Snarleyyow or the Dog Fiend (Classics of Naval Fiction)

Set in 1699 and framed around the Jacobite (supporters of the overthrown king, James II) conspiracies of the time, Lieutenant Cornelius Vanslyperken is the greedy and treacherous commander of a small vessel that hunts for smugglers in the English Channel. Snarleyyow is his "indestructible" dog.