Library Results | Royal Museums Greenwich

To build a ship : the VOC replica ship, Duyfken /Robert Garvey. Garvey, Robert, 2001. • FOLIO • 1 copy available. 629.123DUYFKEN

The war of the gunboats / Bryan Cooper "The 'little ships' of the Second World War - the fast and highly manoeuvrable motor torpedo boats and gunboats which fought in coastal waters all over the world - developed a special kind of naval warfare. With their daring nightly raids against an enemy's coastal shipping - and sometimes much larger warships - they acquired the buccaneering spirit of an earlier age. And never more so than in the close hand-to-hand battles which raged between opposing craft when they met in open waters. Large numbers of these small fighting boats were built by the major naval powers. The Germans called them Schnellboote (Fast Boats), referred to by the British as E-boats (E for Enemy). In the Royal Navy they were MTBs and MGBs. The American equivalent were PT boats (for Patrol Torpedo). They fought in the narrow waters of the English Channel and the stormy North Sea, in the Mediterranean off the coasts of North Africa and Italy and among the islands of the Aegean, across the Pacific from Pearl Harbour to Leyte Gulf, in Hong Kong and Singapore, and off Burma's Arakan coast. Bryan Cooper's book traces the history and development of these craft from their first limited use in the First World War and the fast motor boats designed in the 1930s for wealthy private clients and water speed record attempts. With account of the battles which took place during the Second World War, when the vital importance of coastal waters came to be recognised, he captures the drama of this highly individual form of combat. And not least the sea itself which was the common enemy of all who crewed these frail craft."--Provided by the publisher. 2009. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 623.824"19"

Crime and punishment in the Royal Navy of the Seven Years' War, 1755-1763 / Markus Eder. "In recent years the subject of crime in early modern Britain has become a highly studied topic, yet this interest has largely been limited to crime in civilian society. In many ways this is surprising given the abundance of archival material that survives concerning the Royal Navy, and current interest in 'non-elites' such as made up the bulk of sailors.". 2004. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 355.133"1755/1763"

The merchantmen in action : evacuations and landings by merchant ships in the Second World War /Roy V. Martin. "During World War 2, the Merchant Navy's main task was to run the German blockade, bringing essential food, fuel and materials to a besieged nation. The civilian crews came from all parts of the Empire and beyond - more than one in six were killed. Even less is known about the part played by merchantmen in evacuations from countries that were overrun. They saved over 90,000 troops from Dunkirk and went on to rescue more than 200,000 troops and civilians from other parts of France. When Singapore fell, the Merchant Navy again helped many to escape. They moved men and materials for the landings of Madagascar, North Africa and the Mediterranean coast of Europe. A British government press release reported that 50,000 volunteer British merchant seamen manned over 1,000 ships for D-Day. They also manned salvage ships, rescue tugs and other specialist craft. Merchantmen in Action tells the story of these other achievements. Chapters include Singapore; the Norwegian campaign; Dunkirk; the Channel Islands; Greece and Crete; Sicily and Italy; the Normandy landings; the South of France, Gibraltar, etc, with detailed ship listing and human stories."--From publisher. 2012. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 940.545:656.61

Fighting ships, 1850-1950 / Sam Willis. "Fighting Ships 1850-1950 presents a stunning collection of 150 large-scale paintings, drawings, photographs and ship plans that tell the story of naval warfare from the first iron and steam warships to the deadly U-boats of World War II. Published in partnership with the National Maritime Museum, this new edition includes many updated images. The period's most significant naval engagements are depicted in striking detail - the bombardment of Sveaborg during the Crimean war, the attack on Pearl Harbor, as well as the evacuation of Dunkirk and the D-Day landings - revealing the glory and exhilaration of the last great age of marine warfare. Arranged chronologically, the ships illustrated include HMS Warrior, the first iron-hulled, heavily armoured warship; the battleship Aurora which ignited the Russian revolution; formidable German battle cruiser Bismarck; British aircraft carriers HMS Argus and HMX Illustrious and the Japanese Akagi, among many others. This remarkable collection not only showcases updated images of some of the greatest naval artists of the period but also features powerful photographs, often taken by the sailors themselves. Each image is accompanied by Sam Willis's expert commentary, shedding light on the key naval conflicts of the era and the breathtaking complexity of the modern warship."--Provided by the publisher. [2014]. • FOLIO • 1 copy available. 623.82(100)"1850/1950"

