Log Of The Centurion Based On The Original Papers Of Captain Philip Saumarez On Board Hms Centurion Lord Ansons Flagship During His Circumnavigation 1740 44

Download or read book Hms Centurion 1733–1769 an Historic Biographical-Travelogue of One of Britain's Most Famous Warships and the Capture of the Nuestra Senora De Covadonga Treasure Galleon. written by Shirley Fish and published by AuthorHouse. This book was released on 2015-07-27 with total page 490 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When the Centurion and a squadron of six vessels and 1,959 men and boys set out from England in 1740, on a round-the-world expedition, they were unaware of the terrifying events that awaited them in the days ahead. The squadron, under the command of Commodore George Anson, had departed from England with every hope of a successful mission to harass and take prizes in the Spanish possessions of the Americas and in Asia. The journey proved more challenging than anticipated, and at times, it seemed nightmarish and beyond anything experienced by the crew. The ship survived two huge waves and a lightning strike. Then, there was the great loss of life amongst the crew who perished due to the devastating symptoms of scurvy. Despite these setbacks, there were moments of pure joy, especially when the Centurion captured the fabulously wealthy Manila-Acapulco Galleon in the Philippines, the Nuestra Senora de Covadonga. Throughout the Centurion's career as a royal naval warship in the eighteenth century, she played a role in the capture of Quebec during the French and Indian War and the invasion of Havana in the Seven Years War. She was also instrumental when dealing with the Barbary Corsairs of Algeria and Morocco. Amongst the famous men who sailed on this vessel were John Harrison, the inventor of the first maritime sea clock, and Joshua Reynolds, the celebrated portrait painter. The details of the journeys to the Americas, Asia, and Europe are described in this biographical-travelogue of the Centurion.

Download or read book Log of the Centurion, Based on the Original Papers of Captain Philip Saumarez on Board HMS Centurion, Lord Anson's Flagship During His Circumnavigation, 1740-44 written by Leo Heaps and published by London : Hart-Davis, MacGibbon. This book was released on 1973 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Log of the Centurion, Based on the Original Papers of Captain Philip Saumarez on Board HMS Centurion, Lord Anson's Flagship During His Circumnavigation, 1740-44 written by Leo Heaps and published by London : Hart-Davis, MacGibbon. This book was released on 1973 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Sloop of War, 1650–1763 written by Ian McLaughlan and published by Seaforth Publishing. This book was released on 2014-02-28 with total page 864 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A delight . . . fulfills a long-felt need to do justice to the smaller ships of war that did such sterling service for the sailing Royal Navy.”—Ships in Scale This is the first study in depth of the Royal Navy’s vital, but largely ignored small craft. In the age of sail, they were built in huge numbers and in far greater variety than the more regulated major warships, so they present a particular challenge to any historian attempting a coherent design history. However, for the first time this book charts the development of the ancillary types, variously described in the 17th century as sloops, ketches, brigantines, advice boats and even yachts, as they coalesce into the single 18th-century category of Sloop of War. In this era, they were generally two-masted, although they set a bewildering variety of sail plans from them. The author traces their origins to open boats, like those carried by Basque whalers, shows how developments in Europe influenced English craft, and homes in on the relationship between rigs, hull-form and the duties they were designed to undertake. Visual documentation is scanty, but this book draws together a unique collection of rare and unseen images, coupled with the author’s own reconstructions in line drawings and watercolor sketches to provide the most convincing depictions of the appearance of these vessels. By tackling some of the most obscure questions about the early history of small-boat rigs, the book adds a dimension that will be of interest to historians of coastal sail and practical yachtsmen, as well as warship enthusiasts. “Fascinating . . . It combines a truly scholarly delivery with a lovely presentation. History brought to life.”—tomcunliffe.com

