Dudley Bernard Egerton Pope (29 December 1925 – 25 April 1997) was a British writer of both

nautical fiction Nautical fiction, frequently also naval fiction, sea fiction, naval adventure fiction or maritime fiction, is a genre of literature with a setting on or near the sea, that focuses on the human relationship to the sea and sea voyages and highligh ...

and history, most notable for his

Lord Ramage Nicholas, Lord Ramage is a fictional character, the protagonist of a series of sea novels written by Dudley Pope. Ramage was an officer in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars. He is a contemporary of Horatio Hornblower, but unlike the ...

series of historical novels. Greatly inspired by C.S. Forester, Pope was one of the most successful authors to explore the genre of nautical fiction, often compared to

Patrick O'Brian Patrick O'Brian, 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 cent ...

Life

Dudley Pope was born in Ashford, Kent. By concealing his age he joined the Home Guard aged 14 and at age 16 joined the merchant navy as a cadet. His ship was

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, s ...

ed the next year (1942). Afterwards, he spent two weeks in a lifeboat with the few other survivors. After he was invalided out the only obvious sign of the injuries he had suffered was a joint missing from one finger due to gangrene. Pope then went to work for a Kentish newspaper, then in 1944 moved to '' The Evening News'' in London, where he was the naval and defence correspondent. From there he turned to reading and writing naval history. His first book, '' Flag 4'', was published in 1954, followed by several other historical accounts. C. S. Forester, the creator of the famed Horatio Hornblower novels, encouraged Pope to add fiction to his repertoire. In 1965, ''

Ramage Ramage may refer to: People * Alan Ramage (born 1957), English cricketer * Alison Ramage, British mathematician * Andy Ramage (born 1974), English footballer * Cecil Ramage (1895–1988), Scottish barrister, actor and Liberal politician * C ...

'' appeared, the first of what was to become an 18-novel series. He took to living on boats from 1953 on; when he married Kay Pope in 1954, they lived on a

William Fife William Fife Jr. (15 June 1857 – 11 August 1944), also known as William Fife III, was the third generation of a family of Scottish yacht designers and builders. In his time, William Fife designed around 600 yachts, including two contende ...

8-meter named ''Concerto'', then at

Porto Santo Stefano Porto Santo Stefano () is a seaport town on the west coast of Italy, in the municipality of Monte Argentario, in the Province of Grosseto, Tuscany. It is the municipal seat of Monte Argentario and one of the two major towns that form the townshi ...

, Italy in 1959 with a 42-foot

ketch A ketch is a two- masted sailboat whose mainmast is taller than the mizzen mast (or aft-mast), and whose mizzen mast is stepped forward of the rudder post. The mizzen mast stepped forward of the rudder post is what distinguishes the ketch fr ...

''Tokay''. In 1963 he and Kay moved to a 53-foot cutter ''Golden Dragon'', on which they moved to

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate) ...

in 1965. In 1968 they moved onto a 54-foot wooden

yacht A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...

named ''Ramage'', aboard which he wrote all of his stories until 1985. Pope died 25 April 1997 in Marigot, Saint Martin. Both his wife and his daughter, Jane Victoria survive him.

Bibliography

Ramage series

Most of the novels are based on real events in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The year of these events is shown before the book title. The year of publication between 1965 and 1989 is shown after the title. # 1796 – ''

'' (1965) # 1797 – '' Ramage and the Drumbeat'' (1967) # 1797 – '' Ramage and the Freebooters'' ublished in the U.S. as ''The Triton Brig''(1969) # 1797 – '' Governor Ramage R.N.'' (1973) # 1798 – ''Ramage's Prize'' (1974) # 1798 – ''Ramage and the Guillotine'' (1975) # 1799 – ''Ramage's Diamond'' (1976) # 1799 – ''Ramage's Mutiny'' (1977) # 1800 – ''Ramage and the Rebels'' (1978) # 1800 – ''The Ramage Touch'' (1979) # 1800 – '' Ramage's Signal'' (1980) # 1802 – ''Ramage and the Renegades'' (1981) # 1803 – ''Ramage's Devil'' (1982) # 1803 – ''Ramage's Trial'' (1984) # 1803 – ''Ramage's Challenge'' (1985) # 1805 – ''Ramage at Trafalgar'' (1986) # 1806 – ''Ramage and the Saracens'' (1988) # 1806 – ''Ramage and the Dido'' (1989)

Yorke series

# ''Buccaneer'' (1981) # ''Admiral'' (1982) # ''Galleon'' (1986) # ''Corsair'' (1987)

Other novels

# ''Convoy'' (1979) # ''Decoy'' (1983)

Nonfiction

# ''Flag 4: The Battle of Coastal Forces in the Mediterranean'' (1954) # '' The Battle of the River Plate'' (1956) # ''73 North: The Battle of the Barents Sea 1942'' (1958) # ''Decision at Trafalgar'' (1959) # ''England Expects'' (1959) # '' The Black Ship'' (1963) # ''Harry Morgan's Way: Biography of Sir

Henry Morgan Sir Henry Morgan ( cy, Harri Morgan; – 25 August 1688) was a privateer, plantation owner, and, later, Lieutenant Governor of Jamaica. From his base in Port Royal, Jamaica, he raided settlements and shipping on the Spanish Main, becoming we ...

1635–1688'' (1977), Martin Secker & Warburg Ltd, # ''The Great Gamble: Nelson at Copenhagen'' (1978) # ''Life in Nelson's Navy'' (1981) # ''The Devil Himself: The Mutiny of 1800'' (1988) – this is the story of HMS ''Danae'' and the mutiny aboard her. # ''At 12 Mr Byng Was Shot'' (1962) # ''Guns'' (1965)

References

External links

Bio of Dudley Pope, with pictures

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pope, Dudley 1925 births 1997 deaths English historical novelists British Merchant Navy personnel of World War II People from Ashford, Kent English naval historians Nautical historical novelists 20th-century English novelists 20th-century English historians British Home Guard soldiers Shipwreck survivors