Great White Fleet : celebrating Canada Steamship Lines passenger ships /by John Henry ; foreword by the Right Honourable Paul Martin, PC, CC. The inland passenger steamers of the Canada Steamship Lines were collectively known as the Great White Fleet. The ships ranged from day excursion vessels to luxurious cruise ships. The passenger fleet at the company's inception in 1913 comprised 51 steamers and covered the waterways of the Great Lakes from Chicoutimi to Niagara and from Windsor to Duluth, taking passengers travelling for business and pleasure. This book relates the history of the Great White Fleet from 1913-1965. It contains many black and white photographs and colour reproductions of posters and other promotional material. A section on vessel data provides details of the passenger steamers mentioned in the book. [2013] • FOLIO • 1 copy available. 387.2/4309710904

Atlas of astronomy : comprising, in eighteen plates a complete series of illustrations of the heavenly bodies drawn with the greatest care, from original and authentic documents /by Alex. Keith Johnston ; edited by J.R. Hind Johnston, Alexander Keith 1855. • RARE-FOLIO • 1 copy available. 912:094

Bligh : William Bligh in the South Seas /Anne Salmond. A biography of William Bligh (1754-1817). The author, an anthropologist, focuses on Bligh's three voyages in the South Seas and the impact of his encounters with the Pacific Islanders. Beginning with Bligh's voyage on the Resolution with Captain Cook (1776-80) during which Cook met his death, the author also examines Bligh's first breadfruit voyage on the Bounty (1787-89) during which the famous mutiny occured and resulted in Bligh's 3,618-mile voyage in an open boat to Timor, and then, finally, his second breadfruit voyage on HMS Providence (1791-93). Detailed notes and a bibliography are provided. 2011. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 92BLIGH

Windrush : 75 years of modern Britain /Mike Phillips and Trevor Phillips. "In 1948 the former troop ship Windrush made the 30-day journey across the Atlantic from Jamaica. The arrival of its 500 passengers, the first generation of Caribbean migrants in the UK, was the initial step in the formation of a new identity: the black Briton. Fifty years later, Mike and Trevor Phillips spoke to those on the Windrush itself, as well as those who followed, to tell the story of Britain in the second half of the twentieth century through the eyes of the outsiders who became insiders. Now updated to coincide with the 75th anniversary of the ship's voyage and including reflections on its political and cultural legacy in 2023, Windrush is an essential record of this transformative era in British social history."--Provided by the publisher. 2023. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 305.896041

A world history of the seas : from harbour to horizon /Michael North ; translated by Pamela Selwyn. "Offering an introduction to the world's seas as a platform for global exchanges and connections, Michael North uncovers a rich world history of the seas over more than 3,000 years. Exploring the challenges and dangers of the oceans that humans have struggled with for centuries, he also shows the possibilities and opportunities they have provided from antiquity to the modern day. Written to demonstrate the global connectivity of the seas, but also to highlight regional maritime power during different eras, From Harbour to Horizon takes sailors, merchants and migrants as the protagonists of these histories and explores how their experiences and perceptions were consolidated through trade and cultural exchanges. Bringing together the various maritime historiographies of the world and underlining their unity, this book shows how the ocean has been a vital and natural space of globalization. Carrying goods, creating alliances, linking continents and conveying cultures, the seas have played a central role in creating our modern globalized world and have sat at the forefront of human endeavour and cultural mediation."--Provided by the publisher. 2022. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 551.4609

Global piracy : a documentary history of seaborne banditry/James E. Wadsworth "Many people in the western world maintain the contradictory notions that the pirates of old were romantic social bandits while their modern brethren are brutal thugs, thieves, and villains. In Global Piracy, James E. Wadsworth compiles and contextualizes a wealth of primary source documents which illustrate the global phenomenon of piracy through the eyes and voices of those who experienced it: both the pirates or privateers themselves and their victims. The book allows us to confront our stereotypes by giving us access to 'real' pirates in a wide range of historical periods and global regions, from ancient Greece to modern day Nigeria, unfiltered as much as possible by authorial voice or interpretation. Global Piracy seeks neither to romanticize nor vilify pirates, but simply to understand them in the context of their times and the broader world they inhabited. Departing from run-of-the-mill narratives, it selects documents which provide new and fascinating insights into piracy around the globe. With documents introduced by contextual information, and supplemented by study questions, suggested reading lists, illustrations and maps, this book is an essential companion for anyone studying the history of piracy."--Provided by the publisher. 2019. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 341.362.1(100)

The lure of illustration in the nineteenth century : picture and press /edited by Laurel Brake and Marysa Demoor. Explores the subject of illustration, technically, metaphorically and historically with reference to nineteenth-century popular periodicals. 2009. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 655.533:82-92"18"

Pilot cutters under sail : pilots and pilotage in Britain and Northern Europe /Tom Cunliffe. "The pilot cutters that operated around the coasts of northern Europe until the First World War were amongst the most seaworthy and beautiful craft of their size ever built, while the small number that have survived have inspired yacht designers, sailors and traditional craft enthusiasts over the last hundred years. Even in their day they possessed a charisma unlike any other working craft; their speed and close-windedness, their strength and seaworthiness, fused together into a hull and rig of particular elegance, all to guide the mariner through the rough and tortuous waters of the European seaboard, bought them an enviable reputation. This new book is both a tribute to and a minutely researched history of these remarkable vessels. The author, perhaps the most experienced sailor of the type, describes the ships themselves, their masters and crews, and the skills they needed for the competitive and dangerous work of pilotage. He explains the differences between the craft of disparate coasts - of the Scilly Isles and the Bristol Channel, of northern France, and the wild coastline of Norway - and weaves into the history of their development the stories of the men who sailed them. Written to complement the recent histories of pilot schooners and open boat pilotage, edited and written by the author, this book will be an essential addition to the libraries of historians and enthusiasts of traditional boats."--Provided by the publisher. 2013. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 629.123.16(42:4-17)

Nelson's lost jewel : the extraordinary story of the lost diamond chelengk /Martyn Downer. "Admiral Lord Nelson's diamond Chelengk is one of the most famous and iconic jewels in British history. Presented to Nelson by the Sultan Selim III of Turkey after the Battle of the Nile in 1798, the jewel had thirteen diamond rays to represent the French ships captured or destroyed at the action. A central diamond star on the jewel was powered by clockwork to rotate in wear. Nelson wore the Chelengk on his hat like a turban jewel, sparking a fashion craze for similar jewels in England. The jewel became his trademark to be endlessly copied in portraits and busts to this day. After Trafalgar, the Chelengk was inherited by Nelson's family and worn at the Court of Queen Victoria. Sold at auction in 1895 it eventually found its way to the newly opened National Maritime Museum in Greenwich where it was a star exhibit. In 1951 the jewel was stolen in a daring raid by an infamous cat-burglar and lost forever. For the first time, Martyn Downer tells the extraordinary true story of the Chelengk: from its gift to Nelson by the Sultan of Turkey to its tragic post-war theft, charting the jewel's journey through history and forging sparkling new and intimate portraits of Nelson, of his friends and rivals, and of the woman he loved."--Provided by the publisher. 2017. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 92NELSON

