The Old East Indiamen, by E Keble Chatterton

The Old East Indiamen
by E Keble Chatterton

Over the span of two and a half centuries the East India Company rose from being a private venture of a few enterprising merchants to become a gigantic corporation of immense political power, with its own governors, cavalry, artillery, infantry, navy and its trade monopoly with its unsurpassed ‘regular service’ of merchantmen. The latter were the largest, the best built and the most powerfully armed vessels in the world with the exception only of some warships. The East Indiaman was spoken of with just as much respect as a man-of-war. She was built and maintained regardless of cost and no other merchantmen could rival her for her strength, beauty and equipment. It was a golden age, a glorious age, an epoch in which British seamanship and ship building in wood were capable of being improved upon only by the clipper ships that followed for a brief interval. Their officers were the finest navigators afloat. The conditions under which the crew voyaged were hard and ever expectant of a fight, the ships ere run practically in navy fashion. they were heavily armed with guns and we read of more than one instance where these ships were far too much for a French Admiral and his squadron.

Hardback with protective cellophane cover. Fair condition.
Small marks/scuffs to front end paper.  Mottling to outside of bottom edges of the pages. Inside pages in good condition.

308 pages. 14 pages of black and white photographs.
150 mm x 222 mm (approx. 6 in x 8.75 in)
1971, Conway Maritime Press, UK