H. Taprell Dorling H. Taprell Dorling Captain Henry Taprell Dorling (1883-1968) was a British sailor, author, and journalist who served in the Royal Navy during both world wars, giving his marine fact and fiction a notable authenticity. His Pincher Martin, O.D. (1916) is widely referenced as the source for Pincher Martin (1956) by Nobel prizewinner William Golding. He wrote under the name Taffrail. Dorling was born in Berwick, the second son of Colonel Francis Dorling, and named Taprell Henry, but later changed the order of his names. He entered the HMS "Britannia" in August 1897, his 1113 marks placing him fifty-eighth in merit
HMS Pincher (1910) HMS Pincher (1910) HMS "Pincher" was a coal-fired destroyer of the Royal Navy built by William Denny and Brothers and launched on 15 March 1910. "Pincher" spent the early part of the First World War in a local defence flotilla operating out of Portsmouth, but by June 1915 had joined the 5th Destroyer Flotilla in the Aegean Sea, operating with them until December 1917. In January 1918, she was moved to the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla, operating for a half year with the Northern Division of the Coast of Ireland Station. On 15 May 1918, "Pincher" was reassigned to the 4th