Cindy Vallar's Blog - Posts Tagged "shipwright"

The Master Shipwright's Secrets: How Charles II built the Restoration Navy by Richard Endsor

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Contemporary records don’t always answer our more puzzling questions. We might grasp the broad picture, but the specifics are murkier. After a decade of research, Richard Endsor uncloaks and enlightens us on how a master shipwright took an idea and from that designed and built ships for King Charles II’s navy. To fully grasp what this involved, Endsor focuses on one particular vessel, the Tyger. Along the way, he also shares both the historical evolution and technological developments of seventeenth-century warships, spicing this with information about the men who played key roles in their design. More importantly, he discusses and shares snippets from a theoretical treatise written by the master shipwright who built Tyger, John Shish.

Within the pages of this volume, the Tyger is reconstructed and a host of beautiful artwork, including several multi-page spreads, shows fascinating details on all aspects of the design and building process. Originally built in 1681, she was of keen interest to not only Shish but also the king, who played an active role in her construction. He even personally chose the man to first command her: Charles Berkeley, who was nineteen years old and the second Baron Berkeley of Stratton at the time.

The book is comprised of ten chapters and two appendices.

1. The Master Shipwright’s Considerations
2. Inventions and Innovations
3. No Such Thing as the Tyger
4. Planning a New Tyger
5. John Shish’s Account of the Dimensions of a Ship
6. The Draught of the New Tyger
7. Building the New Tyger
8. The New Tyger Commissioned
9. The Tyger’s Guns
10. Contemporary Shipbuilding Contracts Unveiled

Appendix 1: The Medway Warrant
Appendix 2: The Mordaunt Survey

In addition to the full-color design artwork, the pages are populated with paintings, portraits, period letters, drawings, drafts, diagrams, timelines, tables, and maps. Some artwork is contemporary, but most is from the author himself. A number of illustrations incorporate scale by showing people next to or on the various facets of the ship. Endnotes and an index are also included.

Master Shipwright’s Secrets is far more than just a book on ship construction. Endsor masterfully demonstrates how Shish made calculations in a time when computers did not exist and yet managed to do so without making proportional errors commonly encountered when taking a design idea and turning it into a reality. Along the way, the author discusses Shish’s contemporaries, a monarch who was well versed in all facets of ships, the duties and responsibilities of a master shipwright, and all the steps taken to turn an idea into a finished product.

Handsomely designed, this book is packed with so many awesome revelations in just over 300 pages that it requires two hands to hold. It is a readable and easy-to-understand study of a late seventeenth-century fourth-rate navy ship, although a bit of the technical and mathematical details may elude some readers. It is an invaluable resource on the Restoration Navy.




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Seaflower by Julian Stockwin

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


With the demise of the Artemis, Thomas Kydd finds himself the key witness in the upcoming court martial of her only surviving officer. His last visit to England involved a hero’s welcome and grand celebrations. Now, he and his surviving mates are virtual prisoners, instead of being given leave to visit family. Then, on an April night in 1794, they are whisked aboard a lumbering, decaying warship bound for the Caribbean. There will be no trial, no testimony, no one to blame for the shipwreck. The underhandedness leaves a bitter taste in the survivors’ mouths, but what recourse do they have against the Admiralty?

Their destination is Guadeloupe, currently under the occupation of British troops working with French royalists. Kydd and his friend, Nicholas Renzi, quarter in the town with a family still loyal to the monarchy, but fear of retribution permeates their lives. Rebels and insurgents inhabit other parts of the island and, when fighting resumes, the British and royalists are unable to stop the enemy’s advance. A mass evacuation ensues with much chaos, during which Kydd and Renzi become separated. Renzi accompanies the exiles on a different ship for Jamaica; Kydd helps his countrymen evade their pursuers, knowing that death awaits him if they are caught.

Kydd and his comrades are rescued just in time, but not without casualties. No sooner is he safe aboard Trajan once again than a hurricane strikes. Afterward, he is tasked with sailing the damaged vessel to the dockyard in Antigua for repairs; instead, the shipwright condemns the warship and Kydd finds himself ashore with a new assignment, Master of the King’s Negroes. Although he enjoys learning the construction side of shipping, he feels out of his depth in managing slaves who accomplish tasks he has little knowledge of. He longs to return to the sea, where his true talents will be most useful. The master shipwright is a religious man with strict rules. When Kydd violates one of them, he commits an unforgivable sin and is once again adrift.

A chance encounter with an admiral leads to Renzi working as a writer in Spanish Town, Jamaica. Most days he duplicates orders and tends to mundane matters. On rare occasions he translates French newspapers and papers that might contain nuggets of intelligence for the admiral. Renzi dislikes his assignment, but it suits his despondency over the loss of Kydd whom he believes died as the insurgents overran Guadaloupe.

Reunion is a constant theme throughout this story, not just with shipmates, but also with family. Fire at sea, ship engagements, a cutting out episode, and good leaders versus bad ones are some of Kydd’s many adventures this time around. His education continues in ways that provide readers with an understanding of life in the navy. He also has the opportunity to see impressment from the flip side; instead of being a victim, he is charged with acquiring a crew from amongst very reluctant men.

The mark of a great storyteller is one who consistently captures the mood of the story in ways that allow readers to experience firsthand the highs and lows the characters face whether these involve the pain of flogging, the misery of yellow fever, the bleakness of being landbound, the drudgery of paperwork, or nerve-wracking reconnaissance. Julian Stockwin is such an author. At the same time, he spins his tale with succinct writing and tantalizing action. Seaflower catches the reader in its web from the first page and doesn’t let go until the last. Even then the reader is left wanting more, which in this case is possible because this is but the third title in the Kydd Sea Adventures series.

(This review originally appeared at Pirates and Privateers: http://www.cindyvallar.com/Stockwin.h...)




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