Book Review
Six Frigates By IAN TOLL
Reviewed by PEGGY BARNETT
The subtitle of Ian Toll's superb new book is "The Epic History of the Founding of the U.S. Navy." If an epic is an adventure story, this book can aptly be called that. Toll has studied primary sources -- letters, diaries, and shop's logs to tell this sweeping history.

He seems to describe everything, from the gardens of the then-capital of Philadelphia to the details of the building of the first American frigates. The fledgling country scorned military conquest, but soon found she needed to be able to defend herself, not only from European powers, but also from the Mediterranean pirates as her trade expanded.

Many leaders were opposed to building a navy, including Thomas Jefferson, but reports of captures of American ships by the British, French, and Algerians changed attitudes. Congress appropriated $600,000 for a "small squadron," officers, and crew. "It was an estimate that would seem preposterous in retrospect."

Phrases from history books are recalled and dramatized, like the "XYZ Affair" that I never understood in elementary school. More fun are the famous battles. Currently, we are more familiar with the Caribbean pirates; however, it is the "shores of Tripoli" and enslavement of American seamen by the Bashaw that stir the blood here. Names like the Constellation, the President, and "Old Ironsides," the Constitution, were familiar to the American people, and men like Stephen Decatur became famous heroes.

Dueling was still popular among the young officers (Alexander Hamilton was killed during this period,) and in a few instances duels between ships were suggested. One American frigate was lost in such a duel, against the orders of superior officers. The quotation that became a watchword for the Navy, "Don't give up the ship!," was spoken by a dying captain, and was an order to commit mass suicide. (It was not obeyed in that instance.)

Six Frigates abounds with exciting anecdotes. The ketch Intrepid, under the command of Decatur, crept into Tripoli Harbor to destroy the captured Philadelphia without losing a man. A captain who was kept prisoner wrote letters in lime juice to the Americans stationed across the Mediterranean. The capture of the Guerriere by the Constitution was an epic battle, but is not the only battle described in vivid detail. Author Patrick O'Brien based many of his sea stories on these encounters.

Toll recounts some sailors' superstitions. One black cat aboard was good luck, two were not. A sailor stepped aboard with his left foot first. It was bad luck to kill a seabird because each carried the soul of a dead sailor. He also explains some expressions which had their origins in the vocabulary of sailing ships, like "through and through" and "loose cannon."

The value of a national navy was firmly established in the War of 1812. The phenomenon of impressments, whereby the British claimed the right to "require the services of all seamen for defense of the realm" was one of the causes of the war. The fact that those seamen might be American citizens did not protect them. After the war, Americans convinced themselves that it was a victory though none of the war's formal objectives were achieved. A feeling of national unity prevailed.

Toll closes with a "Chronology of Later Events" that manages to be informative and entertaining. Six Frigates will soon be available at the Mary Willis Library.

Reader Comments

No comments have been posted. Be the first!

Other Stories With Comments:
Article	Comments
The Office Cat	2
Neighborhood vandalism is out of control	1
The Office Cat	1
Drug problem growing; little is being done	1
The Office Cat	1
Family escapes death in semi hit-and-run	1
Feed a family of four for $10 a week	1