What do you think?
Rate this book
The Frigates: An Account of the Lesser Warships of the Wars from 1793 to 1815
Admiral Nelson's most frequent cry was for more frigates. Though not ships of the line these fast and powerful warships were the 'eyes of the fleet'. They enabled admirals to find where the enemy lay and his likely intentions, as well as patrolling vital trade routes and providing information from far-flung colonies. Together with their smaller cousins, the sloops and brigs of the Royal Navy, they performed a vital function. Generally commanded by ambitious young men, these were the ships that could capture enemy prizes and earn their officers and men enough prize-money to set them up for life. The fictional characters Horatio Hornblower and Jack Aubrey hardly surpassed some of the extraordinary deeds of derring-do and tragedy described in these pages. Originally published in two volumes, this book is a bargain for all who want the factual low-down on the Brylcreem Boys of Nelson's navy.
192 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 1970
1 person is currently reading
53 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
December 10, 2025
An excellent book on the days of the smaller sailing warships, the frigates, primarily during the Napoleonic Wars. This is primarily a history of Royal Navy frigates; however, towards the end, there is a portion devoted to America's sailing ships such as the USS Constitution.
One thing that stands out to me that, perhaps, I have not quite appreciated from past readings of naval history from this era is just how much sailing vessels were at the mercy of the whims of weather and geography --- in particular, the wind, both in direction and speed, and in dealing with features such as shoals, oft poorly charted in many areas of naval warfare during that time. The British were particularly skillful at reading the weather to their advantage and allowing individual captains initiative to react accordingly, getting within the decision loop of their adversaries much to their advantage.
For example, in one engagement, despite being outgunned and outmanned against a larger French ship of the line, the British captain realized that this opponent's vessel was heeled too far over to fire his upper deck of guns to hit him. Trimming his sails and adjusting course, he was then able to bring all decks of his guns in a full devastating broadside --- a David move against a Goliath, the lethality of which killed their captain, a number of their officers, forcing them to strike their flag.
For some reason, for nearly 2 centuries, the French and Spanish navies never changed their tactics against their British opponents. These were, in general, to have more men aboard, and to aim their shots at their opponents' sails, rigging, and masts in an effort to immoblize and then board them, capturing their vessel. The British, on the other hand, sought to kill the enemy crew and disable their guns.
Despite the French and Spanish frigates and other ships being actually better designed than Britain's and having more guns, the British tactics had a lopsided "kill ratio": from 1793 to 1815, the French destroyed 17 British ships. The British, in the same period, destroyed 229 French ships. Yet, curiously, neither the French nor the Spanish seem to have done a reappraisal of their tactics against the Royal Navy.
In particular, with the Royal Navy, it seems then to have excelled in encouraging its frigate captains to take initiative and to engage in calculated risk taking --- the results were often devastating upon their French and Spanish adversaries who, in contrast, had a much more defensive mindset.
In 1812, after nearly 20 years of War, the Royal Navy confronted yet another adversary, the US Navy On the face of it, such a contest for the Americans was a fool's errand: the USN had only 20 ships vs. the RN's 584. However, by this time, the RN had a bit of a superiority complex --ignoring some x-factors. Fielding such a vast fleet, for example, required scouring the bottom of the barrel for whatever men their press gangs could capture to supplement their experienced cadre of seamen: landmen, bums, even prisoners. In contrast, America's smaller fleet was manned by seasoned professional sailors very motivated to take the fight to their adversaries from the American Revolution. In addition, the average American frigate was better designed and constructed from better wood than the average British ship.
The result was a number of upsets in American vs British contests --- of considerable embarrassment to the British Admiralty. Having said that, quantity takes on a quality of its own, and, in the end, the British had little difficulty in blockading the US and engaging in naval and landing operations against the US during the War.
Overall, an excellent book on ships during the Age of Sail -- I recommend it for naval history buffs!
One thing that stands out to me that, perhaps, I have not quite appreciated from past readings of naval history from this era is just how much sailing vessels were at the mercy of the whims of weather and geography --- in particular, the wind, both in direction and speed, and in dealing with features such as shoals, oft poorly charted in many areas of naval warfare during that time. The British were particularly skillful at reading the weather to their advantage and allowing individual captains initiative to react accordingly, getting within the decision loop of their adversaries much to their advantage.
For example, in one engagement, despite being outgunned and outmanned against a larger French ship of the line, the British captain realized that this opponent's vessel was heeled too far over to fire his upper deck of guns to hit him. Trimming his sails and adjusting course, he was then able to bring all decks of his guns in a full devastating broadside --- a David move against a Goliath, the lethality of which killed their captain, a number of their officers, forcing them to strike their flag.
