Category Archives: Geography
Saint Malo: The City of Corsairs
The Breton city of Saint Malo was infamous to the British navy and merchantmen as a home of some of the most brazen privateers produced by France. In earlier wars, British merchantmen had paid tribute directly to Saint Malo to … Continue reading
Filed under Age of Sail, Geography
Tetuan
The Moroccan port city of Tetuan features prominently in the plot of the C. Northcote Parkinson novel Touch and Go featuring the British naval officer Richard Delancey. Delancey, in the sloop HMS Merlin, and a merchantman it is escorting stop … Continue reading
Filed under Age of Sail, Geography
Gibraltar
From Gibraltar’s capture in 1704 it has been a bastion of British power in the Mediterranean. This was especially true in the dark days as the First Coalition failed and the the British navy lost bases in Corsica and what … Continue reading
Filed under Age of Sail, Geography
Punta Vaca, Culebra, Puerto Rico
Pictured above is Punta Vaca on Isla Culebra, Puerto Rico. This is where the survivors of HMS Triton and the merchantman Topaz made landfall in Governor Ramage, R. N. Ramage’s camp would have been in what looks like a hotel … Continue reading
Filed under Age of Sail, Geography, Naval Fiction
Vis (Lissa), Croatia
Below we discuss the Battle of Lissa (1811) fought just west of the mouth of the harbor pictured above. In 1811, the Dalmatian island of Lissa, as Vis was then called, was used by the British navy as a base … Continue reading
Filed under Age of Sail, Geography
Marigot Bay, St. Lucia
In Ramage and the Freebooters, Lieutenant Nicholas Ramage finally tracks down the lair of the French privateers at Marigot Bay, St. Lucia. The landward end of the bay shows the channel that could have easily been concealed from seaward view … Continue reading
Filed under Age of Sail, Geography, Lord Ramage Novels, Naval Fiction
St. George’s, Grenada
The main action in Ramage and the Freebooters is centered on St. George’s, Grenada. The above photo gives a panorama of the harbor. Fort George, seat of the military administration in the novel, is easily visible in the center background. … Continue reading
Filed under Age of Sail, Geography, Lord Ramage Novels, Naval Fiction
Texel
Of all the blockades run by the British navy during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars, the blockade off Texel by the North Sea fleet had to have been one of the most hazardous. The island of Texel and the … Continue reading
Filed under Age of Sail, Geography
Cartagena
The harbor at Cartagena, Spain. Cartagena holds a shipyard as well as a major Spanish naval base. Cartagena is the base from which the Spanish fleet sailed in February, 1797 to defeat at the Battle of Cape St. Vincent. It … Continue reading
Filed under Age of Sail, Geography, Lord Ramage Novels, Naval Fiction
