48 Hours: Strong Buy on Ian Toll’s Six Frigates

We recently sat down, via email, with Ian Toll, who left behind the world of Wall Street to take on a new challenge, that of an author. Over the years I have found many Wall Street professionals share a passion for military history, and Ian's first book Six Frigates: The Epic History of the Founding of the U.S. Navy will appeal to them and anyone with an interest in that scrappy startup known as the United States of America circa 1800.

Ian received his undergraduate degree in American History at Georgetown University (1989) and his Masters in Public Policy from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government (1995). You might have bumped into Ian during the time he spent covering the enterprise software and e-commerce sectors at Credit Suisse, Thomas Weisel and Alex Brown & Sons. A jack of all Wall Street trades, he even paid his dues working at the Federal Reserve.

The competition for financial dominance between London and New York, in addition to global trade issues, have been in the business press of late, but these battles have been fought many times in the past. American exports rose more than fivefold, to $108 million, between 1792 and 1807. Maritime commerce created fortunes, and capital pools were created that enabled the rapid expansion of the U.S. economy in the 19th century.

Have you been sailing your entire life?

I’ve been sailing since I was a youngster, about four or five years old.  My Dad taught me how to sail, starting on small boats (lasers, 4-20’s, etc).  Later, we raced J-24’s, and I got into some club racing in Long Island Sound (Indian Harbor YC) and Martha’s Vineyard.  Now, I mostly just like to cruise, port to port, mainly in the waters of southern New England and Long Island Sound. I don’t own a boat at the moment but I am always shopping.

What influence did Patrick O’Brian’s book series have on you?

I know I’m not the only recreational sailor to feel a fascination for the maritime past, for the age of “wooden ships and iron men,” for those brave spirits who got by without fiberglass, reliable charts, satellite navigation, cold beer, and a diesel engine that roared to life whenever the wind blew too much or not enough.  An old saying went: “He who would go to sea for pleasure would go to hell for a pastime,” and although we all know this is no longer true, it’s not hard to see how it once was.

With regard to Patrick O’Brian, I have to say that his books opened a new world for me, as he did for millions of other readers.  I was especially intrigued by O’Brian’s fictional treatment of the Anglo-American naval war of 1812.  O’Brian reflected through his characters the deep sense of shock and even despair felt throughout the ranks of the Royal Navy, when confronted with the unexpected triumphs of the American navy. 

In “The Fortune of War,” Dr. Stephen Maturin laments his shipmates’ obsession with the topic:  “The American navy was the staple diet of conversation: the American navy day after day after day.” But Maturin also appreciates the source of the mania—to an island-dwelling people, command of the sea is tantamount to national sovereignty.  “The British army may be defeated again and again; that may be accepted,” the doctor writes in his diary; “but the Navy must always win.  The Navy has always won, and it must always continue to win, to win handsomely whatever the odds.”

This raised a question in my mind – how did this puny American navy cause such shock and consternation in the vast and omnipotent British naval establishment? The question stuck in my mind, and eventually led to the writing of “Six Frigates.”

I have not read those books, can you recommend where we start if interested?

I would start at the beginning, with “Master and Commander.” Many people who have read O’Brian find it difficult to adjust to his prose style, which adopts some of the conventions of 18th century prose… Give it at least 75 pages, and you may well find yourself hooked, and before you know it you will have devoured the entire 20-book series.  They are among the best historical novels ever written, in my opinion.

How long did your research for the book take?

I had been reading about the early US Navy (as a hobby, really) for about 10 years prior to beginning my work on this book.  Once I began working on “Six Frigates” full time, in early 2002, the entire project took about four years.  It’s difficult to say how much of that period was taken up with research, and how much with writing, because I was doing a little of both straight through to the end.

That is quite a commitment. What were you most surprised by as you researched the book?

I began this project with an interest in maritime and naval history during the age of sail.  But I came to understand that this subject runs much deeper and wider.  This narrative is about the historical roots of American empire.  The first frigates gave U.S. leaders the means, for the first time, of projecting American military power far from home shores.  This raised many important questions, some going to heart of what kind of nation we were going to be.

The navy, as a political issue, thus helped to define the first great political party schism. So I thought this story needed to be reflected through a wider lens – to really resonate, I would need to weave together the political history and the diplomatic history of the period.  This significantly broadened the scope of the book – the book took about twice as long to write as I originally intended.  But I think it is a stronger and more interesting book than it would have been, had I confined the narrative to traditional naval history.

The description of the hunt for “live oak” trees was fascinating...it was the kevlar of the age.

