What do you think?
Rate this book
Fighting at Sea in the Eighteenth Century: The Art of Sailing Warfare
Naval warfare is vividly brought to life, from first contact through how battles were won and lost to damage repair.
Our understanding of warfare at sea in the eighteenth century has always been divorced from the practical realities of fighting at sea under sail; our knowledge of tactics is largely based upon the ideas of contemporary theorists[rather than practitioners] who knew little of the realities of sailing warfare, and our knowledge of command is similarly flawed. In this book the author presents new evidence from contemporary sources that overturns many old assumptions and introduces a host of new ideas. In a series of thematic chapters, following the rough chronology of a sea fight from initial contact to damage repair, the author offers a dramatic interpretation of fighting at sea inthe eighteenth century, and explains in greater depth than ever before how and why sea battles (including Trafalgar) were won and lost in the great Age of Sail. He explains in detail how two ships or fleets identified each other to be enemies; how and why they manoeuvred for battle; how a commander communicated his ideas, and how and why his subordinates acted in the way that they did.
Our understanding of warfare at sea in the eighteenth century has always been divorced from the practical realities of fighting at sea under sail; our knowledge of tactics is largely based upon the ideas of contemporary theorists[rather than practitioners] who knew little of the realities of sailing warfare, and our knowledge of command is similarly flawed. In this book the author presents new evidence from contemporary sources that overturns many old assumptions and introduces a host of new ideas. In a series of thematic chapters, following the rough chronology of a sea fight from initial contact to damage repair, the author offers a dramatic interpretation of fighting at sea inthe eighteenth century, and explains in greater depth than ever before how and why sea battles (including Trafalgar) were won and lost in the great Age of Sail. He explains in detail how two ships or fleets identified each other to be enemies; how and why they manoeuvred for battle; how a commander communicated his ideas, and how and why his subordinates acted in the way that they did.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2008
2 people are currently reading
141 people want to read
About the author
Sam Willis
50 books55 followersDr Sam Willis is a maritime historian and archaeologist and is a fellow of the Royal Historical Society.
He is the author of the best-selling Hearts of Oak Trilogy and the Fighting Ships Series. He has consulted on maritime history for many clients including the BBC, Channel 4, NBC America and Christie's.
Sam's work is coloured by his knowledge and experience of seamanship. Sam's unique approach to maritime history and his vivid style of writing has led to him being described as 'A Nautical Tour de Force'.
He is the author of the best-selling Hearts of Oak Trilogy and the Fighting Ships Series. He has consulted on maritime history for many clients including the BBC, Channel 4, NBC America and Christie's.
Sam's work is coloured by his knowledge and experience of seamanship. Sam's unique approach to maritime history and his vivid style of writing has led to him being described as 'A Nautical Tour de Force'.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
November 14, 2014
My background is entirely land-based. I’ve never served in the Navy, nor even sailed a boat, with the exception of a few months in college trying to learn how not to capsize a Sunfish. Nevertheless, ever since discovering in junior high my father’s collection of Hornblower novels, I’ve been a dedicated fan of Napoleonic-era sea stories. I’ve read all of C. S. Forester several times, all of O’Brian at least twice, all of Marryat, all of Lambdin, all of Pope, all of Stockwin, . . . all the fictional offerings of any halfway competent storyteller during the past fifty years about the exploits of the Royal Navy in the Age of Sail. And, being a librarian, archivist, and historian, I’ve made an attempt along the way to educate myself about how a frigate or a man-of-war works, how the Admiralty approached the series of wars Britain fought with France, and who the major players were in real life. And I know most of my fellow fans, the serious ones (and most of them tend to be serious), do much the same thing. It’s not unusual to come across an insurance salesman in Nebraska who is an O’Brian fan and who therefore knows and can explain the difference between a gig and a jolly boat, or between a backstay and a buntline.
