"The Death of an Admiral - Surgery and Medicine in" Topic

… Nelson's Navy by MKH Crumplin

"The long war against the French republic (1792-1804) and
Empire (1804-1815) cost Britain dearly. Fought all over the
globe, in hostile waters and climates, the Royal Navy was
pivotal in keeping the seas as clear as possible from enemy
shipping and enabling Britain to prosecute military actions
in diverse countries and climates. In today's terms, the war
left us with a national debt of around £52.00 GBP billion sterling
and a sacrifice of around 300,000 dead souls of a population
of ten million – a larger proportional loss than we suffered
in the Great War of 1914-18 (1). France lost a million men
on the world's battlefields and at sea. Prime Minister Pitt
concentrated on financing coalitions and keeping the Navy
up to strength. By 1804 Britain had 726 ships to serve us.
Of these, 189 were line-of-battle ships and about 204 were
frigates.

Naval duties included occasional fleet actions, patrols
to seize enemy provisions and ships, escorting convoys,
participation in combined operations, but most importantly
blockading enemy ports – arduous, tedious and essential
to keep as many French and Spanish vessels bottled up
and ‘idle', whilst we, through impressive discipline and
rehearsal kept our sailing and gunnery up to a decent
standard. It was these latter two assets that made the Royal
Navy as effective as it was…"

PDF free to read here
PDF link

Hope you enjoy!

Amicalement
Armand

Thanks for that find. A very informative article.

Glad you enjoyed it my friend!. (smile)

Amicalement
Armand