Tag Archives: Lord Bridport
French frigates: “confessedly weaker, are oftener in port…”
We often encounter references to the high esteem the British navy had for French men o’ war. In novels they are reputed to be faster and handier than their British counterparts and highly valued by the British navy and coveted … Continue reading
Filed under Age of Sail, Naval Architecture, The Rest of the Story
The Breeze At Spithead. Part 9. The Grand Finale.
Now the dalliance of Parliament and the blinding stupidity of the Admiralty combined into what was a potentially deadly set of circumstances. Bridport had heard French fleet was out on May 3, but the winds were not favorable for the … Continue reading
Filed under Age of Sail, Mutiny
The Breeze at Spithead. Part 8. The Second Spithead Mutiny.
When faced with the resolve of the Fleet, Spencer folded like a cheap suit. He arrived in London at 9 am on April 22 and by 5 pm he had hammered out an agreement to meet the terms of the … Continue reading
Filed under Age of Sail, Mutiny, Naval Life
The Breeze at Spithead. Part 7. The Ante Is Raised
The Spithead Mutiny demonstrated a high level of centralized planning, iron discipline, and a shrewd understanding of the British public. By keeping their demands small, e.g. a pay raise after 150 years without one, a chance to go ashore, better … Continue reading
Filed under Age of Sail, Mutiny, Naval Life
The Breeze at Spithead. Part 6.
The Admiralty and the fleet delegates were now at a standoff. The delegates had presented a very respectful petition which had initially been ignored. When the Admiralty got around to addressing the petition they essentially ignored it. Now the delegates … Continue reading
Filed under Age of Sail, Mutiny, Naval Life
Mutiny on HMS Culloden
According to Brian Lavery in Nelson’s Navy, there were over a thousand instances of mutiny between 1793 and 1815. These involved the spectrum from one man to multiple men and instances where the mutineers got their demands as well as … Continue reading
Filed under Age of Sail, Mutiny, Naval Life
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
The Breeze at Spithead, Part 1.
We posted yesterday that we would start a series of posts on the mutinies of the Royal Navy at Spithead and The Nore. We will be using G. E. Mainwaring’s The Floating Republic: an account of the mutinies at Spithead … Continue reading
Filed under Age of Sail, Mutiny, Naval Life
