The following pages will be found to contain accounts of a
considerable number of the gallant actions performed by naval men
since Her Most Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria came to the throne,
rather than a complete naval history of her reign.
My chief object, when designing the work, was to show that the
present Navy of Great Britain has, in no respects, degenerated from
that of olden times, great and glorious as it was--that when
opportunities have occurred, the Blue Jackets of to-day, both
officers and men, have been found ready as ever to perform their
duty--to dare and to do as was dared and done of yore; that, in
truth, they are worthy scions of the ancient race--