Antonio Barcelo, the Thunder of the Berber Pirates

54
This person and his achievements are often recalled in Spain, but they hardly know beyond its borders. Meanwhile, he was an outstanding naval commander and marine engineer, the author of projects of several interesting types of gunboats, including armored boats, a veteran of anti-caper wars and the Great Siege of Gibraltar, adored by sailors and not liked by a noble officer. It is about Admiral Antonio Barcelo.





Balearic in Armada


Antonio Barcelo and Pont de la Terra was one of the few Armada officers who did not come from the Basque Country. He was born in Palma de Mallorca, on the first day of the 1717 of the year, in the family of Onofre Barcelo, the owner of a shopping mall, carrying goods between the Baleares and Catalonia. His mother was a representative of one of the most outstanding families of the island - Pont de la Terra. As soon as Antonio reached the right age, he began to make trading flights between the islands and the mainland with his father. This was not an easy occupation - at the beginning of the 18th century, Berber pirates were still strong, who raided the Spanish coast and robbed merchant ships, threatening shipping and the Christian population. Even ordinary merchants had to master not only the maritime and commercial sciences, but also the military.

When Antonio was 18 years old, his father died, and the young man assumed command of the shebek. A year later, he had to face the Berbers for the first time at sea, and the battle was won, after which such skirmishes rained down from a cornucopia. Barcelo won all battles with pirates of the shebek, and her captain began to earn fame and recognition among both civilian and military sailors in Spain. The battle with two Berber galleys that took place in the 1738 year brought him great fame, in which, despite the numerical superiority of the enemy, he won a landslide victory. Having learned about this battle, King Felipe V immediately made Barcelo the lieutenant of the Armada frigate (teniente de fragata), without any study or special training - the necessary skills 21-year-old Balearican already successfully demonstrated. From that moment, he became an active participant in military operations against the corsairs, while not forgetting the native islands - when famine erupted on them, Barcelo did his best to buy and deliver grain to Mallorca, which saved many lives.

In 1748, the Berbers captured the Spanish Shebek with 200 passengers on board, including 13 Royal Army officers. Enraged by this event, King Fernando VI ordered Antonio Barcelo to assemble a squad and carry out a punitive raid. This raid was successful, the Berbers suffered great damage, but the war did not end. In 1753, when he was in Mallorca, the coastal alarm went off, and Barcelo, without thinking twice, put the grenadier company on his shbeke and set sail. There, he had to encounter an 30-fun 4-gun galliot, accompanied by several small cheeks. Ignoring the numerical superiority of the enemy, Barcelot attacked the squadron of corsairs, and gave her a real pogrom - the wisps fled, the galliot was captured after boarding. For this, the Balearic was promoted to the rank of ship lieutenant (teniente de navio).

In the 1756 year, following from Palma de Mallorca to Barcelona, ​​he met two Algerian galliots on his shebek. And again, despising the enemy and ignoring the numerical superiority, Barcelot rushed to the attack and won - one galliot was sunk by artillery fire, the second fled, and this despite the fact that they had to fight on both sides, which obviously reduced the capabilities of the Spanish ship! In this battle, the ship's lieutenant himself received two injuries, from which, however, he quickly recovered. In 1761, Barcelo was already the captain of the frigate (capitano de fragata) and commanded a division of three shebeks. In one of the battles, he happened to fight seven Algerian ships, all of which were captured. The next year, the irrepressible Balearic player got a rich, albeit a peculiar prize - he managed to board the Algerian frigate and capture his commander, the legendary (at that time) Berber corsair Selim. In this battle, he was injured, which disfigured his face for life - a bullet passed through his left cheek, tearing it, and leaving a large scar.


