Category Archives: Naval Battles
Capture of l’Egyptienne
Psychological dominance. It is difficult to read the history of the war at sea during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars and not have that phrase constantly cross your mind. Over and over the ships of the British … Continue reading
Filed under Age of Sail, Naval Battles, single ship actions
HMS Pallas at the Corduoan Light
I decided to do one more Lord Cochrane piece before moving on to something else. This episode predates The Boats of HMS Impérieuse by a year. At the time Cochrane was commanding the 32-gun 12-pounder frigate HMS Pallas with a … Continue reading
Filed under Age of Sail, Naval Battles, Naval Operations, single ship actions
Battle of Lissa
http://books.google.com/books?id=Am7WCEX4KekC&pg=PA365&dq=%22william+hoste%22+amphion+active&ei=WjhBSt6YDoeyyQT87sxG
Filed under Age of Sail, Naval Battles, Naval Operations
The Battle of Navarino: Twilight for the Age of Sail
A method of warfare that extended in prehistory came to an end around 3pm on October 20, 1827 at Navarino Bay on Greece’s Peloponnese peninsula. It was a one-sided fight, much more in the tradition of Ulundi and Omdurman than … Continue reading
Filed under Age of Sail, Naval Battles, Naval Operations
Battle of Copenhagen, April 2, 1801. Prelude
1801 set stage for one of the saddest events in the two decades of war that began with the declaration of war against Revolutionary France by the First Coalition and ended at Waterloo: the Battle of Copenhagen fought between the … Continue reading
Filed under Age of Sail, Naval Battles, Naval Operations
Vice Admiral Sir Richard Goodwin Keats
The British Navy during the Age of Sail produced more than it’s share of exemplary combat commanders. One of those was certainly Vice Admiral Sir Richard Goodwin Keats. A man of whom Nelson wrote, “I esteem his person alone as … Continue reading
Making Virtue of Necessity
Let’s face it. When it comes to nautical fiction we are all Anglophiles. The major fictional heroes of the Age of Sail are British. Alexander Kent is probably one of the few authors who have managed to sell books in … Continue reading
HMS Glatton Takes On All Comers
We’ve observed on several occasions that many of the incidents in novels set during the Age of Sail are heavily influenced by actual events. In most cases, the novel’s protagonist expands on the accomplishments of the actual character. In Ramages’s … Continue reading
Rear Admiral Sir Philip Bowes Vere Broke
Success breeds complacency. Few things are more devastating to an effective military than a long period without significant challenge. The US Army discovered this brutal lesson in Korea. The British Navy discovered this in the War of 1812. By 1812 … Continue reading
