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British Fiji class cruisers and their derivatives : design, development and performance /Conrad Waters "A follow-up to the author's highly regarded history of British 'Town' class cruisers, this book takes the same approach, combining coverage of the development, design details and career highlights of the original class as well as the Uganda, Minotaur and Tiger designs that were derived from them. Often called the 'Colony' class, they were an attempt to incorporate the characteristics of the preceding 'Town' class within the reduced 8,000-ton limit agreed under the 1936 London Treaty. In general layout, they resembled the earlier class but adopted upright rather than raked funnels and masts. The use of a flat, transom stern conferred both hydrodynamic and internal space advantages. Not surprisingly, they turned out to be very cramped ships which struggled to accommodate all the wartime additions of extra electronics and light AA guns, as well as the increased crew needed to man them. Many of the later modifications to existing ships and alterations to the succeeding designs were attempts to alleviate these issues, most visibly the reduction of the main armament from four to three turrets. Nevertheless, they were available in significant numbers and gave sterling service across all theatres of the naval war. In this major study, Conrad Waters makes extensive use of archive material to provide a technical evaluation of the Fiji class design and its subsequent performance. He outlines the class's origins in the context of inter-war cruiser policy, explains the design and construction process, and describes the characteristics of the resulting ships and how these were adapted in the light of wartime developments. An overview of service focuses on major engagements, assessing the extent to which the class met its designers' expectations and detailing the consequences of action damage. Later chapters continue the story into the Cold War era, examining the various post-war modernisation programmes and concluding with the radical redesign of the Tiger class that produced the Royal Navy's last conventional cruisers. Heavily illustrated with contemporary photographs, original plans and drawings by Dave Baker, John Jordan and George Richardson, British Fiji Class Cruisers provides a definitive reference to one of the Royal Navy's most important Second World War warship designs."--Provided by the publisher. 2024 • FOLIO • 2 copies available.
Edward Wilson's Antarctic notebooks / [researched and edited by] D.M. Wilson & C.J. Wilson. "Dr. Edward A. Wilson (1872-1912) is widely regarded as one of the finest artists ever to have worked in the Antarctic. Sailing with Captain Scott aboard 'Discovery' (1901-1904), he became the last in a long tradition of 'exploration artists' from an age when pencil and water-colour were the main methods of producing accurate scientific records of new lands and animal species. He combined scientific, topographical and landscape techniques to produce accurate and beautiful images of the last unknown continent. Such was the strength of his work that it also helped to found the tradition of modern wildlife painting. In particular Wilson captured the essence of the flight and motion of Southern Ocean sea-birds on paper. Returning with Captain Scott aboard 'Terra Nova' (1910-1913) as Chief of Scientific Staff, he continued to record the continent and its wildlife with extraordinary deftness. Chosen to accompany Captain Scott to the South Pole, his last drawings are from one of the most famous epic journeys in exploration history. Along with his scientific work, Wilson's pencil recorded the finding of Roald Amundsen's tent at the South Pole by Captain Scott. Wilson died, along with the other members of the British Pole Party, during the return journey, in March 1912. Many of the images in this book are rarely seen or are previously unpublished. The drawings and paintings were created at considerable personal cost in the freezing conditions in which Wilson worked. He often suffered severely from the cold whilst sketching and also from snow-blindness, or sunburn of the eye. They provide a remarkable testament to one of the great figures of the heroic age of Antarctic exploration. The book has been produced as a companion volume to 'Edward Wilson's Nature Notebooks' by two of Wilson's great nephews, to mark the centenary of his death."--Provided by the publisher. 2011. • FOLIO • 1 copy available. 502.2.05(99)
The Kaiser's battlefleet : German capital ships 1870-1918 /Aidan Dodson. "The battleships of the Third Reich have been written about exhaustively, but there is little in English devoted to their predecessors of the Second Reich. This new book fills an important gap in the literature of the period by covering these German capital ships in detail and studying the full span of battleship development during this period. The book is arranged as a chronological narrative, with technical details, construction schedules and ultimate fates tabulated throughout, thus avoiding the sometimes disjointed structure that can result from a class-by-class approach. Heavily illustrated with line work and photographs, many from German sources, the book offers readers a fresh visual look at these ships, beyond the limited range of images available from UK sources. A key objective of the book is to make available a full synthesis of the published fruits of archival research by German writers found in the pre-WW2 books of Koop & Schmolke, Grossmer's on the construction programme of the dreadnaught era, Forstmeier & Breyer on WW1 projects, and Schenk & Nottelmann's papers in Warship International. As well as providing data not available in English-language books, these sources correct significant errors in the 'standard' English sources. This entirely fresh study will appeal to historians of WWI German naval developments as well as to enthusiasts and model makers." --Provided by the publisher. 2016. • FOLIO • 1 copy available. 623.821(43)"1871/1918"