Indeed it was. Or perhaps the carbon fiber.  Quercus Virens (or Quercus Virginianus), the southern live oak, was one of the greatest natural ship timbers.  It’s found only in the southeastern United States, in a 20-mile wide coastal zone stretching from southern Virginia to east Texas.  John Muir called it “the most magnificent planted tree I have ever seen.” Sadly, many noble old live oaks were destroyed in Katrina’s inundation of New Orleans.

Did the British or French attempt to source the wood? Do you have any additional anecdotes regarding this episode?

Surprisingly, the British and French did not ever make a meaningful effort to develop live oak as a ship timber.  Both nations, particularly the British, seemed to prefer their native oak.  British oak was an excellent hardwood timber in its own right.  Two other factors appeared to work against importation of North American hardwoods into the British market.  First, the traditional conservatism of shipbuilders – they had used British oak since time immemorial, and were loath to change.  Second, domestic timber producers did not want foreign competition, and they make their influence felt.  This was not the case, however, in the softwood trade – the British needed to import softwoods (pines) for masts and spars.  They did so, in large quantities, first from North America, later (after 1776) from the Baltic.  A good book on this subject is “Forests and Sea Power” by Robert Albion.

Regarding “Old Ironsides”, did cannonballs really bounce off the ship, or were they merely spent?

An 18-pounder cannon ball would indeed fail to penetrate the hull of an American 44-gun frigate, like the Constitution.  This was due to the extremely heavy construction and the live-oak framing of these vessels.  In some cases the balls would make a “dent” in the hull, and wedge themselves in (to be pried out later) – in other cases, as eyewitness reports and post-action descriptions of hull damage attest, they would simply bounce off and splash into the ocean.

Is the U.S.S Constitution in Boston a replica? If so, is it faithful to the original?

The Constitution is not a replica.  She is the original ship, though she has seen a great many refits and restorations over the generations.  It is estimated that some 8-10% of her timbers are original, chiefly in the keel.  I was taken down into the lower decks of the ship and shown some of her original keel timbers.

I was fascinated by the boom in US trade which took place in this period.  Early Americans were quite intrepid and entrepreneurial. While a lot has changed, the similarities to today are eerie.

In the early years of American history, the sea was the most important means of communication and commerce, even between states.  Trade, even internal trade between different regions of the U.S., was largely done by sea.  From the American merchantman’s point of view, Napoleon’s world war made the seas far more hazardous, but at the same time far more lucrative.  Competition from other maritime nations fell off sharply, and European populations went hungry as agriculture was interrupted.  Imports of food and raw materials were in high demand and fetched premium prices.  In the 15 years between 1792 to 1807, American exports rose more than fivefold, to $108 million per year.  Exports would not reach that level again until almost thirty years later—1835, when the nation’s population had more than doubled.  In the same fifteen year period the size of America’s merchant fleet nearly tripled to well over a million metric tons.

The great boom in American trade which took place between 1792 and 1812 was an extraordinary achievement, especially when you consider that the U.S., unlike several of the major European powers, had no colonial empire.  Its significance has been neglected, in my view, in much of the historical literature about this period.  Maritime commerce was the major engine of economic prosperity in the early American republic.  It created large pools of capital (both private fortunes and government revenue surpluses) that underwrote and thus enabled the subsequent rapid economic development of the United States in the 19th century.

What figure did you find to be the most interesting to research?

Jefferson.  Hands down.  A fascinating figure.  I may revisit him in a future book.

I would be remiss not to touch on your experience on Wall Street. What did you enjoy most about working on the Street?

The compensation!  I also enjoyed interacting with clients, both in the corporate world (CEOs, CFOs, etc) and with buy-side clients (analysts, money managers).  The job of a Wall Street analyst brings one into daily contact with some very smart people, whereas my current job mainly brings me into contact with a keyboard. On the whole, however, I prefer the life of a writer.  It’s eleven in the morning as I write this, and I am wearing a robe and slippers.

Do you plan to write another book? If there would be another era in the Navy’s history to profile, would it likely be the World War Two era?

Definitely.  The naval war in the Pacific was the largest, most complex, and most fascinating sea conflict in history.  I believe it has been underserved, both in relation to the land campaigns of WWII, and in relation to the war in Europe. I am working on a book entitled “The Pacific Crucible: America, Japan, and the Last Great Sea War, 1941-45.”

Excellent. Thanks so much for writing the book.

There you have it folks. We would highly recommend spending time with Ian’s book, as it touches on themes that are relevant 200 years later. Trust us, you will have trouble putting this book down.

You can find in on Amazon.com here

Ian Toll’s homepage

Excerpts from Six Frigates

Hurrah!

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