Ramage and the Freebooters
First edition
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| Author | Dudley Pope |
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| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Series | Lord Ramage novels |
| Genre | Naval historical novels |
| Publisher | Weidenfeld & Nicolson |
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Publication date
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1969 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Preceded by | Ramage and the Drumbeat |
| Followed by | Governor Ramage R.N. |
Ramage and the Freebooters, is an historical novel by Dudley Pope, set during the French Revolutionary Wars. It is the third of the Ramage novels, following on from Ramage and the Drumbeat.
Ramage, recovering from medical leave after the Battle of Cape St Vincent is summoned to the Admiralty by Lord Spencer and given command of a brig, HMS Triton, with orders to take sealed dispatches to the admirals commanding the British fleets off Brest, Cadiz and the West Indies. However, there is just one small problem – the HMS Triton is docked at Spithead, where crews of the Royal Navy have mutinied over pay and living conditions. Ramage knows that if he fails in his mission, he will become a convenient political scapegoat for the government.
Although Ramage sympathizes with the aims of the mutineers, he has a mission to perform. He obtains orders to have half of the crew of Triton replaced by men who formerly served under him on the Kathleen, including Southwick and Jackson. He then overcomes the mutiny by cutting the anchor cable as the tide was going out of Spithead harbor, forcing the men to man their posts, or risk drowning when the ship capsized.
Having dealt with the mutiny, partly with the clandestine aid of Jackson, Stafford, Rossi and Maxton, Ramage sets about curing the surgeon, Bowen, of alcoholism. Through a combination of enforced sobriety and an appeal to the man's pride in himself as an expert chess-player (almost the only remaining accomplishment the drunken Bowen can take a genuine pride in), Ramage succeeds in rehabilitating Bowen, who proves to be an excellent doctor once he has quit the drink.
Ramage successfully completes his rendezvous with Admiral Curtis off Brest, and Admiral Jervis of Cadiz, Ramage sets sail across the Atlantic. On the way, he captures the La Merlette, a French-owned slave ship before making his rendezvous with Admiral Robinson on the HMS Prince of Wales at Barbados.
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