The Black Ship

Published originally in 1863, this novel, No. 50 of the Beadle’s Dime Novels series, takes place during the American War of Independence.  The story is about an officer in the British Navy, the commander of a warship, who resigns his commission and travels to America to volunteer as an officer in the fledgling navy of the colonies where he becomes first officer of the Black Ship, a notorious thorn in the British Navy’s side.  Marked as a traitor, his engagement to the niece of a British loyalist in jeopardy, knowing that his capture will result in a quick hanging, the hero fights on for the principles of liberty in which he believes.

John S. Warner, the credited author, is the author of dozens of dime novels in the late nineteenth century but little is known of his personal history and background, and even whether the name is real or a pen name remains a mystery.

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