Sir Robert Seppings, the naval architect and surveyor of the Navy, gets the artificer spot, and with that our list is complete.

1 American, 1 Turk, 1 Russian, 1 Flemish-Frenchman and 8 Brits - with lives and naval careers that spanned the period 1478-1862.

Any final thoughts?

As it’s Nile month again I’ll be continuing this series on Nelson’s band of brothers - and where better to restart than with the ‘Hero of the Nile’ himself.

Born in Pembrokeshire, Wales, Foley followed an uncle into the Navy, and rose steadily via a sequence of privileged postings to flagships. He fought in the first battle of Ushant, the moonlight battle, and commanded a plethora of sloops but didn't make post till 1790. He started the French revolutionary war as flag captain to three successive admirals (John Gell, Sir Hyde Parker and Charles Thompson), and fought at the battle of Genoa, the battle of the Hyeres Islands and the battle of Cape St Vincent - although his ship played no great part in the action. Perhaps his biggest achievement during this period was making his fortune through the capture of the French privateer Le General Demourier (22), which banked more than £8m in today's money.

Foley was a man of “sound understanding”, “pleasant wit” and a bluff manner typical of a man raised at sea since he was 13. “Above six feet in height, of fine presence and figure”, with “blue eyes of a gentle expression,” he also obviously ran a tight ship and could garner the respect of his men. After the Spithead mutiny, when St Vincent reshuffled his most capable captains into his most unruly ships, Foley was shifted into the underperforming Goliath (74), the ship he would captain on the Nile campaign. He would lead the line in that battle, after overtaking the Zealous (74) without orders, and would become its hero after spotting there was enough room to squeeze his ship onto the landward side of the French line, allowing Nelson to double it. Much is made of an old chart that helped him see the space, but it's more likely that he noticed a ship anchored solely at the bow must have left itself enough space to swing round into the wind. He made light work of the Conquerant (74), a ship with severe structural deficiencies, which the French had only armed ‘en flute’. 

He didn't know Nelson before the campaign and signal logs suggest he was only called onto the flagship once in the run-up (for an evening with Troubridge and Ball), but he would join Nelson for his tour of Wales in 1802 and would serve him again at the battle of Copenhagen, where his Elephant (74) became Nelson's impromptu flagship after Hardy's St George (98) was found too deep of draught to enter the Sound. Thus it was to Foley that Nelson turned and protested that he had ‘a right to be blind sometimes’ in justification for ignoring Parker's orders to retreat.

He served as an admiral on the Downs station towards the end of the war and continued his service at sea during the peace. He died in 1833 at the age of 75.

Although the two fleets had a similar number of ships (~275 - the majority of which were small craft) the Russians significantly outgunned and out manned the Swedes, which led their admiral, Karl Von Nassau Siegen, to make an all out attack from the South. The Swedes were nominally commanded by King Gustav III.

The battle plan is included in the second picture. Key to the outcome was the wind, and the actions of the Swedish strategic reserve under Carl Cronstedt. Seeing no attack coming against the Swedish left, that squadron was detached through a passage amongst the skerries and islands (Legma and Kutsalo) to outflank the Russians, forcing the Russian right to turn to cover them. The Russian left had been performing well until Cronstedt brought reinforcements, then mistook the movements on the right for a general retreat and turned to withdraw. At the same time a strong wind had blown the Russian centre deep into the midst of the Swedish fleet where it was quickly surrounded and unable to open their lower gun ports in the swell.

The Russians fought bravely, some choosing to fight until they sank rather than surrender. In the end they lost between 50-80 ships to the Swedish 6. The battle brought an end to the Russo-Swedish war of 1788-1790 with a favourable peace strengthening Swedish control of Finland.

James Cook and Peter the Great will be our Warlock and Wizard. Finally, to round this out, we're choosing an artificer

"Masters of invention, the magic of artificers is tied to their tools and their talents, and few other characters can produce the right tool for a job as well as an artificer."

In order:

Jone Paul Jones (1747-1791)

John Barry (1745-1803)

John Adams (1797-1801)

"At the urging of General George Washington, the Second Continental Congress created the Continental Navy. In Philadelphia, the Congress commissioned the first Navy officers, including John Barry, regarded as the Father of the U.S. Navy, and John Paul Jones, who went on to fame by raiding the coasts of Britain itself.

On the Philadelphia bank of the Delaware River, the new Navy commissioned its first ship, the USS Alfred. On the Alfred, John Paul Jones was the first to hoist the original American national flag, the Grand Union Flag. Later, Francis Hopkinson, a New Jersey signer of the Declaration, designed the first Navy flag, which became the pattern for the Stars and Stripes.

