THE FIRESHIP

Lieutenant Richard Delancey again, a bit stiffer in the joints than in his first appearance (Devil to Pay, 1973) but still a wizard at naval strategy as practiced in the early 19th century. Delancey's major successes here include a scholarly defense of a fellow officer accused of murdering an allegedly mutinous seaman; participation in the battle of Camperdown in the North Sea against the Dutch; and finally, after being refused promotion because of the over-Fine scruples of his former captain, the inventive use of an antiquated ""fireship"" off the Irish coast which wins him the approbation of a hitherto hostile admiral, and promise of loftier assignments. Strictly for marine buffs--Lt. Delancey doesn't have a thing on his mind but topgallants and gun ports, and other such severely authentic matters.