1774: The new year seems to offer Richard Bolitho and his friend Martyn Dancer the culmination of a dream. Both have been...

1794: as the year draws to a close Richard Bolitho, commanding the old Hyperion, leaves Plymouth to join a squadron blockading...

1784: at a time when most of the fleet is laid up, His Majesty's frigate Undine weighs anchor at Spithead to begin a voyage to...

1782: British Captain Richard Bolitho is ordered to take the frigate Phalarope to the Caribbean, where the hard-pressed royal...

1778: a seminal year for the young Richard Bolitho... The American War of Independence changes to an all-out struggle for freedom...

1774: Bolitho is now a newly appointed third lieutenant joining the 28-gun frigate Destiny at Plymouth. It is a far step from...

1777: the revolution in America has erupted into a full-scale war.

The navy's main task is to prevent military supplies from...