Admiralty despatches : the story of the war from the battlefront 1939-45 /G. H. Bennett. "From at least as early as the eighteenth century it became a tradition that, following operations involving the Royal Navy, the commanding admiral would report to the Admiralty in the form of an official despatch. Following the French wars of 1792-1815 the despatches were published and that set a precedent. After the Second World War the relevant despatches for 1939-45 were published (from 1947 onwards) as supplements to the London Gazette. The despatches reproduced here, introduced and annotated by Professor Bennett, cover events with a huge bearing on the outcome of the war, such as the convoys in the Mediterranean and to Russia, major amphibious operations and raids such as Dieppe, alongside some of the minor operations involving the Royal Navy and, of course, D-Day. These important documents are published here in an accessible form. We are fortunate that they were written in a way designed to be understood by the public at the time. What they reveal, not only about naval operations but about their authors, is fascinating.--Provided by the publisher. 2017. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 354.71

Beyond the sea : a Wren at war /Christian Lamb. "Love, duty and true-life adventure in the shadow of the Second World War. Christian Lamb is one of the last surviving Wren Officers to have served her country throughout the whole of WW2. Having joined the Women's Royal Naval Service at nineteen, she quickly rose through the ranks, serving at a degaussing range before being posted to Operations and Radar in Belfast. There she joined the team tracking the movements of the Royal Navy and the dreaded Kriegsmarine in the Battle of the Atlantic, the biggest sea battle of the war. Plotting the progress of the Royal Navy's ships became an intensely personal mission for Christian when her fiance John's ship HMS Oribi was surrounded by a U Boat 'wolf pack'. Though her colleagues tried to persuade her to cut short her shift, Christian insisted on remaining at her post to mark Oribi's progress as the terrifying attack unfolded. Thankfully, HMS Oribi and John made it to shore. Newly married, Christian was next posted to a vital role back in London COHQ. In a basement office in Whitehall, she worked on top secret maps for the D Day landings, while Winston Churchill paced the floor upstairs. Now in her 101st year, Christian is keen to share her remembrances of duty, danger, love and marriage in war before they are beyond living memory"--Provided by publisher. 2021. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 940.545941092

The wretched of the earth / Frantz Fanon. "A distinguished psychiatrist from Martinique who took part in the Algerian Nationalist Movement, Frantz Fanon was one of the most important theorists of revolutionary struggle, colonialism, and racial difference in history. Fanon's masterwork is a classic alongside Edward Said's Orientalism or The Autobiography of Malcolm X, and it is now available in a new translation that updates its language for a new generation of readers. The Wretched of the Earth is a brilliant analysis of the psychology of the colonized and their path to liberation. Bearing singular insight into the rage and frustration of colonized peoples, and the role of violence in effecting historical change, the book incisively attacks the twin perils of postindependence colonial politics: the disenfranchisement of the masses by the elites on the one hand, and intertribal and interfaith animosities on the other. Fanon's analysis, a veritable handbook of social reorganization for leaders of emerging nations, has been reflected all too clearly in the corruption and violence that has plagued present-day Africa. The Wretched of the Earth has had a major impact on civil rights, anticolonialism, and black consciousness movements around the world."--Provided by the publisher. [2020]. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 965

More lives than a ship's cat / Jeremy Stoke. "By any standards Mick Stoke's experiences in the Royal Navy during the Second World War were remarkable. Aged nineteen, he was 'Mentioned in Despatches' and awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his courage during incessant bombing during the Siege of Tobruk. He survived multiple torpedo attacks, firstly serving on the cruiser Glasgow, which was hit twice; on the battleship Queen Elizabeth at sea and blown up by human torpedoes at Alexandria; and on HMS Hardy, struck in January 1944, while escorting Russian Arctic Convoy JW56B. In 1942, he was serving on HMS Carlisle during the fiercely fought Malta convoys and took part in the Battle of Sirte. Later that year he was awarded the MBE 'for outstanding bravery, resource and devotion to duty during very heavy bombing' at the port of Bone during Operation TORCH. He went on to serve at D-Day and later in the Pacific on HMS Rajah. It is a privilege to read Mick Stoke's graphic and modest account of his naval service in the Second World War. Readers will appreciate and understand how he became 'The Most Highly Decorated Midshipman in the Royal Navy'." --Provided by the publisher. 2022. • BOOK • 2 copies available. 92STOKE

