The Elements and Practice of Rigging, Seamanship, and Naval Tactics

The first English manual of best naval practice for aspiring young officers, first published in 1794.

David Steel (Author)

9781108026543, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 20 January 2011

468 pages, 34 b/w illus. 108 colour illus.
21.6 x 14 x 2.6 cm, 0.59 kg

David Steel was one of the most respected and prolific naval publishers of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. His publications focused on naval strategy and shipbuilding techniques. This influential four-volume work, first published in 1794, was the first comprehensive English manual of best naval practice. Designed for aspiring young officers, it established Steel's reputation as a publisher. The book describes theoretical and practical aspects of masts, rigging, and sails, and the science of sailing. The combination of practical advice supported by scientific and mathematical explanations and numerous illustrations provides valuable insights into British seamanship during the Napoleonic wars. Volume 4, reissued here in the 1807 edition, explains how to perform standard manoeuvres including anchoring, mooring, getting under sails, and tacking, as well as naval skills such as chasing and boarding other vessels.

1. Seamanship: The practice of working ships
2. River-moorings
3. Of the ballast and ladings
4. On bending sails
5. Of getting under sails
6. Of anchoring
7. On mooring
8. Of getting up or weighing anchor
9. On tacking
10. On veering
Of lying-to
11. Of sounding
12. On ships driving
13. On setting and taking-in sails in blowing weather
14. Of a ship overset on her side
15. On chasing
16. Of boarding
17. Capt. Pakenham's inventions
18. Explanation of the terms used in seamanship
19. The theory of working ships
20. A system of naval tactics.

Subject Areas: Military history [HBW]