A ship of this period carried about four large anchors. Two of these anchors—the bowers—were in more or less permanent readiness in the bows. The other two—the sheet and the spare—were for emergency use. The anchors on the Surprise would have weighed about one and a half tons each. (William Falconer, An Universal Dictionary of the Marine) She also had two much smaller anchors, the stream and the kedge, either of which could be slung under a boat, rowed forward, dropped and used to haul the ship forward when there was no wind. The cable of each anchor was of thick rope. It was hauled up by means of the ship’s capstans. When not in use, the bower anchors were ‘catted’, that is they were hung from the catheads in the bows. They were also ‘fished’, in that their crowns, or pointed ends, were raised up to make the stock horizontal.
A 28-gun ship was allocated four boats. All could be rowed or sailed, but some were more suitable for one than the other. The 10-oared 28ft long barge was mainly for rowing the captain ashore or to other ships. The 28ft launch was the heaviest boat of the ship and was used for carrying stores. There were also two cutters—24ft and 18ft long (the latter was often known as the jully boat). These boats were usually clinker-built, with overlapping planks. They were particularly good for sailing and were general purpose boats. (Brian Lavery, The Arming and Fitting of the English Ship of War)
A ship of this size would normally carry a crew of about 240 men, though on one occasion at least she is recorded as having 197 men. (James, The Naval HIstory) She would have about 18 officers, including a captain, two lieutenants and the key warrant officers—the master, the surgeon, the purser, the gunner, the bosun and the carpenter—and four midshipmen. The rest of the men were the crew, or the ‘lower deck’. They slept in hammocks and ate their simple meals at tables, sitting on wooden benches. Some were marines (about thirty in the case of the Surprise) while, in a strong crew, the bulk of the rest were experienced seamen rated ‘able’ or ‘ordinary’. In a weaker crew there would be a large proportion of ‘landsmen’, adults who were unused to the sea.
This large group of men had to be divided into teams for all the various manoeuvres that the ship might carry out. There were two or three watches, so that the ship could be sailed and all except the most major evolutions carried out while part of the crew rested. Some men, such as servants and craftsmen, were known as ‘idlers’, and worked mainly in the daytime. Each watch was divided into six or so parts. The fore topmen, maintopmen and mizzen topmen worked up the masts and along the yards and included fit and skilled seamen. The forecastlemen, afterguard and waisters worked mainly on deck and were less skilled. The waisters, in particular, were the least skilled group of all. The marines might also be included in this organisation. A few were needed as sentries and wore full uniform, but most wore working clothing and helped the seamen about the decks. The organisation of the crew was the duty of the First Lieutenant, but Aubrey is professional enough to take a keen interest in the matter.
Aubrey is proud of the sailing qualities of the Surprise, and works hard to improve them. Catharpins, for example, are fitted to tighten the shrouds and allow the sails to be braced round further to catch the wind. He also has her restored to her original rig, with the mainmast of a 36-gun ship. (James, The Naval History) Apart from his own skills, Aubrey attributes the sailing qualities of the Surprise to her French build. In this he reflect the prejudices of sea officers of his time. Modern research tends to suggest that British ships, though slower than French ones in fair weather, were more robust and sailed better in storms and gales.
Aubrey’s other ships can be dealt with more briefly. The Boadicea which features in The Mauritius Command was a real 38 frigate, built by Adams of Bucklers Hard in 1797. She was not broken up until 1858. The Leopard, the ‘horrible old Leopard’ of Desolation Island was a 50-gun ship launched, after long delays during her building, at Sheerness in 1790. Unlike the Surprise and other frigates, she had two complete decks of guns with an unarmed orlop deck below the waterline, a quarterdeck and forecastle. She was one of an obsolete type, too small to stand with larger ships in the line of battle and too slow to be an effective frigate. The Java and the Shannon of The Fortune of War were also real ships and their encounters with American vessels are accurately described. La Fleche, on the other hand, is fictitious.
The Ariel sioop of The Surgeon’s Mate was evidently a real vessel, armed with sixteen 32-pounder carronades and two 9-pounders. (Patrick O'Brian, The Surgeon's Mate) She was built in 1806 and survived ten years before being broken up at Deptford. This type of ship was essentially a scaled down frigate without, in this case, a quarterdeck and forecastle.
The Worcester of The lonion Mission is a 74-gun ship of two decks—a true ship-of-the-line. The actual name was not used for a 74-gun ship of that period but the class to which she was said to belong, known to sea officers as ‘the forty thieves’, really did exist. There is, however, some deviation from the real facts. The first ship of the class was completed in 1809 but the fortieth was not launched until 1822; the nickname does not seem to have been used before then. They were despised by the sea officers, perhaps unfairly. Their design and building, though, uninspired was generally competent. (Brian Levery, The Ship of the Line)
After his transfer out of the Worcester, Aubrey returned to the Surprise, and that ship is dominant in the remaining books of the series. In his depiction of the ships of the Napoleonic era, Patrick O’Brian shows he has a firm grasp of the complexities of naval architecture as he does of a host of other skills and specialisms, a grasp which enables him to write of that period in a uniquely authoritative and entertaining way.
This essay is taken from
Patrick O'Brian, Critical Appreciations and a Bibliography,
edited by A. E. Cunningham, and is reprinted here
by kind permission of The British Library.
Table of Contents
AUTHOR'S NOTE
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Jack Aubrey’s Ships
Patrick O'Brian, The Mauritius Command
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