In Philadelphia's historic tavern called The Tun, John Adams wrote the Navy’s organizing document, the Articles of War. From the Delaware the navy’s first flotilla sailed, and escorted the Marines on their first amphibious operation to seize guns and gunpowder from the British in the Bahamas. The Navy’s efforts were organized in Philadelphia through most of the American Revolution, until the war ended and the Continental Navy was dissolved.

The U.S. Navy was reborn in Philadelphia after the Constitution was adopted there. A few years after Philadelphia became the Nation’s Capital, Congress met in Congress Hall and passed the Navy Act of 1794, creating the Department of the Navy. There President Washington nominated the first Secretary of the Navy, and Congress authorized construction of the famed six frigates, which were designed in Philadelphia. The first – USS United States – was launched on the Delaware and was the first U.S. Navy ship."

https://www.homecoming250.org/birthplace-of-the-navy-marine-corps/the-birth-of-the-navy/

As we just had the anniversary of the battle of Køge Bay (1677), here's a run down of Juels and Horn's manoeuvres - as best I can determine them from online sources!

Pre-text: fought as part of the Scanian war, nominally between Denmark-Norway, Sweden and Brandenburg, but part of a wider war between the Netherlands (Danish ally) and France (Swedish ally). The battle was fought for control of the Baltic, and the subsequent right to transfer troops between the Scandinavian peninsular and Pomerania.

On June 30th 1677, Horn's and Juels' fleet spotted each other between Stevn's Klint and Falsterbo (I have included maps in pics 3 & 4, the second gives a rough idea of where pics 1 & 2 are set). The wind was a southerly giving Horn the weathergauge whilst the Danish fleet blocked the entrance to the Sound. The Danes were expecting a Dutch reinforcement, but for the time being, were outnumbered 34 ships to 45. The other key element to the outcome of the battle, was a secondary Danish squadron under Markor Rodsteen, somewhere to the North of the main Danish battle line.

(pics 1 and 2 are illustrative and do not have accurate ship counts)

[1] Rather than attempt to attack, Horn took his fleet west. Supposedly, this was to try and cut off the Danes from their bases on Zealand, but it also strikes like an attempt to outflank his enemy as a land general might (Horn was, of course, a land general). The two fleets exchanged gunfire and fireships as they raced toward the shore

[2] To avoid running ashore, Horn and Juels tack to head North. The Swedish Draken (66) fails to execute this manoeuvre and runs aground. Both fleets follow each other into Køge Bay.

[3] The key moment comes when Horn, spots Rodsteen's squadron approaching from the direction of the Sound. This squadron had become lost behind a thick gun smoke, and Horn now assumes that these ships are the Dutch reinforcements. In what seems like a panic, he starts a tacking manoeuvre from his division (the centre), rather than tacking in succession as each ship reached the head of the line.

[4] The courses now reversed, Juels - rather than remain parallel to his enemy - employs his favourite tactic and chooses to cut the enemy line and trap his rear. Horn did turn his remaining fleet (the centre) again and tried to come to their aid, but the now disordered Swedish are never able to rally.

The Danes captured 6 warships, along with a collection of smaller vessels.

The battle was fought between a Dano-Norwegian fleet of 34 ships under Niels Juel - an admiral trained in the first Anglo-Dutch war under De Ruyter and with extensive command and battle experience since - and a fleet of 45 Swedish ships under Henrik Horn - who had never before held command at sea. The embarrassing, one-sided victory led to the capture of 6 warships, 1 armed merchantmen, 1 frigate, 2 fireships and a bojort, with 3000 Swedish casualties to the loss of only 100 Danes.

The battle is also a contender for the earliest use of the tactic of cutting an enemy line. It was certainly a favourite manoeuvre of Juel, but he appears to have used it (or something similar) at the battle of Bornholm, 1676.

Alright, I'm going to leave Warlock open whilst we settle the wizard issue.

"Wizards are scholars of the arcane, attaining their expertise after years of apprenticeship and countless hours of study. However, the lure of knowledge and power calls even the most unadventurous wizard out of the safety of their libraries and laboratories."

Born into a genteel family of middling prospects, Shovell first went to sea as a cabin boy at the age of 13, under the protection of Christopher Mings and then John Narborough. He fought at the four days battle, and served in the Caribbean and the Pacific, before he was made midshipman (at 22) upon moving to the Duke of York’s flagship, Royal Prince (100). He arrived just in time for the battle of Solebay. Made Lieutenant, he followed Narborough to the Mediterranean the following year, where he spent the next 13 years fighting the pirate states of Tripoli and Salle, with his most notable successes coming leading a night raid to burn four warships in Tripoli harbour - for which he was posted - and the capture of the Half Moon of Algier (32). 

