Warships of the Napoleonic Wars

The wars of 1793-1815 are widely regarded as the apogee of the sailing man-of-war. Many seapowers became involved in the conflict, and at some point virtually all aligned themselves against Great Britain. Thanks to its superiority, the Royal Navy took many of its enemy ships in battle and developed the habit of drawing plans of the ones they captured. This book reproduces a representative selection of these plans for the main protagonists--French, Spanish, Dutch, Danish, Russian and American--and for the British themselves. All of the principal types of warships employed during the conflict are included, from huge three-deckers down to gunboats and even the support craft on which every dockyard depended. The narrative describes the function of each of the bewildering variety of rates, concentrating on their technical development and how they were used in action. An appendix lists other relevant plans available. For ship modelers and age-of-sail enthusiasts, the book offers essential reference material that showcases the incomparable collection of original ships' plans at the National Maritime Museum.