The same battle of Shebeki Barcelo with two Berber galleys


Despite all the wounds, the fight against the Berbers continued, and the battles took place almost every day. In many of them, the division of Antonio Barcelo was noted. When the French and Austrians tried to increase the onslaught against the pirates, he was chosen as one of the "allied commanders." And although nothing came of this venture (the matter was stalled at the very beginning), the choice in favor of the Balearic man spoke for himself: he saw one of the main fighters with the corsairs of the Mediterranean Sea. From 1760 to 1769, he captured 19 Berber ships, captured 1600 Muslims and freed more than a thousand Christian prisoners, for which he received the title of captain of the ship (capitano de navio) under a royal patent. Acting in the new position of commander of a small sailing and rowing flotillaconsisting of galliots and shebeks, Barcelo became one of those thanks to whom the Spaniards managed in 1775 to keep the Peñón de Alhusemas fortress, located on the island of the same name. The flotilla itself suffered losses, but the Berber squadron besieging the fortress was forced to lift the siege. Once again, Barcelo established himself in the best possible way, which enabled him to soon take part in a major expedition to Algeria.

Expeditions to Algeria and the Siege of Gibraltar


In the same 1775 year, Barcelot's rowing flotilla became part of the expeditionary forces, which were sent on a punitive campaign against the Berbers. A large number of outstanding army officers fell into it — the army was commanded by General O'Reilly, the fleet by Pedro González de Castejón, and his chief of staff was Jose de Masarredo. However, the expedition as a result of a series of accidents and errors ended in complete failure, the troops had to land in another place, inconvenient for deployment, the Algerians constantly exerted pressure from land and sea, the army suffered heavy losses, and it soon had to be evacuated in a difficult situation. This story it could have ended in defeat and carnage, if it had not been for the rowing flotilla of Antonio Barcelo - acting near the shore, driving away the Berber ships and supporting fire of their light cannons of the evacuating army, the Shebeks and Galiots of the Balearians saved the situation and allowed to complete the evacuation more or less successfully. Even a large-scale cavalry attack by the Berbers with a mass of horsemen with a total number of about 10-12 thousand people did not help - the troops, having received the support of naval artillery, stubbornly repelled the attacks and gained time to evacuate the wounded. The losses were heavy, but not fatal - 500 killed and 2000 prisoners from the entire 20-thousandth army. Barcelot’s actions in difficult conditions were highly appreciated by all, and ground officers, and the command of the fleet. His merits were recognized by the king, who shortly after the expedition returned home, promoted the Balear to the rank of brigadier. At this time, the illness of Barcelo was already beginning to affect - a progressing deafness that developed due to his very close acquaintance with naval artillery: many times in battles, he, despising safety, was too close with the guns firing, which could not but lead to sad consequences.

Antonio Barcelo, the Thunder of the Berber Pirates

Model of the armored gunboat Antonio Barcelo


In 1779, Spain entered the war with Great Britain on the side of the USA and France, and the so-called Great Siege of Gibraltar began. Due to the geographical conditions and the fortifications erected by the British, it was probably the most inaccessible fortress in the world, and having an unsuccessful experience of sieges, the Spaniards decided to rely primarily on the blockade. The blockade fleet, which was supposed to operate directly at the fortress, was appointed team leader Antonio Barcelo. He approached the task creatively, and was engaged not only in the blockade, but also constantly pestering the British with night actions of his light forces. According to the design of the admiral, special gunboats of a new design were built in Cadiz, with two cannons of caliber up to 24 pounds, placed on installations with a central pin or complex swivel, more characteristic of ships of the mid-19th century. The guns were located at the ends, in the middle were rowers, providing them with a course in any direction. The boats had a low profile and low visibility, which was especially beneficial for the night. Finally, according to Barcelo’s decree, part of the boats were sheathed with a streamlined wooden frame, on top of which they launched a thick oak paneling and iron plates - i.e. in fact, the ships turned into rowing armored gunboats, where the armor was used in combination with streamlined forms to withdraw shells into a ricochet, and to prevent incandescent shells used by the British to combustible materials. To increase buoyancy from the outside, the casing was sheathed with a cork, and also made a binder from it to absorb the attacks of enemy shells on the armor. Having first appeared near Gibraltar, these gunboats aroused laughter among the British, but not for long - very soon these awkward ships, about which the Spaniards said that they would not survive the first shot from their heavy guns, turned the garrison’s night service into hell. One of the British officers, Captain Sayer, wrote later (approximate translation, Sayer himself may be Sayer, i.e., German in the British service):
The first appearance in front of the English garrison of gunboats of the “new model” of Barcelot’s design caused general laughter, but not for long. At first, no one realized that they were the most formidable and invincible enemy that had appeared before the English fleet. Barcelo always attacked at night, choosing the darkest directions and sections of defense where it was impossible to detect his small squat boats. During the night, his gunboats literally bombarded us with their shells throughout the fortress. These bombings tired the British much more than a day service. At first they tried to get rid of the Barcelo gunboats with the help of coastal batteries firing at flashes in the dark, but in the end, the British realized that this was just a waste of ammunition.


