Short Story-Homecoming

Just noticed the author has put a short story 'Homecoming' about Richard Bolitho, set after the Battle of the Nile on his website.
Edit: The story is now available to be read on my site, by kind permission of the author, at http://www.historicnavalfiction.com/index.php/general-hnf-info/short-stories/915-homecoming

Excellent!
Well-spotted, that!

A nice story. A thoughtful Commodore (Richard) Bolitho returns to England after action at Aboukir Bay, but the story is not without suspense and action.

This from Page 10: ...the usual sense of guilt and shame, which he had often suffered in the aftermath of cloth action...

Is "cloth action" a term I don't know, or is this a typo for close action?

I read "close action" on first reading - didn't even notice what I now assume to be a typo. Perhaps he dictated it and he has a lisp ...

I guess you're right, but I was hoping for some new exotic explanation. Maybe clergy -- you know, men of the cloth -- having at it in a pitched battle. Or maybe a towel-snapping battle. I'm disappointed that "cloth action" isn't a technical term for a surprise manoeuvre: "They didn't cotton that they were linen to starboard because we had pulled the wool over their eyes..."

Or perhaps if the Marines run out of amunition they throw hammocks at the opposing ship

Maybe Make & Mend day revealed something that should have been kept to himself ...

...Yes! The very fabric of the ship. She was scantling clad.

You go too far, Sir! You may well blush!

This story is now available for viewing directly from my site by kind permission of the author. I have edited the link in the first post

If you keep all your HNF, you might consider printing out a copy of this Homecoming for your complete collection of Alexander Kent's series. Don't know if it's acceptable to do it from this site, but if not, it can be downloaded/printed out from Richard Woodman's sight directly.

Taken from "the best period" of Richard's career. Definitely "a keeper".

80 Winters wrote:but if not, it can be downloaded/printed out from Richard Woodman's sight directly.

Oops! Alexander Kent's site.... and whichever you use to access it, it remains author copyright.

My mistake (the names seem to run together in the evening). I should edit my post, but that would only make your comment confusing, so I'll leave it as a small monument to my falibility. Thanks for picking up on it, and you can delete this post if you wish.