Book
The Bomb Vessel
First published 1984
In 1801 Nathaniel Drinkwater receives command of the ageing *Virago*, ordered to the Baltic as a bomb vessel while Britain confronts the League of Armed Neutrality. Drinkwater hopes to restore the ship’s fighting value, but his professional ambitions are complicated by an appeal from his brother, who faces execution and expects Nathaniel to intervene.
The Baltic expedition carries *Virago* toward Copenhagen through severe weather, ice and uncertain diplomacy. Britain is trying to break a northern coalition linked indirectly to Napoleon’s expanding influence, and the fleet’s success depends on operating in confined waters under difficult conditions. Drinkwater must meet the demands of command while deciding how much he can risk for a family crisis beyond naval authority.
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