In parallel with the struggle with the British, the Balearians also had to fight with their colleagues, most of whom simply hated him because of their low origin, considering Barcelo to be an upstart. Barcelot himself was a rather rude and sharp-tongued man, which only aggravated the situation. The case almost reached the court due to the insult of some other officer of Armada, but the case was hushed up. Even the attempt to “remove” the Balearic from Armada did not help, justifying his writing off to the shore with almost complete deafness and respectable age. The new siege commander of Gibraltar, the Duke de Crillon, tried to push this resignation away - but when he arrived at the siege camp and met Barcelot personally, he immediately cut off any encroachments on the valuable commander of the rowing forces: he was a genius of a small war, and lose this because of intrigue de Crillon was not about to. The subordinates adored their commander, including due to the careful and thrifty attitude to the personnel, which always easily won the hearts and souls of sailors, regardless of their nationality. In Andalusia, where a large number of sailors came from, the poem very soon spread that if the king had at least four naval commanders like Barcelo, Gibraltar would never become English. However, the king no longer had people like Antonio, and the siege, together with the general assault, ended in failure. At the end of the general assault, Barcelo was wounded, but soon returned to duty.


In general, the gunboats were very different


In the 1783 year, commanding a squadron of 78 pennants, Barcelo for the second time in his life appeared under the walls of the fortress of Algeria, trying to finally stop the Berber piracy in the Mediterranean Sea. To do this, the city was taken "on the cannon", and later subjected to bombing for 8 days. Alas, this time luck did not favor the Spaniards - despite the enormous consumption of ammunition, Algerians managed to inflict only small losses, caused several fires in the city itself, destroying 562 buildings (a little more than 10%) and sinking the gunboat. The results were more than modest, albeit achieved, they turned out to be at the cost of very small losses. The next year, the expedition was repeated, this time with the involvement of the allied fleets of Naples-Sicily, Malta and Portugal. The command was carried out by the same Antonio Barcelo, and this time luck was smiling at him. For 9 days, allied ships bombarded Algeria, sinking almost the entire Berber fleet and destroying a significant part of the fortifications and the city. Even taking into account the prematurely interrupted campaign due to adverse winds, the results were quite sufficient. Leaving the African waters, Barcelo did everything to get information about his intentions to return to Algerians next year, with even greater strength, as a result of which the Algerian Bey was forced to negotiate peace with Spain, stopping the pirate raids on its shipping and coast. Tunisia followed the example of Algerians, impressed by the actions of Barcelo. Until the start of the Napoleonic Wars, piracy in the Mediterranean was stopped.

Recent affairs


After solving the Algerian question, Antonio Barcelo returned home, being already a deaf old man with a wounded body and a set of old sores. In 1790, in the light of the siege by the Moroccans of Ceuta, they remembered him and appointed him to command a squadron designed to bombard Tangier. However, by the time he took over command of the squadron, peace talks had already begun, with the result that the bombing was canceled. Barcelo, knowing the volatile nature of the Moors, considered that they only took time to gather strength, and went as a private person to reconnaissance in Ceuta and its environs, where the new Moroccan army was really gathering. Soon, negotiations broke down, and the war began in full growth - but unexpectedly Barcelo was removed from the post of squadron commander due to intrigue. He personally addressed to King Carlos IV, and achieved his return as commander of a squadron intended for war with the Moroccans, but she did not go to sea due to incessant storms, and after some time she was completely disbanded. Intrigues again began against the tall Balearic man, and he was finally sent home. Offended and humiliated by this, Antonio Barcelo for some time tried to achieve the organization of a punitive expedition to Morocco, but he was simply ignored. In the end, he died in the 1797 year, at the age of 80 years, without returning to the fleet anymore. His remains are buried in Mallorca, but in the Pantheon of outstanding sailors in San Fernando there is a memorial plate with his name - that there was no doubt that this famous Balearic was there in the 19th century.

