Home of the Channel Fleet under the command of the Earl of Bridport (Lord Hood). His flagship H.M.S Duke with the single topmast is the large first rate on the left while H.M.S Brunswick the vessel designated to host the executions is anchored off her starboard bow. It is the dawn of the day of the executions . . . In Dickensian terms ‘It comes coldly looking like a dead face out of the sky, the moon and the stars, turn pale and die as if creation’s only purpose is its journey into death’s dominion.’