This is the story of Admiral Sir John Balchen, his life and career,
and HMS Victory, the largest, finest ship-of-the-line in the Royal
Navy at the time, which he commanded when both were lost, along with
more than 1,000 crew, in an October storm in the English Channel in
1744. This is not the Victory of Trafalgar fame, however, but the
First Rate built some thirty years earlier, the last Royal Navy
three-decker to carry bronze cannons, and a ship whose poor design may
well have contributed to her loss. It is also the story of Admiral
John Balchen, a courageous, if not heroic, naval officer who saw major
engagements and whose legacy in naval development deserves greater
recognition. Indeed, the story of both the ship and her commander,
their individual and remarkably parallel lives, can now be revealed as
fundamental catalysts to the revolutionary reforms in naval
shipbuilding, design and dockyard administration that transformed the
Royal Navy after 1745. They were indeed major foundation stones for a
navy that delivered the glorious achievements of Nelson, Anson, Howe,
Hood, Rodney, Boscawen and many more in the great pantheon of British
naval history that followed their loss. The exciting discovery of the
wreck of HMS Victory in 2008, the subsequent and continuing public and
political wrangling over possible salvage, and the 2019 display at
Portsmouth of a mighty 42-pounder bronze gun retrieved from the wreck,
have been the catalyst for this history of the admiral and his ship,
and anyone with an interest in naval or maritime history, whether
academic or popular, will be fascinated by the facts about the
hitherto virtually unknown predecessor of Nelson’s great flagship.
This glorious man-and-ship odyssey, whose intrinsic importance to
naval history can now be recognised, is richly and compelling told in
this important new book.
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Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9781399094139
Publisert
2022
Utgiver
Vendor
Seaforth Publishing (ORIM)
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter