Beta
Back to All Results

Explore our collection

Language
Format
Type

showing 68 library results for 'midshipman'

East meets West : original records of western traders, travellers, missionaries and diplomats to 1852. 2007. • MICROFILM • 1 copy available. 347.71East India
Dr Savage's Bermuda / edited by Edward Cecil Harris. "The forgotten landscape of Bermuda in the 1830s is recovered in this remarkable collection of paintings by the prolific and talented Royal Artillery surgeon Dr. Johnson Savage. The paintings were the start of an extraordinary relationship between Bermuda and several generations of the Savage family. Included are exquisite images from Savage's later posting in Corfu; his work as a medical illustrator; paintings by his Royal Navy Midshipman son Arthur; and an account of the doctor's grandson, Arthur Johnson Savage, RE, who completed the great Ordnance Survey of Bermuda in 1900."--Provided by the publisher. 2015. • BOOK • 1 copy available.
The genesis of the naval profession / Norbert Elias ; edited and with an introduction by Renâe Moelker and Stephen Mennell. Drawn largely from unpublished manuscripts, this compilation illustrates Norbert Elias' theory that the emergence of the professional naval officer in Great Britain was related both to the necessities of naval warfare and to the structure of society on land. Specifically, the innovation of the rank of midshipman meant that the British were able to mitigate the impact of social barriers between officers and ratings and gradually merge the two hierarchies. 2007. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 355.353
Promotion or the bottom of the river : the blue and gray naval careers of Alexander F. Warley, South Carolinian /John M. Stickney. "South Carolinian Alexander F. Warley (1823-1895) was an exceptional naval officer who enjoyed a robust life of far-flung adventures at sea during several dramatic periods in American maritime history. Warley's career began in the 1840s, when he served as a midshipman on Old Ironsides and later took part in the Mexican War. His military exploits reached their zenith when he commanded the CSS Manassas - the first ironclad ship to engage in combat - at New Orleans in October 1861. John M. Stickney's richly detailed biography of Warley as an officer first in the United States Navy and later in the Confederate navy offers a representative example of America's professional military class during the nineteenth century. An ambitious youth of little means, Warley secured an appointment as a midshipman at the age of seventeen through the influence of John C. Calhoun. Over the next two decades of maritime adventures, Warley faced four courts-martial, combat and capture in the Mexican War, and the challenges of rising in the ranks. After South Carolina seceded in December 1860, Warley joined the newly formed Confederate navy and gained recognition for his service at New Orleans, commanding the Manassas until the Confederate defeat there in 1862. Warley's career in the Confederate navy ended with his command of the CSS Albemarle and its destruction at Plymouth, North Carolina. With vivid details and rich narration, Stickney portrays one young man's struggle for glory and success in a divided nation. Using ships logs and naval records, Stickney unravels Warley's naval career and explores the Civil War naval actions that unfolded in New Orleans, Charleston, Galveston, Savannah, and Plymouth during this critical time in American history, revealing the pluck and fortitude of a previously unknown combatant."--Provided by the publisher. 2012. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 92WARLEY
Leaves from memory's log-book and jottings from old journals Recollections of Rear Admiral Frederick Byng Montresor (1811-1887) covering his naval career, firstly as a midshipman on board the Cambridge, Ramilies, Gloucester, Ocean, Isis, Southampton and HMS Zebra and then as a lieutenant, his duties in the West Indies on the President, Wasp, Magnificent, Forte, Melville, Champion and Winchester. Later chapters cover his command of HMS Pickle, Wanderer, Cygnet, Calypso and Severn. His voyages included passages to the West Indies, South America, Africa, Pacific Islands, Australia and New Zealand, India, Japan, China and Hong Kong. His encounters with the people he met and his observations on trading patterns are also described. Reflecting on visits in 1832 to New Zealand, Tahiti and Tonga, the author, for example, recollects meeting missionaries such as Henry Williams, Maori, the Tahitian Queen and Royal Family, and the King of Tonga. His many anecdotes include the story of Jack Rio, a former slave turned sailor from Brazil, who after a career of seven years with the Navy was revealed as a woman. Also included is a description of the author's visit to the Pitcairn Islands in the 1860s where he met descendants of the Bounty mutineers. 1887 • BOOK • 1 copy available. 355.124(42)"18"
