"Ramage's Trial"
by Dudley Pope
These books are hard to find and I was fortunate enough to find yet another one at my trusty used book store in downtown Goleta California, Paperback Alley. If you find any of these books, snap them up!
Ramage aboard the frigate Calypso, is charged with escorting a convoy of 72 merchant ships from the West Indies back to England. He has only two other frigates with him, and all are short handed due to disease and having to man the other two frigates, which were recently captured by Ramage. During the voyage, they are approached by another English frigate and fired upon without warning. They chase the frigate down and board her, but the crew of the wayward frigate denies any knowledge of firing at them. All the offices are locked below, and the only officer on deck is the captain who is very polite and obviously mad. Ramage makes the mistake of taking his command from him and forcing the frigate to accompany the convoy. The frigate leaves the convoy shortly before reaching England and when Ramage drops anchor, he is served with court marshal papers. The port vice admiral has it in for Ramage and what follows is a very interesting trial in which Ramage faces the death penalty if found guilty.
This book describes
in detail the court marshal procedure, which I found quite interesting.
I also learned from this book that the gunner warrant officer
is appointed by the Army, which also has charge of all cannon
aboard English men of war. It was not an easy matter to get rid
of a gunner without crossing swords with the Army. All in all,
this was another excellent read by one of the masters, Dudley Pope.
It is a shame he is no longer with us.
Available from:
Fontana Paperbacks 1985
Reviewed by Kenneth S. Smith, 18 August 1999
