Billy Ruffian
The Bellerophon And The
Downfall Of Napoleon
Edition:
PB
Author:
David Cordingly
ISBN:
0747565449
Publishers:
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Price:
£6.99
Publication
Date: 2004
This book is the biography
of the Royal Navy 74 gun ship Bellerophon.
The complete life story of the ship from planning to breaking is
presented in a way, which is interesting, entertaining and at times exciting.
The story follows the ship and all those whose lives she touched. England’s trees including the mighty oak were felled and transported to the Medway for use in shipbuilding. Small ship building yards tendered for contracts to construct the hulls. The completed hulls were launched with much ceremony and then anchored off until they were seasoned. When the wood was deemed to be seasoned or they were required for service they were taken to Chatham and fitted out as ships of the line. The Royal Dockyards come alive in this book with the descriptions of men using blocks and tackles, ropes and lines to fit masts and sails, load hundreds of tons of shingle for ballast, haul great cannons into place between decks and carry out all the other tasks required to make a warship seaworthy. The work of the Press Gang is fascinating with accounts of the treatment endured by men taken into service by force to serve the country. The intricacy of ship design and build at the time is presented with detailed descriptions and sketches.
Having been introduced to
the political climate of the era and to the traditions of shipbuilding, seafarers
and the Royal Navy the book takes us through the adventures and experiences of
Bellerophon and her crew. Her battle
honours included The Glorious First of June 1794, Cadiz 1797, The Nile 1798 and
Trafalgar 1805. The Bellerophon was
engaged in patrol and blockade duties against the French and Spanish fleets
ensuring free passage for British Merchant shipping whilst excluding enemy
warships from access to British coastal waters and approaches. In company with other ships of the line, her
crew exercised the seamanship and gunnery, which would give them superiority in
battle, whilst enduring the harsh conditions and Atlantic weather. She was a guard ship in the West Indies
patrolling as far North as Halifax, Nova Scotia maintaining the Royal Navy’s
presence in defending the remaining British interests in North America.
Being sent to the West
Indies in the days of sail was regarded as tantamount to a death sentence as
disease and infection were rife among the crews in that climate. Accounts are given of great numbers of ships
companies succumbing to these conditions.
Bellerophon played a key role in the battle of Trafalgar and in the
preceding events, which led to Nelson’s great triumph. These events and the battle itself are
described in fascinating and exciting detail.
The actions of the ships and men are brought to life by the author’s
style.
Following the Battle of
Trafalgar and during the Napoleonic war in Europe the greatest threat was
perceived to be from invasion by France.
Bellerophon was employed along with much of the navy during this time in
patrolling and taking action to ensure the security of Britain. Following Napoleon’s defeat, capturing him
was paramount to the British Government.
Bellerophon was the ship to which Napoleon eventually surrendered
himself and it was her and her crew who transported him to England. Once it was decided that he would be exiled
to St Helena however, he was transferred to the ship Northumberland as
Bellerophon was deemed too aged to undertake the journey.
Having served her country
and achieved heroic status in action the once ‘Flying Bellerophon’ was
converted into a prison hulk on the Medway.
She later became a boy’s prison ship for convicts under 16 and spent her
final 10 years stationed as a prison hulk at Devonport. In 1836, she was sold to a breakers yard and
broken up.
This book presents the
reader with life in the Royal Navy and the associated countries and ports
during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. It tells a lively tale of the Bellerophon
and her crew. Containing some beautiful
illustrations and paintings from the period it gives a real feel for the era
when the Royal Navy truly ruled the waves and its men boasted hearts of oak.
John Shaw