Experience Frigates, Sloops And Brigs (Military Classics) Penned By James Henderson Exhibited In Leaflet

better than any fiction Foryears in the lateth and earlyth Centuries, Great Britain was at war almost continuously.
During that time the great line of battle ships formed the backbone of the British Navy, but they only fought a handful of actions, spending the vast majority of their time blockading enemy ports.


Almost everything but blockade duty fell to the smaller ships: the frigates, sloops and brigs, This book combines two earlier works by the author into one volume, the first half being a collection of the more famous frigate actions and the second half covering the more famous actions of the even smaller sloops and brigs.
The latter includes the actions of the Speedy under Thomas Cochrane, upon which the early adventures of Jack Aubrey were modeled for the Aubrey/Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian.


There are other actions from which O'Brian borrowed, but those of the Speedy are the most obvious,

Overall a very entertaining and informative read, Anyone with an interest in the era should check it out, Beautifully written, an invaluable source of historical fact, One small niggle I don't know who edited it but almost throughout 'Ile' got converted to 'lie, ' There are one or two other

annoying gaffes, but in the main brilliant book, Admiral Nelson's most frequent cry was for more frigates, Though not ships of the line these fast and powerful warships were the 'eyes of the fleet', They enabled admirals to find where the enemy lay and his likely intentions, as well as patrolling vital trade routes and providing information from farflung colonies.
Together with their smaller cousins, the sloops and brigs of the Royal Navy, they performed a vital function, Generally commanded by ambitious young men, these were the ships that could capture enemy prizes and earn their officers and men enough prizemoney to set them up for life.
The fictional characters Horatio Hornblower and Jack Aubrey hardly surpassed some of the extraordinary deeds of derringdo and tragedy described in these pages.


Originally published in two volumes, this book is a bargain for all who want the factual lowdown on the Brylcreem Boys of Nelson's navy.
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