A sailor of the Queen aboard HMS Swallow in the 1870s

The mid-Victorian period saw the Queen-Empress' domains growing in number, stability and strength all over the globe. The days of sail were all but done and now it was the time of the 'ironclad' and the 'gunboat'. Wars were inevitable and frequent as they must be when empires encroach on the domains of other peoples, but the time of rolling broadsides from wooden decks was gone forever. The Royal Navy ensured that Britannia did not 'rule the waves' merely in song. It was a strategic fact. So Noble's navy was an entirely different one from that of half a century before and it would be the foundation for the Royal Navy that would fight at Jutland and the great sea battles of the Second World War. This is the engaging, intimate and first hand account of an ordinary seaman's life. The doings of his ship and anecdotes of the personalities he knew are recounted in graphic detail with a fair measure of humour, enabling the modern reader to gain a vivid insight into naval life of the period. An essential book for all those interested in the history of the Royal Navy.