review sloop of war

[bobcat]

Hello,

 

The review for today is:

THE SLOOP OF WAR 1650-1763

Ian McLaughlan

2014  Naval Academy Press, Seaforth Publishing, 288 pages  12”x10”.

 

I was more than pleasantly surprised when I received this book to review. This large book is an extremely well researched and documented tracing of the development of the sloop of war. Mr. McLaughlan has carefully opened the door to the research of this class that, by the end of the Napoleonic wars became the most numerous of all the classes of ships involved in that conflict.

 

McLaughlan starts his story by diving into the murky beginnings of sloops by looking at shallops and oared whaling craft and how they were adapted to the military needs of wartime in the 1650’s. That period led to the development of lots of sizes and rigs of small craft. This development grew along several needs until the 1704-17 period. During this time the advice or scout boat, brigantine, escort, bomb ketch and fire ship became consolidated into a basic sloop design.

 

By 1732 some degree of standardization was established with the snow rig most favored. Only a few ships of that time used the ketch rig. The 1740’s saw the development of the ship rig and the raised quarterdeck and by the end of this book’s coverage the raised deck, ship rigged sloop as characterized by the Swan class of ships had become a staple in the Royal Navy’s fleet.

 

There are some notable features in this book that need highlighting. The author starts with a detailed and well-illustrated chapter on rigs and rigging. This gives the reader a reference to all of the types of rigs to be encountered in the book. Also, two chapters are devoted to the concurrent developments in French design, leading to the classic corvette design used by the French navy and privateers.

 

This book is heavily illustrated with photos, drawings and plans from the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich. Of particular interest to modelers is that all of the NMM plans are identified by their file numbers which will make ordering from them easier.

 

Two appendixes are also important to note for modelers. The first one gives mast and spar dimensions while the second serves as a primer on how to read the plans the plans of some of the ships in the book.

 

I have two wishes concerning this book. I hope that other researchers use this benchmark book as platform to add to, prove or disprove any of Mr. McLaughlon’s pioneering work. My second wish is that the author gives us volume two that will take us through 1815.He will need collaborators to help with American and French sloop building efforts and I hope that he will be able to find that help. Finally, I hope to see some modelers  build some examples from the wonderful collection of interesting subjects.

 

By now you can tell that I like this book. It is a must have for anyone interested in the smaller warships of the 17^th and 18^th centuries.

 

Bob Friedman

[MEDDO]

I am just getting into the real meat of this book and it is definitely enjoyable.  So much information its going to take a while.  Thanks for writing up this review.  I also hope there is another work in the future.

Edited July 23, 2014 by MEDDO

[Landlubber Mike]

Very cool - this book seems to have been written using the same framework as Robert Gardiner's "The Sailing Frigate" that was published last year, which I really enjoyed.  This book on sloops is about double the length of the frigate book

 

Any good details for those of us building sloops, like the Swan class line of ships?

Edited July 16, 2014 by Landlubber Mike

[bobcat]

Hi,

 

I am getting careless in my old age. The correct publisher for SLOOPS OF WAR 1650-1763 that I reviewed yasterday is the Naval Institute Press and not the Naval Academy

 

Bob Friedman

[pollex]

Regarding "The Sloop of War 1650-1763"

This book has been well reviewed in the August edition (p.64) of "Model Boats" (UK) magazine.

For our friends on the other side of the pond, this book has been published by Seaforth

Publishing and is priced at 40 Pounds Sterling, approx. C$74. I'm planning to order a copy soon.

pollex

[druxey]

I've just received my copy of this book. I echo Bob Friedman's review: well worth buying if you have an interest in the smaller vessels of this era. The reproductions of contemporary draughts alone is eye candy worth the price!

[michaelpsutton2]

As I said in my own review a fine book and a welcome addition to my shelf. I will positively purchase any future volume in the series. So many other books seemed focused on the larger units of the fleet.

 

It would have been nice if there had been at least one example of the "brigantine rig" in the chapter on masting and sail plans. Also the tables of spar dimensions that were calculated by the author from Steel were at best put in the next volume and at worst unnecessary as anyone could generate those for him or herself.

 

As always I wish that the plans did not straddle the gutter between pages.

[druxey]

I agree with Michael on the issue of illustrations crossing the gutter. I suspect it's to discourage folk from copying the plans.

[dgbot]

I have to agree with you on that.  I could build straight from the book at that scale but it never easy to bring everything into alignment.  And getting the plans and reducing them is just as bad and more expensive.  What do the guys do who do not have the room?

David B

[dgbot]

Amazon has this book for about $50 including tax and free shipping in the US  I just bought it and will add it to my library. 

David B

Edited July 30, 2014 by dgbot

[dgbot]

My package arrived today.  The book is a nice size and and easy to read for those with bad eyes.  There are several tables giving sizez and dimensions along with plans and diagrams.  To me this is a keeper.  I will enjoy this book when I go back to Iowa City.  From what I have seen this is a must for anyone who want to build a Swan class vessel either kit or scratch.

David B

 

[aliluke]

This thread just cost me NZ$66. But happily spent . Can't wait for it to arrive.

[VonHoldinghausen]

My copy arrived safely and I am reading it now

It really is a wonderful book!

Highly recommended.

 

Cheers!