The unforgiving minute. The autobiography of Rear-Admiral Sir Morgan Morgan-Giles (1914-2013), primarily written for his family. Joining the China fleet as a midshipman in 1932, his wartime duties included operations in Norway, the Mediteranean, Suez, Tobruk and Yugoslavia as well as serving with the Royal Air Force and Fleet Air Arm, and finally in the Far East. After the war Morgan-Giles continued to serve in the Royal Navy, in 1961 taking command of HMS Belfast, then flagship of the Far East Fleet. Promoted to Rear-Admiral in 1963, he became President of the Royal Naval College, Greenwich. Leaving the Royal Navy in 1964, Morgan-Giles become Member of Parliament for Winchester, retiring in 1979. In 1971 he successful saved HMS Belfast from scrapping by campaigning to transform the ship into a museum. Appendices include family obituaries and details of the boats owned by Morgan-Giles for pleasure. 2002 • FOLIO • 1 copy available. 355.124"19"
East meets West : original records of western traders, travellers, missionaries and diplomats to 1852. 2007. • MICROFILM • 1 copy available. 347.71East India
Admiral David Glasgow Farragut : the Civil War years /Chester G. Hearn. "No admiral in America's Civil War fought with more distinction than David Glasgow Farragut, the first admiral of the U.S. Navy [...] This book fully describes his lifelong involvement with Capt. David Porter, his foster father, and David Dixon Porter, his foster brother. Focusing primarily on the Civil War [...] the author uses [...] family correspondence to detail Farragut's relationships with the elder Porter, who signed up Farragut as a seagoing midshipman in the U.S. Navy at the age of nine, and with Porter's son, the only other full admiral to emerge from the Civil War. Under the senior Porter's tutelage, Farragut by the age of thirteen had participated in more action during the War of 1812 than many of the Navy's senior officers. [...] Farragut's legendary leadership is showcased in Hearn's thrilling description of the Battle of Mobile Bay. The author's detailed chronicle of Farragut's command of the West Gulf Blockading Squadron, crowned by the capture of New Orleans and Port Hudson, reestablishes Farragut's nearly forgotten legacy."--Provided by the publisher. 1998. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 92FARRAGUT
William IV : a king at sea /Roger Knight. Part of the 'Penguin Monarchs' series, the author gives a concise and perceptive biography of William IV, the 'Sailor King'. Beginning with his childhood, it covers his years with the navy, his long relationship with the actress Mrs Jordan and his marriage to Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen. Inheriting the throne at a time of strikes, riots and the push for parliamentary reform, the author shows William as a better king than sailor, leaving the monarchy in a healthier state for the smooth succession of his niece, Victoria. A genealogical table is included, along with colour images of paintings and caricatures of the time. 2015. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 92WILLIAM IV
Admiral Collingwood: Nelson's own hero "Admiral Lord Collingwood, the eldest son of a Newcastle merchant, went to sea in 1761, at the age of thirteen. In his nearly fifty years in the navy, keeping a diary throughout, he rose to become a fine seaman, a master of gunnery, a battle commander the equal of his friend - and rival in love - Nelson. He was also an accomplished writer and wit, a doting father, inveterate gossip, and consummate diplomat and strategist. Collingwood's service took him to Boston, where he lived and fought during the American Revolution; to Antigua, where he and Nelson both fell in love with Mary Moutray, and drew each other's portraits; to Corsica; Sicily; and Menorca, where he began as a young midshipman and ended his career as the effective viceroy of the Mediterranean, dealing with beys and pashas, kings and queens and an eighty-strong fleet. He was 'England's prime and sole minister acting upon the sea'. Max Adams, archaeologist, writer and broadcaster, fascinated by the story of the unjustly little known Newcastle hero, the admiral who defeated Napoleon Bonaparte in battle, paints a vivid, engrossing and often moving portrait in this debut biography. Based on Collingwood's letters and recently discovered log books, here is an intimate view not just of the man himself, but of his life and times, of shipboard ways and all too brief periods on shore with his family."--Provided by the publisher. 2005 • BOOK • 1 copy available. 92COLLINGWOOD
Chronometer Jack : the autobiography of the shipmaster John Miller of Edinburgh (1802-1883) /edited by Robin Craig, Ann Nix and Michael Nix. "From a chance acquisition of a battered leather notebook, an extensive and extremely well-written narrative was revealed which recounted the life of a midshipman in the East India Company, through to the time when he owned his own vessels and settled in Tasmania."--Back cover. 2008. • BOOK • 2 copies available. 92Miller, John
With the Royal Navy in war and peace : o'er the dark blue sea /by B.B. Schofield ; edited by Victoria Schofield. "The Royal Navy that Brian Bethen Schofield joined at the beginning of the Twentieth Century truly ruled the waves. Safe anchorages spanned the globe and faster, better armoured ships with revolutionary weaponry were coming into service. After serving as a midshipman in The Great War, Schofield qualified as a navigator and interpreter in French and Italian. At the outbreak of The Second World War he was Naval Attachâe in The Hague and Brussels before becoming Director of Trade Division (Convoys) during the critical years 1941-1943. While commanding the battleship King George V he witnessed the Japanese surrender in Tokyo Bay in August 1945. O'er The Dark Blue Sea is a superbly written memoir offering a fascinating insight into a bygone era. Anyone with more than a passing interest in British naval history will enjoy the Author?s graphic yet modest account of an exceptional career."--Provided by the publisher 2018. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 92SCHOFIELD
