Off to Martinique 2/01/11
Seaduced
John & Jane Craven
Sun 2 Jan 2011 22:00
Martinique is French owned, although it has been held by the British at various times in it's history, it was also the birthplace of Empress Josephine, Napoleon's wife. A bit of naval history, or useless information whatever you wish to call it coming up...
In 1804, Napoleon was the master of Europe, although Britain controlled most of the Caribbean waters due to their naval supremacy, although ships in the area were scarce. Off the southwest coast of Martinique there is a large rock called Diamond Rock, and someone decided that if the British had another ship they would station it exactly where Diamond Rock was. So... they commissioned the rock as a ship - HMS Diamond Rock!! They hauled guns, stores and provisions up the rock and a full crew lived there for 18 months, an unpleasant surprise for unsuspecting boats. Napoleon was furious about this and ordered his fleet, under Admiral Villeneuve, to head to Martinique and free the rock. Lord Nelson heard about this and set off with a full fleet - to Trinidad. Unsurprisingly, the French got their rock back, and Nelson and Villeneuve, met at the Battle of Trafalgar.