Graham

Hello Mark, an excellent Chapter which I thoroughly enjoyed it - thank you I served in the Royal Naval Hospital Gibraltar for 18 months in the mid 1970's not 18 century though - nothing had changed much lol. I think my only claim to fame during that Draft was to hoist the Union Jack upside down, which means of course the Hospital was in distress! The Admiral of the Dock Yard/The Port Admiral sent a signal asking why we were in distress; we replied it was a mistake and the flag was hoisted by a Medic and not a Seaman. The Port Admiral replied - 'Typical', but I realised that and that is why I only sent a signal... I met him later at a 'cake and arse' party and he asked me if it was me, I said how did you know? He had to add an extra drop of bitters to his Pink Gin before he could carry on the conversation lol ;-) I'm looking forward to the next Chapter, so keep your Quill sharpened lol ;-) Graham x

The order of Peerage in the UK is as follows: Royal Dukedoms Dukedoms Marquessates Earldoms Viscounties Baronies Baronetcies

An interesting observation: one of the major sexual diseases in the early RN was Syphilis. I was for many more years than I care to remember in the RN Medical Branch; part of the early training for us Medics was a trip to the (sadly closed now) RN Hospital’s Medical Museum. There were preserved skulls/long bones of Nelson’s day sailors and the curious wood worm like holes in these skulls/long bones were made by the causative organism of Syphilis called the spirochete, which they said was 'active' for 9 to 90 years! The last stage of this disease often referred to as GPI (General Paralysis of the Insane) was the fate of a lot of Nelson’s sailors; thankfully totally treatable now if caught early enough (at Chancre stage). More interesting though, was the fact that Florence Nightingale, who some people refer to as the mother of modern nursing as we know it, died of Syphilis.

Hi Mark, Another excellent chapter, certainly within the traditions of the Royal Navy’s policy of 'Rum, Bum and Baccy' (English English). I’m so looking forward to the next installment, but that is usual for me especially when absorbing/inhaling your intriguing, interesting and captivating story telling. However, I am slightly concerned with Sir Georges' possible/continued involvement with Perkins after the 'clinging' experience with Derby and the possible repercussions of that; the 'Old Boy's Network' was extremely political and very powerful especially with the 'covert' Crown/Royal involvement/fervor in the John Company around that time. Thank you Take care and stay safe - Graham.

Not only were there the battles of St Vincent, but as you can see HMS St Vincent was a shore establishment of the Royal Navy, located in Gosport, Portsmouth. The name was given to the barracks and training establishment in Portsmouth in 1927, after the one that been set up aboard the old first rate HMS St Vincent in 1862. The new HMS St Vincent was commissioned on 1 June 1927, originally like its predecessor as a training establishment for boys and juniors. On the outbreak of the Second World War, the boys were evacuated to the Isle of Man, where they merged with those evacuated from HMS Caledonia to form HMS St George, which was formally established in 1939. HMS St Vincent meanwhile became a training establishment for officers of the Fleet Air Arm and an overflow for the Royal Navy barracks. A signal school was also established. A torpedo training section was opened on 22 July 1940. St Vincent reverted to being a boy's training establishment after the end of the war, and reopened as such on 1 December 1945. It continued to function as such until 1968, when it was decided to close St Vincent. The official closing ceremony was held on 8 December 1968, with the white ensign being lowered for the last time on 2 April 1969. The base was then handed over to the land agent the following day, 3 April 1969.

Well Done Mark - excellent as usual ;-)

Hi Mark, I’m grateful for your reply – thank you. I was on HMS Victory two weeks ago; I’m not sure if you know that HMS Victory is still a commissioned ship in the RN, I have included a url to its web site. One of the people I joined the RN with, hired HMS Victory for his leaving party. So I was having cocktails in the wardroom on Nelsons Flag ship, my mind wandered to your story – it was fun being on such a ship and reminding myself of what it was like, but your version of events lol Gx http://www.hms-victory.com/

Hello Mark, I'm an ex Royal Navy person in the UK. I would like to say that I really enjoy this story. (The chapters are a little slow in coming, but I understand it is not an easy process with all the technicality involved) I am quite a fan of the 'Nelson' era in the RN and wondered if you were thinking/planning any more stories along these lines. CM Forrester is one of my favourite authors and his Hornblower series was/is one of my all time favourites. It is such a treat to read a story like this from the ‘Gay’ perspective. The old adage of ‘Rum, Bum and Baccy’ was always an ‘in’ joke in the RN, but I’m not so sure it was/is a joke. I’m so looking forward to the next chapters, I check every day. Gx