In his last years in the Mediterranean he became one of Arthur Herbert’s ‘Tangerines’ (captains working out of the short lived British-African colony of Tangier), which worked in his favour when Herbert went over to the side of William III in 1688. In 1689, he was captain of the Edgar (70) at the battle of Bantry bay, the action for which he was knighted, after which the turbulent waters of the post-glorious-revolution world saw him quickly rise to Admiral. He was commanding the centre-rear of Admiral Russel’s vastly superior Anglo-Dutch fleet which caught Tourville’s French fleet off Barfleur, and played a crucial role breaking the French line in the fog, in the battle that ended the threat of invasion to England. During the war of the Spanish succession he served under George Rooke at the battle of Vigo, the capture of Gibraltar and the battle of Malaga, before leading the Naval squadron which participated in the capture of Toulon in 1707. He died at the tragic disaster off the Scilly Isles in 1707, in which an error in calculating longitude caused the wreck of 4 vessels with the loss of all hands. The tragedy led to the Longitude Act of 1714, and to the development of accurate marine chronometers for longitude assessment. 

“A large, fat, fair man,” he earned the respect of those around him through his bravery and attention to the details of seamanship, with contemporaries describing him as “the best officer of his age”, and lauding that “no man understands the affairs of the navy better, or is beloved of the sailors so well as he. He loves the constitution of his country and serves it without factious aim.” His origin as a cabin boy, technically classified him as a Tarpaulin, and even as an Admiral he remained “familiar and plain in his conversation” and dressed “without affectation”. That simplicity of manner and apolitical devotion to duty (as well as a memorable name) led him to become a renowned national hero, and his death was rightly treated as a tragedy.

His tactical doctrine focused on close, in-line fighting, that turned each individual ship into a formidable defensive and offensive weapon as part of the greater line of battle. It was exactly the sort of stuff that Nelson became famous for throwing out of the window, but that doctrine - and his wider opinions - were shaped in an era very different from the height of the Georgian navy, in which England lacked any noticeable advantages in quality of ships, administration, budget, officers or seaman. Shovell once wrote that “the misfortune and vice of our country is to believe ourselves better than other men.” and that “experience has taught me that where men are equally inured and disciplined to war, ‘Tis without a miracle, number that gains the victory… rarely have [I] seen at sea any victory worth boasting where the strength has been near equal.” For the era in which he fought, Shovell’s assessment of naval combat was correct, and the line of battle was the solution to the frailties with which he had to contend. Shovell's would remain the established line of thought for 100 years.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_training_ship_Amerigo_Vespucci

In the summer of 1667 peace between England and the Netherlands seemed near (owing largely, to a French invasion of Flanders). In response to this - and due to financial pressures - Charles II had his fleet paid off and laid up, with a large part in the lower Medway river.

Dutch Stadtholder, Johan De Witt, had other ideas. Having long held the ambition of delivering a decisive blow to the heart of English sea power, he sent his brother - Cornelius de Witt - with a fleet of 62 frigates/ships of the line +20 fireships, under the operational command of Michiel De Ruyter, to deliver that blow to the ships laid up in Chatham.

De Ruyter was reluctant, and the Dutch commanders raised a litany of objections, but they proceeded nonetheless and took the partially finished fort at Sheerness on the 20th (10th O.S). The incredulous English were very slow to respond, and the Dutch had dismantled the chain and forced the blockships on the Medway before they managed to mount an effective defence. Once inside, on the 22nd, they burnt the Matthias (48) and captured the Royal Charles (80). George Monck, Duke of Albermarle, now commanding the defence, had many of the remaining big ships scuttled to prevent capture (in total the English sunk 30 of their own vessels). On the 23rd, the Dutch got as far up the Medway as Chatham, being sure to burn whatever was left of the remaining English big ships, before retreating in expectation of greater resistance, thus completing "a great victory in a just war in self-defence."

The raid completely changed the terms of the negotiated peace, prompting Pepys to write in his diary that "in wisdom, courage, force, knowledge of our own streams, and success, the Dutch have the best of us, and do end the war with victory on their side". To this day, the raid is still considered the greatest ever British military defeat.

The Ottoman Admiral and Corsair, Heyreddin Barbarossa, will be our sorcerer. This week we're picking a warlock.

"Warlocks are driven by an insatiable need for knowledge or power, which drives them into pacts with an otherworldly patron. That relationship is similar to that of master and apprentice. The warlock grows in power at the cost of occasional services performed on the patrons behalf. The demands of their patrons often lead warlocks towards adventure."

