The World of Patrick O'Brian

A Sea of Words, A Life Revealed, Harbors and High Seas, and Every Man Will Do His Duty

Dean King

• Publisher: Open Road Media
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9781504038973
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Military & Maritime History
• Index: History

Four volumes of history and biography for fans of the Aubrey-Maturin novels, with lore on the Royal Navy and much more. What is a sandgrouse, and where does it live? What are the medical properties of lignum vitae, and how did Stephen Maturin use it to repair his viola? Who is Adm. Lord Keith, and why is his wife so friendly with Capt. Jack Aubrey? More than any other contemporary author, Patrick O'Brian knew the past. His twenty Aubrey–Maturin novels, beginning with Master and Commander (1969), are distinguished by deep characterization, heart-stopping naval combat, and an attention to detail that enriches and enlivens his stories. In the revised edition of A Sea of Words, Dean King and his collaborators dive into Jack Aubrey's world. In the revised edition of Harbors and High Seas, King details not just where Aubrey and Maturin went, but how they got there. Packed with maps and illustrations from the greatest age of sail, it is an incomparable reference for devotees of O'Brian's novels and anyone who has dreamed of climbing aboard a warship, as well as a captivating portrait of life on the sea during a time when nothing stood between man and ocean but grit, daring, and a few creaking planks of wood. At the dawn of the nineteenth century, the British navy was the mightiest instrument of war the world had ever known. The Royal Navy patrolled the seas from India to the Caribbean, connecting an empire with footholds in every corner of the earth. Such a massive navy required the service of more than 100, 000 men—from officers to deckhands to surgeons. Their stories are collected in Every Man Will Do His Duty. The inspiration for the bestselling novels of Patrick O'Brian and C. S. Forester, these twenty-two memoirs and diaries, edited by Dean King, provide a true portrait of life aboard British warships during one of the most significant eras of world history. Patrick O'Brian was well into his seventies when the world fell in love with his greatest creation: the maritime adventures of Royal Navy Capt. Jack Aubrey and ship's surgeon Stephen Maturin. But despite his fame, little detail was available about the life of the reclusive author, whose mysterious past King uncovers in this groundbreaking biography. King traces O'Brian's personal history from his beginnings as a London-born Protestant named Richard Patrick Russ to his tortured relationship with his first wife and child to his emergence from World War II with the entirely new identity under which he would publish twenty volumes in the Aubrey–Maturin series. What King unearths is a life no less thrilling than the seafaring world of O'Brian's imagination. Patrick O'Brian: A Life Revealed is a penetrating and insightful examination of one of the modern world's most acclaimed historical novelists.

Editorial Note

THE TEXTS FOR THIS book were previously published, not taken from original manuscripts. They were edited minimally to conform to modern grammatical standards (for example, quotation marks, capitalization, the italicizing of ship names, and the use of numbers and numerals have been standardized, in most cases). Occasionally the punctuation has been altered for clarity, and, in some places, paragraph breaks were added for readability. Spellings have not been altered, except in a very few cases where it was necessary to prevent confusion. All bracketed material and footnotes that have been added by the editors of this book are italicized. All other notes are those of the original editor, though they were altered in places to conform to the style for this edition. For additional bibliographical information, see the Notes on the Texts section, beginning on page 407.

By request of the original editor, no changes were made to the two passages written by Jacob Nagle.

Abbreviations

SOME VARIATION OF THE following abbreviations will be seen after the names of many of the editors and authors of the histories in this book.

C.B. = Companion of the Order of the Bath

C.B.E. = Commander of the Order of the British Empire

D.Litt. = Doctor of Literature

F.R.C.S. = Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons

F.R.Hist.S. = Fellow of the Royal Historical Society

F.R.S. = Fellow of the Royal Society

F.S.A. = Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries

G.C.B. = Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath

K.C.H. = Knight Commander of the Order of Hanover

K.H. = Knight of Hanover

M.A. = Master of Arts

R.E. = Royal Engineers

R.N. = Royal Navy

List of Maps and Charts

Map of the Actions: World

Map of the Actions: Europe

The Battle of the Glorious First of June

The Battle of Cape St. Vincent

The Audacious Cruise of the Speedy

The Battle of Trafalgar

The Battle in the Aix Roads

A Yankee Cruiser in the South Pacific

His Lordship came to me on the poop, and, after ordering certain Signals to be made, about a quarter to noon, said, “Mr. Pasco, I want to say to the fleet, ‘England confides that every man will do his duty.’” He added, “You must be quick, for I have one more to add, which is for ‘Close Action.’” I replied, “If your Lordship will permit me to substitute expects for confides, the Signal will soon be completed, because the word expects is in the vocabulary, and confides must be spelt.” His Lordship replied in haste, and with seeming satisfaction, “that will do, Pasco, make it directly.”

As the last hoist was hauled down, Nelson turned to Captain Blackwood, who was standing by him, with, “Now I can do no more. We must trust to the great Disposer of all events, and the justice of our cause. I thank God for this great opportunity of doing my duty.”

When Lord Nelson’s message had been answered by a few ships in the van, he ordered me to make the signal for “Close Action” and keep it up. Accordingly I hoisted No. 16 at the top-gallant masthead, and there it remained until shot away.

—Pasco, the Victory’s signal lieutenant

Gratuities to the Relations of Officers and Others Killed in Action

1. TO A WIDOW, her husband’s full pay for a year.

2. Orphans, each the one-third proportion of a widow; posthumous children are esteemed orphans.

3. Orphans married are not entitled to any bounty.

4. If there is no widow, a mother, if a widow and above fifty years of age, is entitled to a widow’s share.

5. The relations of officers of fire-ships are entitled to the same bounty as those of officers of like rank in fourth rates.

6. Captains are to set down the names of the killed at the end of the muster book, and on what occasion.

7. This bounty extends to those who are killed in tenders, in boats, or on shore, as well as to those on board the ships; also to those who are killed in action with pirates, or in engaging British ships through mistake. They who die of their wounds after battle are all equally entitled with those killed in action.

—The Naval Chronicle, 1799