All of which is a lead-up to saying that, in my experienced opinion, this volume by Willis, an accomplished maritime historian and archaeologist as well as a qualified sailor in square-riggers, is a must-read. The author’s approach is almost that of a textbook (I wouldn’t be surprised to see this book being assigned as required reading at the USNA), complete with detailed citations to specific sources. Each chapter considers a distinct topic: contact with the enemy, chase and escape (a captain and his vessel might be either on different days), station keeping, communications (especially in fleet actions), the “unwritten rules” (which were just as important as the official Fighting Instructions), the nature of command and how it evolved over the century, one-on-one ship’s tactics, the somewhat different nature of fleet tactics, damage and how it was dealt with, and the all-important “weather gage” -- which the author convincingly shows might not have been all that important after all. Willis has spent an improbable amount of time gathering material from primary sources -- mostly by wading through the British National Archives’s enormous collection of naval captain’s daily logs, admirals’ more expansive journals, captains’ reports to the Admiralty on sea fights of all sorts, damage reports, and occasional letters from seamen and petty officers, as well as the complete minutes of every court martial the Royal Navy ever held. The latter are especially useful because they include a variety of accountings from different viewpoints of the same naval battles, as those involved try to justify themselves and their actions. He frequently quotes from the originals and that alone is enough to fascinate any fan of naval fiction. Probably because this isn’t Willis’s first volume on sailing warships, and because he has also worked for the BBC, his style is clear and precise without being overly technical. Or, when he can’t avoid technicalities, he makes sure to explain himself. He also includes a very good glossary, a list with comments of all the Navy’s fleet actions between 1688 and 1815, and an extensive (fifteen-page!) bibliography which comprises a excellent and up-to-date guide to further reading. I will be consulting and re-reading this one for many years to come.
All of which is a lead-up to saying that, in my experienced opinion, this volume by Willis, an accomplished maritime historian and archaeologist as well as a qualified sailor in square-riggers, is a must-read. The author’s approach is almost that of a textbook (I wouldn’t be surprised to see this book being assigned as required reading at the USNA), complete with detailed citations to specific sources. Each chapter considers a distinct topic: contact with the enemy, chase and escape (a captain and his vessel might be either on different days), station keeping, communications (especially in fleet actions), the “unwritten rules” (which were just as important as the official Fighting Instructions), the nature of command and how it evolved over the century, one-on-one ship’s tactics, the somewhat different nature of fleet tactics, damage and how it was dealt with, and the all-important “weather gage” -- which the author convincingly shows might not have been all that important after all. Willis has spent an improbable amount of time gathering material from primary sources -- mostly by wading through the British National Archives’s enormous collection of naval captain’s daily logs, admirals’ more expansive journals, captains’ reports to the Admiralty on sea fights of all sorts, damage reports, and occasional letters from seamen and petty officers, as well as the complete minutes of every court martial the Royal Navy ever held. The latter are especially useful because they include a variety of accountings from different viewpoints of the same naval battles, as those involved try to justify themselves and their actions. He frequently quotes from the originals and that alone is enough to fascinate any fan of naval fiction. Probably because this isn’t Willis’s first volume on sailing warships, and because he has also worked for the BBC, his style is clear and precise without being overly technical. Or, when he can’t avoid technicalities, he makes sure to explain himself. He also includes a very good glossary, a list with comments of all the Navy’s fleet actions between 1688 and 1815, and an extensive (fifteen-page!) bibliography which comprises a excellent and up-to-date guide to further reading. I will be consulting and re-reading this one for many years to come.
April 3, 2022
The greatest thing about this book is the way it brings practical knowledge of sailing (both the authors and that of period writers) to bear on how naval actions worked at the height of the Age of Sail. I had never suspected just how difficult and time-consuming the manoeuvres that historians casually mention were to actually carry out.
Take tacking into the wind, for example. It sounds simple enough, and is in a modern yacht, but it isn't in a square-rigged ship of the line. For them, it's a three-point turn (complete with reversing in the middle) that can easily go horribly wrong (and often did with less experienced crews). Pulling off a change of direction into the wind with a line of sail is like an ice ballet with dozens of skaters manoeuvring at speed without colliding. If any ship mucks up its tack, the following ships will have to pass it on their current course, and it could be a long time before the line of battle is reformed.
