Give Me a Fast Ship
The Continental Navy and America's Revolution at Sea
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Narrated by:
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Don Hagen
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By:
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Tim McGrath
About this listen
America in 1775 was on the verge of revolution - or, more likely, disastrous defeat. After the bloodshed at Lexington and Concord, England's King George sent hundreds of ships westward to bottle up American harbors and prey on American shipping. Colonists had no force to defend their coastline and waterways until John Adams of Massachusetts proposed a bold solution: The Continental Congress should raise a navy.
The idea was mad. The Royal Navy was the mightiest floating arsenal in history, with a seemingly endless supply of vessels. More than a hundred of these were massive "ships of the line," bristling with up to a hundred high-powered cannon that could level a city. The British were confident that His Majesty's warships would quickly bring the rebellious colonials to their knees.
They were wrong. Beginning with five converted merchantmen, America's sailors became formidable warriors, matching their wits, skills, and courage against the best of the British fleet. Victories off American shores gave the patriots hope - victories led by captains such as John Barry, the fiery Irish-born giant; fearless Nicholas Biddle, who stared down an armed mutineer; and James Nicholson, the underachiever who finally redeemed himself with an inspiring display of coolness and bravery. Meanwhile, along the British coastline, daring raids by handsome, cocksure John Paul Jones and the "Dunkirk Pirate," Gustavus Conyngham - who was captured and sentenced to hang but tunneled under his cell and escaped to fight again - sent fear throughout England. The adventures of these men and others on both sides of the struggle rival anything from Horatio Hornblower or Lucky Jack Aubrey.
Meticulously researched and masterfully told, Give Me a Fast Ship is a rousing, epic tale of war on the high seas - and the definitive history of the American Navy during the Revolutionary War.
©2014 Tim McGrath (P)2014 Gildan Media LLCListeners also enjoyed...
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Story
Nicknamed le loup des mers ("the sea wolf") by Napoleon, Thomas Cochrane was one of the most daring and successful naval heroes of all time. In this fascinating account of Cochrane's life, historian David Cordingly unearths startling new details about the real-life "Master and Commander", from his daring exploits against the French navy to his role in the liberation of Chile, Peru, and Brazil, and the shock exchange scandal that forced him out of England and almost ended his naval career.
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There is a better book on Lord Cochrane
- By Mark G on 07-20-15
By: David Cordingly
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The War for All the Oceans
- From Nelson at the Nile to Napoleon at Waterloo
- By: Roy Adkins, Lesley Adkins
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 21 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Roy Adkins, with his wife, Lesley, returns to the Napoleonic War in The War for All the Oceans, a gripping account of the naval struggle that lasted from 1798 to 1815, a period marked at the beginning by Napoleon's seizing power and at the end by the War of 1812. In this vivid and visceral account, Adkins draws on eyewitness records to portray not only the battles but also the details of a sailor's life: shipwrecks, press-gangs, prostitutes, spies, and prisoners of war.
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Good material, horrid narration
- By SC Visel on 01-03-08
By: Roy Adkins, and others
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Last Flag Down
- The Epic Journey of the Last Confederate Warship
- By: John Baldwin, Ron Powers
- Narrated by: Michael Kramer
- Length: 11 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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As the Confederacy felt itself slipping beneath the Union juggernaut in late 1864, the South launched a desperate counteroffensive to force a standoff. Its secret weapon? A state-of-the-art raiding ship whose mission was to sink the U.S. merchant fleet. The raider's name was Shenandoah, and her executive officer was Conway Whittle, a 24-year-old warrior.
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Good all around
- By Rob on 01-19-08
By: John Baldwin, and others
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Rebels at Sea
- Privateering in the American Revolution
- By: Eric Jay Dolin
- Narrated by: Eric Jason Martin
- Length: 8 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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The heroic story of the founding of the US Navy during the Revolution has been told many times, yet largely missing from maritime histories of America's first war is the ragtag fleet of private vessels that truly revealed the new nation's character. In Rebels at Sea, Eric Jay Dolin corrects that significant omission, and contends that privateers, as they were called, were in fact critical to the American victory. Privateers were privately owned vessels that were granted permission by the new government to seize British merchantmen and men of war.
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If you can get over the narrator...
- By Toby Everett on 09-20-22
By: Eric Jay Dolin
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A Rage for Glory
- The Life of Commodore Stephen Decatur, USN
- By: James Tertius de Kay
- Narrated by: John McDonough
- Length: 8 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Acclaimed author James Tertius de Kay recounts the lifeof Commodore Stephen Decatur in the first new biography of the great naval hero in almost 70 years. De Kay draws on material unavailable to previous biographers to explore Decatur’s extraordinary life. From his burning of the Philadelphia to his capture of the HMS Macedonian, Decatur demonstrated his legendary bravery at every turn.
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Excellent writing and exciting story
- By mikey on 08-02-19
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Wolf of the Deep
- Raphael Semmes and the Notorious Confederate Raider CSS Alabama
- By: Stephen Fox
- Narrated by: Barrett Whitener
- Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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In July 1862, Confederate Captain Raphael Semmes took command of a secret new warship. At the helm of the Alabama, he became the most hated and feared man along the Union coast, as well as a Confederate legend. Now, with unparalleled authority, depth, and a vivid sense of the excitement and danger of the time, Stephen Fox describes Captain Semmes's remarkable wartime exploits.
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Wolf of the Deep
- By Sammi on 08-18-07
By: Stephen Fox
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Jefferson's War
- America's First War on Terror, 1801-1805
- By: Joseph Wheelan
- Narrated by: Patrick Cullen
- Length: 12 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Two centuries ago, without congressional or public debate, a president who is thought of today as peaceable, Thomas Jefferson, launched America's first war on foreign soil, a war against terror. The enemy was Muslim; the war was waged unconventionally, with commandos, native troops, and encrypted intelligence, and launched from foreign bases.
