The Trafalgar Chronicle - Dedicated to Naval History in the Nelson Era - Series 7

The theme for this latest in the Trafalgar Chronicles is “Scientific and Technological advances in the Navies of the Georgian Era” and there are some fascinating articles to make this a little gem of a book. The opening chapter is on the work of Sir Samuel Bentham who was initially sent to Russia to study their ship building facilities but ended up being employed by Catherine the Great and distinguishing himself in the Russo-Turkish war. On his return he was appointed Inspector General of Naval Works tasked with modernising naval infrastructure, building on the products of the Industrial Revolution. His impact covered everything from fresh water storage, dredging and the magnificent block mills in Portsmouth Dockyard. Problems with failure of Armstrong cannons in the late 18th century led Thomas Blomefield, the Inspector of Artillery, to introduce a testing regime. A measure of the need for such a regime was that in 6 months in 1787 436 guns were condemned. His solution to the Armstrong guns bursting was the incorporation of a loop on the cascabel making it stronger. The loop also provided an anchoring point for training ropes. Blomefield’s work also contributed to Nelson’s victory at Trafalgar – it is unlikely that Armstrong guns would have survived the high rate of fire. For those of a more mathematical bent, a chapter on Benjamin Robins looks at his work on the science of gunnery which led, amongst other things, to the development of the carronade. Fulton’s torpedoes – the “infernal machine” were viewed by the fledgling USN as a useful weapon; the British saw them as “unmanly and assassin-like” and failed to grasp the technology. Navigation is covered in two chapters; the first on track charts as used by Nelson’s sailing master and the other on Peter Heywood, a Bounty mutineer who survived the wrecking of the Pandora and became an expert navigator and friend of Beaufort. With more sailors dying from disease and infection rather than combat wounds, advances in shipboard medicine helped to bring shipboard mortality down from 1 in 8 in 1780 to I in 30 in 1812 and a retired nurse pays due respect to the early surgeons and their methods. Nelson’s tactics and delegation to his Captains – his Band of Brothers - is addressed in a chapter on the Fighting Instructions. Nelson’s tactics are seen not so much as a revolution, but evolutionary with his underlying plan of bringing “chaos to the order of battle” as opposed to the perceived wisdom of bringing “order to the chaos of battle”. Addressing the renowned single ship actions of the war of 1812, the author argues that it wasn’t simply a case of British frigates being outgunned by heavily built and well-armed USN frigates, but the fact that unlike their recent adversaries, the French - the British were facing ships that handled better, and were well-trained with large complements. This was exacerbated by the fact that British naval captains sought action in circumstances that were less than favourable. Other articles in this issue include one on the influence of Sir Joseph Banks on early settlements in New South Wales, Admiral Sir Henry Neale, and George Matcham who was Nelson’s brother-in-law. Comprising, as the editors say in their Introduction, “13 well-written engaging articles by superb authors”, this Chronicle is a delight to read. Highly recommended.