Antonio Barcelo is one of the most prominent Armada officers of his generation. The unsurpassed master of the “small war” at sea, acting by the forces of rowing and sailing-rowing vessels, he always achieved victory, even in the most difficult and hopeless situations. Slightly less successfully, he also acted as commander of mixed squadrons. His actions during the siege of Gibraltar, along with gunboats of his own design, became a model and subject of discussion throughout Europe at that time. The sailors adored him, the kings loved, he had friends in high society, the population of the Spanish Levant idolized him as a defender against the Berber threat - but alas, he did not fully fit into the structure of the Armada. The reason for this was both the complex character of the Balearic man and the peculiarities of his origin - according to the concepts of his time, he was too small a nobleman, an upstart, and even did not have a system of naval education, speaking in everything literally self-taught. Because of the latter, he was considered to be completely illiterate, unable to write and read, although it was he who knew how to do it, and even excellent, constantly holding next to him his beloved book - Don Quixote by Cervantes. Being a noble, honest and kind man, he could not fight intrigues, as a result of which he could not prove himself as a naval commander. Only colossal patience and endurance allowed him to bear the tricks of his colleagues, who constantly teased him about the lack of education and low origin. Nevertheless, history has already forgotten the names of its ill-wishers, but Antonio Barcelo is remembered (albeit not everywhere) as an outstanding sailor, naval commander, defender of Christians from Berber corsairs and slavery, and even a designer who created one of the first examples of armored ships in Europe and used such ships in practice with great success.
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54 comments
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  1. +7
    5 September 2019 18: 35
    Artyom thanks!
    Instructive story!!
    1. +7
      5 September 2019 18: 55
      Vladislav, is that you? What is happening in our world, has it really leaked a little common sense, so that you have been restored to your rights? What to expect now? Will the US repent and lift sanctions? Europe will remember that it has its own political and economic interests? Fomenko will take over?
      I am full of optimism!
    2. +5
      5 September 2019 19: 51
      Who I see! I do not believe my eyes! Vlad, finally! You are welcome! We always missed you. hi drinks
    3. +4
      5 September 2019 20: 13
      The namesake, with the return
      1. +1
        6 September 2019 04: 49
        Thanks for the kind words friends! They returned me, only without the right to correspondence! Mail on VO is blocked, why I do not know!
        Sincerely, Your Vlad!
  2. +6
    5 September 2019 18: 46
    My respect, Artyom. smile hi
    As always, interesting and informative.
    Question: what is the fate of the armored gunboats built by the hero? What happened to them?
    1. +9
      5 September 2019 18: 54
      It is hard to say. About them there is not very much information on the Internet (less than we would like) - most likely, they were deposited ashore and successfully forgot about them, because in the future nothing like this has ever been seen again. In principle, the usual fate for many premature inventions, such as the Alexandrovsky submarine. But, unlike most of these inventions, the gunboat Barcelo still fought, and very successfully, let them only in one place and in one war.
      1. +5
        5 September 2019 18: 59
        Clear.
        Maybe one of the colleagues will find something ... Interesting ...
      2. +8
        5 September 2019 20: 37
        According to the design of the admiral, special gunboats of a new design were built in Cadiz, with two cannons up to 24 pounds, placed on installations with a central pin or complex swivel, more characteristic of ships of the mid-XNUMXth century. The guns were located at the ends, in the middle were rowers, providing them with a course in any direction.
        In general, the drawings and descriptions preserved in the archives indicate that the armament consisted of one gun on a carriage. But there is no armored cover at all.

