Monthly Archives: March 2009
The Breeze at Spithead, Part 5.
Shortly after the men of HMS Queen Charlotte manned the shrouds with the cheer that set off the Spithead Mutiny, the leaders from that ship set out in a boat to visit all the ships in the Channel Fleet. At … Continue reading
Filed under Age of Sail, Mutiny, Naval Life
The Breeze At Spithead, Part 4.
The men of the Channel Fleet waited patiently throughout the month of March and into April for a response to the appeals for higher wages they had addressed to Lord Howe. By early April, though, it became apparent that no … Continue reading
Filed under Age of Sail, Mutiny, Naval Life
Admiral Alexander Hood, 1st Viscount Bridport
We’re slowly but surely working our way through the mutiny of the Channel Fleet at Spithead and the the North Sea Fleet at The Nore with the help of Mainwaring’s Floating Republic. We’ll take a time out from the action … Continue reading
Filed under Age of Sail, Mutiny, Naval Biography
Ships, Characters, and Cultural References from A King’s Trade
The list of ships, characters, and cultural references from Dewey Lambdin’s Alan Lewrie novel, A King’s Trade is available at scribd.com.
Filed under Age of Sail, Alan Lewrie Novels, Naval Fiction
The Breeze at Spithead, Part 3. “…say nothing, do nothing, and hope that nothing would happen”
The Spithead Mutiny, as we discuss here, did not erupt from a single deed, rather it was the culmination of a long pattern of the Admiralty ignoring some very basic demands for more equitable terms of service on the part … Continue reading
Filed under Age of Sail, Mutiny, Naval Life
Life in Georgian England, part 2
A little while ago I introduced you to an intriguing blog devoted to life in Georgian England. As I said at the time, more than most other Age of Sail novels, Dewey Lambdin’s Alan Lewrie books take you into the … Continue reading
Filed under Age of Sail, Alan Lewrie Novels, Culture and Life Style Ashore
Britain and Slavery
The plot in Dewey Lambdin’s Alan Lewrie novels Sea of Grey, Havoc’s Sword, A King’s Trade, and Troubled Waters takes place in the context of slavery. Slavery in Haiti and British possessions in the West Indies, specifically, but more broadly … Continue reading
A King’s Trade
The the aftermath of the mission covered in The Captain’s Vengeance, Dewey Lambdin’s naval hero, Alan Lewrie had returned to Jamaica to general acclaim. His seizure of the Spanish treasure ship had made himself and his superiors wealthy men and … Continue reading
Filed under Age of Sail, Alan Lewrie Novels, Naval Fiction
The Blomefield Pattern Cannon
Once John Armstrong had finished his basic design for British artillery in 1725, there were only marginal changes to the template over the next 70 years. That changed In 1780, when a 36 year old artillery captain was appointed as … Continue reading
Filed under Age of Sail, Naval Equipment, Naval Gunnery, Naval Weapons
The Armstrong Pattern Cannon
Rabinet, serpentine, falconet, falcon, minion, saker, demiculverin, basilisk, culverin, pedrero, demicannon, bastard cannon, cannon serpentine, cannon, and cannon royal. None of these terms mean much to us today but in the army and navy of the late 17th century they … Continue reading
Filed under Age of Sail, Naval Equipment, Naval Gunnery, Naval Weapons
