The main collection consists of signal books, both manuscript and printed, fighting instructions and essays concerning tactics. Among these are examples of some of the earliest signal books of about the time of the War of the Spanish Succession, but the bulk of the signal books and instructions date from the mid 18th to the early 19th century. Many have important additional notes and amendments made by various naval officers, including several by Admiral Richard Earl Howe (q.v.) and Admiral Sir John Jervis, the Earl of St Vincent (q.v.). A secondary part of the collection consists of various naval pamphlets and printed books from the later 17th century to the 20th century. This includes a collection of pamphlets relating to the dispute between Admirals Thomas Mathews (1678-1751) and Richard Lestock which arose from a confusion over signalling and instructions. There is also a collection of military books, including some rare 16th century Italian examples collected by Sir Julian Corbett, and a number of small manuscript collections of correspondence, mainly that of naval officers.

Administrative / biographical background
The collection was purchased with Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) and the Society for Nautical Research (SNR) funding. Brian Tunstall was the husband of the daughter of the naval historian Sir Julian Corbett (1854-1922), and it was through her that the collection passed to him. He then continued to add to it and later the collection of Sir Hilary Mead was also incorporated.