Billy Ruffian

"Billy Ruffian" (The Bellerophon and the downfall of Napoleon - the biography of a ship of the line 1782-1836) by David Cordingly.
The Bellerophon's career spanned 50 years.
She was launched on the Medway in 1786, a 74 gunner which fought at The Battle of the Glorious First of June, The battle of the Nile, and at Trafalgar.
But one of her finest hours was when she transported Napoleon, with due dignity on his 'surrender', from France to England.
The Bellerophon's ignominious end, like that of so many other proud ships, was as a prison hulk, before being condemned to the breakers' yard.
This is a non-fiction, well researched account which reads like the pages of a sea story.
Billy Ruffian is the affectionate name given to the ship by the seamen who sailed on her.
For lovers of books of naval heroes, I would highly recommend the biography of the Bellorophon.
Available from Amazon UK