Download or read book The Manila-Acapulco Galleons : the Treasure Ships of the Pacific written by Shirley Fish and published by AuthorHouse. This book was released on 2011-05-18 with total page 553 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries, the transpacific treasure galleons sailed annually from Manila to Acapulco. In Manila, the vessel was loaded with the scented spices of the East, luxurious silks from China, exquisite hand crafted lacquerware from Japan and a multitude of Oriental goods that the Spaniards of New Spain longed to own. The returning galleon from Acapulco to Manila, carried as much as 2.5 million silver pesos in payment of the goods sent to the New Spain in the previous year, as well as a yearly silver subsidy of 250,000 reales for the maintenance of the colonial government in the Philippines. But while the galleons mainly sailed alone and unaccompanied from Manila to Acapulco and vice versa, they were vulnerable to a host of calamities and misfortunes. A fire on board the vessel or a terrifying storm could end the voyage and the lives of every one on the ship even before the galleon was able to reach land. Additionally, the commanders of the galleons were always threatened by lurking pirates and privateers who preyed on the vessels and coveted the treasures they carried. The book describes in detail how the galleons were attacked at sea and how they fought against enemy vessels, as well as how many of the ships sank or were shipwrecked over the years. It also covers their management, construction, manning, weaponry, navigation, daily life on the ship, provisions, cargoes and voyages. The book contains an annotated list of the galleons sailing between the Philippines and Mexico from 1565 to 1815. This informative book is the first of its kind to cover such an expansive history of the Pacific galleons which up to this point had remained largely untold.

Download or read book Crusoe's Island written by Andrew Lambert and published by Faber & Faber. This book was released on 2016-09-13 with total page 251 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From an acclaimed naval historian, Crusoe's Island charts the curious relationship between the British and an island on the other side of the world: Robinson Crusoe, in the South Pacific.The tiny island assumed a remarkable position in British culture, most famously in Daniel Defoe's novel. Andrew Lambert reveals the truth behind the legend of this place, bringing to life the voices of the visiting sailors, scientists and artists, as well as the wonders, tragedy and violence that they encountered.

Download or read book The Wager written by David Grann and published by Doubleday. This book was released on 2023-04-18 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the author of Killers of the Flower Moon, a page-turning story of shipwreck, survival, and savagery, culminating in a court martial that reveals a shocking truth. The powerful narrative reveals the deeper meaning of the events on The Wager, showing that it was not only the captain and crew who ended up on trial, but the very idea of empire. A Best Book of the Year: The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, TIME, Smithsonian, NPR, Vulture, Kirkus Reviews “Riveting...Reads like a thriller, tackling a multilayered history—and imperialism—with gusto.” —Time "A tour de force of narrative nonfiction.” —The Wall Street Journal On January 28, 1742, a ramshackle vessel of patched-together wood and cloth washed up on the coast of Brazil. Inside were thirty emaciated men, barely alive, and they had an extraordinary tale to tell. They were survivors of His Majesty’s Ship the Wager, a British vessel that had left England in 1740 on a secret mission during an imperial war with Spain. While the Wager had been chasing a Spanish treasure-filled galleon known as “the prize of all the oceans,” it had wrecked on a desolate island off the coast of Patagonia. The men, after being marooned for months and facing starvation, built the flimsy craft and sailed for more than a hundred days, traversing nearly 3,000 miles of storm-wracked seas. They were greeted as heroes. But then ... six months later, another, even more decrepit craft landed on the coast of Chile. This boat contained just three castaways, and they told a very different story. The thirty sailors who landed in Brazil were not heroes – they were mutineers. The first group responded with countercharges of their own, of a tyrannical and murderous senior officer and his henchmen. It became clear that while stranded on the island the crew had fallen into anarchy, with warring factions fighting for dominion over the barren wilderness. As accusations of treachery and murder flew, the Admiralty convened a court martial to determine who was telling the truth. The stakes were life-and-death—for whomever the court found guilty could hang. The Wager is a grand tale of human behavior at the extremes told by one of our greatest nonfiction writers. Grann’s recreation of the hidden world on a British warship rivals the work of Patrick O’Brian, his portrayal of the castaways’ desperate straits stands up to the classics of survival writing such as The Endurance, and his account of the court martial has the savvy of a Scott Turow thriller. As always with Grann’s work, the incredible twists of the narrative hold the reader spellbound.