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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Royal Navy in the days of tall ships, June 9, 2000
This review is from: Peter Puget: Lieutenant on the Vancouver Expedition, fighting British naval officer, the man for whom Puget Sound was named (Hardcover)
This biography was printed in a limited edition, and one could hope that it would be reprinted. The book is an essential reference for readers interested in seafaring novels about the Royal Navy during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It is the biography of Rear Admiral Peter Puget, covering his entire naval career from the time he was a midshipman (starting at the age of 12 in 1778) serving in the West Indies during the American Revolution, to his final assignment as Naval Commissioner in India, with details of his final days in England, and some details on his children. A large segment of the book deals with his service as second lieutenant aboard His Majesty's sloop Discovery under the command of George Vancouver during that ship's voyage to the northwest coast of North America (1791-1795). It gives some valuable insight into that voyage and the personality of Captain George Vancouver (Vancouver had served with Captain James Cook on both his second and third voyages). Lieutenant Puget was promoted to lieutenant at the age of 25 (see Richard Woodman's, "A King's Cutter," for a story about the difficulties of a midshipman from the American Revolution struggling for promotion). The voyage of the Discovery started out soon after the mutiny aboard the H.M.S. Bounty (see William Bligh, "The Mutiny Aboard the H.M.S. Bounty"), with the result that a consort, the armed tender Chatham under the command of Lieutenant William Robert Broughton, was sent to accompany the Discovery. George Vancouver and William Bligh had served together on Captain Cook's third voyage, Bligh being the sailing master. There is no doubt that the mutiny on the Bounty influenced Vancouver's attitudes towards his officers and men. Vancouver had also been present when the natives in Hawaii killed Captain Cook, and that undoubtedly colored his attitude towards native peoples. Peter Puget was responsible for surveying and charting Puget Sound in what in now Washington State. He apparently made a good impression on Vancouver. When Broughton was send overland to carry dispatches back to England, Puget was given command of the Chatham, skipping over Lieutenant Mudge, the first lieutenant on the Discovery. Puget participated in the capture of a Dutch East Indiaman during the return voyage to England in 1795 for which he received an unknown amount of prize money (records show the final account was not closed until 1834, when his widow received a small balance of one pound, 17 shillings, 6 pence). The balance of the book covers the remainder of his career, promotion to commander in command of a transport, service at Gibraltar, command of a flotilla of transports, command of a sloop, promotion to Captain by Admiral Jervis at Lisbon in 1797 and assignment to command of a Spanish ship of the line captured at Cape St. Vincent, and then service with the Home Fleet in command of various ships of the line. He commanded the in-shore squadron at the Battle of Copenhagen in 1807. He was appointed Commissioner of the Navy at Madras, India, in 1810, and continued in that position until 1817, among his duties overseeing construction of the dockyard at Trincomalee. He was forced to retire due to ill health in 1817, arriving back in England in early 1818, and never held another active command. He reached the top of the Captain's List in 1821 and was promoted to Rear Admiral of the Blue after 24 years as a captain. He died the following year at the age of 56, having never regained his health. The book gives a good account of naval service during that period of time, including accidents and illness, the hard life at sea, successes and failures. He had enough time on shore to father 7 sons and 4 daughters.
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