The wars of 1793-1815 are widely regarded as the apogee of the sailing man-of-war. Many seapowers became involved in the conflict, and at some point virtually all aligned themselves against Great Britain. Thanks to its superiority, the Royal Navy took many of its enemy ships in battle and developed the habit of drawing plans of the ones they captured. This book reproduces a representative selection of these plans for the main protagonists--French, Spanish, Dutch, Danish, Russian and American--and for the British themselves. All of the principal types of warships employed during the conflict are included, from huge three-deckers down to gunboats and even the support craft on which every dockyard depended. The narrative describes the function of each of the bewildering variety of rates, concentrating on their technical development and how they were used in action. An appendix lists other relevant plans available. For ship modellers and age-of-sail enthusiasts, the book offers essential reference material that showcases the incomparable collection of original ships' plans at the National Maritime Museum. AUTHOR: Robert Gardiner is the author of a number of books on sailing warships, including Frigates of the Napoleonic Wars. The text of Warships of the Napoleonic Era was first published in 1999 under the same title, but this edition is completely revised and the illustrations are entirely new. SELLING POINTS: ? A broad survey of the sailing warship in the age of its greatest achievements ? International in scope, covering all the major navies of the period ? Very large format showcasing a spectacular collection of colour images ILLUSTRATIONS: 200 colour 0b/w illustrations *
