Bolitho copes with a mutiny, then joins fleet against French in Caribbean

Enero de 1783, en el puerto de Portsmouth. La fragata de Su Majestad Phalarope recibe órdenes de acudir en apoyo de la debilitada flota del Caribe. Bolitho es su nuevo comandante. A primera vista la Phalarope es todo lo que puede desear un joven capitán, pero en realidad se trata de un buque caído en desgracia, la plana mayor de la flota lo considera un buque maldito y no confía en él. Entre sus oficiales reina la codicia y la ambición, mientras que entre la marinería corren rumores de insubordinación.

This book had been sitting on my shelves for years, but I finally picked it up for bedtime reading and it worked fine in that role. It also left me curious enough about the past and future adventures of Richard Bolitho, so I'll look up the next book in the series (in publication order) at some point. ( )

Richard Bolitho is a member of a famous Cornish Naval Family, and starts his Napoleonic Naval adventures earlier than Hornblower. It's very much to the Hornblower format, except that Bolitho is much less cerebral. ( )

Kent ranks right ups there with Forester (perhaps even better) and O'Brian (not quite as good as Patrick) in the realm of nautical fiction. There are still other authors out there I am only now discovering, as publishers — bless their souls — have discovered the market for this wonderful genre following in the wake of the very successful Aubrey/ Maturin series. McBooks Press and the Naval Institute have both begun "classic naval books" series to reissue titles that have been long out-of- print. Kent's hero is Richard Bolitho.

Unfortunately, I was unable to begin with the first volume in the series, a shortcoming that I will have to remedy. Bolitho is the son of a seafaring family. We learn in this volume that his black-sheep brother, Hugh, has fled to America to seek his fortune (it's 1782). Hugh has also become the captain of an American privateer. Richard is given command of the Phalarope, a ship beset with a mutinous crew, an ex-cowardly captain, and a vicious first lieutenant. He is sent to the West Indies where he and Hugh unintentionally stumble into each other's way during a battle. Richard is later captured and becomes the prisoner of his brother. Through a fortuitous change in the weather, Richard escapes. Much to the consternation of the service, he fails to kill his brother in the process, the theory being that perhaps he had shown leniency to an enemy. The Phalarope, Richard's ship, almost succumbs to a mutiny — hard to believe that might happen to Hornblower — but of course Richard manages to redeem himself in the eyes of the admiral and participate in a rather vicious battle against the French. An excellent read. ( )