Explore the real-world places that appear in The Surgeon's Mate by Patrick O'Brian. Each location on the map shows what happens there in the novel, the real history of the place, and what's there today. Featured locations include Shelmerston (Poole Harbour inspiration), Portsmouth Dockyard, Halifax Citadel, Grand Banks, Cape Race and 4 more.
Poole, Dorset — The smugglers' port
Early in the novel, Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin are drawn into the world of coastal smuggling and Stephen's secret intelligence work. Stephen rides to a Dorset coast setting to meet agents. Aubrey is pursued by creditors and cannot go safely ashore. Poole stands in for the West Country harbours of the book.
Poole has been a major port since the medieval period and flourished on the Newfoundland cod trade in the 17th and 18th centuries. It was also known for smuggling in the 18th century.
Poole Quay is a busy waterfront with pubs, restaurants and the Poole Museum, which covers the town's maritime and Newfoundland trade history.
Visit: Poole Museum (museum)
Portsmouth, Hampshire — Royal Navy's main base
Portsmouth is the Royal Navy's great base and the setting for Jack Aubrey's naval business, fitting out and recruiting. Aubrey takes command of the Surprise for the mission to the Baltic and beyond, a mission linked to Stephen Maturin's intelligence work. Stephen and Aubrey assemble the crew here for the voyage.
Portsmouth Dockyard has been a Royal Navy base since 1496 and was the largest industrial site in the world during the Napoleonic era. HMS Victory was based here.
The Historic Dockyard hosts HMS Victory, HMS Warrior, the Mary Rose Museum and the National Museum of the Royal Navy.
Visit: Portsmouth Historic Dockyard (historic site)
Halifax, Nova Scotia — Royal Navy North American station
Halifax is the Royal Navy's base in the northwest Atlantic, the natural refuge for ships cruising against American and French vessels. The ships of Aubrey's world operate from here when chasing prizes across the Grand Banks.
Halifax was founded in 1749 as a British military base. The Citadel hill fortification dates in its current form to the 1820s-1850s.
Citadel Hill is a National Historic Site run by Parks Canada with costumed interpreters and views over the harbour.
Visit: Halifax Citadel National Historic Site (historic site)
Off Newfoundland — The great chase through fog
The Grand Banks provide the novel's central sequence: Jack Aubrey leads a great chase through fogs and shallows. Visibility is nearly zero, and the ship navigates by lead line and sound, with fishermen's boats looming out of the mist. The fog and dangerous shoals test Aubrey's seamanship and the crew.
The Grand Banks have been among the richest fishing grounds in the world since the 15th century. The cold Labrador Current meets the warm Gulf Stream here, producing frequent dense fog.
The Banks remain a fishing area, though cod stocks collapsed in the 1990s. Fog persists, and shipping lanes cross the area.
Newfoundland — Landfall on the Atlantic approach
Cape Race lies on the Newfoundland shore near the Grand Banks approaches, a dreaded landfall in fog. Ships working across the Banks fear the rocks and shoals near this coast, matching the fogbound hazards Aubrey's crew faces.
Cape Race has been the site of a lighthouse since 1856 and became a major wireless station, famously receiving the Titanic's distress calls in 1912.
The Cape Race Lighthouse National Historic Site and Cape Race Interpretive Centre are open to visitors in season.
Visit: Cape Race Lighthouse (historic site)
Newfoundland — Fishing port at the edge of the Banks
St. John's represents the Newfoundland fishing and naval harbour near the Grand Banks, where the Royal Navy protected the fishery. Ships like Aubrey's would refit and take on news of enemy vessels here.
St. John's is among the oldest European settlements in North America and was a key British naval and fishing base fought over with the French.
The harbour is lined with colourful houses and Signal Hill National Historic Site overlooks the narrows.
Visit: Signal Hill National Historic Site (historic site)
Gibraltar — Mediterranean station
Gibraltar appears as a British stronghold in O'Brian's world, a key stop for ships and a hub for intelligence passing between Stephen Maturin and his Admiralty contacts.
Gibraltar was captured by Britain in 1704 and became a vital naval base commanding the strait. It withstood the Great Siege of 1779-1783.
The Rock is a tourist destination with the Upper Rock Nature Reserve, the Great Siege Tunnels and the Gibraltar National Museum.
Visit: Upper Rock Nature Reserve (park)
London — Naval orders and secret intelligence
The Admiralty is where Jack Aubrey receives orders and where Stephen Maturin's intelligence masters operate. Decisions about the Baltic and Atlantic missions are set in motion here, and Aubrey's fortunes depend on Admiralty favour.
The Admiralty building on Whitehall was built in the 1720s and served as the headquarters of the Royal Navy. The Admiralty Board directed fleets through the Napoleonic Wars.
The Old Admiralty Building is part of government offices and is not generally open, though it stands prominently beside Horse Guards Parade.
Off Portsmouth — Anchorage for the fleet
Spithead is the roadstead where ships gather before sailing. Aubrey's ship departs from here with Stephen aboard, beginning the long voyage west across the Atlantic.
Spithead has been the Royal Navy's fleet anchorage for centuries and was the site of the 1797 naval mutiny.
It remains a busy shipping channel and venue for naval reviews, with ferries to the Isle of Wight crossing it.
More by Patrick O'Brian: H.M.S. Surprise locations map · Desolation Island locations map · Master and Commander locations map · Treason's Harbour locations map · All Patrick O'Brian books