Wanted: Advice from Book fans and Naval Historians

[esmerelda_t]

I'm toying with a fic idea and I need some advice.

What would Hornblower have been doing around 1834? If he was on a transatlantic voyage as a passanger on a Royal Navy ship, would he believably be able to issue orders to the Captain?

Comments

[nodbear]

Sorry but managed to post a non existent reply just now ! Don't know if this is much help but its a thought or two about Hormblower and 1834.

Its certainly an era in which Foster didn't have him doing much- he was of course beginning to be an old boy by then!

It was very much an end of an era and the start of a different one. Admiral Pellew died the year before of course and he was one of the last of that great Napoleonic era to go. The navy in 1830s was very powerful and sure of itself.And the age of the "civilian" navy was starting in the sense of the RN and the Merchant navy together servicing the growing demands of empire rather than the mpre heroic and individual exploits of the Napoleonic era.

If Hornblower were a passenger on any RN ship he would have had a formalised relationship with the captain-there would have been clear roles for them unless it were an emergency - ie they had fished him out of the sea or something ! Or if whatever is bringing him cross the waters is sudden and he turns up begging passage ( but that would be not very possible on the British shore, though possibly more so on foreign soil depending on reasons). Even if he were retired and not on any RN Posting that kind of etiquette would still have applied.

Otherwise the ship would have been his flagship for instance and the Captain his flag captain, usually someone well known to him and approved of !

And yes,he would have outranked him and have been expected to have issued orders - but not about the day to day running of the ship, since he would not have had anybody in that role who needed telling - they would have been competent in the extreme, or they would not have been chosen to have an admiral on board!

But some admirals (Pellew was one for instance ) ever remained frigate captains at heart, however old they grew ....so if you can engineer your captain away or injured or whatever ...!
Which may not be what you want at all I realise.
sorry this is a ramble and from a newcomer too ! You have a great emptyish stage in that era so I hope to read the story ere long.

best wishes,

[esmerelda_t]

That's a big help, thanks!

[nodbear]

Another thought : if you have access at home or at a library to either the Times online archive, or the British Library 19th century newspapers archive online , both of those , if you try the search " Naval Intelligence" in the full text search will bring up paragraphs which summarise where most ships were when every month- and with the BL one you can do lots of refining
ie by ship, by year, by adding Atlantic , or whatever. I know that both of these are pay to view archives, but most libraries have the Times online and most university and college ones have the BL one.
Apologies if this is stuff you already know - being a newcomer I am not sure of course.
hope your idea takes wing.