6 Comments
Apr 21, 2023Liked by Ned Donovan

Not that a second Master & Commander film needs justifying, but this story would be perfect.

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Apr 21, 2023Liked by Ned Donovan

Great stuff! I have ancestors who were in the Royal Navy at the time of the Seven Years War, and the Navy encouraged their officers to act in the same audacious and aggressive manner as Dance acted against Linois.

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Fantastic story. Thanks for sharing it!

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This has a real Patrick O’Brian feel, although Jack Aubrey would never have retired at the height of his triumph. A secondary pleasure of the article is the wonderful names of the French ships. I couldn’t believe they’d named one of them after a chicken; some brief research shows that Belle Poule, too, his some history.

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