Marshal Ney and Marshal Soult formed a two-ship British monitor class named for allied French commanders. Initially designated M13 and M14, the vessels received the marshals' names in honor of Britain's French ally. Ney was executed after Napoleon's Hundred Days and the Battle of Waterloo, while Soult is remembered here as a survivor. The contrast gives the names very different associations. Each monitor carried 15-inch guns for attacking targets ashore, packing battleship-calibre firepower into a short, broad hull.
Chapter · 1:26-3:12
Marshal Ney and Marshal Soult lend their names to British monitors
The Royal Navy names two heavy-gun monitors for French marshals whose contrasting fortunes suit the ships' own uneven careers.