# Napoleon wanted to join the RN? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 24, 2009, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/napoleon-wanted-to-join-the-rn/522427 "2009-12-24T10:52:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2009, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/napoleon-wanted-to-join-the-rn/522427/1 "2009-12-24T10:52:42Z")
A friend told me that Napoleon as a boy wished to join the RN. Considering history I find it hard to believe (and ironic if true). I know he was a fervent Corsican Nationalist at one time, but this seems extreme. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2009, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/napoleon-wanted-to-join-the-rn/522427/2 "2009-12-24T11:35:00Z")
I’ve heard this before, apparently the ship he was going to be assigned to ended up shipwrecked with the loss of all hands. I’ll see if I can find a cite… ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2009, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/napoleon-wanted-to-join-the-rn/522427/3 "2009-12-24T11:43:28Z")
Ah, here we go. Apparently early in life he did have naval ambitions, but was selected for the École Royale Militaire in Paris before they came to fruition: > [@](#): > > This was the end of Napoleon’s naval ambitions, once so intense that he actually thought of applying to the Royal Navy in England for a cadetship. To this unlikely historical might-have-been can be added a more sombre possibility. In expressing his continuing enthusiasm for the Navy in 1784, Napoleon mentioned his ambition of sailing with the great French navigator La Pérouse, then preparing for a Pacific expedition to rival those of Captain Cook. La Pérouse sailed in 1785 but three years later was shipwrecked with the loss of all hands at Vanikoro Island in the south-west Pacific…But for an administrative decision in Paris, the great European conqueror could easily have died in obscurity in an oceanic grave. McLynn, (1997), Napoleon, p.23. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2009, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/napoleon-wanted-to-join-the-rn/522427/4 "2009-12-24T15:57:15Z")
As a young man, George Washington wanted to join the Royal Navy, but his mom put the kibosh on _that_ idea: [http://www.nmm.ac.uk/explore/sea-and-ships/facts/faqs/people/why-didnt-george-washington-join-the-royal-navy](http://www.nmm.ac.uk/explore/sea-and-ships/facts/faqs/people/why-didnt-george-washington-join-the-royal-navy) > **[George Washington](https://books.google.com/books?id=7AlqmsjWhPMC&pg=PA36&lpg=PA36&dq=%22george%2Bwashington%22%2B%22royal%2Bnavy%22%2Bmother&source=bl&ots=jl9qI5tl72&sig=7n5vg3LUQwcm6c5LHDj_GB6zrcI&hl=en&ei=d44zS9fTEdXhlAeT8aGqBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CBoQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=%22george%20washington%22%20%22royal%20navy%22%20mother&f=false)** > > George Washington is the human story of a man who turned an impoverished childhood and the frequent humiliations at the hands of a mother he feared and the British generals he admired into a career of rebellion and creation. When he had worn out and... > **[Write My Research Paper: Turn Challenges into Achievements](https://writepaper.com/write-my-research-paper)** > > Write me a research paper – your key to academic distinction. Choose us, impress your peers, and move ahead with confidence.