A Journal of the Experiment at Jamaica - Georges Carrack

An unexplained phenomenon sets the very young British Navy Lieutenant Neville Burton, born in the year 1780, aboard the Dutch prize frigate Swan as it sets sail for the West Indies in 1690. Wait! This is no sequel to "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court," and it's not Sci-Fi. This second volume of the "Neville Burton 'Worlds Apart' Series" continues the saga of a Royal Navy officer - albeit he is dropped into familiar surroundings in a very different time. The sailing of a British Navy frigate did not change drastically during this hundred years of the Age of Sail. Weapons did, though not so much as to make them unrecognizable. The Caribbean in the 1690's was the world's "Wild West." Spain's ownership of it was being eroded by the Dutch, English, French, privateers and the ubiquitous buccaneers and pirates. These latecomers settled the islands and began fighting over the most prosperous properties in the New World. Faced with no alternative, Burton carries on his duties until a serious injury separates him from his ship during the English liberation of St. Christophers Island from the French in June of 1690. His life, career and fortune take a turn for the better. He is apparently forgotten by the navy and left to the medical care of Colonel Thomas Fuller, a Jamaican plantation owner, and his beautiful daughter Maria. When he recovers, he is conscripted by the Governor of Jamaica to protect the remote colony against her numerous enemies by taking command of a stranded navy frigate in the harbor. His unexpected rank of Captain, plus his association with Fuller, puts him in a position to acquire a small fortune and the love of Maria. If a new command, the French Navy, pirates, convoy duty, and a love affair aren't enough, the cowardly fleet commodore in Barbados, already at odds with the Jamaican Governor, wants his ship. Just as he receives new orders forcing him to put his romance aside and transport a captured ship to Barbados, the devastating Port Royal Earthquake hits Jamaica at 10:43 a.m. on June 7, 1692. The heart-wrenching climax of the tale shatters his life - but it's not over... Richness of detail concerning the sailing of square-rigged ships into war, accuracy of the historical situation, and exposition from the author's personal experience at sea should appeal to followers of Patrick O-Brian's Aubrey-Maturin Series or C. S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower. Naval Historical Fiction - 17th & 19th Century