        This is a drawing from the Simanks Historical Archive.
        1. +4
          5 September 2019 20: 48
          A colleague, this is just one of the types of gunboats that Barcelo used. In total, there were, as I understood it, half a dozen different samples, and only one type was armored - his model was actually shown in the article itself, there is also a museum exhibit.
        2. +5
          5 September 2019 20: 49

          And this is a drawing from the archive of the Maritime Museum in Barcelona. Completed in 1779. Two types are shown here, one with a cannon, and the second, apparently, with a mortar.
          1. +2
            5 September 2019 20: 56
            Victor, good evening. hi

            The second gunboat is definitely with a mortar.
      3. +3
        5 September 2019 20: 50
        Quote: Undecim
        This is a drawing from the Simanks Historical Archive.

        Artyom, to the barrier. smile
        Zataritsa chips and beer, looking forward to an interesting discussion. smile
        1. +3
          5 September 2019 20: 57
          I'm afraid a lot will fail smile A colleague correctly pointed to the drawings of gunboats - but the fact is that Barcelot built them of several types, only one (or two, but I doubt it) was armored. That is, what was said by a respected colleague does not completely cancel what I said, it's just that we are talking about different samples. As far as I can tell, Barcelot generally showed a great flight of imagination there, and experimented with the construction as best he could - well, he was given the go-ahead for these matters from Madrid itself, and he literally could do whatever he wanted. And, most likely, the first non-numbered gunboats were the first, and only then Barcelot tried to sheathe some of them with armor and increase the buoyancy margin of the cork.
          1. +2
            5 September 2019 21: 17
            The most detailed description of the Barcelo gunboats is given by the Spanish historian, naval sailor Fernandez Duro. So he just writes that initially there was no armor, the idea arose later, but experience showed that this was unnecessary, since the small size of the gunboats and sights of that time made getting into the boat almost impossible. This raises the question - was the armored version used, or remained at the "prototype" stage and appears only on paper?

            On the engraving of Roberts, the gunboats are also without armor.
            1. +1
              5 September 2019 21: 29
              Well, no matter how you increase it, you won’t understand anything. Is there armor there or not ... Although it is most likely not there, the little ships are too small.
            2. +3
              5 September 2019 21: 30
              Quote: Undecim
              This raises the question - was the armored version used, or remained at the "prototype" stage and appears only on paper?

              As I understand it, there was still some kind of application, but such an aggregate will not be massive in any case, because it is painfully expensive, and all the delights from Barcelo’s gunboats primarily concern the armored ones. But armored, as for me, is still more interesting, and not just like gunboats - you can imagine how convenient it is to use these small-sitting armored vessels for landing operations bully Shooting from muskets and small-caliber artillery on their drum, and for paratroopers such a convenient shelter on the shore is worth a lot.
        2. +2
          5 September 2019 21: 03
          My comments are not a challenge. It’s just interesting to understand the question and add interesting material.
          1. +2
            5 September 2019 21: 08
            For additions to you, I am always grateful hi Blueprints. By the way, I saw it when searching for images, but decided not to put it in the article, because then it would not be possible to tell everything compactly. And I still didn’t remember about de Crillon floating batteries, noted there, also very interesting units, with water circulating through the outer casing to protect against hot cores. It didn’t help, however, but from the point of view of the technology of that time - right wah-wah!
            1. +1
              5 September 2019 21: 18
              Artyom hi , here people are interested in whether there are books and films about Barcelo. What about the Spanish artists?
              1. +2
                5 September 2019 21: 22
                Alas, here by zeros. At least I don’t know anything about this, and it’s clear from the well-known Spanish historical kin that they prefer to shoot about the Habsburg or Middle Ages, about the time of the Bourbons — somehow very little.
                1. +2
                  5 September 2019 21: 24
                  It is a pity, of all about whom you told us Antonio Barcelo the most colorful and attractive figure.
                2. +1
                  5 September 2019 22: 35
                  Quote: arturpraetor
                  here by zeros. At least I don’t know anything about it.

                  Found one, a Spanish historian.
                  Agustin R. Rodriguez Gonzalez. "Antonio Barcelo: much more than a privateer."