For some reason, for nearly 2 centuries, the French and Spanish navies never changed their tactics against their British opponents. These were, in general, to have more men aboard, and to aim their shots at their opponents' sails, rigging, and masts in an effort to immoblize and then board them, capturing their vessel. The British, on the other hand, sought to kill the enemy crew and disable their guns.
Despite the French and Spanish frigates and other ships being actually better designed than Britain's and having more guns, the British tactics had a lopsided "kill ratio": from 1793 to 1815, the French destroyed 17 British ships. The British, in the same period, destroyed 229 French ships. Yet, curiously, neither the French nor the Spanish seem to have done a reappraisal of their tactics against the Royal Navy.
In particular, with the Royal Navy, it seems then to have excelled in encouraging its frigate captains to take initiative and to engage in calculated risk taking --- the results were often devastating upon their French and Spanish adversaries who, in contrast, had a much more defensive mindset.
In 1812, after nearly 20 years of War, the Royal Navy confronted yet another adversary, the US Navy On the face of it, such a contest for the Americans was a fool's errand: the USN had only 20 ships vs. the RN's 584. However, by this time, the RN had a bit of a superiority complex --ignoring some x-factors. Fielding such a vast fleet, for example, required scouring the bottom of the barrel for whatever men their press gangs could capture to supplement their experienced cadre of seamen: landmen, bums, even prisoners. In contrast, America's smaller fleet was manned by seasoned professional sailors very motivated to take the fight to their adversaries from the American Revolution. In addition, the average American frigate was better designed and constructed from better wood than the average British ship.
The result was a number of upsets in American vs British contests --- of considerable embarrassment to the British Admiralty. Having said that, quantity takes on a quality of its own, and, in the end, the British had little difficulty in blockading the US and engaging in naval and landing operations against the US during the War.
Overall, an excellent book on ships during the Age of Sail -- I recommend it for naval history buffs!
June 1, 2025
An enjoyable, breezily written account of some well-known, and less well-known frigate actions of the Napoleonic War and the War of 1812; readers of C.S. Forester will recognize great chunks of Ship of the Line in the actions of Lord Cochrane, and will recall that the young Hornblower served with Sir Edward Pellew in the Indefatigable. There are odd mistakes; Henderson apparently believed that the American frigates United States and Constitution were designed and laid down as 74 gun ships of the line, and that the President was built from different plans; in fact all three were more or less identical in their hulls, less so in their details, and although they were big frigates, none of them was laid down or planned as a 74. The last chapter, the adventures of the captain and crew of HMS Alceste in the Pacific, is utterly delightful - they were conveying an ambassador out east, were wrecked, and went through amazing adventures. In fact, my question is, why no one has written this up as a book, as it's every bit as exciting as the loss of the Batavia (written up as the best selling book Batavia's Graveyard by Mike Dash over 20 years ago!) with none of the dismal aspects.
Pleasurable reading if you come across a copy (I was reading the first printing from Dodd, Mead; there's a newer but still old edition by Wordsworth), and it will likely inspire further reading on your part into a very interesting era of naval history.
Pleasurable reading if you come across a copy (I was reading the first printing from Dodd, Mead; there's a newer but still old edition by Wordsworth), and it will likely inspire further reading on your part into a very interesting era of naval history.
October 24, 2021
Worth the read for those interested in the subject. Written in 1970 by an author familiar with sailing then and in the days of wooden ships and iron men. A British author who considered two frigates battering each other with cannon point blank and then one boarding the other with hand to hand combat romantic. A view not uncommon in Britain to be sure.
If you forgive a certain amount of understandable romanticism and partisanship, an excellent history of British frigates in the late 18th and early 19th century. It includes a review of the heavy frigates of the US in the war of 1812 which is most fair minded and complimentary of the new born US Navy.
If you forgive a certain amount of understandable romanticism and partisanship, an excellent history of British frigates in the late 18th and early 19th century. It includes a review of the heavy frigates of the US in the war of 1812 which is most fair minded and complimentary of the new born US Navy.
August 23, 2012
An interesting and somewhat scholarly account of various naval engagements and descriptions of the different types of ships involved. It is easy to see where Patrick O'Brian got a lot of the material for his Aubrey/Maturin series. Many of the descriptions here were brought to life in the O'Brian novels.
July 2, 2012
This was a great little book. It was fun and very informative. History that was written in very flowing prose. It was a real delight.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews