point to the need for a copy editor. The combination of blueprints, diagrams, and illustrations enhance the written directions, making them easier to follow and understand. There is a complete list of needed materials (459 parts and 500 feet of covering), which allows you to see the full scope of the project from the start. The author frequently reminds the reader that this ship is for display purposes only. It’s neither a toy nor something children can climb. The inclusion of websites on plastic pipes and knot-tying are helpful. The price is a bit steep, but for those with a hankering to build a pirate ship or who like to create displays different from the rest of the neighborhood’s, Create Your Own Pirate Ship may be just the thing!

Review Copyright ©2007 Cindy Vallar

The Enduring Journey of the USS Chesapeake: Navigating the Common History of Three Nations
by Chris Dickon
History Press, 2008, ISBN 978-1-59629-298-7, US $21.99

USS Chesapeake was one of the six original frigates built for the United States Navy. Launched on 1 December 1799, she set sail on 22 May 1800. She patrolled the Caribbean during the Quasi-War with France and participated in the blockade on Tripoli. Neither of these postings were remarkable, but in June 1807, the frigate made her first mark on history.

When Britain was at war, she needed men to man her naval vessels. Unable to entice men to willingly join, the navy used press gangs to force men to serve aboard the ships. Once the United States gained its independence from Britain, it wasn’t easy to tell who was an English sailor and who was American. Sometimes British seamen jumped ship and signed aboard American vessels where the pay and conditions were better. Documents to prove American citizenship were easily faked, so the British began stopping American ships and checking for British sailors. This was what happened in June 1807, soon after Chesapeake put to sea. HMS Leopard fired on her, and then sent an officer and men to board Chesapeake and seize four men they claimed were British seamen.

Commodore James Barron, captain of the Chesapeake, faced a court martial. He was cleared of all charges except that of “neglecting on the probability of an engagement, to clear the ship for action.” He was suspended without pay for five years. One of those who sat in judgment of him was Stephen Decatur. The animosity between these two men eventually resulted in a duel.

Relationships between America and Britain continued to simmer until war broke out in 1812. The following year, Chesapeake encountered HMS Shannon. In the ensuing brief but bloody battle, 252 men were killed or wounded and the American frigate was captured.

But what happens to USS Chesapeake? This is the astounding journey that Dickon reveals in a readable format accompanied by an abundance of photographs and illustrations. Firsthand accounts are interspersed with the narrative to form a more complete story of this frigate from her birth to her demise. A fascinating examination of what becomes of this early American naval vessel and some of the men who fight on her decks to protect our independence.

Visit Chesapeake's Enduring Voyage

Review Copyright ©2009 Cindy Vallar


 

Fireship: The Terror Weapon of the Age of Sail
by Peter Kirsch
Seaforth, 2009, ISBN 978-1-84832-025-3, UK £40.00 / US $74.95

“Fireship!”

That single word strikes fear in the hearts of sailors aboard sailing ships. After all, fire is one of the worst disasters that can befall these vessels, which are built of wood and filled with combustible materials. As the author demonstrates, a cool head, determination, and nerves of steel can help defeat this terrifying weapon of war.

In the introduction, Kirsch explains what a fireship is and that contrary to its name it may not be a ship at all. It is merely a vessel of varying sizes, crammed with inflammable material that can be ignited with the intent to destroy the enemy’s ships. He also discusses how the men who sail the fireships view these weapons of war. Not all agree they are viable weapons, and some feel their use is downright sneaky. Yet fireships remain part of a navy’s arsenal for hundreds of years.

The table of contents (listed below) shows how the fireship is used throughout history, as well as how it evolves.

1. Firepots and Greek Fire
2. The Hellburners of Antwerp
3. John Hawkins and the Spanish Fireship
4. The Invincible Armada
5. The Fireship joins the Battlefleet
6. The Mother-and-Child Boat and other Chinese Specialties
7. The Battle of the Downs
8. Acquiring and Fitting out Fireships
9. The Captain and his Crew
10. The First Anglo-Dutch War
11. The Second Anglo-Dutch War: the pinnacle of fireship success
12. The Four Days’ Battle
13. Fireship against Fireship: the Second Anglo-Dutch War continues
14. Countermeasures: Changing tactics and fireship warfare
15. The Line of Battle dominates: the Third Anglo-Dutch War and the Scanian War
16. Purpose-built Fireships, Machine-vessels and Others
17. Fireships in the Eighteenth Century
18. The Last Fireships: the nineteenth century

 While fireships may be mentioned in accounts of naval conflicts, this is one of the few books that deals specifically with this weapon over a broad time span. Numerous illustrations depict its use, providing readers with a better understanding of what these weapons are and how they change as ships change. But this book is more than just a history of fireships. It is also a history of naval engagements, for the author lays the groundwork behind the conflicts so the reader better understands the use of the fireships in them. Quotations from contemporary documents help to enhance the readers’ experience.

Fireship is an important addition to the study of maritime warfare, especially during the Age of Sail. It is an essential reference tool for libraries with collections that focus on this subject. The price may be a bit steep for the general reader, but the book makes interesting reading.

Review Copyright ©2013 Cindy Vallar

Hunting the Essex: A Journal of the Voyage of HMS Phoebe 1813-1814
by Midshipman Allen Gardiner
edited by John S. Rieske
Seaforth, 2013, ISBN 978-1-84832-174-8, UK £16.99 / US $29.95

During the War of 1812, Captain David Porter, his crew, and USS Essex ventured around South America to raid the British whaling fleet. Their success eventually made them targets of a determined captain of the Royal Navy, who received orders to hunt down the raider and put an end to the whalers’ losses. Porter later wrote about this epic journey, which not only brought him into his nation’s limelight but also resulted in the capture of his vessel. Although an often-told tale, the details of the battle came only from Porter’s Journal of a Cruise Made to the Pacific Ocean, which was published in 1822. What had been lacking was an account of the events from the British perspective . . . until now.

On 28 March 1814, off the Chilean port of Valparaiso, HMS Phoebe, under the command of Captain James Hillyar, finally encounters Essex after nearly a year of hunting her. Aboard is a twenty-year-old midshipman named Allen Francis Gardiner, who chronicles the voyage. His account is far more than a simple telling of the battle; it is primarily a commentary of the people with whom he interacts and the social practices, such as bullfighting, that he encounters. He also provides a wealth of information about the 19th-century ports he visits. What he doesn’t write about is daily naval life. The appendix includes a letter from a Marine lieutenant, who also serves aboard the British warship, and a poem to Essex, which Gardiner may have written.

The journal begins in March 1813, is written in a manuscript format rather than that of a daily diary, and is originally entitled A Journal of the Proceedings of HMS Phoebe during a Voyage to the South Seas. Written in the first person, Gardiner begins with one of his poems and then explains this voyage is made “to take possession of an American Settlement on the North West Coast of America, and to intercept the trade which is carried on between that place and China.” (33) It is a very readable account of a voyage to places that many people still deemed exotic. He devotes only six pages to Phoebe’s encounter with the Essex. At the conclusion of the journal, there is an addendum: a copy of another midshipman’s letter to his father that discusses the action between the two warships.

This small volume also includes eight black-&-white illustrations (including one of Gardiner himself), notes, and a bibliography. A map, at the beginning of the book, delineates the voyages of Essex and Phoebe, and lists the dates and South American locations pertinent to each ship’s travels. Prior to the opening of the journal, Rieske explains how he comes into possession of this extraordinary document. Dr. Andrew Lambert, Professor of Naval History at King’s College, provides background information for the reader in his introduction to the journal. He discusses Gardiner, the war, why Phoebe makes this particular journey, Porter and his ship, Gardiner’s part in the hunt, the importance of the journal, and Gardiner’s life after the war.

Meet the author

Review Copyright ©2014 Cindy Vallar

In Pursuit of the Essex: Heroism & Hubris on the High Seas in the War of 1812
by Ben Hughes
Pen & Sword, 2016, ISBN 978-1-47382-364-1, US $46.95 / UK £25.00

This account of the famous battle between USS Essex and HMS Phoebe opens with ‘A Prodigious Slaughter,’ a prologue describing the final minutes aboard the American warship in Chile’s Valparaiso Bay on 28 March 1814. But this encounter begins in the waning years of the previous century with the building of these two ships. Designed by Sir John Henslow and launched in 1795, Phoebe is 926 tons, just shy of 143 feet long and just over 38 feet wide. A sleek and elegant Royal Navy frigate, she carries longs guns (twenty-six 18-pounders and four 9-pounders) and carronades (fourteen 32-pounders, one 18-pounder, and one 12-pounder). Her crew number 274; most are in their mid-twenties, while the youngest are in their early teens and the oldest is fifty-two. Although she doesn’t carry her full complement, those aboard are one of the most experienced crews to man a frigate.

Enos Briggs begins building Essex in 1797. Her measurements are 138 feet long, 37 feet wide, and 850 tons. She costs $150,000, half of which is paid for by the people of Essex County, Massachusetts. Her armament includes six 12-pounders and forty 32-pound carronades. The youngest member of her crew is twelve years old, while the oldest is around sixty-four. Although a few have served in the Quasi-War with France and one during the Revolutionary War, most of the 319 men have been aboard less than a year when she sets sail in September 1812. Two weeks before that departure, she captures the first Royal Navy vessel, a sloop-of-war, during the War of 1812.

Thirty-two-year-old David Porter, Captain of Essex, first joins the US Navy in 1798, as a midshipman aboard Constellation. Before that he serves as a merchant marine and twice escapes being pressed into the Royal Navy. While posted to USS Philadelphia, he finds himself a captive of Tripoli corsairs. His Royal Navy counterpart is forty-four-year-old Captain James Hillyar, who first sees service at the age of ten during the American Revolution. Faith plays an important role in his life, and he and his men strictly observe the Sabbath when at sea. He also believes the lash helps to maintain discipline at sea.

When Porter leaves the United States, he is ordered to rendezvous with Commodore Bainbridge. After twice failing to find him, Porter decides to take advantage of being on his own to attempt a dream – to be the first American naval ship to venture into the Pacific. Once there, he will attack British whalers in hopes of decimating that trade. There are risks, especially since Spain’s colonies want their own independence; Spain is Britain’s ally in the struggle against Napoleon; and he has no idea where or when he will next be able to resupply his ship. Once news reaches England of his success, he will be fair game for enemy ships.

Hillyar, on the other hand, is given a set of secret orders. The first is to serve as escort for a storeship, but he is destined to head around Cape Horn and sail north to the Columbia River with orders to destroy an American fur trading post. Along the way, he learns of Essex and receives orders to hunt her down.

The author recounts what happens as each vessel navigates toward their ultimate showdown. Interweaving chapters that chronologically detail events aboard Essex and Phoebe, Hughes details daily life at sea, methods used to maintain order, attitudes and problems with the crews, prizes captured, descriptions of exotic ports of call, and dangers encountered in distant lands and at sea. He also covers Porter’s attempted acquisition of the United States’ first colony on Nuka Hiva in the Marquesas Islands, and his interference in a conflict between two tribes.

There is one mix-up in the introduction, which tells the story of the two navies. He identifies the man who leads the daring raid to destroy USS Philadelphia after her capture in Tripoli’s harbor as being Stephen Decatur McKnight. Actually it was McKnight’s uncle, Stephen Decatur, Jr., who has that honor. McKnight serves as Fifth Lieutenant during Essex’s Pacific raid. What is surprising about this is that the two men are correctly identified everywhere but this introduction.

In Pursuit of the Essex is an attempt to sift through the myths and legends about this well-known battle. Hughes succeeds in this endeavor and shows why Porter is deemed a hero by the Americans even though he loses his ship and many of his men, and why the English barely notice Hillyar’s success. The inclusion of maps, the sail and deck plans of a period frigate, illustrations, endnotes, a bibliography, and an index enhance the reading and make it easy for readers to locate specific information. While many others have written accounts of what happens, Hughes consults a variety of firsthand accounts and other primary documents to provide a fresh look that brings the combatants to life by showing them as they truly are. His summary of what happens to the individuals he highlights, and the ships themselves, provides readers with a complete picture of what occurs.

