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The Mauritius Command
''The Mauritius Command'' is the fourth naval historical novel in the Aubrey-Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian, first published in 1977. Aubrey is married and the father of twin girls, owner of a cottage with a fine observatory he built. He is more than ready to be back at sea. He and Stephen Maturin join a convoy charged with taking two well-located islands in the Indian Ocean from the French. The mission provides scope for each man to advance in his specialty. A review written at first publication found the novel to be written in "language deep with detail and the poetry of fact", appreciating the period detail. A later review, written at the reissue, finds the author a graceful writer but sees a difficulty with the novel's structure, building to climaxes that do not occur. Others writing at that time saw the novel more as part of the long series, with humour, erudition and "impeccable period detail". Plot summary Jack Aubrey and Sophia Williams are married and the parent ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Patrick O'Brian
Patrick O'Brian, Order of the British Empire, CBE (12 December 1914 – 2 January 2000), born Richard Patrick Russ, was an English novelist and translator, best known for his Aubrey–Maturin series of sea novels set in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, and centred on the friendship of the English naval captain Jack Aubrey and the Irish–Catalan physician Stephen Maturin. The 20-novel series, the first of which is ''Master and Commander'', is known for its well-researched and highly detailed portrayal of early 19th-century life, as well as its authentic and evocative language. A partially finished 21st novel in the series was published posthumously containing facing pages of handwriting and typescript. O'Brian wrote a number of other novels and short stories, most of which were published before he achieved success with the Aubrey–Maturin series. He also translated works from French to English, and wrote biographies of Joseph Banks: A Life, Joseph Banks and Picasso. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Broad Pennant
A broad pennant is a triangular swallow-tailed naval pennant flown from the masthead of a warship afloat or a naval headquarters ashore to indicate the presence of either: (a) a Royal Navy officer in the rank of Commodore, or (b) a U.S. Navy Captain serving in a designated Commodore command billet. The flag is so called as a broad pennant because its dimensions are roughly 2:3. Starting in 1826, a Royal Navy commodore would fly one of two broad pennants depending on whether he had a captain for his ship (First Class Commodore), or also had to command it himself (Second Class). This difference was shown by a ball added to the pennant of the Second Class rank holder, as shown above. In 1958, the rank of First Class Commodore was terminated, after which only the red and white broad pennant with a ball was used by the Royal Navy. The U.S. Navy will also refer to this flag as a Commodore's "command pennant." In the U.S. Navy, the blue and white pennant will contain either ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sir Albemarle Bertie, 1st Baronet
Admiral Sir Albemarle Bertie, 1st Baronet, (20 January 1755 – 24 February 1824) was a long-serving and at the time controversial officer of the Royal Navy who saw extensive service in his career, but also courted controversy with several of his actions. Bertie won recognition for unsuccessfully defending his ship against superior odds in the American Revolutionary War. He was later criticised however for failing to close with the enemy at the Glorious First of June and later for pulling rank on a subordinate officer just days before the capture of the French island of Mauritius and taking credit for the victory. Despite these controversies, Bertie was rewarded for his service with a baronetcy and the Order of the Bath, retiring in 1813 to his country estate at Donnington, Berkshire. Childhood Albemarle Bertie was born at Swinstead in Lincolnshire in 1755, the natural son of Lord Albemarle Bertie, the brother of Peregrine Bertie, 3rd Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven and Brownl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bosun
A boatswain ( , ), bo's'n, bos'n, or bosun, also known as a deck boss, or a qualified member of the deck department, is the most senior rate of the deck department and is responsible for the components of a ship's hull. The boatswain supervises the other members of the ship's deck department, and typically is not a watchstander, except on vessels with small crews. Additional duties vary depending upon ship, crew, and circumstances. History The word ''boatswain'' has been in the English language since approximately 1450. It is derived from late Old English ''batswegen'', from ''bat'' (''boat'') concatenated with Old Norse ''sveinn'' ('' swain''), meaning a young man, apprentice, a follower, retainer or servant. Directly translated to modern Norwegian it would be ''båtsvenn'', while the actual crew title in Norwegian is ''båtsmann'' ("''boats-man''"). While the phonetic spelling ''bosun'' is reported as having been observed since 1868, this latter spelling was used in Sha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Master's Mate
Master's mate is an obsolete rating which was used by the Royal Navy, United States Navy and merchant services in both countries for a senior petty officer who assisted the master. Master's mates evolved into the modern rank of Sub-Lieutenant in the Royal Navy, while in the merchant service they evolved into the numbered mates or officers. Royal Navy Originally, a master's mate was an experienced petty officer who assisted the master but was not in line for promotion to lieutenant. By the mid-eighteenth century, he was far more likely to be a superior midshipman, still waiting to pass his examination for lieutenant or to receive his commission, but taking rather more responsibility aboard ship. Six master's mates were allowed on a first rate, three on a third rate, and two on most frigates. Duties Master's mates were experienced seamen, and were usually selected from the ranks of the quartermasters, who they supervised, or from the ranks of midshipmen who wanted more responsib ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Townsend Farquhar
