HM Hired Vessel Surprise

Surprise is a private man-of-war owned by Jack Aubrey and hired by the Royal Navy to prosecute official business as a hired vessel. As such, she is technically under the command of Tom Pullings, though Aubrey is the de facto commander. She was French-built and has previously been known as L'Unité, Retaliation, and Retribution. Her figure-head is a gilded woman with an ample bosom and a surprised look on her face. She displaces about six hundred tons, has a crew of about two hundred men, and carries a main armament of twelve-pounder long guns. She also carries thirty-two pounder carronades as ballast, and these carronades are used in the novel to arm Franklin.

Franklin

Franklin is a privateer bearing twenty-two nine-pounder guns. She is captained by Jean Dutourd, who has appeared in previous novels in the series. Crewed by Frenchmen, Franklin flies an American...