Shape a course for Fastnet : attacks on merchant ships by U-boats during the Great War where the survivors landed in Kerry and West Cork /G.L. King. "With the passage of time, Ireland's involvement in the First World War faded from the nation's consciousness. That collective amnesia regarding Ireland's role in the Great War has, however, changed in recent years with the official recognition and honouring of Irish soldiers who fought and died in the War. This new awareness in the Republic of Ireland of the country's First World War history does not, nonetheless, include what might rightly be called 'Ireland's forgotten war' - the relentless four-year battle in Irish waters against the onslaught by Germany's U-boats which, in early 1917, had brought Great Britain to her knees due to the critical shortages of imported food and materials. In Shape a Course for Fastnet: Attacks on Merchant Ships by U-boats during the Great War where the Survivors landed in Kerry and West Cork, G.L. King sheds light on aspects of this unremembered chapter of Irish maritime history. The book is in two parts: Part One includes a summary of the main sequence of events of Germany's U-boat campaigns, from the first proposals to use submarines against merchant shipping (Handelskrieg) in October 1914, up to the commencement of unrestricted U-boat warfare in February 1917. Part Two consists of summaries of Admiralty records of ships which were attacked, and mostly sunk, and where the survivors, or part of the crew, landed at various places along the Kerry and West Cork coastline. The book also pays tribute to those merchant seamen of all nations who displayed courage and heroism in the face of extreme danger as they crewed their vessels through U-boat-infested waters to keep open the trade routes upon which Britain and Ireland?s very survival depended. Accompanied by rarely seen images, Shape a Course for Fastnet presents the compelling, courageous and tragic maritime history of ships that were attacked in the South-Western Approaches during the 1914-1918 War. The meticulously researched and presented material adds immensely to our understanding of Ireland's First World War history generally and, specifically, of its fascinating maritime history during that period."--Provided by the publisher. 2017. • FOLIO • 1 copy available. 940.45(417:43)
Reproduction of the record of the battle of Jutland prepared by Captain J.E.P. Harper and other officers by the direction of the Admiralty in 1919-1920 / J.E.P. Harper Harper, J E T 1927 • BOOK • 5 copies available. 940.456(489)
Migrant ships to Australia and New Zealand, 1900 to1939 / Peter Plowman. "In the early years of the twentieth century notable British companies providing passenger services to Australia included P&O, the Orient-PSNC joint service, and the Aberdeen Line, as well as North German Lloyd and the French company, Messageries Maritimes, while Shaw Savill & Albion, White Star Line and the New Zealand Shipping Company were the main operators to New Zealand. The first ten years of the new century saw the regular introduction of new and larger tonnage to both Australia and New Zealand. The most notable of these vessels was the 'Athenic' trio built for the New Zealand passenger trade of the White Star Line, while from 1903 P&O took delivery of ten 'M' class liners for their Australian service. New shipbuilding culminated with five ships of the 'Orsova' class for the Orient Line in 1909, while the New Zealand Shipping Company got three new ships during 1909/10. A year later, the P&O Branch Line got five vessels designed to bring migrants to Australia in large numbers. The vast majority of migrants arriving in Australia and New Zealand came from Great Britain, but there was also a steady flow from Germany and Italy. The Commonwealth Government had no scheme to attract migrants to Australia and this was left to the states. In 1912 Victoria contracted with three shipping lines to bring 24,000 British migrants to Melbourne at ¹12 per person over three years. New South Wales was also seeking nominated immigrants, whose fares would be paid in part or full by relatives or friends already in Australia. To meet the increase in demand for migrant passages to Australia and New Zealand, several companies built large cargo ships fitted with temporary quarters for a thousand or more passengers on the outward voyage. The high cost of a passage to New Zealand discouraged migration, but numbers rose with the start in 1904 of government assistance, and boomed in the six years before World War I, peaking at 12,000 net migration in 1913. The outbreak of war brought the transportation of migrants to Australia and New Zealand to a halt, with many ships being taken for military duty, leaving a skeleton service which gradually reduced to nothing as the war progressed. The end of the war brought about another boom in demand, and the first British government subsidised migration. Starting with a scheme in 1919 to assist ex-servicemen migrating to Australia and New Zealand. During 1922 alone no less than fifteen liners joined the