Chapter Two Notes

A 31 inch Cable

A 31 inch cable. Rope over a certain size was labeled in terms of its circumference, not its diameter.

Grog

Grog was a mixture of rum and water and was served to every man and boy in the Navy twice a day.

Impérieuse was originally the Medea, captured from Spain in 1804. She was the fastest ship of her class in the Navy. At the time of The Battle of Aix-Roads, she mounted 40 guns and carried a crew of 284 men and 35 marines.

Nelson and the Battle of the Nile

The Battle of the Nile took place on the 1st of August 1798, in the Bay of Aboukir, Egypt. Rear Admiral Horatio Nelson demolished Admiral Brueys’ fleet, only four ships escaping from a fleet of 15.

Rating Ships

Rating Ships. To simplify administration of the Royal Navy, all warships were assigned a “rating.” This rating, a number from 1 (the largest) to 6, was based on the number and weight of her guns, and was used to decide the size of her crew and thus the cost of running her in terms of pay and rations.

Rochefort, Basque and Aix Roads

Rochefort is a commune in western France and a seaport on the southern Atlantic Coast. Used as a nautical term, Roads are simply the approaches to a harbor.

Spoke the Mail Packet

“Spoke the mail packet off the Azores,” means that they stopped the boat carrying mail and handed across mail for it to deliver, and were handed any mail destined for them.

Napoleon’s Gambit