Review Copyright ©2016 Cindy Vallar




Iron Coffin: War, Technology, and Experience aboard the USS Monitor
by David A. Mindell
Johns Hopkins, 2012, ISBN 978-1-4214-0520-9, US $23.00
 

Some day science may have the existence of mankind in its power, and the human race commit suicide, by blowing up the world. – Henry Adams*

On 9 March 1862, USS Monitor and CSS Virginia engage in battle at Hampton Roads that lasts almost four hours. It is the first time that two ironclad ships fight each other, and afterward “[t]he press, the public, and the Union leadership hailed the Monitor’s performance not only as a military victory but also as a victory for new machinery, spelling the end of the ‘wooden walls’ of the traditional navies of the world and the rise of superior steam-powered, armored fleets.” (1) Although Mindell does recount the battle in one chapter, this book goes far beyond that because Monitor is more than simply a new type of ship. To completely tell her story, he delves into “the histories of expertise, experience, and representation that created it.” (3) In doing so, he reexamines technical developments in the navy during the 1800s, and then links those changes to how people view technology and war.

First written in 2000, this re-issuance provides updated information, including the discovery and archaeological excavations of  Monitor. Mindell, who has visited the wreck site, enhances the reader’s experience with a variety of illustrations that include photographs of the men who crew the ironclad. Chapter notes, a bibliographical essay, and an index are found at the end of the book.

I don’t usually review books covering the American Civil War or later unless they don’t concern wooden sailing ships. When this volume arrived, I was intrigued since I have been to the USS Monitor Center at The Mariner’s Museum in Newport News, Virginia. Iron Coffin is a fascinating examination of technology and its impact on society, the navy, and the people directly involved with the creation and manning of this ironclad. Mindell engages readers and forces them to examine not only the introduction of technology then but even today. He keenly points out how fighting in an ironclad differs from a battle between two wooden ships, and how those who participate in the fight have to realign their understanding of what constitutes a hero, because the only man who actually sees the enemy is the captain. The author also stresses that this vessel isn’t just a warship built to fulfill a naval contract. She “had to convey the strength of American industry and ingenuity . . . [and] represent the industrial power of the Union, against which innovations and barricades would be futile.” (31)

What make Iron Coffin particularly compelling are the contemporary accounts throughout the book. These include writings from John Ericsson (the engineer who designs Monitor), William Keeler (paymaster aboard the ironclad), and Nathaniel Hawthorne and Herman Melville (authors who write about technology and war). In doing so, Mindell takes us back in time so we become “witnesses” to the events surrounding the Union Navy’s most famous ironclad.

View pictures from USS Monitor Center & The Mariner's Museum
Meet the author

*Adams is the private secretary to the American ambassador to Britain during the Civil War and he writes these words while in London. The full quote appears on page two of this book.

Review Copyright ©2012 Cindy Vallar




Knights of the Sea: The True Story of the Boxer and the Enterprise and the War of 1812
by David Hanna
NAL Caliber, 2012, ISBN 978-0-451-23562-6, US $25.95
Also available in other formats

On 5 September 1813, two enemy brigs – HMS Boxer and USS Enterprise – engaged off the Maine coast near Pemaquid Point. The ensuing battle lasted forty minutes and claimed the lives of both captains. Samuel Blyth of Portsmouth was cut in half, while William Burrows of Philadelphia was shot in the groin. Afterward, the residents of Portland, Maine honored both men in a joint funeral.

What makes this particular engagement unique is that it is the only one between naval vessels during the War of 1812 that was viewed from land. Knights of the Sea examines this battle and why those involved risk “drowning, burns, dismemberment, and death in exchanges of broadsides or hand-to-hand combat.” (2) Hanna attempts to “place all of the events, rich in pathos, in a larger transatlantic sociopolitical context.” (4) In doing so, he tells the story of the commanders and where they hail from, the British and American navies, and what causes the War of 1812.

The book opens with that fateful day, and then steps back in time to explore Blyth’s hometown and family. He is born the year the American colonies win their independence, into a seafaring family. He follows in the steps of his grandfather, father, and uncle and joins the Royal Navy. The chapter on Philadelphia contrasts the differences between the two port cities, as well as the Burrows family. Whereas Samuel Blyth is the first of his family to enter the ranks of gentlemen officers, William Burrows is born into privilege and an influential family with its feet firmly planted on the land. In doing so, Hanna vividly brings to life these two places as they are at the time these men are growing up.

