Explaining British Naval Dominance During the Age of Sail

Re:Explaining British Naval Dominance During the Age of Sail by Lio on Friday May 16, 2025 @10:31AM (#44005972)

Master and Commander[1], I love that film and the series of books.

A detail I loved from both is that the French are treated with respect as formidable adversaries.

There's no love lost in battle but when either side are captured they generally treat each other well[2].

The other detail is the amount that the protagonists get permanently injured; burned, amputated, broken or just lost overboard. That happened, a lot and people just got on with it.

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_and_Commander

2. Maturin does get tortured in one of the books but we'll gloss over that.

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Re:Explaining British Naval Dominance During the Age of Sail by tclancy on Friday May 16, 2025 @11:58AM (#44006983)

Well yes, but the torture is outsourced to a villainous Spainiard!

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Re:Explaining British Naval Dominance During the Age of Sail by turtlesdown11 on Friday May 16, 2025 @01:49PM (#44008090)

While the torture takes place in Spanish held Port Mahon in Mallorca, the torturers are unarguably French (Colonel Auger, Captain Dutourd, unnamed other Frenchmen).

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Re:Explaining British Naval Dominance During the Age of Sail by tclancy on Friday May 16, 2025 @11:15PM (#44011778)

Ah my memory fails me. Thanks!

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Re:Explaining British Naval Dominance During the Age of Sail by dghlsakjg on Friday May 16, 2025 @12:26PM (#44007296)

Maturin gets tortured because he is involved in “ungentlemanly or dishonorable” forms of warfare (phrased to avoid revealing a plotline).

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