"It was a harsh school, right enough ... but a lot of good had come from it.The petty tyrants and bullies were fewer n…"

"You know how sailors love to create mystery where there is none."

"How they must hate us, he thought. The dogged, storm-dashed ships which were always there at the break of every day. …"

"Each gun-captain was a king, every breech a small demanding kingdom."

"Bolitho heard the blare of a trumpet and saw the sun gleam across black-plumed helmets and breast-plates as the horse…"

"I have always said that a captain should act on his own initiative if his set orders tell him nothing."

"'Do more than think about it. You are a flag-officer, and must not involve yourself with the affairs of subordinates.…"

"Routine and discipline. It held the ship together no less securely than copper and tar."

"You wait and you wait, you try to see things through the eyes of the enemy, and when it eventually happens it is all …"

"No wonder the lookout was amazed. There were deozens of them, some moored in pairs, others, possibly gun-brigs or bom…"