Secret mission Mauritius

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Secret Mission Mauritius (English original title Mauritius Command ) is the fourth volume in the series of novels by Patrick O'Brian around Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin. In this volume O'Brian tells the story of Captain Sir Josias Rowley .

action

Jack Aubrey is now married to Sophia Williams and has twin daughters with her. He lives in Ashgrove Cottage with his family, mother-in-law and a niece. Aubrey herself has been on land and on half pay since the duel off Sumatra . Plagued by the difficult financial situation, he also misses the sea. When Stephen Maturin visits Aubrey, he also tells him about a difficult situation in Mauritius and the possibility of leading a squadron there with HMS Boadicea . Aubrey waits enthusiastically for the official order, which comes shortly afterwards. To his horror, the wife of Commander Lord Clonfert appears and asks for a passage on his ship. Aubrey and Maturin sail from Portsmouth to Plymouth , taking the future British governor of Mauritius on board, but leaving Lady Clonfert there.

On the exit, Aubrey conquered the French corvette Hébé and his prize, a British merchant ship, with the Boadicea . This is followed by the trip to the Cape of Good Hope , where Aubrey takes over the squadron of HMS Néréide , HMS Sirius , HMS Raisonnable and HMS Otter as commodore . After the squadron heard of a French frigate and two East Indiamans in the port of Saint Paul on Réunion , Maturin went ashore to pursue his work as a spy.

On Rodrigues , the squadron unites with Lt. Col. Keating and his troops who subsequently assist in the attack on Saint Paul. The attack was a complete success, the French frigate Caroline was taken into service as HMS Bourbonnaise under Captain Sir Robert Corbett and sent back to the United Kingdom, Lord Clonfert became captain and took over HMS Néréide . The fortifications of Saint-Paul are razed, all useful material is removed. After the withdrawal, the British troops are brought back to Rodrigues.

New news of the capture of a Portuguese frigate prompt Aubrey to depart. He can't do anything before the hurricane season, but his ships are damaged and the squadron has to return to the Cape of Good Hope.

Reinforced by the frigates HMS Magicienne and HMS Iphigenia , the squadron collects the ground troops from Rodrigues, reinforced from India, and sails to Réunion . There the invasion succeeds without any problems thanks to Stephen's secret service preparations.

After the capture, the squadron prepares to invade Mauritius . The first step is to conquer the Île de la Passe in front of Grand Port . When a French squadron returns from the trade war, there is a naval battle at Grand Port, modeled after the historic naval battle of Grand Port . The British are defeated, Captain Clonfert is badly wounded and taken prisoner.

Meanwhile, Sir Robert Corbett arrives from Great Britain with the HMS Africaine and goes on the hunt for French frigates on his own initiative, but is fought down by the French frigates Astrée and Iphigenié . Shortly afterwards, the Boadicea recaptured the Africaine . When the French frigate Venus conquers the East Indiaman Bombay , the Boadicea is there again . The Venus and Bombay can be conquered, the French Commodore Hamelin dies. With the frigates HMS Boadicea , HMS Africaine and HMS Néréide (former French frigate Venus ) and two East Indiamans, Aubrey blocked Mauritius. He can no longer carry out the plan of conquering the island with this squadron, since Rodrigues reinforcements from India have meanwhile arrived. With these associations the conquest of Mauritius succeeds. Captain Clonfert commits suicide because he does not want to get his frigate back from Aubrey, also because his relationship with Aubrey is difficult and strained. At the subsequent victory celebration, Aubrey is sent home with the victory message.

people

Returning people

  • Captain Jack Aubrey called Lucky Jack Aubrey
  • Doctor Stephen Maturin
  • Lieutenant Pullings
  • Helmsman Barret Bonding
  • Steward Killick
  • Sophia Aubrey

Newly introduced people

  • Fanny and Charlotte Aubrey
  • Commander, later Captain Lord Clonfert (loosely based on Nesbit Willoughby )
  • Lieutenant Seymour, First Officer of HMS Boadicea
  • Lieutenant Trollope, Second Officer of HMS Boadicea
  • Lieutenant Johnson, third officer of HMS Boadicea

Historical people

Deviations of the novel from the story

Captain Josias Rowley was not sent from Portsmouth with the HMS Boadicea , but was already stationed with HMS Raisonnable at the Cape of Good Hope . At the end of the book, O'Brian exchanges the HEICS Bombay for the HMS Ceylon in order not to completely confuse the reader, as the HEICS Ceylon was already mentioned in the book. Although Aubrey was subordinated to Captain Harry Lambert of HMS Iphigenia , both of them no longer recognize each other in one of the following volumes Cannons on the High Seas , although Captain Harry Lambert is the same person in both volumes in historical reality. The French commodore Hamelin is killed during the capture of his frigate by the HMS Boadicea , while in the historical reality he was able to return to France as a hero. Sir Robert Corbett is described as a sadistic captain, but Tom Wareham has shown in his non-fiction book The Star Captains that the number of punishments under Corbett was nowhere near as frequent as one might think. In reality, Corbett was wounded in the foot during the battle between the Africaine and the Astrée and the Iphigénie and was brought below deck, where he died. In the book, he goes overboard, suggesting that he was killed by the crew.

Book information

The novel is currently available as a paperback edition from Ullstein Verlag with 394 pages, ISBN 3548252036 and as an audio book from Kuebler Audiobook on 11 audio CDs or 2 mp3 CDs, total playing time 13 ½ hours ISBN 978-3-86346-044-0 .