The Bomb Vessel

Although there's some good sea action in Woodman's (Keepers of the Sea new adventure, the chief attraction is the vivid depiction of the politics of Europe and the Royal Navy in Lord Nelson's day. In 1800, Lieut. Nathaniel Drinkwater wangles a command for himself though it's only aboard the ""bomb tender'' Virago, a 40-year-old former mortar ship. After Drinkwater makes Virago shipshape, she plays an important role in the 1801 attack on Copenhagen. En route to this climactic battle, Drinkwater contends with Navy politics, a cowardly blackguard of a purser, his own fugitive brother and, not least, the Danish artillery. The corruption, snobbery and pigheadedness of the Navy Office, ``those portals of perfidy and corruption,'' is nicely conveyed, as is the Navy lore, augmented by an interesting, low-key portrait of the great Nelson. (March 15)