Australian migrant trade, of which twelve were brand new, these being the five 'Bay' ships built for the Australian Government, a second group of five 'B' ships for the P&O Branch Line, and two ships built for the Aberdeen Line, Sophocles and Diogenes, plus three ex-German vessels operated by the Orient Line. The early 1920s also saw one of New Zealand?s major immigration flows. The number of migrants arriving in Australia from Italy rose dramatically and continued steadily through the 1920s. In 1925 the British and Australian Governments announced that over the next ten years they would fund the migration of about 450,000 men and women from Britain to Australia. An economic downturn hit New Zealand in 1927 became a full depression in 1929. The number of migrants seeking passages to Australia dropped in 1930. To attract migrants, in 1938 Australia decided to reintroduce an assisted migration scheme from Britain, but in September 1939 the movement of migrants to Australia and New Zealand stopped with the outbreak of war in Europe." 2009. • FOLIO • 1 copy available. 629.123.3(94:931)"1900/1939"
The Routledge handbook of maritime trade around Europe 1300-1600 / Wim Blockmans "The Routledge Handbook of Maritime Trade around Europe 1300-1600 exploresthe links between maritime trading networks around Europe, from the Mediterranean and the Atlantic to the North and Baltic Seas. Maritime trade routes connected diverse geographical and cultural spheres, contributing to a more integrated Europe in both cultural and material terms. This volume explores networks' economic functions alongside their intercultural exchanges, contacts and practical arrangements in ports on the European coasts. 2017. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 38(4)
The Other Norfolk Admirals : Myngs, Narbrough and Shovell /Simon Harris "The careers of the three Norfolk admirals were intimately related. Narbrough and Shovell came from the small North Norfolk hamlet of Cockthorpe and Myngs from nearby Salthouse. In the 1660s, Myngs was the captain, Narbrough the lieutenant and Shovell the lowly cabin boy in the same ship. It is also possible that they were all related at least by marriage. In the majority of the naval wars of the second half of the seventeenth and the early eighteenth centuries one or other of them was invariably present. Cloudesley Shovell was born to a yeoman farmer; he entered the Navy whilst still a boy and, in 1676, came to national prominence by burning the four ships of the Dey of Tripoli right under his castle walls. This led to conflict with Samuel Pepys over a gold medal that the generous Charles II had awarded Shovell. Later there was a spectacular falling out with James II over the new king's Catholicism. Following Narbrough's premature death, Shovell married his widow: effectively the cabin boy marrying the admiral's widow which is unique in British naval history. Brave to a fault, in the reigns of William and Mary, and Anne, Shovell became the leading fighting admiral of the age. In 1707, at the very height of his considerable powers, Shovell and nearly 2,000 men drowned after his ships were wrecked on the rocks of Scilly. According to his grandson, Shovell arrived on the shore alive and was then brutally murdered for the sake of an emerald ring on his finger. Faulty navigation was at the heart of Shovell's demise; did he keep his appointment with the celebrated scientist, Sir Isaac Newton, to discuss longitude? New theories concerning the causes of the disaster are examined and also the fate of his gold dinner service. Explorer, navigator, consummate sailor and naval administrator, John Narbrough was all this and more. No biography of Narbrough has been produced for 85 years and much new material has come to light in this time. For example the rediscovery of the ship, the Nuestra Senora de la Concepcion from which Narbrough was trying to salvage sunken Spanish silver when he died from a mysterious illness. In addition, the British Library recently raised a large sum of money to buy Narbrough's journals of his voyage [1669-71] into the Pacific Ocean and up to, what is now, modern day Chile. He illustrated his journals with paintings of the flora and fauna plus accurate depictions of the harbours that he visited. On his return journey, Narbrough became the first Englishman to sail through the Strait of Magellan from west to east. Both Narbrough and Shovell owed so much to Christopher Myngs and yet no comprehensive biography of him has yet been written. In the 1650s, out in the West Indies, he played very much the part of an Elizabethan buccaneer with repeated attacks on the Spanish Main. After helping himself to treasure that more properly belonged to the state, he was shipped home to England in semi-disgrace. However, in the run-up to the Restoration of the monarchy, the authorities did not think it appropriate to discipline the most popular man in the Navy. Later, at the Four Days' Battle of 1666, Myngs leading the English van, would attempt to fight on despite having his face shattered by a musket ball. Six days later, he died at his home in London and was buried in an East London churchyard which has now become a seedy park. He deserved better."--Provided by the publisher. 2017 • BOOK • 1 copy available. 92:355.333.3
