Midshipman Kirk

Matt Hartman is a freelance editor and cataloguer, running Hartman Cataloguing, Editing and Indexing Services.

This novel’s subtitle, “The adventures of a midshipman, Royal Navy,
aboard the iron screw corvette HMS Calcutta, during the 1880s on the
west coast of North America,” provides as good a description as any of
this picaresque seafaring novel describing the exploits of a young
British naval seaman.

The author has an obvious love for and understanding of both the
British Columbia coast and the disciplined, rank-defined naval life.
Each of the book’s 10 chapters is itself a story, “inspired,” he
says, “by historical events.” The Royal Navy ploughed the seas
during this period, rescuing this far-off corner of the Empire from such
threats as the 1866 invasion of Canada by Irish-American Fenians; a
Russian incursion, which was “put down” in 1878; and the “pig
war” of San Juan Island. Westergaard’s delight in these factoids
extends to his hero, midshipman Eric Kirk, who, in the course of the
novel, matures from lowly “snotty” (slang term for a midshipman) to
sublieutenant with officer status. The crew of the Calcutta—Kirk,
Captain Whitfield-Clements, commander Keen, and the others— are all
remarkably well drawn, rising above caricature in each adventure to
raise the Union Jack triumphantly on these distant shores.
Westergaard’s language is salty and rife with nautical expressions,
the more esoteric of which are thoughtfully explained in a glossary.
Recommended for the public library.