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Acclaimed as the best reference book on this subject

This is the first study of the Royal Navy’s vital, but largely ignored small craft. In the age of sail, they were built in huge numbers and in far greater variety than the more regulated major warships, so they present a particular challenge to any historian attempting a coherent design history. However, for the first time this book charts the development of the ancillary types, variously described in the 17th century as sloops, ketches, brigantines, advice boats and even yachts, as they coalesce into the single 18th-century category of Sloop of War. In this era they were generally two-masted, although they set a bewildering variety of sail plans from them. The author traces their origins to open boats, like those carried by Basque whalers, shows how developments in Europe influenced English craft, and homes in on the relationship between rigs, hull-form and the duties they were designed to undertake. Visual documentation is scanty, but this book draws together a unique collection of rare and unseen images, coupled with the author’s own reconstructions in line drawings and watercolour sketches to provide the most convincing depictions of the appearance of these vessels. By tackling some of the most obscure questions about the early history of small-boat rigs, the book adds a dimension that will be of interest to historians of coastal sail and practical yachtsman, as well as warship enthusiasts.

Review: With the exception of one short section this is an outstanding book. The subject of Sloops has been largely untapped until now; the archival research is very thorough; the layout of the book is excellent; and the author’s own sketches are both high quality and add a touch of personal colour to the whole book.

Moreover, according to the preface, we can also look forward to a second volume that will cover the period from 1763 to 1815. However, the author doubts that he will manage to complete a projected final third volume, running up to 1950. Perhaps a more modest and achievable aim might be to end in 1900, because the small ships of both world wars have already been well covered elsewhere.

My only caveat concerns the short section on stability at the end of chapter one, which contains some serious errors, and as a result misleads rather than enlightens. Professional seamen will be surprised to find that BM is in one place described as metacentric height, the value of intact freeboard is ignored, as is the danger of downloading, dynamic stability does not figure at all. Moreover, there is no effort to place this all in context by discussing how the understanding of stability developed in that period. The pity is that his attempt to explain a complex subject is unnecessary, and the book would have been much better without it. Those wishing to understand the subject could be directed to one of the many excellent stability textbooks. Hopefully a second edition will correct this. I still consider it worth 5 stars.