Frank Brown, Sea Apprentice

"Sea Apprentice" by Frank T. Bullen is a novel written in the early 20th century. It is a coming-of-age tale that follows a young boy named Frank Brown as he embarks on an adventurous journey at sea, driven by a longing for exploration and the thrill of maritime life. Throughout the narrative, Frank faces the challenges and harsh realities of being an apprentice sailor, attending to the trials and tribulations that come with the profession. The opening of the book introduces readers to Frank Brown, a 14-year-old boy yearning to escape the ordinary confines of his life and explore the world as a sailor. His passion for the sea is met with resistance from his father, who hopes for a more stable future for his son. After a memorable incident at sea during a family holiday, Frank is encouraged to pursue his dreams, and, through the help of Captain Burns, secures a position on the merchant ship "Sealark". The narrative then chronicles his transition from an innocent dreamer to facing the grueling realities of seafaring, including difficult tasks, the rough treatment from older apprentices, and enduring the challenges of the turbulent sea. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Frank Thomas Bullen, British novelist, was born of poor parents in Paddington, London, on 5 April 1857, and was educated for a few years at a dame school and Westbourne school, Paddington. At the age of 9, his aunt, who was his guardian, died. He then left school and took up work as an errand boy. In 1869 he went to sea and travelled to all parts of the world in various capacities including that of second mate of the Harbinger and chief mate of the Day Dawn, under Capt. John R. H. Ward jun in 1879 when she was dismasted and disabled. Having spent 15 years of his life at sea, since the tender age of 12, he would later describe the hardships of his early life thus: I have been beaten by a negro lad as big again as myself, and only a Frenchman interfered on my behalf. Those were the days when boys in Geordie colliers or East Coast fishing smacks were often beaten to insanity and jumped overboard, or were done to death in truly savage fashion, and all that was necessary to account for their non returning was a line in the log to the effect that they had been washed or had fallen overboard. A parallel may be drawn with Joseph Conrad's career at sea aboard Torrens 1891–1893. He was a clerk in the Meteorological Office from 1883 to 1889. His reputation was made over the publication of The Cruise of the "Cachalot" (1898); and he also wrote, amongst other books, Idylls of the Sea (1899); Sea Wrack (1903); The Call of the Deep (1907) and A Compleat Sea Cook (1912), besides many articles and essays. He lectured extensively and was highly critical of Australasia's lack of defences against what he saw as imminent naval threats from Germany and Japan. He died at Madeira on 1 March 1915.