The Billy Ruffian: The Bellerophon and the Downfall of Napoleon [Paperback]

David Cordingly (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 9, 2004

David Cordingly, a leading authority on pirates and maritime history, The Billy Ruffian is the story of a real-life H.M.S. Sophie, named Bellerophon, or Billy Ruffian as her crew called her, barnacles and all. Under fourteen captains, she played a conspicuous part in three of the most famous of all sea battles.But her crowning glory came six weeks after the Battle of Waterloo, when Napoleon, trapped in Rochefort, surrendered to the captain of the ship that had dogged his steps for more than twenty years. Packed with letters, pictures, and first-hand accounts, The Billy Ruffian is an enthralling account of sea adventure.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A masterly account that says as much, if not more, about the historical contextt as about the subject itself." -- Sunday Times

"Thrilling.so alive you can smell the cordite of the guns and hear the splinteriing of mighty masts and spars." -- Independent

About the Author

David Cordingly was, for many years, the curator and head of exhibitions at the famed National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, England. He has written several acclaimed books on the subject of pirates, including, most recently, Under the Black Flag: The Romance and Reality of Life Among the Pirates. He lives by the sea in Brighton, England.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Bloomsbury USA (September 9, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 158234468X
• ISBN-13: 978-1582344683
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,334,073 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wherever there is water..we are sure to find you in our way., October 2, 2003

By 

Bruce Loveitt (Ogdensburg, NY USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Billy Ruffian: The Bellerophon and the Downfall of Napoleon (Hardcover)

Sorry I couldn't fit the whole quote in the title to this review. The above is an excerpt of something said to Captain Maitland of the "Bellerophon" in the summer of 1815 when Napoleon was being held on board, waiting to learn what his fate would be. (He hoped to be allowed to buy and live in a home in the English countryside. Alas, it was not to be.) Here is the full quote: "If it had not been for you English, I should have been Emperor of the East; but wherever there is water to float a ship, we are sure to find you in our way." As David Cordingly demonstrates in this wonderful book, the "Bellerophon," during the period 1794-1815, was an integral part of "find(ing) you in our way." Before ending her career as a "floating prison" she was in the thick of the action at the Battle of the Glorious First of June, the Battle of the Nile, and the Battle of Trafalgar...in addition to pulling extensive blockade duties, and being a temporary home/prison for Napoleon before it was decided to place him on St. Helena. Mr. Cordingly calls this a biography of a ship of the line, and he is true to his word. To start, we learn about the construction of the ship (it was built based on a "generic" design by sir Thomas Slade. Slade was a great ship designer and "it became recognised that a British ship could invariably beat a French ship...even though the French ship might be up to 50 percent more powerful in terms of her guns"). This gives Mr. Cordingly the opportunity to tell us about how ships were built at this time - how long it took, what kind of wood was used (oak - the trees had to be a certain age, not too young or too old, and they were "branded" after selection so that the public would know they'd been selected for use by the navy), etc. Sometimes, after construction had started at the dockyard, the ship would be left sitting for several years, so the wood could age properly. I found this entire section fascinating. However, if this kind of information isn't your cup of tea, have no fear - the author quickly gets down to the business of battle. In the past I'd read quite a bit about the Battle of the Nile, and the Battle of Trafalgar, but I had never read anything about the Battle of the Glorious First of June, so I learned quite a bit in that section. (It was interesting to read that Lord Howe, who was in command of the British fleet at this action, was sixty-nine years old at the time. The battle lasted several days and Howe, besides ordering fleet movements, was actually involved, on his flagship, in the action. It was also interesting to find out that, despite being soundly thrashed, the French considered this encounter with "the nation of shopkeepers" a victory, because the British were not able to stop French grain ships from getting through safely to port.) Even if you know a lot about these battles, I think you will still find these sections interesting, because a large part of the action is seen from the viewpoint of the "Bellerophon," i.e. - what happened to the ship and its crew. The ship seemed to live a charmed life: despite being dismasted and severely battered, she managed never to run aground or to be boarded as a prize. (One time she barely escaped being blown to kingdom come, when a fire was put out just before finding its way to the gunpowder.) One of the most enjoyable sections of the book detailed the "goings-on" when Napoleon was aboard. While anchored at Torbay and Plymouth Sound, the ship and its famous guest became quite a tourist attraction. On one day "it was estimated that the ship was surrounded by ten thousand people in yachts, fishing boats, and rowing boats." The crew held up chalkboards with messages scrawled on them (such as "At breakfast") to let the public know what Napoleon was up to any particular moment. It was amusing to read that when Napoleon was given a tour of Captain Maitland's cabin, he zeroed in on a portrait of Maitland's wife. Napoleon commented that she was "very young and very pretty," and he was greatly disappointed that, due to security restrictions, she was not allowed on board for a visit. Bonaparte had just lost an empire, but he could still appreciate a beautiful woman! Another big plus for this book is the quantity and quality of the black-and-white anc color reproductions. (Works of top-flight painters of maritime scenes, such as Nicholas Pocock and J.M.W. Turner, help bring the battle scenes to life.) This was a very clever idea for a book, and whether you are primarily interested in ships, or naval battles, or Napoleon, I think you will find much here to enjoy.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A biography of a ship and the men who served on her, October 21, 2003