Britain in India, 1765-1905 / editors, John Marriott, Bhaskar Mukhopadhyay ; advisory editor, Partha Chatterjee. This is a six-volume collection of facsimile materials and comment relating to British rule in India, concentrating mainly on Bengal, following the East India Company's assumption of de facto power there in 1757. Volume 1 deals with the police and civil and criminal justice system. Penal legislation is covered along with a penal code prepared by the Indian Law Commissioners. There is a section on the Sonthal (or Santhal) Rebellion of the 1850s (also known as Santhal Hool or Hul). This was one of the major popular uprisings against the colonial state and their policies. Volume 2 deals with land revenue and trade, the Company's main source of revenue. There is an examination of the conditions and organization imposed on the agrarian economy of Bengal by the process of colonialism. The Tenancy Bills and various regulations relating to reform of the land revenue system are reproduced. There is also a section on the Indigo rebellion of 1860 which led to violent confrontations between the indigo planters and the colonial state. Volume 3 deals with education and colonial knowledge. There are reports of commissions and other bodies which examined the provision and development of education, in particular the foundation of a civil service college at Fort William. Volume 4 covers cultural and social interventions; it was deemed necessary to use civil law to reform local customs and practices in order to reduce distrust and corruption. The outlawing of the practice of suttee is covered. Volume 5 covers sovereignty and governance; it contains a selection of documents which aimed to unify the governance of India and transform it into 'British India'. Volume 6 deals with the public realm. It contains material on initiatives undertaken by the Company and the colonial state to address the problems of public health and famine. Volume 6 also contains an index to the facsimile texts in all 6 volumes. 2006. • BOOK • 6 copies available. 954(42)
Anson : Royal Navy commander and statesman, 1697-1762 /Anthony Bruce "George Anson, Baron Anson (1697-1762), circumnavigator and First Lord of the Admiralty, entered the Royal Navy in 1712 and progressed rapidly, achieving his first command in 1722. He benefited from the patronage of his uncle Thomas Parker, later the Earl of Macclesfield, who served as Lord Chief Justice and Lord Chancellor until his impeachment for fraud in 1725. Anson first saw action at the Battle of Cape Passaro (1718) under Admiral Sir George Byng but most of his early career was spent as captain of the station ship based at Charleston, South Carolina. In 1737 he was appointed captain of the 60-gun Centurion and sent on patrol to West Africa and the Caribbean. It was in this ship that he circumnavigated the globe (1740-1744) during the war with Spain. Ordered to attack the Pacific coast of Spanish South America, the expedition almost ended in disaster when half of Anson's squadron disappeared as it encountered 'huge deep, hollow seas' during the passage around Cape Horn. Despite further heavy losses, Anson was able to carry out a limited number of raids against coastal targets, but his capture of the Spanish treasure galleon Nuestra Seänora de Covadonga off the Philippines was a real victory that secured his reputation (and wealth). On his return Anson, welcomed as a national hero, soon revealed his political ambitions: he joined the opposition Whigs, was elected MP for Hedon and appointed to the Admiralty Board. Although he entered the Board while still a captain, he secured rapid promotion to Rear-Admiral, Vice-Admiral and then Admiral of the Fleet. Anson returned to sea in command of the Western Squadron in 1746-1747 and his notable victory against the French at the Battle of Cape Finisterre was a rare example of a British naval success after seven years of war. Anson, who was then raised to the peerage, returned to the Admiralty Board, working with the Duke of Bedford as First Lord and with Lord Sandwich on a series of naval reforms, which included ending political interference in courts-martial, introducing compulsory retirement, innovations in ship design and the formation of the Royal Marines under Admiralty control. In 1751, Anson succeeded Lord Sandwich as First Lord of the Admiralty and served until his death in 1762 (except for one brief interruption in 1756-1757 following the loss of Minorca). The reform programme continued, but his main priority on returning to office (and the Cabinet) in the Pitt-Newcastle coalition was the Seven Years War: its strategic direction, planning operations and preparing naval forces. Although he died shortly before the conflict ended, Pitt later said of Anson: 'to his wisdom, to his experience the nation owes the glorious success of the last war.' Horace Walpole inevitably took a more critical view: 'Lord Anson was reserved and proud, and so ignorant of the world, that Sir Charles Williams said he had been round it, but never in it.' Anson's earlier biographers have focused on the story of the circumnavigation, which has largely defined his reputation, as well as his victories at sea. However, other aspects of his career, particularly his roles as a naval reformer and wartime strategist, deserve to be given greater weight in reassessing his position as a leading figure in British naval history. As one commentator has pointed out, 'there is an increasing cultural valuation of administrative skills that allows an Anson to be remembered in the same arena with, but still distinctly from, a Nelson. Whereas Horatio Nelson is certainly the most well-known and enduring example of a naval hero, others followed different paths to success during their lifetimes.'"--Provided by the publisher. 2023. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 941.07092