Battle Fleet

This is the third of Sam Witchall’s adventures, following on from Powder Monkey and Prison Ship, and follows Sam through his voyage back to England from Australia having been pardoned, to the finale of the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. The voyage through the Spice Islands has some dangerous moments but it does feel as though the story is marking time until Sam rejoins the Navy, this time as a midshipman, thanks to his friend Robert Neville’s connections, and is posted to Nelson’s flagship, HMS Victory.

The battle itself is told in some detail but somehow appears as an anticlimax. Nelson’s death is somewhat glossed over as he is taken below and Sam awaits his own fate. His bravado and hence the excitement for the reader is somewhat lacking as he ponders his prospects, standing on the poop deck in uniform, seemingly a clear target and Sam does not share Robert’s patriotism and excitement at the prospect of battle. There is much detail of life at sea and some vivid battle scenes but this story lacks the excitement and immediacy of Powder Monkey which this reviewer thought a very good historical novel.

There is a fledgling romance with a cockney maid which does not come to anything although there was a distinct feeling at the end of the book that there may be more of Sam’s adventures to come. The position of midshipman is described well, with the class distinction of the time clearly marked. Midshipmen were usually well born sons and Sam came from a less well connected family apart from his friendship with Robert Neville. The appearance of Captain Hardy and to a certain extent Lord Nelson himself add depth to the latter stages of the story and the battle, and the size of the ships themselves comes home to the reader through the descriptions. There is a map of the battle lines and a drawing of HMS Victory, but no map of the voyage which brought Sam back to England.