Surprise

Surprise is a private man-of-war, owned by Stephen Maturin, and captained by Jack Aubrey. She was French-built and has previously been known as L'Unité, Retaliation, and Retribution. Her figure-head is a gilded woman with an ample bosom and a surprised look on her face. She displaces about six hundred tons, has a crew of about two hundred men, and carries a main armament of twelve-pounder long guns. She also carries thirty-two pounder carronades as ballast, and the main guns can be switched around with a few days' work. Her cannons are named, and the names provided in the novel are Willful Murder, Jumping Billy, Belcher, Sudden Death, and Tom Cribb. Her named crew include Jack Aubrey, captain; Stephen Maturin, surgeon; Tom Pullings, 1st mate; West, 2nd mate; Davidge 3rd mate; Bulkeley, bosun; a carpenter known only as Chips; a gunner known only as master gunner; Martin, surgeon's...