| Mr Astrolabe | 18 May 2022 11:36 a.m. PST |
When I first heard this ship's name I thought it was a nickname, but it is the actual name of the vessel (and you will never guess where the name comes from!). It was built in Baltimore, burnt in Britain, with an extremely chequered history in between. Wikipedia link, which I think is fairly accurate…
link
Small vessel, big impact!
Enjoy! |
 Parzival  | 18 May 2022 12:13 p.m. PST |
What a great find.
Even more impressive that she took all those ships while armed with only two guns— sometimes facing ships with 14 guns! Discipline and training are the paths to victory indeed. |
| 79thPA | 18 May 2022 1:51 p.m. PST |
I had no idea that a vessel that small would have a marine contingent. |
 gamertom | 18 May 2022 5:52 p.m. PST |
I'd like to learn more about the one midshipman being "bit by an angry parrot" while rescuing the stranded boarding party. |
| Bozkashi Jones | 19 May 2022 2:00 a.m. PST |
I've always been fascinated by HMS Black Joke, ever since I heard the name and found out her history. That she was manned partly by freed slaves makes this story even more interesting. It's crying out for a decent history and I would love to see a movie based on it's exploits. FWIW – I listened to the song Black Joke the other day on Alexa: bawdy hardly covers it; pure filth! Nick |
| Bozkashi Jones | 19 May 2022 6:56 a.m. PST |
Ah -there is a book:
Available on Amazon: link Reviews seem polarised, being dismissed as 'woke rubbish' by one, but having read the introduction it looks promising. Personally, when something is dismissed as 'woke', I often find that the person saying so is a bit of an arse. Nick |
| Andrew Walters | 19 May 2022 10:22 a.m. PST |
The wikipedia page was a pretty good read. It's amazing that this ship could successfully take on so much larger ships, and amazing that the commanders would try. Quality over quantity. Tell us more about the book. |
| Mr Astrolabe | 19 May 2022 10:37 a.m. PST |
I actually heard of this as Dan Snow was interviewing the author about the above book on his podcast. She didn't sound particularly "woke". Another thing I learnt was that often the slaver ships, having being captured, would be sold by the Admiralty – (often via third parties) unwittingly back into the hands of slavers. This is more probably why the Admiralty burnt it, rather than the "rotten wood" story on Wikipedia |
| CAPTAIN BEEFHEART | 19 May 2022 1:37 p.m. PST |
Great post! Learned a lot. |
| Die Engelsman | 06 Oct 2022 7:01 a.m. PST |
And the weirdest thing is the "black joke" in the bawdy song after which she was named is supposedly a reference to …… erm ….. a lady's intimate nether regions.
Imagine boasting to your chums at the pub you spent your service in HMS ……. erm ….. P***y
Forget The Woman King, Someone seriously has to make a movie about this ship. |
takes the plunge.
