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Subnuts · 08-14-10, 05:55 PM

Anatomy of the Ship: The 74 Gun Ship Bellona
Brian Lavery
1985

Gather 'round the campfire kids, while I bring you back to a mysterious time in naval warfare. A time when mankind managed to make entire forests float, and propel them through the water with oversized novelty handkerchiefs. A time when ships were made entirely from splinters, and carried as many guns as a small nation's army. A time when nations fought giant pissing contests across the seven seas - even when naval battles were fought at ranges shorter than an average pissing contest.

Yes, folks, I'm talking about the Age of Sail, a time when men were men and women ran in terror from our smell. A glorious, romantic age of vomit, scurvy, unidentifiable food, and amputation as a cure for bed rash.

Ya' know, like this.

The 74-Gun Ship Bellona was the first book in this series to depict a sailing warship, though to be utterly pedantic, the Fairmile D was the first wooden ship to be depicted. Although this book has the same basic layout as the preceding Anatomies, Brian Lavery, an esteemed naval historian in his own right had to take a different tack in approaching the subject. He takes some baby steps in doing so, and the occasional giant leap, but the final result is a bit mixed.

Bellona (named after an ancient Roman war goddess, and not a disturbing lunch meat or a Stevie Nicks solo album, as you might have assumed) was one of the first 74 gun ships and served as a prototype for the class. Laid down in 1758, Bellona fought in four wars and wasn't broken up until 1814. To quote Lavery's own Nelson's Navy: "The 74 was a great success because it was the ideal compromise. It combined good sailing qualities with strong gun power, being the smallest practicable ship to carry a full battery of 32-pounders on the lower deck. It had scantlings strong enough to withstand any likely attack, but, unlike the three-decker, it did not need the largest and most expensive pieces of timber. As a two-decker, it was well proportioned and weatherly." While only 10 ships with 100 guns or more were in service with Royal Navy in 1804, 94 74s were in commission.

The introduction is a little more detailed this time, and makes extensive use of tables. Lavery briefly describes the development of the 74-gun ship, before describing Bellona's history, structure and layout, decorations, fittings, masts and yards, and so on. The 20 tables cover subjects as varied as the sizes of gun tackles, dates and costs of repairs, dimensions of caps and tops, and observations on the ship's sailing qualities from 1763 and 1783. Photographs are a bit limited - there are nine in total, seven showing two period models of the ship, and two paintings from the same era.

The first set of drawings show a sheer, half-breadth, and body plan of the ship, and a rather crude longitudinal section. Section B details the ship's structure in great detail. Numerous plan and profile views of every part of the hull are included, with exploded views of keel, deck beam, and stem scarphs construction. Perspective views of the bow, stern, and midships framing are included, along with a midships section, and plans of the hull framing, wales and planking, the waist and gangways, and the diagonal bracing fitted in 1805.

Section C depicts the arrangement and structure of the hold and four decks at 1/192nd scale, with plans depicting the deck arrangement on the right side, and deck structure on the left. Section D details the decorations of the stern and quarter galleries, and the arrangement of the head, while Section E depicts a number of external details, such railings, hammock netting, hatches, bulkheads, and bitts. Section F focuses on the ship's fittings, including the steering system, anchors, capstans, pumps, boats, and copper sheathing. Section G looks at accommodations (if you want to use that word), with plans of the gun deck hammock arrangements, the galley stove, and the layout of officer's cabins on the upper deck.

The masts and yards are shown in Section H, with forward and side views of each spar, close-ups of mast tops, and perspective views showing the assembly of masts, yards, and yardarm fittings. Section I details the sails and rigging. As expected, we're presented with views of the standing and running rigging, examples of different types of blocks, details of various sails and their fittings, and profiles showing the rigging associated with each mast. The final section covers Bellona's armament, with views of each type of cannon carried and their carriages, details of gun tackles, and plans showing the arrangement of the main magazine and aft powder room.

As evidenced by my delay in reviewing it, I still haven't come to a definite conclusion regarding The 74-Gun Ship Bellona. The book covers a lot of ground in a short span, and I'm certain that Lavery's skill as a historian unearthed plenty of details an ordinary draughtsman may have missed. Who would have thought that the upper surface of the false keel was covered in a composition of hair and tar, to make it unnecessary to remove it for re-sheathing? Or that many British ships after 1780 had "made masts" scarphed together from four or five sections, due to the inability to acquire the necessary wood from North American forests?

Unfortunately, we're presented with another "Anatomy" where a good chunk of the drawings are crude or lacking in detail. Lavery's views of the hull structure, decoration, and rigging are uniformly nice, but elsewhere the drafting quality is all over the place. To be diplomatic, Brian Lavery is a better historian than he is a draftsman. Most of the drawings in Sections E and F have a sketch-like quality, and the lack of a belaying plan is a curious omission. The drawings get the point across well enough, but modelers and ship buffs will probably be dissapointed by the lack of detail.

The 74-Gun Ship Bellona is certainly a better book than The Type VII U-Boat, but it's far from being in my Top 10 favorites. It does an admirable job depicting an important and forgotten warship from the Age of Sail, but it falls short of being truly excellent. Two years later, John McKay would come along and set a new standard for detail with his book on the HMS Victory.

