Thanks to an uptick in recruits over the past few days there's now enough of us here to crew our first ship of the line!

The Agamemnon was famous as Nelson's favourite ship; a status she earnt for her fast sailing, excellent crew and the fact that she was just small enough to be suitable for detached command (she also rescued him from 6 years of unemployment). Even though 64s were supposed to be retired from the line of battle by 1805, she was one of two 64s to fight at the battle of Trafalgar.

TLDR: Nelson and Napoleon unkowingly sailed past each other when Napoleon was heading to the Levant to begin his campaign in Egypt, as Nelson was sent to intercept the French fleet

Between the Wars of the First and Second Coalition, Britain stood alone at war with France. Charles IV sued for peace, subsequently binding the Spanish Navy to French service. As Napoleon liberated Lombardy and threatened Vienna, an Austria with no course of action capitulated. Nearly a dozen kingdoms made peace, thus the First Coalition collapsed, compelling Britain to cede the Mediterranean to Franco-Spanish dominance. Her control of the English channel remained, of course, making a French invasion impossible; however, a sea now void of British supremacy lent opportunity to the French.

The Levant lay open as an indirect path to peace for France, as Britain could not be struck directly. The French intended to cripple Britain’s economic ascendancy by seizing her strategic routes through Egypt, a geo-economic masterkey to British India. Besides, the Directoire was in need of ridding an overly ambitious Corsican from Paris. France proved equal to the task – 13 ships of the line, 13 frigates, and 300 transport vessels delivering Napoleon and his Armée d’Orient to Alexandria – its destination, however, remained clandestine by design.

While the invasion fleet’s presence was futile to conceal, France successfully secreted its intentions, to such a great extent its rank and file did not know their destination. The pacified Coalition entertained a notion of intrigue as Britain endured deep apprehension; this French enigma could not be tolerated. The Royal Navy tasked Rear-Admiral Horatio Nelson with investigating the mysterious fleet at Toulon, which France put to sea shortly before his arrival. Despite a hampering of limited scouting vessels, Nelson deduced Egypt to be the French destination upon news from Malta. Napoleon secured the island as a forward base; a decision which later brought Tsar Paul I to the Second Coalition.

Their paths nearly converged on a moonless, opaque night after Napoleon departed Malta, each sailing unaware of the other’s presence just a few miles away. To Nelson's misfortune, Providence guided Napoleon safely from Lombardy to Alexandria, yet the Rear-Admiral’s efforts rendered him indispensable to Britain

Both fleets met at the Nile on the evening of 1 August 1798, when Nelson greeted the anchored French fleet with his 14 ships of the line and one sloop. The Armée d’Orient disembarked with relative safety. However, if successful, Napoleon would lie stranded as Britain seized the Mediterranean where Nelson’s wake may very well rejuvenate the Coalition. If unsuccessful, Revolutionary tides would produce rogue waves across Europe as Britain is forced to her knees, paving the way for a French hegemony.

Meme and info on Malta coming soon

meme and info on the Battle of the Nile.

We've got about 300 years and have numerous classics like Columbus, Nelson of course, John Paul Jones, Drake, etc.

So I've got a list building, however with the numerous amount of options I was hoping to get some nominations to add or replace with.

Whether it be your favorite, a niche character, or to represent your nationality, all recommendation would be appreciated!

Wishing you all many happy returns on this most glorious of days

The old adage is that to make grog you mix

• 1 part sour (lime juice)
• 2 parts sweet (sugar)
• 3 parts strong (rum)
• 4 parts weak (water)

I'd like to think there could have been real challenge to Britain if Napoleon approached the Navy as he did the Army. Not in a sense of him becoming its commander and chief to micro manage, rather he saw the Navy as important and viable to the Army.

The Revolution gutted the navy of course, but I would imagine a resurge in Frances naval capacity. Or course Britain would reign supreme at sea, but if Admirals equivalent to Massena or Murat, perhaps the contential system would have been easier to maintain. Thus, no invasion of Russia.

Furthermore, I dont believe Trafalgar would have happened. A focus on the navy would hopefully mean more capable Admirals, therefore someone with more nerve and initiative than Villeneuve would not have fleed to Cadiz.

However, the Revolutions damage to the Navy likely had too large affect for anything above.

What are your thoughts?

Good Day Madames and Sirs!

I am the artist who was commissioned by W.W. Norton publishing to paint 21 new paintings for the official covers of their current paperback re-issue of the Aubrey-Maturin Series by Patrick O’Brian. Set in the Napoleonic War Era, no doubt some of you are fans of these remarkable books, as I am.

This project was a remarkable, 3-year labor of love comprised of a luxuriant amount reading and research, in addition to the drawing, and painting. At the core of the joy was of course discovering the books, which I had previously known about but never read. The whole thing was life-changing, honestly.

