HMS Spitfire carried galley warfare into North America

At twenty-one, Saumarez commanded the eight-gun galley HMS Spitfire in North American waters and took her through dozens of engagements. The vessel shows why galley warfare survived beyond the ancient and Mediterranean settings with which it is usually associated. Before steam or internal-combustion engines, human muscle provided dependable propulsion when local winds could not move a sailing vessel. Spitfire joined rowing power to a small warship's guns and gave Saumarez practical experience of littoral combat before he burned her to prevent capture by a French fleet.