Subsequent chapters discuss: a) the Royal Navy, Boxer, and Blyth’s rise through the ranks to eventually command her; b)  Enterprise, Burrows’s education as a midshipman and the obstacles he has to overcome to gain a command; c) the war, how it comes to pass from both the British and the American perspectives, the role American privateers play in the conflict, and its legacy; d) the war at sea and some of the engagements between the two navies; e) the home front, including Americans supplying the enemy; f) a closer examination of the actual battle between the two ships; g) the officers who fight and die, and the code by which they live, which the author likens to that of medieval knights; and h) a visit in 2007 to the cemetery where Blyth and Burrows are buried and what happens to various people with ties to these two men.

Occasionally, Hanna draws comparisons between happenings then and more recent events. He incorporates contemporary quotations to provide readers with a better feel for the time, place, and events. The book also includes black-&-white portraits, maps, and diagrams, as well as appendices of the courts-martial of Boxer’s surviving officers and William Harper, who is on board  Enterprise, a selected bibliography, endnotes, and an index.

Knights of the Sea is a well-written account of a battle that is often overlooked in accounts of the naval War of 1812. Hanna grounds the reader with sufficient background to explain who, what, when, where, and why. At times, he seems to diverge from the main story, but he usually has a good reason for doing so.

Review Copyright ©2012 Cindy Vallar




Tudor Warship Mary Rose
by Douglas McElvogue
Naval Institute Press, 2015, ISBN 978-1-59114-181-5, US $17.50
Bloomsbury, 2015, 9781844862757, UK £18.99
Also available in other formats

Henry VIII of England wanted the latest and the best, and this included a new style of warship, the carvel. He ordered a Great Ship, which was completed in 1511. Mary Rose possessed a continuous deck where the latest and largest guns were housed and with gun ports closer to the waterline than ever before. Unlike her predecessors, she was built specifically for war rather than being one that had to transport merchant cargoes to pay her way. This necessitated the establishment of a permanent naval administration tasked with building, arming, and maintaining these vessels used only for fighting. Mary Rose first served during the French War of 1512, and she had a long and colorful career that spanned more than three decades. When she sank in 1545 off Portsmouth, nearly everyone aboard drowned. Over four centuries passed before her resting place was discovered, and during the subsequent eleven years before being raised in 1982, she presented archaeologists with more than 19,000 artifacts, which provided them with glimpses into daily life in the Tudor period.

McElvogue, who specializes in maritime archaeological reconstructions, is the Senior Research Fellow and Archaeologist at the Mary Rose Trust. This book stems from his work there as well as subsequent research. Its purpose is to provide readers with his conclusions rather than being a detailed study of Mary Rose. To this end, he divides the book, which is part of the Anatomy of the Ship series, into three sections. Part one summarizes the life of Mary Rose, from when she is first commissioned until her loss. It also examines life aboard this warship and seamanship and ship handling during the first half of the 16th century. Each chapter ends with a list of references where readers can obtain additional information on the topic discussed. Part two consists of drawings of Mary Rose. These include general arrangements, hull construction, masts and yards, sails and sail trimming, ship’s boats, anchoring, and habiliments of war. The last part discusses the Mary Rose project and the warship’s significance. Archaeological drawings are also found in this section.

While a glossary of terms for readers unfamiliar with medieval ships would be nice, the text is quite readable and the book is more affordable than studies that go into greater depth and detail. Of particular interest are the plethora of illustrations accompanying the text, from the illustrations inside the book to the foldout covers that are in full color on one side and black-&-white drawings of her external and internal elevations on the other. The latter are rendered on a 1/144-scale, while the former depict Mary Rose under sail and as she sinks. The front cover shows her as she appears in the Anthony Roll, the only period document in which her representation is named, while the inside flap shows a modern painting of her. This book is a worthy addition to any collection needing an overview of this Tudor warship.