Final rating: 7/10

08-14-10, 05:55 PM	#7
Subnuts The Old Man Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Connecticut Posts: 1,658 Downloads: 14 Uploads: 0	Anatomy of the Ship: The 74 Gun Ship Bellona Brian Lavery 1985 Gather 'round the campfire kids, while I bring you back to a mysterious time in naval warfare. A time when mankind managed to make entire forests float, and propel them through the water with oversized novelty handkerchiefs. A time when ships were made entirely from splinters, and carried as many guns as a small nation's army. A time when nations fought giant pissing contests across the seven seas - even when naval battles were fought at ranges shorter than an average pissing contest. Yes, folks, I'm talking about the Age of Sail, a time when men were men and women ran in terror from our smell. A glorious, romantic age of vomit, scurvy, unidentifiable food, and amputation as a cure for bed rash. Ya' know, like this. The 74-Gun Ship Bellona was the first book in this series to depict a sailing warship, though to be utterly pedantic, the Fairmile D was the first wooden ship to be depicted. Although this book has the same basic layout as the preceding Anatomies, Brian Lavery, an esteemed naval historian in his own right had to take a different tack in approaching the subject. He takes some baby steps in doing so, and the occasional giant leap, but the final result is a bit mixed. Bellona (named after an ancient Roman war goddess, and not a disturbing lunch meat or a Stevie Nicks solo album, as you might have assumed) was one of the first 74 gun ships and served as a prototype for the class. Laid down in 1758, Bellona fought in four wars and wasn't broken up until 1814. To quote Lavery's own Nelson's Navy: "The 74 was a great success because it was the ideal compromise. It combined good sailing qualities with strong gun power, being the smallest practicable ship to carry a full battery of 32-pounders on the lower deck. It had scantlings strong enough to withstand any likely attack, but, unlike the three-decker, it did not need the largest and most expensive pieces of timber. As a two-decker, it was well proportioned and weatherly." While only 10 ships with 100 guns or more were in service with Royal Navy in 1804, 94 74s were in commission. The introduction is a little more detailed this time, and makes extensive use of tables. Lavery briefly describes the development of the 74-gun ship, before describing Bellona's history, structure and layout, decorations, fittings, masts and yards, and so on. The 20 tables cover subjects as varied as the sizes of gun tackles, dates and costs of repairs, dimensions of caps and tops, and observations on the ship's sailing qualities from 1763 and 1783. Photographs are a bit limited - there are nine in total, seven showing two period models of the ship, and two paintings from the same era. The first set of drawings show a sheer, half-breadth, and body plan of the ship, and a rather crude longitudinal section. Section B details the ship's structure in great detail. Numerous plan and profile views of every part of the hull are included, with exploded views of keel, deck beam, and stem scarphs construction. Perspective views of the bow, stern, and midships framing are included, along with a midships section, and plans of the hull framing, wales and planking, the waist and gangways, and the diagonal bracing fitted in 1805. Section C depicts the arrangement and structure of the hold and four decks at 1/192nd scale, with plans depicting the deck arrangement on the right side, and deck structure on the left. Section D details the decorations of the stern and quarter galleries, and the arrangement of the head, while Section E depicts a number of external details, such railings, hammock netting, hatches, bulkheads, and bitts. Section F focuses on the ship's fittings, including the steering system, anchors, capstans, pumps, boats, and copper sheathing. Section G looks at accommodations (if you want to use that word), with plans of the gun deck hammock arrangements, the galley stove, and the layout of officer's cabins on the upper deck. The masts and yards are shown in Section H, with forward and side views of each spar, close-ups of mast tops, and perspective views showing the assembly of masts, yards, and yardarm fittings. Section I details the sails and rigging. As expected, we're presented with views of the standing and running rigging, examples of different types of blocks, details of various sails and their fittings, and profiles showing the rigging associated with each mast. The final section covers Bellona's armament, with views of each type of cannon carried and their carriages, details of gun tackles, and plans showing the arrangement of the main magazine and aft powder room. As evidenced by my delay in reviewing it, I still haven't come to a definite conclusion regarding The 74-Gun Ship Bellona. The book covers a lot of ground in a short span, and I'm certain that Lavery's skill as a historian unearthed plenty of details an ordinary draughtsman may have missed. Who would have thought that the upper surface of the false keel was covered in a composition of hair and tar, to make it unnecessary to remove it for re-sheathing? Or that many British ships after 1780 had "made masts" scarphed together from four or five sections, due to the inability to acquire the necessary wood from North American forests? Unfortunately, we're presented with another "Anatomy" where a good chunk of the drawings are crude or lacking in detail. Lavery's views of the hull structure, decoration, and rigging are uniformly nice, but elsewhere the drafting quality is all over the place. To be diplomatic, Brian Lavery is a better historian than he is a draftsman. Most of the drawings in Sections E and F have a sketch-like quality, and the lack of a belaying plan is a curious omission. The drawings get the point across well enough, but modelers and ship buffs will probably be dissapointed by the lack of detail. The 74-Gun Ship Bellona is certainly a better book than The Type VII U-Boat, but it's far from being in my Top 10 favorites. It does an admirable job depicting an important and forgotten warship from the Age of Sail, but it falls short of being truly excellent. Two years later, John McKay would come along and set a new standard for detail with his book on the HMS Victory. Final rating: 7/10 __________________ My Amazon.com reviews