A Boston Schooner in the Royal Navy, 1768-1772
Commerce and Conflict in Maritime British America
By (author) Dr Phillip Reid
Publication date:
18 April 2023Length of book:
306 pagesPublisher
Boydell PressDimensions:
234x156mmISBN-13: 9781800107847
Uses rare surviving records, including fully intact logbooks, to situate the customs-enforcement interceptor Sultana within the wider picture of the British Atlantic in this crucial period.
HONORABLE MENTION: 2023 Lyman Book Award for North American Naval History
The small Boston-built schooner Sultana served as a customs-enforcement interceptor on the North American eastern seaboard in the period leading up to the American Declaration of Independence, when British taxation of American trade was a hugely contentious issue. As a typical workaday British American merchant ship taken into naval service, Sultana offers a rare opportunity to understand a technology of paramount importance to this world, where records for merchant ships are scarce, but where in this case a wealth of information, from plan drawings to the fully-intact logbooks, has survived. The book provides a detailed narrative of the ship's activities, and reveals the nature of life on board and the day to day business of operating a small sailing ship. It explores the technology of the ship and her sailing qualities as revealed by the ship's logs and also by the performance of a modern replica. In addition, the book situates Sultana's role within the wider picture of the British Atlantic in this crucial period. It is thereby both naval microhistory and also Atlantic history for all scholars interested in the formation and development of the British Atlantic world.
HONORABLE MENTION: 2023 Lyman Book Award for North American Naval History
The small Boston-built schooner Sultana served as a customs-enforcement interceptor on the North American eastern seaboard in the period leading up to the American Declaration of Independence, when British taxation of American trade was a hugely contentious issue. As a typical workaday British American merchant ship taken into naval service, Sultana offers a rare opportunity to understand a technology of paramount importance to this world, where records for merchant ships are scarce, but where in this case a wealth of information, from plan drawings to the fully-intact logbooks, has survived. The book provides a detailed narrative of the ship's activities, and reveals the nature of life on board and the day to day business of operating a small sailing ship. It explores the technology of the ship and her sailing qualities as revealed by the ship's logs and also by the performance of a modern replica. In addition, the book situates Sultana's role within the wider picture of the British Atlantic in this crucial period. It is thereby both naval microhistory and also Atlantic history for all scholars interested in the formation and development of the British Atlantic world.
War es nur eine Frage der Zeit, bis sich ein renommierter Schifffahrtshistoriker der Aufgabe stellte, nicht nur die Geschichte des Schiffes für eine breitere Öffentlichkeit zugänglich zu machen, sondern diese auch in den politisch-wirtschaftlichen Kontext zu stellen. Dazu kommen ausführliche Erläuterungen zu den damals üblichen Segelschiffen, zum Wetter und den daraus resultierenden Segelstellungen, wann Reffs eingebunden wurden usw.
It was only a matter of time before a renowned shipping historian took on the task of not only making the ship's history accessible to a broader public, but also placing it in the political and economic context. There are also detailed explanations of the sailing ships that were common at the time, the weather and the resulting sail positions, when reefs were integrated, etc.
It was only a matter of time before a renowned shipping historian took on the task of not only making the ship's history accessible to a broader public, but also placing it in the political and economic context. There are also detailed explanations of the sailing ships that were common at the time, the weather and the resulting sail positions, when reefs were integrated, etc.