Ships speed relative to the closeness of their gun ranges is another revelation. Combined with the distance between ships required for them to manoeuvre without having the following ship ram them, it's little wonder that battles quickly devolved into individual battles.
All-in-all, this book completely transformed the way I understand battles in the Age of Sail.
Take tacking into the wind, for example. It sounds simple enough, and is in a modern yacht, but it isn't in a square-rigged ship of the line. For them, it's a three-point turn (complete with reversing in the middle) that can easily go horribly wrong (and often did with less experienced crews). Pulling off a change of direction into the wind with a line of sail is like an ice ballet with dozens of skaters manoeuvring at speed without colliding. If any ship mucks up its tack, the following ships will have to pass it on their current course, and it could be a long time before the line of battle is reformed.
Ships speed relative to the closeness of their gun ranges is another revelation. Combined with the distance between ships required for them to manoeuvre without having the following ship ram them, it's little wonder that battles quickly devolved into individual battles.
All-in-all, this book completely transformed the way I understand battles in the Age of Sail.
March 19, 2019
Although a fan of Willis' other works, this is not his best ... pedantic and repetitive in the most part. The interesting information about 18th Century war ships (gunnery, sailing attributes, tactics, communications and control, rigging and handling, etc) is overcome by frequent lengthy generalizations about the uncertainties of war at sea in the days of sail - the vagaries of time and tide, currents, weather, winds, leadership, strategies... much of which are not all that specific to the age of sail. The dichotomy between effective wartime leadership and popular peace time leadership has plagued armies and navies forever - just look at the Civil War, Korea, World Wars I and II... it is endemic to the nature of war and peace. The same can be said for many of the other topics to which Willis devotes a chapter - communications... fleet tactics... command... station keeping...
Overall, a disappointing book that I found somewhat tedious yet sporadically interesting.
Overall, a disappointing book that I found somewhat tedious yet sporadically interesting.
December 5, 2020
This book rocks.
December 1, 2022
Superb deep dive into Naval Warfare in the age of sail. Sam Willis, a well-known maritime historian has put together a series of his research essays into a cohesive and comprehensive story of Naval Warfare during the Napoleonic Wars. Each section of this book focuses on the base components of fleet action. The detail of this work is magnificent, illuminating documented rules for managing a ship or fleet in action as well as the unwritten rules in which Captians held themselves and their peers to account.
Sam Willis documents his sources that canvas naval publications, papers on tactics and interestingly court-martials that followed various fleet actions of the day. These fascinating accounts of both successful actions and defeats demonstrate the complexity of fighting a sailing frigate or fleet in action.
Highly recommended for those readers who love sea stories can learn and enjoy the intricacy of fighting at sea during the Napoleonic Wars.
Sam Willis documents his sources that canvas naval publications, papers on tactics and interestingly court-martials that followed various fleet actions of the day. These fascinating accounts of both successful actions and defeats demonstrate the complexity of fighting a sailing frigate or fleet in action.
Highly recommended for those readers who love sea stories can learn and enjoy the intricacy of fighting at sea during the Napoleonic Wars.
March 18, 2010
Author Sam Willis writes not only from serious study but from working the tall ships himself. He writes from a practical slant and gleans much from the historical record that a landlubber scholar would never be able to discern. This is very readable with excellent illustrations. A must addition for any college library.
May 26, 2014
I'm only part-way through this, but enthusiasm made me review before finishing. It achieves the rare feat of being highly technical, crystal clear, and thoroughly readable, all at the same time. If I have a quibble, it's that I would have liked more maps and contemporary illustrations - but that's just being greedy and I understand the economics of publishing, alas.
February 15, 2015
This is a fundamentally important book for anybody who studies the age of sail. It is very well written, and really sets out some of the basic truths about age-of-sail warfare. It doesn't lay out any incredible thought-provoking arguments, but that's not the point. It should be on every naval historian's bookshelf.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews