Billy Ruffian

BLOOMSBURY

This book is dedicated

to my literary agents

Suzanne Gluck and

Gill Coleridge

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No I don't care a rap

For any Frenchy chap,

When they come they'll get the dressing they deserve;

I've the best four in the fleet,

That the French well could meet,

With the Fightin' Billy Ruff'n in reserve.

Billy Blue -

Here's to you, Billy Blue, here's to you!

As she broke the line with Howe,

So she's game to do it now,

And repeat her 'First o' June' here in these seas;

With their name for dauntless pluck,

And the Billy Ruff'n's luck,

I will fight as many Frenchmen as you please!

Billy Blue -

Here's to you, Billy Blue, here's to you!

Verses 6 and 7 of 'The Ballad of Billy Blue' which commemorated the action known as Cornwallis's Retreat. This took place off Brest on 17 June 1795. 'Billy Blue' was the sailors' nickname for Admiral William Cornwallis.

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CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

Maps

Introduction

1 Born of Oak: 1782-6

2 A Stormy Launch: 1786

3 His Majesty's Dockyard at Chatham: 1787-90

4 Preparations for War: 1790-4

5 The Glorious First of June: 1794

6 The Aftermath: 1794

7 Lord Cranstoun and Billy Blue: 1794-7

8 The Bay of Cadiz: 1797

9 In Search of Napoleon: 1797-8

10 Death at the Mouth of the Nile: 1798

11 The West Indies: 1798-1804

12 Prelude to Trafalgar: 1804-5

13 Victory or Death: 1805

14 Voices from the Lower Deck: 1805-7

15 Cruises in Northern Waters: 1807-14

16 Napoleon and the Bellerophon: 1815

17 Into Exile: 1815

18 A Hulk on the Medway: 1815-36

Epilogue

Appendix l: Progress Books for H.M. Ships

Appendix 2: 'Boney was a Warrior'

Appendix 3: The sails of a square-rigged ship

Glossary

Bibliography