Visit Mary Rose

Review Copyright ©2015 Cindy Vallar

Warships of the Ancient World 3000-500 BC
by Adrian K. Wood
illustrated by Guiseppe Rava
Osprey, 2012, ISBN 978-1-84908-978-4, US $17.95 / UK £9.99 / CAN $18.95
Also available in other formats

This volume in the New Vanguard series examines the warships of Egypt, Minoan Crete, Syria, Phoenicia, and Greece. Wood traces the innovations of these vessels, which lead to the “standardized warships of Greek, Cathaginian and Roman fleets.” (4) The Egyptian section focuses on ships, seafaring challenges, Ramses III’s warships, and the tactics and organization used in the Battle of the Delta against the Sea Peoples and their ships. Minoan Crete looks at Minoan Thalassocracy, ships, and tactics, while the Syrian section examines the maritime importance of the region in the Bronze Age, the city-state of Ugarit and the Hittites, their ships, and the tactics and Battle of Alasiya.

While little is known about the Phoenicians, they are indelibly linked to the maritime world of the Mediterranean. This section discusses their sea power, the warships they build, and the naval practices and tactics they employ. The longest section of the book covers the Greeks. It looks at Homeric warlords, warriors, and ships before focusing on specific vessels, such as pentekonters, hekatonters, and eikosoroi. Other subdivisions include Homeric tactics, colonial wars, tactics used at the Battle of Alalia, the Tyrrhenians (Estruscans), and the most notorious tyrant of the period, Polycrates of Samos.

In addition to the colorful photographs and artwork that populate these pages, the book includes a brief chronology, a bibliography of primary and secondary sources, and an index. (A magnifying glass is helpful in accessing the index because of the very small print.) A glossary can be found on the back of the title page.

As is true of other titles from Osprey, Warships of the Ancient World provides readers with an encapsulated introduction on the subject. The text is easy to read and comprehend and the illustrations greatly enhance the readers’ understanding of what these vessels are like. Anyone interested in ancient maritime history will find this a valuable tool, especially if you’re looking for a place to start before delving into more scholarly works.

Review Copyright ©2013 Cindy Vallar




Warships of the Napoleonic Era: Design, Development and Deployment
by Robert Gardiner
Seaforth, 2011, ISBN 978-1-84832-108-3, US $74.95 / UK £45.00

Warships of the Napoleonic Era is a compilation of draughts (drafts), ship models, paintings, and contemporary prints that showcase the design and development of various warships. The author examines these vessels from a general perspective so readers can readily compare the basic characteristics of each type of vessel found in various navies during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The introduction summarizes how warships of this time period are classified and described. As the title implies, Gardiner looks primarily at Great Britain’s Royal Navy but also discusses the navies of France, Spain, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Russia, Portugal, Sweden, and the United States.

He opens with a look at First Rate warships, those that are the largest, most expensive, and the pride of the navy. Subsequent chapters examine Second Rates, 80-gun ships, 74-gun ships, 64-gun ships, 50-gun ships, frigates, sloops of war, gunboats and gunbrigs, cutters and schooners, bomb vessels and fireships, and service craft. He discusses not only their design and construction but also how they are utilized in battle and/or their roles during the war, and their drawbacks and advantages. Some mention is also made of vessels particularly suited to privateering.

Aside from the many draughts and models throughout the book, the reader will also find tables that compare various aspects of ships in a particular class or how many are in service during different years from 1793 to 1815. Special multiple-page spreads focus on specific aspects in more depth: Speed and Length, Quality versus Quantity, Experiments and Innovation, The Invasion Threat, Great Lakes Warships, and The Boulogne Flotilla. The book includes a section of Sources and Notes and an index (although users may require a magnifying glass because of the small print). The final page contains a divided model that shows the difference in the stern of a three-decker before and after Robert Sepping introduces the “trussed frame” to provide existing warships with greater structural strength.

This beautifully illustrated volume, originally published in 1999, remains basically the same, with some revision based on a decade of further study. It is the illustrations that make Warships of the Napoleonic Era a worthwhile purchase for any naval historian of the Age of Sail or maritime libraries. In this edition, the page size has been expanded and many images are reproduced in color, rather than the original edition’s black-&-white renderings. This is a wonderful examination of the fighting ships that navigate the seas between 1793 and 1815, and the narrative and captions provide an ocean-full of interesting facts and details to complement the outstanding illustrations selected for the book.

Review Copyright ©2011 Cindy Vallar

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