By 

Bruce Trinque (Amston, CT United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Billy Ruffian: The Bellerophon and the Downfall of Napoleon (Hardcover)

HMS Bellerophon - commonly known as the "Billy Ruffian" by Royal Navy sailors who inevitably turned any classical reference into something more humble and easier on the tongue - was in most respects a typical 74-gun ship-of-the-line during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. And she is the focus of a new "biography" written by David Cordingly: "The Billy Riffian: The Bellerophon and the Downfall of Napoleon, The Biography of a Ship of the Line, 1782-1836". Codringly is no stranger to nautical studies, with both his "Under the Black Flag" (about pirates) and "Women Sailors and Sailors' Women" having been well received. Where the Bellerophon perhaps departed from the typical ship-of-the-line was her knack at being involved in important events. Not only was she at the Glorious First of June victory in 1794, the "Billy Ruffian" did some of the very hardest fighting at both the Nile and Trafalgar. And she was quite literally at the end of the Napoleonic Wars, for it was aboard the Bellerophon in 1815 that the French emperor presented himself for surrender after Waterloo. In between these great events, the ship served a more prosaic career, including blockade and convoy duty, sailing in the waters of the Caribbean and Baltic as well as the Mediterranean and North Atlantic.

Codringly's history covers not only the war years, however, but starts when she was ordered to be built in 1782 and follows her through construction and the 1786 launch and then as part of the Royal Navy's fleet of ships in ordinary before the outbreak of the French wars in 1793. And it extends beyond the end of those wars when the Bellerophon served less happily as a prison hulk, straight out of a Dickens novel. Finally, in 1836 the old ship was sold to a shipbreaker's yard for dismantling, and Codringly invokes the famous JMW Turner painting of "The Fighting Temeraire" being ingloriously hauled off to the same fate two years later.

"The Billy Ruffian" is not just a history of a machine built from wood and iron and rope and sailcloth, of course. The men who served aboard her and the events that embraced them are the real heart of the narrative, and the reader becomes well familiar with a good cross-section of real Royal Navy seamen who fictional counterparts people the novels of Patrick O'Brian, C.S. Forester, Dudley Pope and others. Although primarily a narrative text, there are sufficient illustrations provided so that both the ship and the events can be readily visualized. Codringly's prose flows easily, filled with lively details. The result is a book that can be enjoyed not only by the nautical enthusiast, but also by more general readers who simply want a slice of history vividly realized.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Billy Ruffian By David Cordingly, November 28, 2003

By 

Kevin Kenny (Trinidad and Tobago) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Billy Ruffian: The Bellerophon and the Downfall of Napoleon (Hardcover)

I was very fortunate last week to be in London with a day to spare and
visited the National Maritime Museum for the third time. Following on from a
conference the week before I was introduced to one of the directors of the
Museum who was kind enough to spend an hour with me. What a difference it
makes when you get to know someone who is in charge of a museum.

What may be of interest to members is reading a book he recommended to me
called " Billy Ruffian" by David Cordingly. . The book covers the life of
the ship Bellerophon which spanned 1782-1836. It is beautifully written and
easy to read. For those of you who like to read about naval history but find
reading historical digest difficult you will find this book refreshing.

Kevin