                  By the way, this historian has quite a few works on the Spanish maritime theme.
                  1. +2
                    5 September 2019 22: 46
                    Well, I'm not a big specialist in Spanish literature hi There may well be something else about Barcelo, but I do not know. My acquaintance with literature from Spain is still limited to Perez-Reverte ("Day of Wrath", "Hussar", "Trafalgar") and "National episodes" (and even then - not all).
                    1. 0
                      5 September 2019 22: 58
                      Quote: arturpraetor
                      Well, I'm not a big specialist in Spanish literature,

                      Just in case, I pointed out to the historian so that it would be possible where to look, otherwise you write that his father was an ordinary merchant, but meanwhile:
                      The fame that was invented by his father Onofre in July 1717, when he proposed to participate in a Spanish expedition sent to the brave to capture the island of Sardinia.

                      edaf
                      edaf
                      This act for the service of the crown received Onofre, in November 1719, a Corsican patent (in practice: the ability to seize and rob Muslim ships on behalf of His Majesty in exchange for transferring part of what was received to the state) and an agreement on the provision of postal services between Mallorca and Barcelona.
                      Google translator of course clumsily writes ... crying
                      https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34006440-antonio-barcel-mucho-m-s-que-un-corsario
                      1. +1
                        5 September 2019 23: 06
                        Quote: Mordvin 3
                        You write that his father was an ordinary merchant

                        I wrote that his father was a petty Balearic nobleman, and owned a shebek, sometimes making commercial flights. This does not mean at all that he was a merchant, given the established Spanish order. They, if anything, a century earlier and private owners mainly owned galleons. There was no state order - they went to trade, there was a state order - they were hired to serve as part of the Armada, not forgetting to write a double, triple or even quadruple list in relation to real on the crew’s salary list laughing Oh yes, another popular topic was to write down the dead, minors, "leftist" relatives, and sometimes even personal animals in the salary list ...
                      2. 0
                        5 September 2019 23: 11
                        Quote: arturpraetor
                        This does not mean that he was a merchant,

                        Yeah, I read it inattentively. I wonder if there was a Corsican patent, so there could be other patents? recourse Or a translation like this?
                      3. +1
                        5 September 2019 23: 19
                        Rather, the translator has crookedly translated "marque" or "corsair".
          2. +4
            5 September 2019 21: 10
            Quote: Undecim
            My comments are not a challenge.

            Viktor Nikolayevich, I’m such a nasty instigator. smile "They also called you an earthworm" ... laughing
            But seriously, I was also interested, and thanks to your comment and Artyom’s answer, I learned a little more about the topic. smile
            Discussions with your participation in this section have become rare, for my part it would be wrong to miss such a moment. smile
            1. +2
              5 September 2019 21: 21
              Discussions with your participation in this section are rare
              So articles worthy of an interesting discussion have become rare. More and more sketches, where there is no discussion about the discussion, there are thematic honors.
              I still hope that Artem will get to the Berber pirates, at least to the Barbaross brothers.
              1. +3
                5 September 2019 21: 34
                Quote: Undecim
                I still hope that Artem will get to the Berber pirates, at least to the Barbaross brothers.