The United States Navy in World War II : from Pearl Harbor to Okinawa /Mark E. Stille. "A comprehensive overview of the strategy, operations, and vessels of the United States Navy from 1941 to 1945. Although slowly building its navy while neutral during the early years of World War II, the US was struck a serious blow when its battleships, the lynchpin of US naval doctrine, were the target of the dramatic attack at Pearl Harbor. In the Pacific Theater, the US was thereafter locked into a head to head struggle with the impressive Imperial Japanese Navy, fighting a series of major battles in the Coral Sea, at Midway, the Philippine Sea, Leyte Gulf, and Okinawa in the struggle for supremacy over Japan. Having avoided the decisive defeat sought by the IJN, the US increased industrial production and, by the end of the war, the US Navy was larger than any other in the world. Meanwhile in the west, the US Navy operated on a second front, supporting landings in North Africa, Sicily, and Italy, and in 1944 played a significant part in the D-Day landings, the largest and most complex amphibious operation of all time. Written by an acknowledged expert and incorporating extensive illustrations including photographs, maps, and color artwork, this book offers a detailed look at the strategy, operations, and vessels of the US Navy in World War II." --Provided by the publisher. 2021. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 940.5373

The Battle of Jutland / John Brooks. "This is a major new account of the Battle of Jutland, the key naval battle of the First World War in which the British Grand Fleet engaged the German High Seas Fleet off the coast of Denmark in 1916. Beginning with the building of the two fleets, John Brooks reveals the key technologies employed, from ammunition, gunnery and fire control, to signalling and torpedoes, as well as the opposing commanders' tactical expectations and battle orders. In describing Jutland's five major phases, he offers important new interpretations of the battle itself and how the outcome was influenced by technology, as well as the tactics and leadership of the principal commanders, with the reliability of their own accounts of the fighting reassessed. The book draws on contemporary sources which have rarely been cited in previous accounts, including the despatches of both the British and German formations, along with official records, letters and memoirs"-- 2016. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 940.456(489)

Down to the sea in ships : of ageless oceans and modern men /Horatio Clare. "For millennia, the seaways have carried our goods, cultures and ideas, the terrors of war and the bounties of peace - and they have never been busier than they are today. But though our normality depends on shipping, it is a world which passes largely unconsidered, unseen and unrecorded. Out of sight, in every lonely corner of every sea, through every night, every day, and every imaginable weather, tiny crews of seafarers work the giant ships which keep landed life afloat. These ordinary men (and they are mostly men) live extraordinary lives, subject to pressures we know - families, relationships, dreams and fears - and to dangers and difficulties we can only imagine, from hurricanes and pirates to years of confinement in hazardous, if not hellish, environments. Horatio Clare joins two container ships, travelling in the company of their crews and captains. Together they experience unforgettable journeys: the first, from East to West (Felixstowe to Los Angeles, via Suez) is rich with Mediterranean history, torn with typhoon nights and gilded with an unearthly Pacific peace; the second northerly passage, from Antwerp to Montreal, reeks of diesel, wuthers with gales and goes to frozen regions of the North Atlantic, in deep winter, where the sea itself seems haunted. In Clare's vibrant prose a modern industry does battle with implacable forces, as the ships cross seas of history and incident, while seafarers unfold the stories of their lives, telling their tales and yarns. A beautiful and terrifying portrait of the oceans and their human subjects, and a fascinating study of big business afloat, Down to the Sea in Ships is a moving tribute to those who live and work on the great waters, far from land."--Provided by the publisher. 2014. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 656.61.071.22

