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The Mediterranean Fleet under Lord Collingwood is at its greatest ever—more than a hundred vessels—and is far too small for the tasks demanded of it.

The French have invaded Spain, their former ally, and are ravaging the land in a fashion unseen since the Thirty Years War in the Germanies. The Barbary Corsairs are resurgent, slaving and raiding across the whole Sea. The Two Sicilies, an ally, has collapsed into corrupt desuetude. Turkey is rumbling in the East, and there is a renewed Russian interest in the old aim of achieving access to warm waters from the Black Sea.

Nick Turnhouse in Hawke is being used as a fireman—sent to put out conflagrations as they appear, to perform particular tasks, to respond to needs as they arise. Initially, he is to respond to the pirates of the western shores of Africa with a demonstration of force that will hopefully frighten them into avoiding British interests in the Mediterranean . . .