Sir Robert Townsend Farquhar, 1st Baronet (1776 – 16 March 1830) was an influential British merchant of the early nineteenth century who served as a colonial governor and Member of Parliament. During his lengthy service for both the East India Company and the British government, Farquhar gained a reputation as an efficient and ambitious administrator and he notably served as Lieutenant-Governor of Prince of Wales Island (Penang Island) from January 1804 to 1805 and as governor of Île de Bourbon, now known as Réunion from 1810 to 1811. He was the 1st Governor of Mauritius from 4 December 1810 to 20 May 1823. During his tenure on Mauritius, Farquhar became well known for his operations against French slave traders, having previously investigated the possibility of replacing slaves with paid Chinese labourers. After returning to Britain Farquhar, who was made a baronet in 1821, sat in Parliament for Newton and later for Hythe. Early life In 1787, at the age of 11, Farquha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stephen Maturin
Stephen Maturin () is a fictional character in the Aubrey–Maturin series of novels by Patrick O'Brian. The series portrays his career as a physician, naturalist and spy in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, and the long pursuit of his beloved Diana Villiers. Maturin was played by Paul Bettany in the 2003 film '' Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World'' and by Richard Dillane in the BBC Radio 4 adaptations of O'Brian's novels. Bettany was nominated for a British Academy Film Award for his performance. Biography Early life Stephen Maturin, called by his Catalan family Esteban Maturin y Domanova, a Roman Catholic, is the illegitimate son of an Irish officer serving in the Spanish Army and a Catalonian lady. He is cousin to the historical Lord Edward FitzGerald. As a boy he lived in Ireland, fostered by a family of pig-herders in Cahirciveen and County Clare, and spent his teenage years in Catalonia – most notably with his grandmother in Lleida, his uncle in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Commodore (Royal Navy)
Commodore (Cdre) is a rank of the Royal Navy above captain and below rear admiral. It has a NATO ranking code of OF-6. The rank is equivalent to brigadier in the British Army and Royal Marines and to air commodore in the Royal Air Force. Commodore has only been a substantive rank in the Royal Navy since 1997. Until then the term denoted a functional position rather than a formal rank, being the title bestowed on the senior officer of a fleet of at least two naval vessels comprising an independent (usually ad hoc and short-term) command. (In this case, for instance, a lieutenant in substantive rank could be a commodore for the term of the command.) History The rank of commodore was introduced during the 17th century in November 1674 (though not legally established until 1806). In 1684 the navy introduced two classes of commodore, the first known as a ''Commodore Distinction'' and the other a ''Commodore Ordinary''; these would later evolve into commodores first and second clas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jack Aubrey
John "Jack" Aubrey , is a fictional character in the Aubrey–Maturin series of novels by Patrick O'Brian. The series portrays his rise from lieutenant to rear admiral in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars. The twenty (and one incomplete draft)-book series encompasses Aubrey's adventures and various commands along his course to flying a rear admiral's flag. Some of his naval battles and adventures are drawn from Royal Navy history. Several of his exploits and reverses, most importantly those in the plots of ''Master and Commander'', ''The Reverse of the Medal'' and ''Blue at the Mizzen'', are directly based on the chequered career of Thomas Cochrane. Often in the other 17 novels in the series, Aubrey may witness an action or hear of one that is drawn from history, while the battles or other encounters with ships he captains are fictional. Besides reaching the peak of naval skills and authority, Aubrey is presented as being interested in mathematics and astronomy, a gr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
HMS Pomone (1811)
''Astrée'' was a 44-gun of the French Navy, launched at Cherbourg in 1809. In December of the next year she captured HMS ''Africaine''. The Royal Navy captured ''Astrée'' in 1810 and took her into service under her French name, rating her as a 38-gun frigate, but then in 1811 recommissioned her as HMS ''Pomone''. She served during the War of 1812 and was broken up in 1816. French service ''Astrée'' took part in the campaign in the Indian Ocean under Commander René Lemarant de Kerdaniel, serving with Hamelin's squadron. She also was present in the final stages of the Battle of Grand Port. A few days later, on 30 August, ''Astrée'' recaptured the 1-gun schooner-aviso ''Mouche No.23'', which HMS ''Nereide'' had captured 2 June. ''Astrée'' came to be part of a squadron under Pierre Bouvet, who had assumed command of the French squadron at Grand Port after Duperré was wounded, and had been promoted to ''capitaine de frégate''. The squadron also comprised as a flagsh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia), and later with East Asia. The company seized control of large parts of the Indian subcontinent, colonised parts of Southeast Asia and Hong Kong. At its peak, the company was the largest corporation in the world. The EIC had its own armed forces in the form of the company's three Presidency armies, totalling about 260,000 soldiers, twice the size of the British army at the time. The operations of the company had a profound effect on the global balance of trade, almost single-handedly reversing the trend of eastward drain of Western bullion, seen since Roman times. Originally chartered as the "Governor and Company of Merchants of London Trading into the East-Indies", the company rose to account for half of the world's trade duri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