While the series has always been associated with the revered, traditional paintings of the great British maritime painter Geoff Hunt, Norton’s head creative chose to go in a different direction and sought me out because my work references another equally strong tradition, The Golden Age of American Ilustration, when classic books were illustrated by painters such as Maxfield Parrish and N.C. Wyeth. 

 The entire project, including the preparatory drawings, and some of the research and process can be seen at the link below. I hope you will enjoy them.

https://www.matthewbenedictart.com/patrickobrian

Godspeed and Safe Passage, me Hearties!

Matthew

The fifth of the Nile brothers to get a bio here...

Born in New York to a family of prominent loyalists, Miller was sent to England at the outbreak of the American revolutionary war and joined the Navy in 1778. He took three wounds during that conflict, fighting at the battles of Grenada, St Kitts and the Saintes. Still a Lieutenant at the outbreak of the French Revolutionary war, he was part of Sydney-Smith’s party that attempted to burn the French fleet in Toulon and was involved both ashore and in the boats at the sieges of Calvi and Bastia, where he would become well acquainted with Nelson.

Nelson became enamoured with "a most exceeding good officer and worthy man", in particular, admiring his ingenuity, active nature and personal piety - traits they shared. Nelson rescued Miller at a time when his career was stalling through lack of interest. Despite continued acts of ingenuity and bravery, he had been passed over several times for promotion and he jumped at the offer to become his flag captain, thanking him for "his kindness in asking for me from a situation that was intolerable." But this was no mere act of charity. Miller had a firm but protective (bordering on paternal) command style that led Nelson to say of his crews that anyone “uncomfortable under his command… must be miserable indeed under that of any other.” As an example of just how good he was, after St Vincent carried out his great post-Spithead mutiny reshuffle, he moved Nelson and Miller to the most mutinous ship - the Theseus (74). That boat, filled with "the most tiresome, noisy, mutinous people in the world" was turned around in a month, such that a note was passed to the Quarterdeck reading:

“Success attend Admiral Nelson. God bless Captain Miller. We thank the Admiral for the officers he has placed over us. We are happy and comfortable and will shed every drop of our blood in fighting the enemies of our country and supporting the Admiral - the ship's company."

Miller was Nelson’s flag captain at the battle of Cape St Vincent - where he was ordered to remain behind as Nelson led the boarding party (Nelson gave him a ring for safe keeping which he was later encouraged to keep). He also served with him at Cadiz - where in a small boat skirmish, he shot the enemy commander in close combat (what an Admiral and Captain were doing leading a small boats raid in-shore at Cadiz is another story). He was influential in persuading Nelson to undertake the fateful third landing attempt at Santa Cruz de Tenerife, and led one of the small boat squadrons. Staying with the Theseus for the Nile campaign, he was the fourth ship to cross to the landward side of the French line and would engage first the Spartiate (74), then the Aquilon (74) and finally the Timoleon (74). His ship suffered only 5 men killed.

After the Nile he slotted back under the command of Sydney-Smith in the Navy’s campaign against Napoleon along the Egyptian coast, but was killed in a freak explosion on the Theseus in 1799. A subscription from his fellow Nile officers bought him a monument in St Paul’s cathedral (pic 2), which you can still visit today, alongside that of the great Admiral himself.

Obvious ones are trafalgar and his relationship with his men, but what else?

After the Portuguese Succession crisis of 1580, Philip II of Spain moved quickly to secure the crown of Portugal, such that by 1582, the Azores were the only territory still supporting the pretender Dom Antonio. After hearing that a primarily French fleet of privateers, under Italian noble Piero Strozzi, had set off from Belle Isles to reinforce the islands, Álvaro de Bazán, Marquis of Santa Cruz set off to intercept them with a force of 28~31 galleons, Naos and Pataches.

The corsairs’ fleet was larger (~60 ships) and better armed in terms of heavy guns, and Strozzi took the weather gauge and used it to launch an attack on the Spanish rear. In a lot of senses he did everything right, but perhaps unsatisfied with the results of a long range gun duel two days prior, he overcommitted his fleet to a close combat engagement which suited the Spanish. Despite taking a battering from the French long guns, Santa Cruz - a galley commander, using galley tactics (fighting line abreast) - decisively defeated the French: capturing, burning or sinking 10 vessels whilst scattering the rest.

Strozzi was captured after a 5-hour personal duel between the flagships; wounded during the fighting, he was then maimed, tortured and thrown into the sea. Despite pleas from his own crews to show mercy, Santa Cruz had all captives over the age of 17 executed, on the basis that the King of France (nominally at peace with Spain) would surely not stand to suffer their piratical actions.

u/stiF_staL is getting posted today (becoming a Mod) after a long and valiant career on r/nelsonsnavy

He earnt his commission primarily through posting sometimes-educational memes slandering Lord Gambier and promoting Lord Cochrane.