                I doubt that I will get it. This topic is not so interesting to me, and I wrote about Barcelo as part of articles about the Spanish officers of Armada. Here about the Spaniards there will still be materials, unequivocally - but so far I do not plan anything about the rest
                1. +2
                  5 September 2019 21: 59
                  Artem, do you speak Spanish?
                  1. +3
                    5 September 2019 22: 06
                    I own, but very limited. Spoken almost zero, the pronunciation seems to have learned well, but so far the vocabulary of Spanish is limping on both legs, so I rarely manage without a Google translator.
                    1. +2
                      5 September 2019 22: 10
                      I came across the electronic library of Castile and Leon, and on it is a nine-volume Duro on the history of the Spanish fleet. But alas, the elbow is close, and you will not bite.
                      1. +3
                        5 September 2019 22: 20
                        I often stumble on all sorts of goodies in the Spanish segment of the Internet, many interesting documents of the old days are even digitized, but for now I have to refrain from in-depth study of materials, otherwise I will have no time to go to the toilet, eat and sleep, not to mention work laughing This is especially interesting in the sense that Spanish history from the Spaniards is usually very different from what is served according to the traditional English version of the history of Spain, which prevails among us. Of course, this does not guarantee that the Spaniards are right, but as an alternative point of view, a different presentation of facts and their interpretation is all very curious, and in comparison with other sources you can even try to establish the truth, as it actually happened there.
                      2. +3
                        5 September 2019 22: 41
                        By the way, I found a biography of Barcelo in the French Wikipedia, it is again the most detailed. It also contains about his descendants, who successfully exploit the Barcelo brand today (https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoine_Barcelo#Post%C3%A9rit%C3%A9).
                      3. +2
                        5 September 2019 22: 49
                        Quote: Undecim
                        By the way, I found Barcelo’s biography on the French Wikipedia, it is again the most detailed.

                        Yes, Christmas trees and sticks, it was the only wiki in which I did not look wassat In general, I do not really like French - it seems to be akin to Spanish, but where the Spaniards have everything clear and understandable, the French begin to be tough in terms of pronunciation and spelling. "Cool" I only met the language of the Swedes.
                      4. +2
                        5 September 2019 22: 53
                        I don’t own it at all, I have to rely solely on Google, clarifying dubious moments on other resources along the way. You can, of course, ask professionals, they won’t refuse from the old memory, but this is still in extreme cases, the loan is not endless.
                      5. +3
                        5 September 2019 23: 10
                        She and I, as it were, do not go far without a google translator, even on Spanish sites, but google translate in any case is extremely clumsy, and with at least some knowledge of a foreign language, when comparing machine translation and the original, you can find, so to speak , a true translation, then not knowing French, and looking at that beleberda that the translator suggests, at times you begin to experience certain, not very pleasant sensations. I had such a first time with Spanish, when a google translator began to translate "skirmishers" as "harassers", in the same sentence calling the light infantry "perverts."
                      6. +2
                        5 September 2019 23: 13
                        However, if you know the topic, google kooky can be overcome. Nevertheless, it allows you to access not only English-language resources. And about Google’s clumsiness - work with Japanese and Chinese sources and you will understand that Google translates from European languages ​​very accurately.
                      7. +1
                        5 September 2019 23: 18
                        I worked with Japanese, I know wassat But anyway, I prefer to use more or less familiar languages ​​so that there is something to add to Google. And knowledge of Spanish usually also gives an opportunity to more or less understand Italian - very close languages. Well, as if English was taught at a university school ... Three slightly familiar foreign languages, plus a Google translator - already great!
                      8. +1
                        5 September 2019 23: 22
                        The school and institute course of the Soviet era is more a joke than learning a language. In addition to philological faculty, and even that is not all. Without practice and the language environment, a language cannot be learned normally.
                        It will be, as in the questionnaires of the personnel departments - I read and translate with a dictionary.
                      9. +1
                        5 September 2019 23: 44
                        The mice squeak with pleasure, "what a mountain of sweets and a feast! It's just some kind of holiday! I understand that these are your fragments of AI with AIhistori? By the way, an interesting parallel of your essay, and the actions of Russians at this time on the Sea of ​​Azov, Dnieper. How success depends on the personality and perseverance of the commander! Thank you Anton!
                      10. 0
                        5 September 2019 23: 54
                        Quote: Solo2503
                        As I understand it, these are your pieces of AI from AIhistory?

