Victory

Author’s Note

Although I have written ten books in the Kydd series, I approached the writing of this one with a little trepidation. The battle of Trafalgar was, after all, the grandest spectacle in naval history and has been the subject of many hundreds of books. How could I bring a new and fresh treatment to readers? In the end I decided that my focus would come from two vantage-points – that of newly promoted frigate captain Thomas Kydd, and Charles Bowden, a midshipman aboard Victory, who had served with Kydd before. It seemed appropriate that the book was written in 2009, the 250^th anniversary of the ‘Year of Victories’ and the laying down of this noble ship’s keel.

As an aside, what struck me when I began my research was that so many Americans were fighting for King George III at the time: in the fleet as a whole there were some four hundred, and aboard Victory, twenty-two. It might appear puzzling that Americans were involved in the conflict, but it seems that before the United States Navy reached its full potential it was not uncommon for young sons of Uncle Sam to be placed in the Royal Navy for the priceless experience it offered.

As I worked on the manuscript my respect for Horatio Nelson – already huge – if anything, increased. Often, in hindsight, the decisions of a battle commander can be questioned, but Nelson, on so many counts, either made the correct decision or took a sound calculated gamble. He was definitely right, for instance, to chase the French across the Atlantic. If he had not been lied to by a Yankee merchant ship there might have been a Trafalgar in the Caribbean and there, wildly outnumbered, even Nelson might not have prevailed. So perhaps England was unknowingly saved by an American.

I commend to all my readers at least one visit to Victory, now preserved in perpetuity in Portsmouth Historic Dockyard. Apart from admiring the sheer size and lofty grace of what was the eighteenth-century equivalent of a nuclear aircraft carrier today, do use your imagination to go back in time and think about the people who manned her at Trafalgar. What could it have been like for boys as young as eleven in that hellish battle? And how could men stand to their guns in hideous conditions for up to six hours and then, in the moment of triumph, cry like babies at the loss of their commander?

As usual, I owe a debt of gratitude to many people. Space precludes naming them all but I would particularly like to mention Peter Goodwin, keeper and curator of HMS Victory, who unstintingly gave of his time and knowledge during my week-long location research in Portsmouth, and granted me complete access to the iconic vessel; Dr Dennis Wheeler of the University of Sutherland, whose analysis of the meteorological conditions during October 1805 provided invaluable insights; and Gordon Simmonds, from the Historical Maritime Society, who painstakingly re-created just how Victory’s signals team must have worked. And, of course, a huge vote of thanks goes to my wife and literary partner, Kathy, my editor at Hodder & Stoughton, Anne Clarke, and my agent, Carole Blake.

Where will Kydd venture in the next books? Trafalgar destroyed Bonaparte’s invasion plan for England, but in 1805 the war is by no means over. Now Britain is free to begin the race to Empire!