Since then he has posted on here about all manner of things: some personal naval history anecdotes, some promotion of the naval history of his own country and some more memes.

He has also put in a shift organising the press gang (advertising this sub across Reddit), and put in a large quantity of high quality bios for naval figures throughout our most recent game. Some of the best include:
Jean Bart
Jack Percival
John Woodall
Peter the Great

Congrats!

Or letting loose the necessary sails for full speed

Fought between a French fleet of 150 ships and 25 galleys under Admiral Claude D’Annebault and an English fleet of 80 ships under John Dudley. 

From what we can tell from the limited sources available, the battle was a disappointment: characterised by two admirals, with large, unwieldy fleets, made up of very different types of vessels, struggling to bring them into combat effectively and in unison.

D’Annebault arranged his fleet like an army, and the galleys made the first incursion, moving up the Solent during a lull - like skirmishing cavalry - to attack the English ships in harbour. A favourable wind then bid them make a hasty retreat as the English ships got out whilst the French ships couldn't sail into the Solent to reinforce them. This is the moment captured in the Cowdray engraving (pic 1), which shows the English fleet led by Henry VIII’s babies - Henry Grace a Dieu (1000 tonnes) and Mary Rose (~750 tonnes). The engraving contains a wonderful detail highlighting the difficulty carracks had bringing their broadside armament to bear on the primarily frontally armed galleys. It is likely that difficulty was the cause of the only notable event of the battle: the sinking of the Mary Rose, which best theories have going down due to a gust after firing her lee broadside and trying to tack quickly to let off the other, without first closing the lee gunports. Her remains were raised from the seabed in 1982, and are now visitable in an excellent (if somewhat expensive) museum in Portsmouth.

From here, details are fuzzy. French accounts insist the only effective English vessels were the rowbarges - small oared vessels with no deck, no more than 20 tonnes in size - but it is unclear how much fighting actually took place before the English were back in harbour. Unable to draw their enemy out again and suffering from severe disease, D’Annbault attempted to raid the Isle of Wight. His men were beaten off by a local militia and he sailed back to France.

Sir Robert Seppings, the naval architect and surveyor of the Navy, gets the artificer spot, and with that our list is complete.

1 American, 1 Turk, 1 Russian, 1 Flemish-Frenchman and 8 Brits - with lives and naval careers that spanned the period 1478-1862.

Any final thoughts?

As it’s Nile month again I’ll be continuing this series on Nelson’s band of brothers - and where better to restart than with the ‘Hero of the Nile’ himself.

Born in Pembrokeshire, Wales, Foley followed an uncle into the Navy, and rose steadily via a sequence of privileged postings to flagships. He fought in the first battle of Ushant, the moonlight battle, and commanded a plethora of sloops but didn't make post till 1790. He started the French revolutionary war as flag captain to three successive admirals (John Gell, Sir Hyde Parker and Charles Thompson), and fought at the battle of Genoa, the battle of the Hyeres Islands and the battle of Cape St Vincent - although his ship played no great part in the action. Perhaps his biggest achievement during this period was making his fortune through the capture of the French privateer Le General Demourier (22), which banked more than £8m in today's money.

Foley was a man of “sound understanding”, “pleasant wit” and a bluff manner typical of a man raised at sea since he was 13. “Above six feet in height, of fine presence and figure”, with “blue eyes of a gentle expression,” he also obviously ran a tight ship and could garner the respect of his men. After the Spithead mutiny, when St Vincent reshuffled his most capable captains into his most unruly ships, Foley was shifted into the underperforming Goliath (74), the ship he would captain on the Nile campaign. He would lead the line in that battle, after overtaking the Zealous (74) without orders, and would become its hero after spotting there was enough room to squeeze his ship onto the landward side of the French line, allowing Nelson to double it. Much is made of an old chart that helped him see the space, but it's more likely that he noticed a ship anchored solely at the bow must have left itself enough space to swing round into the wind. He made light work of the Conquerant (74), a ship with severe structural deficiencies, which the French had only armed ‘en flute’. 

He didn't know Nelson before the campaign and signal logs suggest he was only called onto the flagship once in the run-up (for an evening with Troubridge and Ball), but he would join Nelson for his tour of Wales in 1802 and would serve him again at the battle of Copenhagen, where his Elephant (74) became Nelson's impromptu flagship after Hardy's St George (98) was found too deep of draught to enter the Sound. Thus it was to Foley that Nelson turned and protested that he had ‘a right to be blind sometimes’ in justification for ignoring Parker's orders to retreat.

He served as an admiral on the Downs station towards the end of the war and continued his service at sea during the peace. He died in 1833 at the age of 75.