                        Yes, I took up the cycle about officers to a greater extent because of the next restart of my Spanish alt-historical project (yes, I’m spanish feel ), and there it is necessary to "smoke" the biographies of the main characters of the era in the most detailed way, and it will not hurt others to tell about these great men - what is here, what is on the website of alt historians, because you can know and understand alt history only with adequate knowledge and analysis real history. Actually, now, in parallel with the "accompanying materials" in real life, I am already publishing developments in AI.
  3. +4
    5 September 2019 19: 29
    Exciting friday reading smile But seriously - thank you very much for unknown moments like me, moments of history!
  4. +5
    5 September 2019 19: 49
    That was the Man! If not all these intrigues with the origin and education, he would certainly have done much more deeds. But after all, he made the stinking Algerian bey go to a truce, and it costs a lot. I read it with great interest as an anti-piracy novel. In my opinion, this was the first real fighter with all sorts of Muslim "Wahhabists" and left a good memory.
    Artyom! hi Thanks for the interesting story. good
    1. +3
      5 September 2019 21: 10
      A cat, and yet, about Barcelo, you could write a chic adventure novel, and what a movie you could shoot! Perhaps in Spain there are some books or films about Barcelo?
      1. +1
        5 September 2019 21: 15
        Hello, hello! hi
        As for books and films, Artyom needs to be asked. And I only learned from Barsepo from him. Yes, but about how he beat the Muslim brothers, one could make a magnificent movie. And everyone would be nice. drinks
        1. 0
          5 September 2019 23: 46
          Nonche in Europe this theme is not comme il faut.
  5. +3
    5 September 2019 20: 29
    Traditionally interesting. The gunboat example shows so well how good it can be when moving away from templates.
  6. +5
    5 September 2019 21: 05
    Artem, you could call your work: "Antonio Barcelo. A man who created himself" and this is true. The son of a small shipowner, he learned everything from his father, who most likely from his father and more experienced sailors.
    These were people who achieved everything themselves, and not because of the patronage or nobility of the family. Probably, if he lived somewhere in Revila (then Tallinn) or Odessa, then he would have been recorded in the third part of the Velvet Book, the so-called "serving the nobility", that is, people who have reached the nobility through service.
    He himself was a simple man and therefore well understanding of sailors. The deceased marquises or Viscounts were struck by the fact that they had to serve together with the snapper, and the king probably giggled.
    Artem, but you don’t know: did Barcelo have children? Curious what they could achieve themselves
    1. +1
      5 September 2019 21: 19
      Quote: vladcub
      Artem, you could call your work: "Antonio Barcelo. A man who created himself" and this is true.

      For my part of the titles of articles in this cycle, my imagination generally refused after the very first, when it turned out that it was impossible according to the rules of the site to put the name of the cycle in the title of the article. I just planned everything - the name of the cycle and the name and surname of the characters (given how long the Spaniards have surnames, this would be enough), but the name of the cycle has disappeared, you cannot leave the name and surname alone, and then the imagination is over request
      Quote: vladcub
      and the king probably giggled.

      Except for the reaction of the same marquises and dukes. Carlos III, and Felipe V and Fernando VI were pragmatists, and if a person showed the necessary talents - he was exalted despite the grumbling of all the nobility, the case of Barcelot is not the only case here, and not even the most indicative, for there is Gabriel de Mendisabal, who was not at all a nobleman, and rose to the rank of general (though he was once reduced to a private soldier for a lost battle, but he quickly recovered) ..
      Quote: vladcub
      Artem, but you don’t know: did Barcelo have children? Curious what they could achieve themselves

      I did not find the information and, most likely, they did not exist. In general, this is a fairly frequent occurrence among Armada officers — well, their life is too stormy, they had to devote too much time to work, and there was very little time left for the family. The same Churruka married very late, because in fact he did not get out of work for many years.
  7. +2
    5 September 2019 22: 09
    Very interesting! What a talented, persistent and brave man! good
  8. -1
    6 September 2019 15: 58
    Quote: Sea Cat
    That was the Man! If not all these intrigues with the origin and education, he would certainly have done much more deeds. But after all, he made the stinking Algerian bey go to a truce, and it costs a lot. I read it with great interest as an anti-piracy novel. In my opinion, this was the first real fighter with all sorts of Muslim "Wahhabists" and left a good memory.
    Artyom! hi Thanks for the interesting story. good

    Wahhabis were not then. And despite what wrestlers mean - in the 18th century, the Berber pirates were only a pale shadow of the past, they were no longer the same horror as a couple of centuries ago. And if we talk about fighters, so Andrea Doria what was much earlier than our hero.

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