ds, he
desires also to express his most cordial thanks for the assistance he
has received from those friends, who have kindly revised and improved
his pages as they passed through the press. Without such aid, his own
literary inexperience would have left the work more defective than it
is. He is especially indebted to some naval friends for correcting
his errors in the use of nautical terms and descriptions.

A list of all the shipwrecks that have occurred in the Royal Navy
since the year 1793 has been appended to this volume, in the hope that
it may be useful as a table of reference. The ships are classed,
first, under the initial letter of their names; and secondly, they are
arranged in chronological order as regards the time of their wreck.

W.O.S.G

PREFACE.

At the request of my son, the Author of this volume, I have undertaken
to write the Preface, and to say a few words on the very peculiar and
noble traits of character, which distinguish the British seaman on all
trying occasions, and especially in the terrible hour of shipwreck.

Many circumstances have combined to make me take a warm interest in
all that concerns the navy. In early life, having passed several
months in a line-of-battle ship during the war with France, I was an
eye-witness of scenes and events, which called forth some of those
qualities that are illustrated in the following pages. For the
restoration of my health, in the year 1811, I was advised to try the
effects of sea air and a change of climate, and was glad to accept the
opportunity offered me, by the captain of an eighty-gun ship, to take
a cruise with him off the southern parts of the French coast.

On one occasion, in a severe tempest in the Bay of Biscay, a flash of
lightning struck the ship and set her on fire. The calmness with which
orders were given and obeyed, and the rapidity with which the fire was
extinguished, without the least hurry or confusion, made a deep
impression on me. This was afterwards increased by the conduct of the
crew in a severe gale of wind, when it was necessary to navigate one
of the narrow channels, by which the squadron that blockaded Rochelle
and Rochfort was frequently endangered. The vessel had to pass between
two rocks, so near that a biscuit could have been thrown from the deck
on either. An old quarter-master was at the wheel; the captain stood
by to con and to direct his steering. At one fearful crisis, every
blast threatened to shive