1. An Eye of the Fleet
Action in Admiral Rodney's dramatic Moonlight Battle of 1780, when Cyclops' capture of the Santa Teresa plays a decisive part, is the start of Nathaniel Drinkwater's life at sea. HMS Cyclops is involved in pursuing American privateers who are a danger to British trade and Drinkwater…
2. A King’s Cutter
It is 1792 and Nathaniel Drinkwater is back in the Royal Navy, this time appointed to the twelve-gun cutter Kestrel, commanded by the inscrutable Madoc Griffiths. With the gathering menace of the French Revolution, he is involved in secret and dangerous operations off the French Coast…
3. A Brig of War
In A Brig of War, Nathaniel Drinkwater is promoted lieutenant of the brig Hellebore. He finds routine convoy escort duties end abruptly when Admiral Nelson, pursuing the French fleet to Egypt, sends Hellebore to the Red Sea with an urgent warning to the British squadron there.…
4. The Bomb Vessel
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,…
5. The Corvette
Nathaniel Drinkwater escorts a British whaling fleet towards Greenland, where the Arctic environment is as dangerous as any enemy warship. Ice, storms and the uncertainties of a nineteenth-century whale hunt place crews far from ordinary naval support, while signs of treachery suggest that the expedition carries…
7. Baltic Mission
Spring 1807. Captain Nathaniel Drinkwater and HMS Antigone are sent into the Baltic as Napoleon’s victories threaten the political balance of northern Europe. Prussia has been defeated, Russia is under increasing pressure and British diplomacy must prevent Denmark and other Baltic powers from strengthening the French…
8. In Distant Waters
From the tide-torn waters of the Thames, where Captain Nathaniel Drinkwater is compelled to hand a deserter, to the seas off Cape Horn, storm-scoured gateway to the Pacific, the great cruiser PATRICIAN is tense with the threat of mutiny. Despite this, Drinkwater captures a Spanish frigate…
9. A Private Revenge
After a typhoon, Captain Nathaniel Drinkwater brings HMS Patrician into the Pearl River and becomes entangled in political and commercial tensions along the China coast. The British occupation of Macao, disputes with local authorities and the presence of foreign traders turn a necessary refuge into a…
10. Under False Colours
Captain Nathaniel Drinkwater is sent into the Baltic under a concealed identity while Britain’s relationship with Russia remains uncertain. His mission requires him to move through neutral and hostile waters, interpret unreliable intelligence and protect a ship whose true purpose cannot be disclosed even to everyone…
11. The Flying Squadron
In 1811, Captain Nathaniel Drinkwater discovers a scheme designed to exploit the growing hostility between Britain and the United States. The conspiracy threatens British naval power, commercial credit and the government itself at a moment when the Royal Navy is already stretched by the war against…
12. Beneath the Aurora
As Napoleon’s position weakens in Germany, Captain Nathaniel Drinkwater receives evidence of a secret agreement involving the United States. His orders take him north into the Norwegian fjords, where coastal batteries, ice and uncertain local loyalties make every movement of his ship hazardous. The mission combines…
13. The Shadow of the Eagle
In 1814 Napoleon has abdicated and Louis XVIII is escorted back to France as Europe celebrates what appears to be the end of a generation of war. Captain Nathaniel Drinkwater joins the royal movement but receives intelligence suggesting that the new peace is much less secure…
14. Ebb Tide
In 1843 Nathaniel Drinkwater is drawn from retirement for a final voyage aboard the paddle-steamer *Vestal*, which is inspecting lighthouses along the west coast of England. The task appears modest beside the wars that shaped his naval career, but a tragic incident forces him to confront…