Rivet Counters

So someone showed up in the future comments section of this blog and nitpicked our use of HMS Warrior in The Blue and the Red: Palmerston's Ironclads.

We provided this:

From Our Iron-Clad Ships: Their Qualities, Performances, and Cost (1869), by Edward James Reed, naval architect: 'Let us take as an illustration the very important quality of power to ram an enemy. The first sea-going iron-clad, the 'Warrior,' possessed this quality to a minor degree. She isn't, it should be understood, wholly unfit to act as a ram. Any strong and well-built iron ship would deliver a formidable blow in striking an enemy at even a moderate speed; but the 'Warrior' is much more than an ordinary ship in this respect, having a massive solid forged ram-stem well supported by bulkheads and frames, worked within her elegant knee-of-the-head, expressly to adapt her for delivering a destructive blow upon an enemy.'

The above quote should have ended it, but noooooo. The nitpicker was unassuaged. 

Unless you can prove that we royally screwed up*, we don't care. It's rivet counting. As Chris Crawford once said about his brilliant game, Patton Strikes Back, 'If you can prove that the 272nd Volksgreandier Division had a battery of 88s, good for you.'

The nitpicker was kind enough to download Arctic Storm as he served in the US Army in the 80s. 

Great, I can't wait to hear how everyone knows the artillery forward observer went by Bethel-9 not Green-9.

We write novels not technical manuals.

In the meantime, if you'd like to enjoy some fun naval alternate history:

*And we have, just check out the Amazon Australia reviews of ANZACS.

Palmerston's War

So we've been doing some very interesting research on Civil War era fortifications on the East Coast. Even as far north as Portland they built forts. Many of these went back to the War of 1812. But authorities were clearly concerned about Confederate raiders, or dare we say, British intervention.

Here's Fort Prebble at the entrance to Portland Harbor. This was supported by Fort Scammel, located about 1500 yards off the harbor entrance.

Now imagine a line of four state-of-the-art British Iron-Clads steaming in line past Fort Prebble....thre you go.

Of course Grant forced his way past the Vicksburg defenses and lost several ships. But those weren't Iron-Clads.

Palmerston's War

In case of war with the United States, Admiral Alexander Milne, Commander of the RN's North American Station, planned to divide his 54 or so ships into five or six squadrons. 

One of those squadrons was to be a group of Ironclads meant to deal with American ports. 

So we've put together that squadron. As it happens by the spring of 1862 the RN had four Warrior Class Ironclads. We're putting them all in that squadron, plus the two decker wooden steamer Trafalgar and the three decker Duke of Wellington.

That's some serious firepower, people. Portland, Boston, New York....beware.