Man Of War Life

Product Description

Like many a restless teenager before him Charles Nordhoff craved excitement & in 1844 when barely 14 he managed to talk his way into the US Navy. A bookish lad who had been apprenticed to a printer Nordhoff was better educated than most of his fellow seamen & was well equipped to describe what became a three-year round-the-world adventure. He was lucky in his ship USS Columbus a large 74-gun ship of the line that had been chosen to undertake a diplomatic mission to China & then to Japan in an abortive attempt to open the latter to American trade. In the course of this voyage Nordhoff was to see many countries of south-east Asia & the Far East before crossing the Pacific visiting South America rounding Cape Horn & finally returning to Norfolk Virginia having crossed the Equator six times. Apart from its descriptions of exotic climes much of the interest in the book lies in a boys view of naval life & how the ship was run. The US Navy was small & followed very conservative principles with an emphasis on discipline routine & training that would have been familiar a century earlier. However it was also subtly different: more humane in its treatment of the crew less draconian in punishment & a promoter of what would be considered Victorian moral values. The book offers a valuable & entertaining account of life in the last days of the sailing warship.