Eyes of the Fleet

by Anthony Price

Description

The frigate, in its classical wooden sailing-ship form, was a fast scouting cruiser - the eyes of the fleet, in Nelson's words. But the frigate was something much more that a mere scout - it was a true fighting ship, lightly built but heavily-gunned for its size, designed for every naval task short of taking part in the great set-pieces between battleships.

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1 review

MissWatson 288 reviews

This looks at frigates and their role in the French Wars from 1795-1815. It is a narrow timeframe which the author frequently ignores when detailing the careers of important admirals. He picks six captains famous for their exploits while commanding frigates and compares and contrasts their careers, among them Lord Cochrane, Edward Pellew and Horatio Hornblower. This is a popular history, and it shows. Lots of repetition, digressions and drawing parallels to the Second World War, presumably because it was more familiar ground to his readers. Anyone who knows their Jack Aubrey or Richard Delancey will find little in here that is new.

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stringcat3 17 reviews

Jul 14, 2019

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