A Middy of the King, by Harry Collingwood.
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The young hero of this tale is Dick Delamere, who was already a
midshipman, on leave, but who receives a letter from the Captain of the
Europa, recalling him to join the ship at Portsmouth. The date of the
events that ensue is the very late eighteenth century.
The first few chapters cover the events while the Europa is on patrol in
the Chops of the Channel and the Bay of Biscay. The British are hostile
to the French and to the Dutch, and there are engagements with vessels
of these nations. Thereafter the vessel sails to the West Indies, where
one of the problems is to exterminate the pirates infesting those
waters. The book describes, possibly fairly accurately, the life of a
midshipman of those days and in those waters. At one point Dick
receives a very serious head-wound, but recovers with good treatment in
the Naval Hospital. On the whole the book has echoes of the immortal
works of Captain Marryat, which I am sure our author had studied very
carefully.
Collingwood has exceptional powers of description, and this book makes
a good read, and, of course, a good audiobook.
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A MIDDY OF THE KING, BY HARRY COLLINGWOOD.