The collection, which comes from the museum of H.M.S. Ganges, was deposited on loan by the Ministry of Defence in 1965. It consists of three logs of the Ganges, 1826 to 1827 and 1850 to 1852, and one kept on the Swiftsure, 1888 to 1889. There are eight documents, including four orders received in 1782 by Admiral Sir Thomas Graves (1747?-1814) from Admirals Lord Hood (q.v.), Lord Rodney (1719-1792), 1782, Lord Cornwallis (q.v.), 1804, and Lord Collingwood (q.v.) (1804). Also in the collection are miscellaneous letters from Sir Edward Pellew (q.v.), 1810, and Lord St Vincent (q.v.), 1801 and 1822.

Administrative / biographical background
The Ganges, launched in 1821, became a training ship for boys in 1866. The ship was moored in Falmouth Bay until 1899 when it was moved to the Essex Coast off Shotley, near Harwich, where it remained until 1906. From 1905 the training establishment was based on shore at Shotley where it remained until its closure in 1976