THE CORVETTE

THE CORVETTE

First edition

published 1985
by
John Murray (Publishers) Limited, London

ISBN 0 7195 4197 2

A white cloth bound book with gilt lettering to the spine. This is an ex-library copy - The page block is clean and because these first editions are becoming scarce it might be salvagable. The copyright/publishing details page has the most library stamps and the pre-title page has a withdrawn stamp and a biro ink price - the front free end paper has been torn out leaving a 2-3 cm strip. Taped to the paste downs is the protective sleeve for what looks like a Very Good unclipped dust wrapper.

Jacket blurb

THE CORVETTE
Richard Woodman

Rewarded by promotion for his services at the Battle of Copenhagen, Commander Drinkwater is dispatched in haste by Earl St Vincent to replace the captain of HMS Melusine, who has been shot in a duel. Melusine sails as escort to the whaling fleet from Hull on its annual expedition to the Greenland Sea in the pursuit of Right Whales.

Drinkwater is immediately confronted with the hostility of the fiercely independent whaleship masters who resent, yet require, Melusine's protection, and who have their own diverse interests to pursue. There are problems with the escort as well as with the convoy: Melusine is unsuitable for the Arctic Ocean, her officers prove ineffectual and the presence of a missionary bound for Greenland appears to be a further embarrassment.
During the whale hunt the loss of one of the vessels sets off a train of misfortune, disaster, death and treachery in this remote sea. Drinkwater seeks shelter off the Greenland coast to repair his damaged ship. Here he finds worse hazards than the Arctic alone can produce, culminating in the most difficult decision of his entire career.

The absorbing drama of the whale-hunts, conflict between the tough whaleship masters, battles with the elements and with the enemy all unfold against the splendidly evoked background of the Arctic Ocean in the early nineteenth century.

Jacket painting by Val Biro

The author

Richard Woodman, after service in the Merchant Navy as an indentured midshipman, qualified as a navigator and served as a junior officer in cargo liners and ocean weather ships. Joining the Trinity House Service in 1967 he has commanded lighthouse tenders and a squadron of Guardships in the English Channel. He won the 1978 Barbara Harmer Award given by the Marine Society for Keepers of the Sea, an original work on the maritime history of Trinity House.

HIGH GRAPHIC CONTENT MAY LOAD SLOWLY
Dust wrapper spine area, front and book's spine

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THE CORVETTE

THE CORVETTE

Jacket blurb

THE CORVETTE Richard Woodman

The author

THE CORVETTE
Richard Woodman