Sea Warriors: The Royal Navy in the Age of Sail

The late 18th and early 19th centuries were a time of wooden ships and iron men, an age of “fighting sail” that continues to fire the imagination today (witness the popularity of A&E's Horatio Hornblower series and Peter Weir's Oscar-nominated Master and Commander). Shot on location at historic sites throughout the United Kingdom, and hosted by Captain Richard Woodman (author of the “Nathaniel Drinkwater” novels), this beautifully-lensed documentary chronicles an age of incredible ferment, when England and France sparred for European supremacy in an all-out naval war. With its vast shipbuilding experience, abundant materials, self-confidence, and determination, England was able to enforce its blockade of French harbors and coasts (Napoleon was a great military strategist, but he had little expertise in naval affairs). Historians and writers of naval fiction share insights about British military designs and shipbuilding history, as well as the small details of daily life for officers, sailors, and support crew, who kept these tall ships seaworthy (and stocked with provisions; the video notes that salt-laden food was unhealthy at best, and that the dangers of unsanitary water ensured that most sailors drank excessive amounts of alcohol). On the more colorful side, the program notes that ships sometimes resembled floating brothels when they anchored near a friendly port, but that incidents of flogging, sodomy, and abusive officers were probably exaggerated accounts left by disgruntled crew members (still, the "press gang," which filled quotas by dragging new “sailors” off the street at whim, were a much hated and feared force). Overall, however, the video portrays the fighting ship as a mostly disciplined, motivated instrument of war, a romantic symbol of a vanished age. Highly recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (S. Rees)