Nathaniel Drinkwater

Richard Woodman

A refreshingly different set of "Napoleonic" naval novels, Nathaniel Drinkwater is not only poor (like Hornblower) but his years as midshipman are unattended by the sort of luck which gave Horatio his start. As a result we get a vignette of life in the smaller ships of the Royal Navy; the sloops, cutters and brigs which did the tedious, and often dangerous, leg work for the fleets. Never rising beyond Captain, Drinkwater's career is charted in a series of fourteen novels from the day he joins as a midshipman to his death. The series is complete, there will be no more.

I only discovered this series recently, after a gap in my reading while my children were small (it is impossible to read seriously when you're interrupted every ten minutes). The early novels are out of print but luckily for me, they are currently being reissued in omnibus format. If Woodman has a flaw as a writer, it is in telegraphing important events in advance. "Little did X know that he would not survive another week ..." If a nice character has to die, I really don't want to know until it happens. So far I've only read the first two, so maybe Woodman will stop it.

Cover Title Pub Set Comments
The First Drinkwater Omnibus ©1981, 1982, 1983, 2000 R Woodman, image courtesy of Time Warner Books (Warner Books 2000).
2000
An Eye of the Fleet 1981 1779-1781 Rank: Midshipman
Ship: Cyclops (36 Frigate, Hope)
Location: Channel, American seaboard
The young Nathaniel Drinkwater learns his trade during the American War of Independence.
A King's Cutter 1982 1792-1797 Rank: Master
Ship: Kestrel (12, Cutter, Lt Griffiths)
Location: Channel, North Sea
With Revolutionary France occupying the Austrian Netherlands and threatening Holland, the Scheldt estuary and the Dutch fleet it is only a matter of time before Britain is once agian at war.Drinkwater, now married to Elizabeth and employed by Trinity House, is called back to the service by an old colleague.
A Brig of War 1983 1798-1800 Rank: Lieutenant
The 2nd Nathaniel Drinkwater Omnibus ©1984, 1985, 1985, 2001 R Woodman, image courtesy of Time Warner Books (Warner Books 2001).
2001
The Bomb Vessel 1984 1800-1801 Rank: Lieutenant
Ship: Virago (Bomb Vessel)
Location: Baltic
The Corvette 1985 1803 Rank: Commander
Ship: Melusine (Corvette)
1805 1985 1805-1806 Rank: Captain
Ship: Antigone (36 Frigate)
Location: Channel
The Third Nathanial Drinkwater Omnibus ©1986, 1988, 1989, 2001 R Woodman, image courtesy of Time Warner Books (Warner Books 2001).
Dec 2001
"Blaze of Glory"
Baltic Mission 1986 1807 Rank: Captain
Ship: Antigone (36 Frigate)
Location: Baltic
In Distant Waters 1988 1807-1808 Rank: Captain
Ship: Patrician (Heavy Frigate)
Location: Pacific Coast, Nth America
A Private Revenge 1989 1808-1809 Rank: Captain
Ship: Patrician (Heavy Frigate)
Location: China Sea
The Fourth Nathanial Drinkwater Omnibus ©1991, 1992, 1995, 2002 R Woodman, image courtesy of Time Warner Books (Warner Books 2002).
Dec. 2002
"Death or Damnation"
Under False Colours 1991 1809-1810 Rank: Captain (masquerading as Merchant Master)
Ship: Galliwasp (Merchant Barque)
Location: Baltic
The Flying Squadron 1992 1811-1812 Rank: Captain
Ship: Patrician (Heavy Frigate)
Location: Atlantic & Chesapeake Bay
Beneath the Aurora 1995 1813 Rank: Captain
Ship: Andromeda ()
The Shadow of the Eagle ©1997 R Woodman, image courtesy of Time Warner Books (Warner Books 2000). The Shadow of the Eagle 1997 1814 Rank: Captain
Ship: Andromeda
Ebb Tide ©1998 R Woodman, image courtesy of Time Warner Books (Warner Books 1999). Ebb Tide 1998 1843, 1781, 1815-1820

Richard Woodman has written two Nathaniel Drinkwater short stories for anthologies. "The Steeple Rock" is set in 1788, in between "An Eye of the Fleet" and "A King's Cutter". It was published in "The Mammoth Book of Men o' War" in 1999. "The Night Attack" is set in August 1801, in between "The Bomb Vessel" and "The Corvette". It was published in "The Mammoth Book of Hearts of Oak" in 2001.

The last two books have been release in "Distant Gunfire", the 5th Nathaniel Drinkwater Omnibus, together with the two short stories listed above.

Images on this page are used by kind permission of Time Warner Books

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Last update 5/10/03