The biographical memoirs of Captain William Edmeades, 1766-1852, the honorable East India Company / [edited by Michael Baker and Patricia Baker]. Captain William Edmeades wrote his biographical memoir at the age of 70, having retired from the Honourable East India Company at the age of 40. Edmeades had gone to sea aged fourteen in 1780 as midshipman on the ship Hillsborough, and had risen through the ranks to captain, retiring in 1806. His memoirs describe his life at sea, his career and voyages, during a time when Britain was almost coninuously at war. He saw action at the taking of the Cape of Good Hope in 1806, leading a brigade of company officers and sailors. After his company service he settled at Nurstead Court, Kent, purchased by his father in 1767, and undertook various tasks such as remodeling the house as a fine Regency villa and improving the local church. The memoirs are supplemented by letters written by his brother, at sea at the same time as William. The editors of this text have added footnotes, a summary of Edmeades' voyages, and an index. 2003. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 92EDMEADES
The Book of Common Prayer and administration of the sacraments and other rites and ceremonies of the Church, according to the use of The Church of England : together with the psalter or psalms of David, pointed as they are to be sung or said in Churches; and the form and manner of making, ordaining, and consecrating of bishops, priests and deacons. Church of England. [post 1900]. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 264-13
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
Nelson's Right Hand Man The Life and Times of Vice Admiral Sir Thomas Fremantle. ,E. J. Hounslow A biography of Vice Admiral Sir Thomas Fremantle (1765-1819). Joining the Royal Navy as a midshipman in the Hussar at the age of 11, he progressed quickly through the ranks, being promoted to lieutenant in 1782 and was given command of the sloop Spitfire in 1790. As a post-captain, Fremantle commanded the Tartar and came to the notice of Horatio Nelson during the Siege of Bastia. Further commands included the Inconstant and the Ganges at the Battle of Copenhagen. He continued to serve alongside Nelson as his companion and junior officer, taking command of the Neptune, the third in Nelson's division at the Battle of Trafalgar. Following the Battle, Fremantle towed the Victory back to Gibraltar and then spent the next five years in England serving as Member of Parliament for Sandwich and then rear-admiral before taking command of the Adriatic Fleet. Promoted to vice admiral, he became commander-in-chief of the Mediterranean Fleet in 1818. He died from a sudden illness at home in 1819 leaving his widow Elizabeth (nee Wynne) and children. The text includes extracts of letters and diaries and is supported by photographic plates and a bibliography. 2016. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 92FREMANTLE, THOMAS
Ships, shawls and loyal service : the stories of three East Anglian brothers /David Blakely. "Ships, Shawls and Loyal Service details the history of three 19th century brothers, each of whom saw some success in his chosen occupation, but each quite distinct from the others in what he achieved. Inspired by the extensive family tree drawn up in the early 20th century by one of his great-uncles, David Blakely relates the stories of his three ancestors. With strong roots in rural Suffolk, the three Blakely brothers were born at the end of the 18th century into a long-established family. Their ancestors had been gentlemen farmers, but none of the brothers followed that occupation. The eldest spent a year as a midshipman in the Royal Navy and six years as an officer in the Army, before becoming involved in a rural church community in north Norfolk. The second served as an officer on East India Company ships, sailing to India and China and finally being promoted to captain. The youngest brother lived in Norwich and became a well-respected retailer and manufacturer in the textile trade. Ships, Shawls and Loyal Service is a fascinating insight into the lives of three brothers, each of whom took a very different path in life. Early history of the brothers' family is also explored, including their grandfather's business as proprietor of a stage-coach company in Ipswich and his acquaintance with the artist Thomas Gainsborough. This book will appeal to those interested in East Anglian life and trade in the 18th and 19th centuries. Readers interested in naval and military actions in Napoleonic times and in sailing between England and the Far East will also find this a valuable account."--Provided by the publisher. 2016. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 929.52