The price of victory : a naval history of Britain, 1814-1945 /N. A. M. Rodger. "At the end of the French and Napoleonic wars, British sea-power was at its apogee. But by 1840, as one contemporary commentator put it, the Admiralty was full of 'intellects becalmed in the smoke of Trafalgar'. How the Royal Navy reformed and reinvigorated itself in the course of the nineteenth century is just one thread in this magnificent book, which refuses to accept standard assumptions and analyses. All the great actions are here, from Navarino in 1827 (won by a daringly disobedient Admiral Codrington) to Jutland, D-Day, the Battle of the Atlantic and the battles in the Pacific in 1944/45 in concert with the US Navy. The development and strategic significance of submarine and navy air forces is superbly described, as are the rapid evolution of ships (from classic Nelsonic type, to hybrid steam/sail ships, then armour-clad and the fully armoured Dreadnoughts and beyond) and weapons. The social history of officers and men - and sometimes women - always a key part of the author's work, is not neglected. Rodger sets all this in the essential context of politics and geo-strategy. The character and importance of leading admirals - Beatty, Fisher, Cunningham - is assessed, together with the roles of other less famous but no less consequential figures. Based on a lifetime's learning, it is the culmination of one of the most significant British historical works in recent decades. Naval specialists will find much that is new here, and will be invigorated by the originality of Rodger's judgements; but everyone who is interested in the one of the central threads in British history will find it rewarding."-- 2024. • BOOK • 1 copy available. txt

The pirate who stole Scotland : William Dampier and the creation of the United Kingdom /Leon Hopkins. "Economic warfare is not a new phenomenon. In the protectionist climate of the seventeenth century, trade embargoes, exclusions and boycotts were common. England was among the most active nations when it came to using economic clout to get its own way. It did so to force Scotland to accept an Act of Union: to submerge its independence within a United Kingdom governed from London. Instrumental in this attack upon the Scots was William Dampier, the principal subject of this book. He was an extraordinary man. A farmer's son, he became the most travelled man of his generation. He was a pirate, a brute and a devious sociopath. But he was also a scientist and a talented writer who gave his readers accurate descriptions of previously unknown places, peoples, plants and animals. He was a daring explorer and an expert navigator who mapped coastlines and logged wind patterns and ocean currents. He led the first Royal Navy expedition to Australia, over 70 years before Captain Cook's arrival. Dampier's writing made him famous, but not rich. It allowed him to rub shoulders with the leading men of his day; scientists such as Robert Hooke, Edmund Halley and Hans Sloane, businessmen such as Sir John Houblon (first governor of the Bank of England) and William Paterson, politicians such as James Vernon and Charles Montagu (first Earl of Halifax), and Admiralty men such as Admiral Sir George Rooke and Samuel Pepys. And Dampier was in the pay of the English Government; an agent known to Queen Anne, in which capacity he engineered a financial disaster and political drubbing for Scotland." 2023. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 910.92

Red Tobruk : memoirs of a World War II destroyer commander /Frank Gregory-Smith ; edited by Dominic Symons. "Red Tobruk, the war memoir of the Captain of HMS Eridge from late 1940 until August 1942 is a superb account of wartime action at sea. Frank Gregory-Smith's war started on the destroyer Jaguar and he saw actionoff Norway and during the Dunkirk evacuation, when she was hit by enemy air attack with 25 men killed. Command of the new escort destroyer HMS Eridge followed (he was to be her only Captain) and they deployed to the Eastern Mediterranean, and so began agruelling 18 months of convoys to Tobruk and Malta under German controlledskies. 'Red Tobruk' was the name for the enemy aircraft warning that the Tobruk radar station put out which all sailors dreaded as it meant yet another attack was imminent. Eridge survived countless such attacks. She fought in the famous Battle of Sirte when the powerful Italian fleet was seen off. She had to pick up survivors, take stricken ships in tow and once had only blanks to fire at attacking enemy aircraft. Among Eridge's achievements was the sinking ofU-568 in May 1942. The author's luck finally ran out in August 1942 when Eridge was torpedoedby an Italian MTB. Under constant air attack, she was towed to Alexandriabut was irreparable. Saddened by the loss of his ship but cheered by the Allies' increasing superiority, Gregory-Smith returned to Britain having been awarded two DSOs and one DSC (a second followed at D-Day). All this and more is told in the most graphic and moving fashion in this exceptional memoir, which will recall to many readers that naval classic The Cruel Sea. The big difference, of course, is that Red Tobruk is a truepersonal account."--Provided by the publisher. 2008. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 92GREGORY-SMITH

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