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A Great Read
- By Donald on 06-19-05
By: Joseph Wheelan
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Iron Dawn
- The Monitor, the Merrimack, and the Civil War Sea Battle That Changed History
- By: Richard Snow
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 12 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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No single sea battle has had more far-reaching consequences than the one fought in the harbor at Hampton Roads, Virginia, in March 1862. The Confederacy, with no fleet of its own, built an iron fort containing 10 heavy guns on the hull of a captured Union frigate named the Merrimack. The North got word of the project when it was already well along, and, in desperation, commissioned an eccentric inventor named John Ericsson to build the Monitor, an entirely revolutionary iron warship.
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Good book about an underreported area of the civil war
- By Brian on 11-09-16
By: Richard Snow
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Born to Be Hanged
- The Epic Story of the Gentlemen Pirates Who Raided the South Seas, Rescued a Princess, and Stole a Fortune
- By: Keith Thomson
- Narrated by: Feodor Chin
- Length: 9 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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The year is 1680, in the heart of the Golden Age of Piracy, and more than 300 daring, hardened pirates—a potent mix of low-life scallywags and a rare breed of gentlemen buccaneers—gather on a remote Caribbean island. The plan: to wreak havoc on the Pacific coastline, raiding cities, mines, and merchant ships. The booty: the bright gleam of Spanish gold and the chance to become a legend. So begins one of the greatest piratical adventures of the era—a story not given its full due until now.
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Fascinating tale of 17th Piracy in the Americas
- By Xmeromotu on 07-11-22
By: Keith Thomson
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The Pirate Hunter
- By: Richard Zacks
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 18 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Captain Kidd has gone down in history as America's most ruthless buccaneer. However, Captain William Kidd was no career cut-throat; he was a tough, successful New York sea captain who was hired to chase pirates. Across the oceans of the world, the pirate hunter, Kidd, pursued the pirate, Culliford. One man would hang in the harbor; the other would walk away with the treasure. The Pirate Hunter is both a masterpiece of historical detective work and a page-turner.
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Aaaargh Matey, Listen to this tale!
- By Karen on 04-20-04
By: Richard Zacks
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Under the Black Flag
- The Romance and the Reality of Life Among the Pirates
- By: David Cordingly
- Narrated by: Don Hagen
- Length: 10 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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For this rousing, revisionist history, the former head of exhibitions at England's National Maritime Museum has combed original documents and records to produce a most authoritative and definitive account of piracy's "Golden Age." As he explodes many accepted myths (i.e. "walking the plank" is pure fiction), Cordingly replaces them with a truth that is more complex and often bloodier.
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Lacks Nuance
- By Joel Langenfeld on 07-02-15
By: David Cordingly
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War on the Waters
- The Union and Confederate Navies, 1861–1865
- By: James M. McPherson
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 8 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Although previously undervalued for their strategic impact because they represented only a small percentage of total forces, the Union and Confederate navies were crucial to the outcome of the Civil War. In War on the Waters, James M. McPherson has crafted an enlightening, at times harrowing, and ultimately thrilling account of the war’s naval campaigns and their military leaders. McPherson recounts how the Union navy’s blockade of the Confederate coast, leaky as a sieve in the war’s early months, became increasingly effective as it choked off vital imports and exports.
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From Offshore, This War Looks Completely Different
- By John on 04-30-21
What listeners say about Give Me a Fast Ship
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Eustace B. Nifken
- 06-04-23
Narrator Very Difficult To Hear
This is a very long, but most interesting story of the beginnings of the United States Navy. I was struck by how many times U.S. ships were captured by the British Navy and subsequently in some cases recaptured by either the rebels or the French. I often found great difficulty just simply keeping up with all of the many individuals who were either ship’s captains or other officers of prominence as they would appear for a time only to fade from the scene and then reappear some time later.
My greatest disappointment, however lies with the presentation of the story in such a subdued manner by the narrator. I often found myself losing interest in the details simply because the narrator read it in such a monotone. There are so many instances where a little more emotion by the narrator might have presented the story in a manner that could have made it more exciting and thus a better listen.
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- Amazon Customer
- 11-25-22
Good information, narrator made it a bit difficult to follow.
The author did a great job of presenting stories in a mostly unbiased way. This book could have been a lot more interesting with a different narrator. When there’s a switch between story lines, the narrator doesn’t really pause, making it hard to follow what’s going on. Still a great book if you’re interested in naval or revolutionary war history.
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- William
- 05-08-17
I learned so much
I went into this book having known nothing about the creation of the continental navy, and the read was easy enough that I followed the story quite well. the beginning was a little slow until the war started in ernest, but that's to be expected.
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4 people found this helpful
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- BigBull55
- 02-05-24
enjoyed the reader of this history!
Nothing to dislike about this book. It was an easy listen and told a great story. I will recommend this to anyone.
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- Damian
- 03-14-22
More informative than rousing, but…
…pretty darn good all-around, and those descriptions of sea battles that are provided resonate as excitingly as any novel. Best of all, this book demonstrates that our young Nations sea Captains were ever bit the Giants of their Land Bound counterparts. Courage, patriotism and genius aplenty…and oftentimes not a little roguishness. Don Hagen’s has a nice delivery and pleasing cadence…but I enjoyed it much more at 1.3 to 1.5 speed.than 1.0…which tended to be more lulling than I liked.
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1 person found this helpful
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- S. W. O'Connell
- 06-20-21
Fabulous book
You’ll not read more rousing tales of glory, suffering and dedication to a cause. Reads like novel.
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- William Engebretsen
- 05-16-24
Simple
Simple and full of stuff. One of the best early American Navy books I’ve read.
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