Download Give Me a Fast Ship: The Continental Navy and America's Revolution at Sea AudioBook Free
America in 1775 was on the verge of revolution - or, more likely, disastrous defeat. After the bloodshed at Lexington and Concord, England's King George sent a huge selection of boats westward to bottle up North american harbors and victimize American shipping. Colonists experienced no force to defend their coastline and waterways until John Adams of Massachusetts proposed a striking solution: The Continental Congress should raise a navy. The idea was mad. The Royal Navy was the mightiest floating arsenal in history, with a apparently endless supply of vessels. Greater than a hundred of the were substantial "ships of the brand," bristling with up to hundred high-powered cannon which could level a city. The English were positive that His Majesty's warships would quickly bring the rebellious colonials to their knees. They were wrong. You start with five modified merchantmen, America's sailors became formidable warriors, coordinating their wits, skills, and courage contrary to the best of the English fleet. Victories off American shores provided the patriots desire - victories led by captains such as John Barry, the fiery Irish-born large; fearless Nicholas Biddle, who stared down an armed mutineer; and Wayne Nicholson, the underachiever who finally redeemed himself with an inspiring display of coolness and bravery. In the mean time, along the English coastline, daring raids by attractive, cocksure John Paul Jones and the "Dunkirk Pirate," Gustavus Conyngham - who was simply captured and sentenced to hang but tunneled under his cell and escaped to fight again - dispatched fear throughout England. The adventures of the men while others on both sides of the have difficulty rival anything from Horatio Hornblower or Blessed Jack Aubrey. Meticulously investigated and masterfully informed, Give Me a Fast Ship is a rousing, epic tale of warfare on the high seas - and the definitive record of the American Navy during the Revolutionary War.