Hornblower's historical shipmates : the young gentlemen of Pellew's Indefatigable /Heather Noel-Smith. "This book sets out the lives of seventeen 'young gentlemen' who were midshipmen under the famous Captain Sir Edward Pellew. Together, aboard the frigate HMS Indefatigable, they fought a celebrated action in 1797 against the French ship of the line Les Droits de l'Homme. C. S. Forester, the historical novelist, placed his famous hero, Horatio Hornblower, aboard Pellew's ship as a midshipman, so this book tells, as it were, the actual stories of Hornblower's real-life shipmates. And what stories they were! From diverse backgrounds, aristocratic and humble, they bonded closely with Pellew, learned their naval leadership skills from him, and benefited from his patronage and his friendship in their subsequent, very varied careers. The group provides a fascinating snapshot of the later eighteenth-century sailing navy in microcosm. Besides tracing the men's naval lives, the book shows how they adapted to peace after 1815, presenting details of their civilian careers. The colourful lives recounted include those of the Honourable George Cadogan, son of an earl, who survived three courts martial and a duel to retire with honour as an admiral in 1813; Thomas Groube, of a Falmouth merchant family, who commanded a fleet of boats which destroyed the Dutch shipping at Batavia, capital of the Dutch East Indies, in 1806; and James Bray, of Irish Catholic descent, who was killed commanding a sloop during the American war of 1812."--Provided by the publisher. 2016. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 355.335.34
'I am determined to live or die on board my ship.' : the life of Admiral John Inglis : an American in the Georgian Navy /Jim Tildesley. "The life of John Inglis was so epic, it could have been a work of fiction. he was born in Philadelphia, the son of a slave trading merchant. As an underage Lieutenant commanding a schooner hunting smugglers before the Boston Tea Party, he also dined with George Washington before the War of Independence. having settled in Scotland and inheriting his uncle's Edinburgh estate, he returned to the Navy. Shipwrecked in Norway, he became embroiled in a secret service attempt to persuade Dutch naval commanders to desert. His vessel was invovle din the Nore Mutiny and astoundingly, he was held prisonder on his own ship. Honoured by the City of Edinburgh he returned to the navy for another year before giving up his command and being given the rank of Admiral in retirement. The naval career of John Inglis is not just an incredible story but one that enables a close view of life in the eighteenth-century navy. 'I am determined to live or die on board my ship' covers his action-packed naval career starting as a midshipman in command of the guns of a frigate in action against the French, and ending as the severely wounded captain of a warship in a closely fought victory against the Dutch."--Provided by the publisher. 2019. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 359.0092
The Wager disaster : mayhem, mutiny and murder in the south seas /C.H. Layman. "In 1741, Britain and Spain were at war. Commodore Anson and his small squadron battled round Cape Horn into the Pacific to take the war to the Spanish possessions in the South Seas. It was a notable moment in British naval history, when far-sighted men were beginning to realise the great benefits to British trade from a strong Navy with a worldwide reach. There were no accurate charts of the west coast of South America. The marine chronometer had not been invented, so longitude was largely a matter of guesswork. And before the value of lime juice had been recognised, the dreaded scurvy took a grim toll on the health of ships' companies. One of the squadron, HMS Wager, a 6th rate of 28 guns, was driven onto a lee shore in vicious hurricane-force winds and wrecked on an uninhabited island off the coast of what is now Chilean Patagonia. About 140 Wager men reached the land, most of them then to be lost through starvation, exhaustion, hypothermia, drowning, and sometimes violence. Gunner Bulkeley led a party who mutinied against an unpopular captain, and set off in an open boat with no chart. No one approves of mutiny, but his 2500 nautical-mile journey from Chilean Patagonia to Brazil, through the world's worst seas, was an epic feat of navigation, and one of the greatest castaway survival voyages in the annals of the sea. Only 36 men (including Midshipman Byron, grandfather of the poet) eventually made it back to Britain, where their tales of fearful ordeals in a far country caught the imagination of the public. This book uses their accounts to piece together the story of a dramatic fight for survival under extreme conditions. The wrecking of the Wager had surprisingly lasting effects on both the history of Chile and the administration of the Royal Navy and Royal Marines, as this book tells. Anson, justly called the Father of the Navy, saw to it that the lessons of the Wager disaster were learned and some important reforms implemented. In 2006 the wreck was discovered by a British expedition, and it is now being studied by Chilean marine archaeologists. Here in the Wager's extraordinary story, is a record of human endurance and perseverance in the face of almost superhuman adversity."--Provided by the publisher. 2015. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 656.61.085.3WAGER