[Matrim]

I just cannnot resst buying books on historical ship design .It's like tools and apparently their close sister 'drugs'.

[Mike Y]

Thanks a lot for the review! Ordered a copy

[Bob Fraser]

Having just recieved this book I can agree it is a very useful book for anyone interested in the smaller unrated sloops and their development.

Full of useful information, even to giving some tables of how well some of the classes sailed, and how their rigging differed to non-RN ships of the same type.

If you have an interest in the sloop classes it is a worthwhile addition to your library. Mine is the later snow rigged sloops.

At the moment it is offered ay 63% off its £40 rrp at Naval-Military-Press plus postage. (I have no connection)

[uss frolick]

I'm sad that in the near decade since it was written, there has been no word on a possible second volume, which would have taken us through the American Revolution, the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, the War of 1812, and beyond. 

[Seahawk1313]

A good book, but I too have been waiting/hope for a volume 2.

[Bob Fraser]

Not sure if there will be a follow up.

The Author would now be approaching 83 and is a member here who last visited in 2021.

I've PM'd him just in case he's still recioeving emails.

[Meriadoc Brandybuck]

I got this book used about a year ago and plan on building at least one of the sloops he discusses. 
This book really does set a high bar for this sort of work that I hope to see followed up on. 
In particular, he does an admirable job explaining the physics that pertain to smaller warships and warships in general. Concepts like the problem of scaling down of two-dimensional sail plans to three-dimensional hull volumes and the need to obtain slight lee-helm when sailing upwind are well explained, as are their relevance to the design problems that had to be solved over the years.  (Now I know why masts are raked!)
If anyone knows how to contribute to the next batch of research and exposition in this vein (into the American Revolution and Napoleonic period) I’m all ears and would love to help. 

-Meriadoc

[CiscoH]

well heck.  after reading this post of course i had to order the book.  it arrived yesterday, perfect timing for some relaxed 4th of july reading.  thanks bobcat for the review it is much appreciated

[Bob Fraser]

I've had a reply from the author Ian McLaughlin and summarised below with permission.

 

"... I spoke with the publisher of the existing volume. He intimated that it is now difficult, from a commercial point of view, to publish and sell books on the age of sail. There are other factors as well, one that I am now partially disabled and getting to the National Archives, the Caird Library and Chatham would be difficult not to mention the exhorbitant cost of staying in the London area whilst I read into the subject. 

 

.... no volume about the period 1763 - 1850 would make sense without a serious American input, since the contribution the the Americans made to the concept of the Sloop of War was massive. The French contribution came in the form of Brigs and Cutters but more significantly in their privateers, many of which were captured by the Royal Navy and classed as Sloops."

 

So, sadly, from the author there will be no more follow up volumes as he is personally unable to the research, cover the cost of research, and get the publisher interested.

 

He is, however, the chairman of the Society of Model Shipwrights, based in the UK.

 

 

[cotrecerf]

I got my copy a couple of days ago and I gladly join the choir of fascinated readers of this outstanding book. It's a pity that there is apparently no hope for any follow-up volume. My compliments to Ian McLaughlan for his great work.

 

Joachim

[Meriadoc Brandybuck]

5 hours ago, cotrecerf said:

It's a pity that there is apparently no hope for any follow-up volume.

There is hope!

Though not in the near future. 
In the meantime I found a book called Frigates, Sloops and Brigs by James Henderson focused on the Napoleonic period. It dates from the ‘70s. I ordered a copy, so I’ll see if it’s any good. 
 

-positive Meriadoc

[GrandpaPhil]

I bought the E-Book off Amazon and it has been a phenomenal reference for me.

[uss frolick]

The Henderson book "Sloops and Brigs" referenced above is about single ship actions during the Napoleonic Wars, and has nothing at all to do with ship designs.

[Bob Fraser]

30 minutes ago, uss frolick said:

The Henderson book "Sloops and Brigs" referenced above is about single ship actions during the Napoleonic Wars, and has nothing at all to do with ship designs.

I was going to look my copy up and check before saying something similar.  It's (the Frigates, Sloops and Brigs version) an amalgamation of two books.

Still an interesting read though!

[Roger Pellett]

I am surprised at the lack of market for Age of Sail books.  A completely unscientific poll of model ship projects on MSW would lead one to believe that that’s exactly where the market is.  

 

In my case, I felt that the really interesting parts of this excellent book were the chapters dealing with the early development of these vessels.  There are other sources that deal with these ships in the later part of the Eighteenth Century.

 

Roger

[michaelpsutton2]

I had always hoped as well for a follow on volume to include up to the end of the Napoleonic period as well. This is obviously the moment for someone to step up[ in collaboration with the esteemed Mr McLaughlin and the new proprietors of Sea Watch Books. One wonders if a more general reference work might find a larger readership than a work on a single vessel. I swear with Bob as my witless if I were a younger, smarter, more affluent man, and lived within drinking distance of the NMM, I would at least pretend to try it myself.

[Meriadoc Brandybuck]

5 hours ago, michaelpsutton2 said:

I had always hoped as well for a follow on volume to include up to the end of the Napoleonic period as well. This is obviously the moment for someone to step up[ in collaboration with the esteemed Mr McLaughlin and the new proprietors of Sea Watch Books.

This is what I was thinking. I’d love to take on some of the burden but I live a long, long way from the NMM…

-Meriadoc