"Captain Trollope and the Carronades " Topic

"Carronades – large-calibre, short-range cannon throwing very heavy shot – were a game-changing weapon when introduced in the 1780s (Clickhere for the article "HMS Flora 1780:the Carronade's arrival" posted on 15th December 2015). Their light weight allowed them to be mounted on smaller craft that would be incapable of carrying larger "long guns", thereby giving such vessels an offensive capability wholly disproportionate to their size. They were to prove no less valuable on larger vessels, especially for raking the decks of enemy vessels at close quarters with grapeshot.

One notable British officer of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars period was to gain a reputation as "carronade crazy" and, though his career was to be a long and successful one, he is best remembered for two spectacular actions in which his use these weapons proved decisive. Henty Trollope (1756-1839) had entered the Royal Navy at 14. In 1781, having seen extensive action in the American War of Independence, he achieved the coveted rank of "post captain" at the young age of 25. His first command was the frigate HMS Rainbow. Though the war was by then in its final stages, active hostilities between Britain and France were still in full swing and 1782 found Trollope on patrol off the northern coast of Brittany…"

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Amicalement
Armand

"Captain Trollope and the Carronades"

That's a fine name for a band.

I was going to say the same thing, or maybe a farcical book about a cross dressing Lady who always wanted to be a pirate captain…

(smile)

Amicalement
Armand

Captain Trollope and the Carronades – Part 2: HMS Glatton

"A week ago, in the blog of 1st November, we met the "carronade crazy" Royal Navy officer Henry Trollope (1756-1839). His career was a distinguished one – he rose to full Admiral – but his long-term reputation rests on two spectacular actions in which carronades played a decisive role. The previous article describes these large-bore but short range weapons, which represented cutting-edge technology from the 1780s onwards, and Trollope's brilliant use of them when he commanded HMS Rainbow in the last years of the American War of Independence.

The gap between the American War – in which France, as usual, sided against Britain – and the next conflict Britain would fight with France, the Revolutionary War, was a short one, just a decade long. In this decade however the British government did what governments have done through history – once victory was gained it was assumed that no further conflict was likely in the near future and that economic advantage could be achieved by standing down armed forces, disposing of warships and running down stores. This was to offer what is now called a "peace dividend". It was to prove an illusion once revolution erupted in France and launched more than two decades of warfare on a global scale. Britain's new was began in early 1793 and by then large numbers of warships that had proved so essential in the earlier conflict had by now been disposed of. More ships were needed …"
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Amicalement
Armand