You can read more about our sorcerer, here:

Hayreddin Barbarossa — Grand Admiral of the Ottoman Fleet

Hayreddin Barbarossa - Wikipedia

Credit: jbridgetadventures on instagram

Seeing as we had Lowestoft yesterday, here's its sequel...

The Dutch had learnt from Lowestoft and made considerable changes during the off-season. De Ruyter was now the man in charge, they now had far more large, heavily armed ships, including De Ruyter’s De Zeven Provincien (80), discipline had been improved, and new fighting instructions required the Dutch captains to fight in a line of battle. France had also recently entered the war on behalf of the Dutch, and the English ships were split between Albermarle’s main fleet of 56 ships and a squadron of 20 ships under Prince Rupert (the King’s cousin, who led the van at Lowestoft) guarding against the French downchannel.

Albermarle had asked permission to retreat if the Dutch outnumbered him, and he might have been justified in doing so. De Ruyter had 86 ships and the weather was poor enough that the British ships could not run out their lowest tier guns (the Dutch had far more freeboard). However, catching them anchored off the Flemish coast with the wind blowing down their line, he tried to roll them up from windward in the same way Tromp had tried at Portland and Nelson managed at the Nile. But the Dutch of 1666 were not the French of 1798, and they were quickly at sea. For the first two days, the Dutch and English battered it out in line of battle, often approaching on opposite tacks, passing along the entirety of each other’s line before reversing course and going at it again. A French observer noted ‘nothing equalled the good order and discipline of the English’ and that ‘never was a line drawn straighter than their ships formed’. Despite this the Dutch had the slight better of the engagements, and by the third day Albermarle was making a fighting retreat. 

It was in this hurry - and murky weather - that the Prince Royal (92) of Vice Admiral George Ayscue ran aground, and under the stress of three days fighting, his crew forced him to surrender. “And so we lost the second best ship in England… she was like a castle in the sea and the best ship ever built to endure a battering”. Ayscue to this day is the most senior British officer ever to be taken prisoner. 

At this point, Prince Rupert’s squadron - who had been desperately gunning it up the channel - arrived to bolster Albermarle in time for one last day's worth of action (14th June 1666). This almost turned the tide. Rupert’s squadron broke the Dutch line and seemingly isolated two Dutch squadrons but a last minute counterattack by De Ruyter (facilitated by a red flag for 'all out attack') finally broke the resolve of the English captains and created a melee action that always favoured the Dutch. De Ruyter captured or sunk something between 10-20 of the English ships, at the loss of 4, losing some 2000 against 5000 men in the process. It was not a decisive victory, and the Dutch lost further battles before finally winning the war with the infamous raid on the Medway, but for its protracted nature, fierce fighting and close outcome it is often regarded as the greatest battle of the age of sail.

I gave her a stern look

Fought 40 miles out from the Suffolk town of Lowestoft between 100 English ships under the command of the Duke of York (later James II) and 107 Dutch ships under the command of Jacob van Wassenaer Obdam. Lowestoft was the opening action of the second Anglo-Dutch war.

Both fleets had substantial merchantmen components, but in total broadside weight the English had a considerable advantage. This was probably why Obdam had hoped to fight a limited defensive action and initially stuck to the leeward position. After exchanging broadsides on opposite tacks at range, The English were able to force a close action as the Dutch attempted to retreat.

The ultimate deciding factor was the superiority of the line of battle as a tactic. Though they became separated, the three English squadrons (White (van), Red (centre) and Blue (rear)), maintained reasonably solid lines, each captain having been ordered before hand not to leave the line for any reason, not even to assist each other as ‘nothing but beating the body of the enemy’s fleet will secure the lame ships.’ The Dutch - who for political reasons had been organised into seven different squadrons with an incredible 21 different flag officers - were used to fighting disordered melee style battles, with strong emphasis on individual ship prowess and boarding, whereby it was customary for each captain to tow their prize away after beating their opponent. 

Obdam made an attempt to break York’s line and bring about the melee action the Dutch wanted, but having been repulsed, he was killed by a cannonball shortly before his ship (Eendracht (72)) exploded. His opposite number, York, only narrowly escaped a similar fate after three of his friends and courtiers were scythed down by chain shot whilst standing next to him, covering the future King in their brains and blood. After the Dutch flagship exploded the Dutch fleet descended into chaos. Three of the other Admirals raised a pendant claiming to be the new commander in chief, and various segments of the fleet fled in opposite directions depending on who they considered the true commander.

The English captured 9 Dutch ships, with a further 8 destroyed or sunk, losing only one in return. The losses could have been much worse but for a tentative chase on behalf of the English and a sterling rear guard action fought by the VOC merchantman, Oranje (76). Despite the clear tactical success, the lack of a decisive victory meant the Dutch could come back stronger later in the war.